The bottle of the month for November was an utter indulgence and über-luxury. It may have subconsciously triggered my new frugality (only applicable for perfume, unfortunately): I bought the gorgeous Nabucco Amytis, the comfort fragrance from heaven. I seem to have thought I am deserving of it after all… 🙂
I bought my bottle at the Italian online Boutique Alla Violetta (not affiliated in any way, just a happy customer), as the price is unbeatable there.
I want to share two 1ml oil samples with two lucky winners this month.
To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment on this post telling me about your favorite indulgence, be it perfume, food, clothing, a trip to a spa, whatever you deem as a personal luxury.
Tweeting or sharing this post on Facebook gets you an additional entry. The giveaway is open worldwide until December 11, Midnight GMT, and the winner will be announced on the blog on December 12.
Please be aware that I cannot be responsible for the doings of the post office and can’t replace lost packages.
Iris is one of my favourite notes. Its presence can add a touch of class and interest to just about any perfume. I’m obviously not alone in this view because The New Cavendish Club was packed out for the latest meeting of Perfume Lovers London, focusing on iris perfumes.
The group’s organizer, Lila, was our host for the evening and she confided that at first she was unsure about doing a whole event about iris perfumes, because the differences between them can often be slight. However, the aim of the event was to learn those subtle differences and to be able to broaden our range of descriptors for the iris note and for perfume in general.
Lila told us that she feels irises span a spectrum, with powdery, delicate irises at one end and rooty, earthy irises at the other. Traditionally used as a fixative to make perfumes last longer, iris has become more popular as a prominent note since the rise of niche perfumery. Lila likened the use of small amounts of iris in a perfume to adding cream to a sauce in order to give it a velvety quality. It has performed this function in iconic perfumes such as Chanel No.5 and Patou’s Joy.
The process of turning iris roots – or rhizomes – into orris butter takes time and results in a very small yield. The root is left in the ground for at least 3 years and then dried for a further three years before being ground up, diluted in water and steam distilled. One ton of iris root produces two kilos of orris butter, which costs in the region of 100,000€ per kilo.
Interestingly, Lila had two iris absolutes for us to try. Firstly Iris Pallida which was dry and powdery, almost musty, and a bit doughy. Then a blend of Iris Florentina and Iris Germanica which was decidedly deeper and much more rooty, with a resemblance to carrots. Of the two, Iris Pallida came across as more refined. Experiencing these materials would inform our appreciation of the following iris perfumes:
Irisss features iris butter, carrot seed, rose, jasmine, ylang ylang absolute, violet leaves, vetiver and cedarwood. Available for a whopping 600 euros a bottle, Irisss is a sophisticated, straight-up iris that is on the rooty side but still very wearable. However, for that price-tag I’d want it to knock my socks off and make me dinner. It didn’t do either.
Le Labo only list 10 of the 39 notes; iris, lime, patchouli, rose, ylang ylang, musk, violet, ginger, cardamom and civet. This is a slightly spicy, earthy iris with noticeable patchouli and musk. It sounds interesting on paper but somehow it failed to move me, probably because it has a cold, herbal aspect.
At this point a box of iris roots was passed around the room. They looked similar to root ginger and smelled a lot milder than I would have imagined. Orris is also apparently used as a fixative in gin, so shot glasses of the spirit were passed around for us to inhale and taste. Much chatter ensued, as you can imagine. Some detected a scent akin to iris but just as many did not.
Lila played us some classical music which had just happened to come on the radio while she was organising this event. She felt it chimed perfectly with the romantic and diaphanous quality that iris can sometimes have and I completely agree. The piece is called “Spiegel im Spiegel” by Arvo Pärt.
No.19 is a green iris thanks to lots of galbanum. A piece of galbanum gum resin was circulated for us to sniff and it really does smell like the very essence of plant-life. Just wonderful.
Lila seemed to be alone in viewing No.19 as a comfort scent. Most agreed it was much more of a “mean bitch” perfume. It may be perceived as austere but it was also described as elegant and classic. I really hope to grow into No.19 one day.
ISM is iris to the nth degree. While it may not be easy to wear, it does smell amazing. Opinions in the room were split owing to the strong earthy, carroty nature of the iris. It smells like turnips and carrots being dug up on a cold, murky morning. Lila read a much more romantic description of it by Luca Turin from Perfumes: The A-Z Guide “…the powderiest, rootiest, most sinister iris imaginable, a large gray ostrich-feather boa to wear with purple devoré velvet at poet’s funeral”.
This Hermessence created by Jean Claude Ellena features notes of water iris, green shoots, orange blossom and mandarin. JCE was seeking to capture the fragrance of the iris flower, rather than the iris root. It was a lot nicer than I remember on previous testing. It was much more fresh and floral than any of the other irises we tried and had a kind of sparkling quality.
The final iris perfume we tested together was –
Naiviris, Huitieme Art
Pierre Guillaume of Parfumerie Generale is the man behind Huitieme Art. The line uses the minimum of ingredients to create plant-inspired fragrances. Naiviris is a rather powdery iris with a peppery opening and a clean woody backdrop. I can’t say this made much of an impression on me but someone did say it reminded her of the smell of “soft leather hand-bags” which is no bad thing if that‘s what you get from it. It combines Red African Iris and Zebra Wood Essence.
In rounding up, Lila mentioned some irises she enjoys wearing herself including Chanel’s 28 La Pausa (minimalist iris), In Peace by Space NK (fresh and feminine iris) and Infusion d’Iris Absolue by Prada (everyday iris). Lila also pointed to Hiris by Hermes as an iris that she would place in the middle of the spectrum, being neither too powdery nor too rooty.
My current iris of choice is Equistrius by Parfums d’Empire which is a warm iris with a lovely suede-like feel to it and touches of vanilla and chocolate. The colder, slightly metallic irises are not really me. Another great iris gourmand is the now sadly discontinued Iris Ganache by Guerlain.
Happily, there were lots of iris perfumes for us to try once the discussion was over. These included L’Artisan Parfumeur’s Dzongkha (vegetal iris) Frederic Malle’s Iris Poudre (chic iris) and Iris Nobile by Acqua di Parma (creamy iris). There was also the leathery, rather masculine Cuir d’Iris by Parfumerie Generale.
It was great to be able to try such a wide range of iris perfumes from so many different brands, all in the one place. No one could have left without a clear idea of what the many facets of iris smell like and the vocabulary to describe them.
Apart from the perfume, the event was a great opportunity to meet up with fellow fragrance enthusiasts. It was lovely to catch up with The Candy Perfume Boy, Nick from Les Senteurs and regular OT commenter and guest poster, Alexandra. It was also a chance to meet the wonderful Lady Jane Grey and perfume blogger Freddie from Smelly Thoughts.
Many thanks to Lila for an enlightening evening and to Basenotes for sponsoring the event.
Have you tried any of the iris perfumes mentioned above? What are your thoughts? What are your favorites?
Are you comfortable asking your loved ones for particular scents for Christmas, birthdays etc.?
Or do you prefer to buy them for yourself?
What particular scent are you hoping for this year?
Do you gift others with perfume?
My Answer:
I have been wishing and hoping for perfume for the past several years, and most of the time I have received what I wanted (with a little hint, well, to be truthful with quite specific and explicit clarification deposited in writing).
This year I thought I was fine, I have more than enough perfumes at the moment and I’m enjoying what I have. So the explicit instructions go in the direction of an Hermès shawl rather than scented delights this year. But thinking about it, there are a few fragrant things I wouldn’t mind at all, so for the sake of the argument, here they are:
Hermès Hermessence Vetiver Tonka: because it is “keeping your cool” in a bottle. Vetiver Tonka gets things done, I wrote in my review, and that is something I really need these days.
Bath and body products of L’Ambre de Merveilles: not available yet, but as I said, this is just what I want, not what I get anyway.
Roja Dove Unspoken extrait: because it is simply stunning and will always remind me of London.
What is on your wishlist? It must not be realistic, let’s dream a bit!
Vanilla vodka. Less heavy and direct than most vanillas, Molinard’s refreshing scent is still vanilla-bean centered of course, and sweet: yet it is also cool, delicious – the flavour you know from glacés and sorbet. With a spritz of alcohol, an ice cream coolness graces the skin, softening nicely to a subtle, skin-close, crystalline vanilla I love; subtle but long lasting.
For me, this is one of the most wearable of vanillas, and one of my personal favourites. It is well made and great value.
VANILIA / L’ARTISAN PARFUMEUR (1978)
L’Artisan’s Vanilia, unfortunately now discontinued but available online if you look hard enough, is a very original interpretation of the vanilla pod, whisking it up to an airy, floral delicacy you won’t find anywhere else. Rather than focusing on what humans do with the essence (making cakes and perfumes), Jean LaPorte takes an innocent, exterior snapshot of the entire plant, from bean to flower, as if from outside, at a distance.
Light as a meringue, the scent opens with an orchidaceous top note of vanilla flowers and high grade ylang. It seems to dance on air, undercut with subtle notes of nutmeg, clove, and ambergris, the overall effect adding up to a perfume that charms and magnetizes with its beautiful seamlessness.
SPIRITUEUSE DOUBLE VANILLE / GUERLAIN
This perfume, initially released as a limited edition, is now safely part of the main collection, so its devotees can breathe a sigh of relief. This Guerlain take on vanilla is a new take on the note, the ‘spiritueuse’ of the name not alluding to spirituality, nor some form of ‘spirited’, or spritely vanilla, but in fact an allusion to alcohol. Spirits: a honeyed, liquorous cherry brandy with a ‘double shot’ of vanilla: kirsch-like glints of ylang ylang, jasmine, rose, incense and pink pepper, boosted with warm, golden undercurrents of cedar and benzoin.
In fact, when you first put this on your skin, the main impression is of a delicious, boozy sweetness that you can’t immediately locate as vanilla. Lying within this dark amber liquid, though, is a shipwreck of vanilla beans drowning in liquor; hundreds of pods slowly surrendering their scent in brilliantly slowed down time. The final notes (four hours or so after application) embody the true soul of vanille; ripe, hummingbird sucrose.
Now they are launching a new scent with a new concept. Tilleul has been available as an Eau de Toilette for years, now it gets a sister. Tilleul pour la Nuit, is an alcohol-free hydrating perfume.
Tilleul pour la Nuit includes notes of blue camomille, petitgrain, lindenflower, thyme, blackwood and beeswax.
A someone who often suffers from dry skin, a condition which is exacerbated by conventional alcohol-based perfume use, this is good news.
Also linden blossom is one of the prettiest scents and not found very often. I’m looking forward to trying this.
Here is a video that demonstrates the application (I guess we would have cottoned on ourselves, but it doesn’t hurt).
What do you think? Is an alcohol-free perfume interesting for you?
If I was forced to vote for the greatest perfume of all time I may well plump for Shalimar. The only problem is that I hardly ever wear it. It just seems very “evening-y” to me and that doesn’t really fit in with my less than glamorous, in-bed-by-ten lifestyle. As a consequence, the Shalimar flankers are my wearable friends. Having said that, I could understand ‘fume fans concern at the news in 2011 that Guerlain were releasing a version of Shalimar aimed at the youth market. A sort of entry level Guerlain to get you hooked on the good stuff from a young age.
Considering most perfumes aimed at teenagers are sugary confections it’s perhaps unsurprising that Parfum Initial is a gourmand rather than an oriental like its antecedent. It is much sweeter and fruitier but actually it is different enough from the original not to feel like sacrilege.
Shalimar Parfum Initial was created by Thierry Wasser and notes include bergamot, orange, jasmine, iris, rose, fruity notes, green notes, patchouli, tonka bean, vetiver, vanilla and musk.
On first spray, I very much miss the citrus-y tartness of the original, which is replaced here by caramelised fruit. A wonderfully raspy iris quickly makes its presence known and helps to take the edge off the sweetness. Once the opening fades, for the next couple of hours everything is obscured for me by an incredibly persistent white musk. It should be said that I am extremely sensitive to this type of material, whereas others may not register it at all.
After the musk subsides, a pleasant mix of red berries and sweet florals – mostly rose – comes to the fore. The best is yet to come though, in the form of a light and fluffy vanilla base with a whiff of bonfire about it. This is a nice reminder of the Shalimar I know and love. Far from being a watered down version of the original, this is pretty potent stuff and so sillage and lasting power are considerable.
Personally, I’ll stick with the sadly discontinued Shalimar Light or seek out the latest incarnation, Shalimar Ode A La Vanille Sur La Route De Madagascar, but then I’m not in Parfum Initial’s target demographic. It would be a good option for fans of post-Angel fruity gourmands or those seeking a starter Guerlain. It is definitely more than a couple of steps up from most mainstream perfumes aimed at today’s youth.
Lovers of the sexy and sophisticated original are unlikely to be satisfied by this people-pleasing upstart, but it does achieve its aim. It is a modern re-working of a classic that will appeal to a younger audience and if it introduces a whole new generation to the wonders of Guerlain, surely that can only be a good thing.
Shalimar Parfum Initial is available in 40ml, 60ml and 100ml Eau de Parfum.
This Sunday’s elaborate cooking endeavor has turned into a success, despite my doubtful (and not very helpful) attitude. The turducken was delicious and very well received. In addition to stuffing three birds into each other, the entire thing had to be gluten-free, which was an additional challenge, but it went well and astoundingly, almost everything was eaten, so no left-over sandwiches for us…
On a more fragrance-oriented note, at the moment I’m still suffering from acute perfume fidelity syndrome, which means I am sticking it out with my L’Ambre de Merveilles. Such a show of loyalty going on for almost four weeks now, is unprecedented and slightly worrisome. Does it mean I’m over perfume? Do I only want one perfume for the rest of my days? What would that mean for my collection?
I’m looking at my Guerlains, my MdO’s, my Chanels, my most precious juices and – watch out for perfume heresy!!! – I’m left cold. Day after day, I find myself turning away from my perfume closet and reaching for my bottle of L’Ambre with a sense of deep contentment and a little defiance.
What could it mean?
It could mean I have matured all of a sudden and without any apparent reason (yeah, sure). It could mean that I have found THE ONE and that is that. It could just be a phase (and God knows, of those I had many in my life). It could mean I’m a bit out of sorts still, physically and emotionally, for various reasons. It could mean I have gone off perfume forever. It could also mean absolutely nothing.
Time will tell. For now, my dear fragrant friends, I’m going to live vicariously through you.
What is your scent of the day today? Why did you choose it?
Are there situations where you can’t bear/are not allowed/won’t wear fragrance?
Do you need self-prescribed perfume pauses?
Or is every day a scented one?
When do you go out fragrance-free?
My Answer:
Hardly ever. Usually I wear perfume, one during the day, another one after my evening bath. When I’m sick, I think extra hard about it, but I usually end up wearing something that makes me feel better (Thank you Jean-Claude, for knowing exactly what I need when I’m not well!).
Thankfully I don’t have to consider other people too often when it comes to my perfume choices, but when on an airplane or train for example, I go very lightly scented. When I help my husband in his office and have to be close to patients, I consider that in my choices as well and use restraint and something sure to not offend.
But in general, I always go about my life perfumed.
It’s what makes every day that little bit more special.
Editor’s Note: This series of posts is written by my friend Neil, an Englishman living in Japan, who is an extremely knowledgeable perfume enthusiast with what I suspect must be an amazing vintage collection. A warm welcome to Neil!
Hello, this is Neil Chapman, aka The Black Narcissus, and I am delighted to have been given the chance to do a guest spot on Olfactoria’s Travels, where I will be writing a short series on one of my favourite perfume ingredients, vanilla.
A small parcel arrived in the post yesterday from a friend who has just been to the island of Réunion. In it was a bottle of freshly distilled ylang ylang oil called ‘Ylang Ylang Compte Goutte’, a heady, extravagant liquid coloured a light apricot-orange that was deliciously, pungently exotic. Just as excitingly, in there as well were vanilla beans from Madagascar, lying there enticingly as though they had just been bought from the market in Antananarivo in their paper bag and somehow found themselves in Japan.
The combination of these smells, plus the knowledge of where they came from, filled me with an instant high on a rainy afternoon in November as I have always loved the voluptuousness of the tropical – ylang, frangipani, coconut milk, pikake – but in particular the scent, taste, and emotion of vanilla. I am almost obsessed with the note, and in fact am planning a trip, at some point in the near future, to Madagascar. To be near, if possible, to the vanilla orchids, to see the workers pollinating them by hand; watch the vanillin-specked, dark glistening pods fermenting their sweet odour in the sun: those tiny flecks of vanilla you see suspended in custards and yoghurts that so entice, miniscule dots of aphrodisiacal pungency, flowing out into the cool, lactic, surrounding deliciousness.
In perfume terms, to many people, the thought of stepping out sweet and vanilla-coated into the night will be horrendous. For others, like myself, it’s a wonderful indulgence– especially in winter. One ploy against the incipient cold of the Japanese winter, psychologically at least, is perfume, and there is nothing better for my spiritual insulation than a warm, true vanilla. While in recent times the occasionally infantile trend towards ‘comfort’ fragrances has produced many a goo-ga kiddy scent, vanilla, in the right perfumer’s hands, can be delectable – and the perfect aphrodisiac – gracing the body with sweet, edible warmth. It is a halo of security.
In this series, we will be looking at a selection of vanillas, from the classically animalic dessert-rich odalisques such as Guerlain’s Shalimar, to the newer breed of green-tinted vanillas such as Diptyque’s Eau Duelle and Mark Buxton’s new Sleeping With Ghosts. We would love to hear your vanilla stories as well, so please regale us with your own sugary bean-drenched tales.
VANIGLIA DEL MADAGASCAR / FARMACIA S.S. ANNUNZIATA DAL 1561
My current vanilla love and favourite perfume all round is this unusual scent ( which comes in 100ml parfum only).
In its first stages, Vaniglia Del Madagascar strangely reminds me very much of the bathing rituals at a Japanese sento, or public baths, where families, individuals and couples go to soap down, switch off and relax in cleansing pools of contemplation. The smells of steam, active ions, citrus soaps, and saunas made of hinoki wood are somehow encapsulated in the top notes of lemon, florals (almost imperceptible) and minerals. There is a fresh, misty saltiness to this stage that is quite an acquired taste but which I have come to really appreciate.
The vanilla isn’t obviously there at first, and it takes some time to appear, as compressed atoms of natural vanilla molecules seem to dilate outwards, slowly, at their own prehistorically ambered pace. When it finally does emerge, though, this vanilla is glorious; perfection, and it lasts on the skin all through the night to the next morning when you have succumbed to its heat-charged fullness, draped in its caresses like a cream-silk blanket.
VANILLE EXTREME / COMPTOIR SUD PACIFIQUE
A product that pushes to dangerous breaking point the limits of sweetness: many, even the most committed vanillista, will find this scent intolerable.
Vanille Extrême smells of Play-Doh and My Little Ponies – that chewy, scented plastic rubber; of the cheap vanilla candles in ‘angels and healing’ stores; of the frilly infantilia of the American childhood bedroom, with the volume on the pink music speakers turned up to a deafening 10
A couple of sprays on your skin….
Good Lord.
You are puking, sweetly, alone, in a vat of mallows. But just when you think you have made a very grave mistake in allowing it on your skin and are deliriously trying to locate the washbasin, a few minutes in the perfume suddenly becomes so edible : a spiced Tahitian warmth – rich, cute, lickable; a warm and tenacious vanilla that you leave on, tentatively and begin to savour.
A very happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends and readers! Have a wonderful and relaxing Holiday!
We are celebrating too (because we are Americanophiles to the max), but only on Sunday. My husband is going to cook Turducken (for the uninitiated, that is a chicken stuffed into a duck stuffed into a turkey, no kidding!).
Check in tomorrow for a delicious guest post by a very interesting man!
I’ll be back on Monday, probably about four pounds heavier!
To enter the giveaway, please leave a comment on this post telling me about your favorite indulgence, be it perfume, food, clothing, a trip to a spa, whatever you deem as a personal luxury.
Olfactoria's Travels 