Hello Olfactoria’s Travelers,
Portia from Australian Perfume Junkies and Perfume Posse thrilled to be with you all today. I hope life is treating you all well.
Mohur has been a constant in my fragrance wardrobe since first discovering it. It has been the subject of full posts and often wins in my Top 10 lists for seasons, desert islands and all other lists (we perfumistas love a list) because I find it so easy to wear as a spritz and go, but I also love to spritz lavishly when there are a couple of spare hours and totally immerse myself in it luxury and intricacies. Today I am re-reading Chandler Burr’s The Perfect Scent and spending a lazy day before getting ready for work and I have spritzed for my own selfish pleasure. Why don’t you enjoy my lovely lazy morning with me.
Mohur was created by Bertrand Duchaufour for Neela Vermeire Creations in 2011.
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica, LuckyScent and Neela Vermeire Creations give these notes and accords, each site is slightly different so I have melded them all:
Top: Cardamom, coriander, ambrette (musk mallow), carrot seeds, black pepper, elemi oil
Heart: Turkish rose oil, Moroccan Rose Absolute (rose accords around 11%), jasmine, iris/orris, aubepin (midland hawthorn), almond milk accord, leather, violet
Base: Sandalwood, amber, patchouli, oudh Palao from Laos, benzoin, vanilla, tonka bean
Freaking hell, even looking at the note list makes me sleepy. This is kitchen sink perfumery in theory but something that Mohur does do every time is give me a new and different ride. While the main player rose is a constant, on some days it will be incredibly vanilla heavy, another day I will really notice the herbaceousness and on others it will feel like an iris, pepper, patchouli, sandalwood or almond fragrance. Though rose is the constant even its facets will be slightly different, boozy, citric, fruity or tea-ish depending on the day.
Photo Stolen Neela Vermeire Creations
I think Neela & Bertrand have used a large amount of naturals in with the synthetics and that gives everything a real chance to interact with your chemistry, what you bathed or moisturised with, even down to your exercise and eating habits at the time. That on top of your environment, which can change how the fragrance lives, makes Mohur a real chameleon.
How was my ride today on this lovely 19C spring day? Gorgeous as ever. So yes, I get loads of the notes but to be perfectly honest today I just lay reading and enjoying how freaking amazing I smelled. ALL DAY! A big fat spicy rose and resinous woods, ALL DAY LONG! Life is good when you smell this freaking fabulous…
Part of the fun can be parsing the notes while wearing, and I do try to keep my nose in gear, but sometimes it’s nice to just let the fragrance wash over you as a whole creation. As the perfumer and curator have intended, as a finished and wonderful fragrance. Mohur is particularly good for this because it is such a tapestry, a beautiful Kashmiri carpet all woven tegether of fragrant strands and it is thick, rich and luscious enough to float you away to other more exotic places.
Neela Vermeire Creations sends to Europe and has an excellent set of 8ml samples of the whole range
LuckyScent has EdP $250/60ml and Extrait $465/50ml and sends to the world Surrender To Chance has $7/.5ml
What do you wear when you want to drift away on an exotic miasma?
Portia xx
Olfactoria's Travels 
I love this review Portia! You smell divine. I have been doing this a lot lately – wearing perfume to feel beautiful, smell great and not to analyse. I love Mohur extrait. Must save my pennies again… Xoxo
Hey Sandra,
Sometimes it’s nice to immerse rather than parse. Both enjoyable but fit for different moods.
Mohur Extrait = HEAVEN
Portia xx
I loved spending a lazy morning with you Portia!
I need to spend more time with Mohur. You do make it sound freaking fabulous.
I really want a perfume that makes me drift away on a exotic miasma. I don’t have that box ticked as yet.
Hey there Tara,
I wish we lived closer so we really could spend lazy mornings hanging out. That would be blissful.
Next time you wear Mohur let yourself float away on it.
Portia xx
Hi Portia,
great tribute to a magical fragrance!
Mohur is amongst my favorites even so I don’t wear it a lot. I put some on right after reading and the “different ride” makes it good for nose training. Today I get a very shy rose hiding behind lots of coriander, carrot seeds and pepper. I even had to sneeze…If I don’t analyze but let me wash away, “peacefulness” is the word that immediately comes to my mind and that feels really good.
We seem to have the same temperature, it’s 18C in Berlin – enjoy your spring!
Thank you Anka,
Yes, it’s totally fun having a parse sometimes and intricate frags like Mohur are particularly good for nose training. Often I love the picking apart as well. Peacefulness is a wonderful word for Mohur.
Berlin @ 18C must be lovely.
Portia xx
I had to look up miasma. I have kind of quit analyzing fragrances. Enjoy or not. Mohur is very beautiful. I have been wearing the Extrait of late, but if I had to chose between the EdP and the extrait I would chose the EdP. It has the edge for me. Ideally I would like both ……. Splendid review. Bussis. xxxx
Hey Val,
Remember me wearing Extrait in Austria, basically it took over our whole Cookie Run day. It was so fun and you and Michael would mock my projection, He he he! What an amazing time we had.
Yes, I can see how the EdP is a favourite for you, I love it to bits.
LOVING YOU.
Portia xx
Of course. You can still smell it in the car. Longevity 8 months.
HA HA HA!!
Sounds beautiful and I can’t believe I still haven’t tried any of her perfumes. They are on the list but they seem to keep getting bumped. I also understand what Cookie Queen said about analysing fragrances too much – it can take all the joy out of perfume which I believe is all about pleasure (for me anyway).
Hi there MeganInStMaxime,
It can be like looking behind the scenery at the theatre, sometimes knowing too much can reduce the magic to tricks and mathematics.
I do like to do both on different days though. Parse one day, ride the next. Both are entertaining for me on different levels.
Portia xx
Portia, this has to be one of your best reviews….not only because you flat-out adore this frag, but your whole, amazing, freaking wonderful personality just shines through! I like Mohur, but I looooove Trayee, so perhaps Neela will move into extraits for all of her releases (I think Ashoka would be better as an extrait, for example). When I want over-the-top knock me off my feet perfumista engorgement, I do tend to go for Shalimar. But Trayee, Perles de Mousse, and OJ Woman are what I wear more than anything these days. I feel I might be falling into Birgit’s pattern of picking what I love and sticking with it, no matter the season, situation, or company!
If I may jump in here – it is a pattern that works great for me and I love sticking to what I love, no matter what. 🙂
And I agree with you, Gretchen! This is a fabulous “pure Portia” review.
Bussis dear Birgit. XXX
Gretchen,
I am smiling from ear to ear right now. what a marvelous comment. Thank you.
We are Shalimar twins!!
Birgit has the right idea, fragrance should bring you joy. Wear what you want, when you want it. The fragrance doesn’t mind if its day/night/summer/winter/casual/dressy.
I bet you smell killer in all your choices.
Portia xx