Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Carner Barcelona El Born: fragrance review

The winding cobbled streets flow seamlessly into the old stones of medieval times, witness to Barcelona’s history reprised by Carner Barcelona. Plants and flowers tumble down from tiny decorated balconies sharing scenery with vintage stores, pastelerías, cafeterías, old bookshops, wine bars… A group of old friends playing cards, youngsters discussing by the edge of the fountains, tourists enjoying a glass of champagne… this is El Born, a unique atmosphere where even the XIVth century church Santa Maria de Mar seems to want to go unnoticed, just being another spectator of the show. 

Carner Barcelona El Born fragrance review cobblestone street Barcelona

                              photo borrowed from Pinterest


This is how we're meant to envision the concept behind the fragrance of El Born, an organic outpouring of the Spanish cultural landscape. To me it's a sweetish, rum-like, deep and honeyed vanilla which lends itself easily to cooler weather, but not necessarily as dense as some other sticky gourmand vanillas. 




The synergy of angelica and citruses in El Born by Carner Barcelona cuts through the juvenile sweetness and the deep resins surface to push it into ambery-balsamic territory. A quirky vanilla full of subtly savoury touches, plush and full, through which a slicing scimitar of botanical rush cuts it open. Perfect for cool weather. 

Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Manos Gerakinis Parfums Sillage X: fragrance review

 Not coincidentally, the new Sillage X commemorates the 10th anniversary of the Greek niche brand founded by Manos Gerakinis as a project that is destined for a customer pursuing the refined things in life and the greatest luxury of them all: time. This is why Manos Gerakinis divulged to me in an interview that he takes his time to develop his fragrances; he doesn't rush to cater to the latest trend because he knows it will look like a quick grab and no soul, destined to not last. 

sillage x manos gerakinis vosnaki fragrance review


Created to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Manos Gerakinis Parfums, Sillage X is a thoughtful yet positively joyful olfactive reflection on the passage of time and what remains timeless. 

Although Sillage X is presented as a predominantly vetiver scent, it does not project as one. It is neither green nor fresh in the sense of all those summer vetivers that have been linked to airy and crunchy smellscapes, as classical as Guerlain's Vetiver and Carven's Vetiver. The citruses do burst like angels from the skies to sing their bright message of joy, but the fragrance soon turns into something different than a cologne. It's a thing of its own, terpenic, dry, delicious, and woody-spicy— a sillage that is leaving a trail of mystery behind it. Tempered but still substantial, smooth yet also somewhat durable. 

The main delectable note is black pepper (piper negrum), a note that the wide public is biased against, mainly because when they read "pepper," they're equating the smell with the flavor and fear things that make people around them sneeze. Of course, no such thing is true, either of the oil (which I love!) nor of the generous use of it in the formula of Sillage X. The spiciness is just right, balancing the citruses on top and giving that delicious durability to the heart, which grows out in the iris direction; starchy, earthy, nicely rounded and yet fresh too, reminiscent of juniper and cedarwood. Black pepper has the great quality to bring into focus elements that would otherwise recede to the background, and in Sillage X, this is eminently showcased. As my colleague Mat wrote about another instance, "In order to make a full-bodied black pepper aroma, you have to "extend" it by something weighty. In this case, the perfumer chose to do it with the help of various woods. Coming in second in importance, the note of cedar, dry, coniferous, and woody, peeks out soon enough and supports the savory theme of black pepper recalling cedar nuts, cutting board, and juniper wood trivets." 

If you're wary of fennel, on the other hand, rest assured that its touch of anethole is discreet here; there's no risk of you smelling of pastis. On the contrary, allied to the other spicy components, it brings on a degustation balance, the calm and serenity of a great dinner—all things in good order and in measured portions. 

Sillage X (2024)

perfumer: Vasiliki Psatha

Top notes: Bergamot, Lemon, Mandarin

Heart notes: Vetiver, Black Pepper, Cardamom, Fennel Seed

Base notes: Cedar, Moss, Patchouli

Thursday, February 6, 2025

Comme des Garçons Zagorsk (Incense Series): fragrance review

Zagorsk by Comme des Garçons is among the less mentioned specimens in the Japanese-centrifuge brand's collection of fragrances inspired by various incenses used as burning materials around ther world. Comme des Garçons was among the first to explore the idea that people have cultural associations with burned materials. "Incense," after all, comes from the Latin verb meaning "to burn." They launched not one but five scents in their iconic Incense Series, each geographically codified to appeal to a specific sensibility and religious context. 



                               Gordana Ristic, pic borrowed from Pinterest


In the case of frankincense, which happens to be the main material of ecclesiastical incense -the kind that is burned in censers in Christian Orthodox and Catholic churches- the association with church is a given, even for the non-pious. The emanations from the church escape into the air, and the congregation has fumigated their clothes during service just enough, so that a subtle trail can be caught by a sensitive nose outside afterwards. 

 Zagorsk, composed by Evelyn Boulanger, is fittingly dedicated to the Eastern orthodox churches. I picture them on Eastern European soil as a solace from the cold, but also bearing the birch (leathery, tarry) and fir atmosphere of the outside, the coniferous tonalities that befit countries of vast forests. Plus I detect a clean clove note, embracing the cold, which is inextricably tied to my mind with Russia and Eastern Europe; those Soviet carnation scents must have been at the root of that. It's perfect for winter weather and it is alongside Vert d' Encens by Tom Ford, lamentably discontinued, a green incense that defies that cliche of heavy and cloying incenses that are so full of balsams that they cease to smell of frankincense and turn like orientalized soups of lead-ladden notes. Worth seeking out for a long-drawn sniff. 


Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Affinissence Vanille Benjoin: fragrance review

I am not entirely convinced that AFFINISSENCE's plan of marketing (and that of creation?) succeeds in creating seamless canvases of hues, with their professed aim of monochromatic chasms between top and base notes. Supposedly they do not mesh programmatically, yet they have to in the end, otherwise they'd smell flat and off, which they emphatically do not. The collections are divided into Notes de Fond (base notes), Notes de Coeur (heart notes) and Notes de Tête (top notes). 


                                   Jeremy Willenspic borrowed from Pinterest


Vanille Benjoin
is part of the Notes de Fond collection. It's important to note the timeline of the brand, as I'm sensing it began as something less complicated. AFFINESSENCE began as a niche French brand, launched in 2015 with the first four fragrances (Cedre Iris, Patchouli Oud, Santal Basmati, and Vanille Benjoin) followed by Cuir Curcuma and Musc Amber Gris in 2017. The collection was unique then, by the base notes concept of the owner, Sophie Bruneau, who decided to translate her passion for intense, rich, and long-lasting fragrances, and especially for their deep base note accords, as the leading ingredients in her line. So naturally, no pun intended, the following collections were undertaken as points of departure when the intended base note materials had been explored. 

 The brand described Vanille Benjoin in the following words: 

"In order to present this extraordinary "marriage" of ingredients Affinessence combines two types of vanilla (Tahitian vanilla absolute with the intense scent of leather and the sweet aromas of Madagascan vanilla absolute). This blend is combined with the so-called alter-ego, Siamese benzoin, a fragrant resin originating from Laos which is highly respected for its balmy, almond-like shades. For the strong, irresistible trail, scents of ambroxan, tonka, Moroccan and Chinese cedar were used, placing benzoin and vanilla in the transcendent, providing amazing strength." 

 Despite it being a vanilla it's one that references a unisex scent that was originally launched for...men. So whatever you sex, feel safe to explore this one. 

 Vanille Benjoin was developed by perfumer Corine Cachen. She must have been influenced by the style of Menardo, especially for Bvlgari Black from 1999, now discontinued. Or following the skeleton of this leather-powdery tension (which is also evident in the classic Habanita, especially in the 1980s versions and a teeny tiny part only in Bois Farine by Jean Claude Ellena - minus the peanut butter note in that one!) 

review of Vanille Benjoin by Affinissence



 Side by side with Bvlgari Black the Affinissence scent projects with an initially sharper top note, which smells a little higher in pitch. It then softens into the heliotrope-suede-almond-vanilla tonalities that we're associating with the flou accord of hazy dark clouds of a smoky atmosphere somewhere warm and cosy. It's that musky vanilla that people who like mystery and intrigue in their perfumes most appreciate. Whether it may fulfil the longing in the hearts of those missing Bvlgari Black remains to be seen whilst trying it out for yourselves and living with Vanille Benjoin Affinessence for a short while, so samples are highly recommended.

This Month's Popular Posts on Perfume Shrine