"I think there are very few fragrances that are still on the market after 50 years that are classics. The Aramis brand itself is still in the top 20 in many countries around the world and in fact is number one in several. A classic fragrance is one which has sophistication, a signature and is identifiable with quality raw materials." Thus proclaims (quite rightly) Trudi Loren, vice-president of corporate fragrance development worldwide for Aramis, who says Calligraphy by Aramis contains rose and jasmine absolutes alongside a lot of natural notes; petrulli, cardamom and myrrh.
Estée Lauder launches Calligraphy with a special proviso: created specifically for the Arab region and designed for women and men, its aim is to commemorate the founding of its iconic fragrance house Aramis almost 50 years ago.
The graphically heavy bottle is the artwork of graphic designer Tarek Atrissi, who says "Calligraphy in Latin is one word but in Arabic it's two, and that became the whole concept to play with; mixing the two words and mixing the contrasts of the project. For example, because as it's a genderless scent the design had to appeal to men and women so the two words are very contrasting in style. One is more geometric script and the other is more organic, traditional, artistic script. Also mixed in there is the idea of tradition meeting the contemporary."
Estée Lauder does oud. The note du jour wasn't going to escape from the giant of American perfumery that is the Lauder Group and given that the company knows how to make appealing, polished and tenacious fragrances, Wood Mystique on the surface looks like an adequate entry to the portfolio, but it's rather predictable and lackluster, exactly because it fears to use that which is supposed to be the fueling power of its core: the complex, medicinal and nutty aroma of agarwood/oud. This wouldn't be entirely significant, had it not been advertised as an entry aimed at the Middle Eastern market, by the accounts of which it seems that market has been entirely corrupted by Western blandness. I think not, but if one didn't know any better, they'd think otherwise.
In fact, Wood Mystique is in the mold of previous Lauder launch Sensuous (with less patchouli and much more pronounced flowers) and the bland Belle d'Opium, thanks to the spice-florals axis that is highlighted just like in the YSL entry.
"Wood Mystique is not just our first fragrance influenced by the Middle East. It is also our first unisex perfume. And it is for the first time that I've worked so closely with the local marketing team in the creation of a perfume — to understand the culture and history of the region and the taste of the consumer. [...] The history of fragrance usage in the Middle East being so rich … people know to appreciate the emotional value of it," says Karen Khoury [source], the Estée Lauder perfume art director, who is responsible for many best-selling fragrances.
Wood Mystique by Estée Lauder is an "oriental woody" fragrance, according to the company, that is inspired by the tradition of the East and this is immediately apparent, as it uses all the cliches we have come to expect of an Eastern-type (i.e. oriental) perfume. Polished, silky, if resembling previous releases rather too much (there's a passing segment of Black Orchid as well), it's fashioned in the successful mold of Sensuous with a more gender-neutral spin that would make it a masculine fpr men not afraid of roses or an individual feminine for women who love somber and warm fragrances.
It uses three kinds of rose that are extracted in different ways: rose infusion, rose distilled, and rose de mai absolute. This technique was opted to relay texture and add dimension.Added notes are pink pepper, which complement the rose, the spice naturally having rosy aspects.
Egyptian jasmine absolute, orris Morocco, ylang-ylang and mimosa from Provence absolute are also included, which in my opinion give an indefinable bouquet that is rather more feminine and would have some men complain about it. The spice-flowers accord seems more prominent than the woodiness, making me think that spicy floriental would be a more adequate categorisation than woody. The woody backdrop is infused with a raspberry note thanks to synthetic musks, and includes natural patchouli, extraction of cedarwood, with benzoin resin and agarwood/oudh.
The concentration is Eau de Parfum and the bottles circulate in the 100ml/3.4oz size.
It's always interesting to witness the intercultural exchanges between newer and older worlds and especially so in fields that pertain to olfaction: the amount to which French perfumery and tastes have been influenced by the Anglo-Saxon "clean" trend is staggering; as is the intergration of classical "stinky" notes into modern compositions (Stockhausen meets Rameau, so to speak), or the worldwide influence of the Asian school of diaphanous treatment. But never is the effect more eye-opening to the globalisation of the international market than upon experiencing an Arabian fragrance of all things that smells like a modern French classic: in short, Al Maali by Itarji is an Arabian speaking fluent French of Angel-ic cadenzas of agility.
We have been conditioned to believe the reverse is more common (isn't Nahéma the reference Franco-Arab masterpiece?) and rather en vogue, what with the Serge Lutens seraglio and the plethora of ouds or oud-inspired fragrances on the market (witness the Montale line), as well as the increasing popularity of getting to know the Arabian rituals of fragrancing[click for article]. Yet as previously discussed there is also the side of Arabian attars vaguely smelling like ideas that belong in a westernised society, scattered among more traditional offerings. But then again, it's not uncommon to encounter small local companies using ingredients by the big aromachemical producing companies, such as Givaudan, Firmenich and IFF, even in the medinas of the Arabian peninsula! So nothing comes as a shock to my eyes any more...
I was sent a little of this intriguing Arabian fragrance by my eloquent friend Maria from Bittergrace Notes in a back and forth of perfume haikus to communicate impressions on the most evanescent of small pleasures. She had described it as "a rich, green patchouli-fest" and she proved to be dead-on. The opening ofAl Maali has an interesting spicy-limpid accord that reminds me of wet nutmeg and cardamom pods, ready to be used in Easter bread dough or a smidge of the spicy-powdery top of Yves Saint Laurent's discontinuedNu in Eau de Parfum. Maybe even a small, small hint of saffron? Yet wait a couple of seconds and with a rushed dash patchouli enters the scene unapologetically, its radiance and warmth being generous and "open", quite natural in fact and capturing the audience for the duration of the performance. I am quite fond of patchouli and in fact have a precious bottle of 20 years old essence which I cherish. When patchouli oil ages it gains in complexity and acquires a round effect which adds to its charm.
The effect in Al Maali is semi-gourmand, quite coumarinic with a whisper of sweetness minus the caramel tonalities of the usual treatment in that mold and with a dangerous undercurrent of sensuality. I don't quite understand how the desciption on the site states "Light floral, green scent; fresh and understated". It is anything but light or floral (or traditionally fresh) and it asserts its presence in a most delightful way. Yet I can see how this is excellently suited to both sexes and suitable for year long wearing if you use it sparingly. I would hazzard that it would please the numerous fans of the progeny of both bittersweet gourmands in the mold of Lolita Lempicka and Angel as well as the boho-chic youth of today with their nostalgic eye on the 60s. The lasting power is exceptional and the diffusion/sillage very pleasing, radiating warmly without making you choke to your death upon spritz (at least judging by my sample sprayer which diffuses it in a light and steady mist).
You can buy Al Maalion the Crescent Beauty site (what a cute name!) and the price is quite advantageous compared tothe western equivalents.
Montale Parfums, the prolific brand by Pierre Montale, presented their fragrances and new issues at Esxence, the Scent of Excellence in Milan. The tradition of the house for sensuous, opulent, exotic fragrances wasn't betrayed. Vanilla Extasy (ylang-ylang from Comoro Islands, Egyptian jasmine, apricot, sandalwood, mahogany, benzoin, vanilla), Golden Aoud (Bulgarian rose, geranium bourbon and patchouli leaves, leather and Jamaican capsicum) and Aoud Ambre are centered around the traditional triad of mystical perfumes of the orient: rose, oud and incense. They form part of the Gold collection. Pure Gold, Louban, Aoud Leather, Amber & Spices are warm and enveloping, with a rich undertone. Deep Roses, Wild Aoud and Boisé-Fruité (woody fruity) belong to the Bronze collection, dedicated to men: a little more rigorous and somber but always exotic.
"Parfums Montale came into being in 2001, when perfumer Pierre Montale relocated to Saudi Arabia and began to create perfumes for Arabian kings, queens, sultans and princesses. In 2003, he opened his first showroom in Paris and unveiled his masterful creations to the West, combining Eastern essences with precious woods, resins, florals, sweet confections and spices from around the world."
The Arabian Nights escaped from the pages into an exposition of perfumes...
There is a very interesting homage to Arabian perfumes and corresponding influences on Osmoz right now, with beautiful pictures to accompany it, focusing on the firmly established traditions of Arabian culture in regards to fragrance use ~from fumigation to rich oil preparations and sourcing exotic materials, such as oudh and viscous balsams. After all, it's those traditions which have inspired one of the most emblematic of the niche brands revered today among perfume enthusiasts: Serge Lutens. You can read about some of the more popular Arabian perfumes, some of the essenses and how they have been translated to Westernised perceptions, as well as the influence they have generated to the insatiable western consumer. For more information and musings on the traditions and uses of Arabian scents and aromatics, you can read on Perfume Shrine: Travel Memoirs Arabian Rituals and Arabian Attars, journey to the mundane?.
We will shortly come back with a glimpse of the opulent and ultra-luxurious Amouage line, a Valentine's Day article on seductive fragrancing with a twist, exotic Travel Memoirs and a corresponding scent to match the mood and an ultra-rare surprise vintage treasure that has never been reviewed before which I have been most lucky to lay my hands (and nose) on. Stay tuned!!
Ancient traditions have the endearing trait of sometimes not being out of place in the modern world and even recalling beliefs which we thought had expired along with the pre-Industrialised world. It wasn't too long ago that we were talking about Arabian Rituals and about incensing clothes and body in preparation for weddings as well as an everyday custom that women (and men) indulge into for well-being and appeal. A kind reader by the name Kels sent us the following clip, which depicts the fascinating process in all its detail, shot in Yemen, as part of the BBC documentary "Women in Black".
The charcoals are placed in the ceramic censer and a scarf is placed over the head to catch the fragrant emanations, sometimes making the eyes water from the smoke but obviously imparting a magnificent aura of divine beauty. "In the west you smoke fish, meat and cheese. Here we smoke ourselves". Indeed!
In fact the whole documentary is exceedingly interesting on many levels, fragrance nonwithstanding, so I highly recommend you click on the following link and watch the clips uploaded. Enlightening!
Next: musings on an enduringly classic fragrance that is a legend in its own right!
Clip originally uploaded by BBCWomeninBlack on Youtube.
Encountering other cultures is often revealing of prejudices of one own’s culture. And nowhere is this more apparent than upon glimpsing the fragrant rituals of the Middle East and in particular the Arab world. Immersed in the tradition of aromas, which were brought to Europe through the Crusades, soon opens a vista of a sensuous world. Fragrance is used to augment not only a person’s attraction but also to enhance food, living quarters and personal objects, to give a sense of moral purity and to unite members of a social group. Furthermore, in Islam scent is coupled to beliefs of evil spirits being associated to foul smells, while “the scented person is surrounded by angels”. Fragrance therefore takes on a deeply spiritual meaning, a matter of sanctity or sin, allying one with the forces of good and dispelling evil influences.
Arab people use aromatics in abundance and they revel in expensive materials when they can afford it, but they try to use what they can lay their hands on when they cannot. Women adhere to the motto: “We must use lots of smells”. But contrary to the beastly trail one imagines being left behind, that does not happen in public. An intimate approach is favored: within family and friends or among other women’s company.
In the United Arab Emirates specifically, highly prized are aloe wood (with a price to reflect it of upwards 250$ a pound), saffron, musk, rose, ambergris, jasmine, Arabian jasmine, narcissus, sandalwood, civet, and henna. Oil form is prefered due to its sensual nature and because oil holds fragrance better. Seeds and leaves are grinded into powder to enrich those oils. Arabian women are increasingly appreciating the convenience of Western-style spray fragrances, emulating the Western ideal, yet there is also the belief those smell a little less beautiful due to the intense alcoholic blast out of the sprayer.
Different aromatics are employed for different parts of the body. After a thorough bath, based on the principle that the application of fragrance on unwashed skin invites disease, the ritual begins. The purpose of perfuming is to revel in the scent. Rose, musk and saffron are favored for use all over, while hair benefits from sesame seed or walnut oil, fragranced with essences of ambergris or jasmine. Mkhammariyah is a red-hued mixture of aloe wood, saffron, rose, musk and civet that is put on ears for scenting as well as coloring. The armpits are scented with ambergris or sandalwood, the nostrils with aloe wood, the neck with ambergris, aloe wood, saffron, musk, narcissus and rose.
The rituals become even more elaborate for a wedding: the bride is washed, massaged, oiled and censed with various unguents and lotions. The bridal dress is soaked in water aromatized with rose-water, pepper, saffron and civet and then fumigated with ambergris and musk. A husband says after describing his wife’s scents on her person and her garments: “We men like all scents used but have a preference for musk, ambergris, aloe wood and saffron”*. Arabian men are also catered for: often with the same scents ~ rose, ambergris and particularly aloe wood. They are rubbed on ears, under nostrils, on the palms and smeared on the beard.
Clothes are censed with “fumigation”: washed, dried and then placed on a rack over a big incense burner purposely used for this process. The scent captured by the fabric remains perceptible even after washing, that dense the cloud of smoke is. Darker clothes (usually worn by women) are being censed with aloe wood, musk, ambergris, rose, Arabic gum and sugar, while white clothes (usually worn by men) are only censed with aloe wood for fear of staining.
You can watch the ritual here:
Olfactory pleasures come in gustatory form as well. Food is cooked slowly, with lid on, so as to preserve the aromas of fragrant materials used, resulting in mouth-watering Epicureanism. Spices are highly prized, especially anise, pepper, cinnamon, clove, garlic and ginger. Rose-water, orange-blossom water, cardamom and saffron are recipe ingredients in desserts. Cardamom is used in Arabic coffee and saffron in tea, while both saffron and cardamom oil are often added to milk. Frankincense smoke is sometimes used for drinking water, also useful for disinfecting it, which is arguably the origin of the now archaic tradition. A pot is filled with thick frankincense vapors, then water is poured over it and the lid put back on.
An invitation to an Arab house is occasion for reveling in olfactory pleasures as a means of tightening social ties. Good manners dictate to arrive pleasantly perfumed and to compliment the scents of the house and the food. The end of a meal is a chance to partake in fragrance sharing rituals, which intensifies the group’s sense of unity. A 19th century narration of the process goes thus: “A small square box […] is filled with charcoal or live embers of Ithel and on these are laid three or four small bits of sweet-scented wood. […] Everyone now takes in turn the burning vase, passes it under his beard…next lifts up one after another the corners of his head-gear or kerchief, to catch therein an abiding perfume.”* Currently Arab hostesses bring out fragrances for the guests to savor and put on themselves. The higher quality the scents are, the higher the praise for the hostess when passersby and friends smell the guests leaving from the place of invitation.
The pious aspect of fragrances in the Arab world is reflected in places of holiness and funeral rites. Mosques are weekly incensed with frankincense for purification and it is an old tradition that musk had been used in the mortar to render a pleasant smell for years to come. I haven’t personally smelled it as such but the literature insists that it was so. Funerals are held to be scented affairs. The body is washed with water scented with fragrant leaves and then smeared with camphor, sandalwood and saffron oil. On each side a censer, with Arabic gum and frankincense respectively, is placed, while the burial ground is also aromatized with aloe wood sticks sending their fragrant trails to the heavens. However it is interesting to note that although perfuming is lavished on the dead, for this occasion it is reserved for them only: the living do not use perfume as a mark of separation from the realm of the dead and as an external manifestation of mourning.
Recapitulating, it is fascinating to contemplate that fragrance takes on so many aesthetic and moral uses in a rich culture such as the Arabic one. Perhaps the West has still things to get taught.
References: *1) A.Kanafani “Aesthetics and Ritual in the United Arab Emirates: the Anthropology of Food and Personal Adornment among Arabian Women”, American University of Beirut, 1983 pp.42-90 *2) W.G.Palgrave, “Narrative of a year’s journey through Central and Eastern Arabia”, Macmillan 1866, vol.2, p.26
Artwork "Two Lovers" from the 19th century, via the Hermitage museum. Clip originally uploaded by BBCWomeninBlack (from the homonymous documentary) and kindly sent to me by Kels.
There is an underappreciated quality when judging perfume, especially among people who love it. That quality is wearability. It might sound like a dirty word when every other fragrance release from the major companies is akin to putting on a mass-marketed piece of clothing that is being produced in Bangladesh, bearing the insignia of a well-known commercial designer no less. But I assure you that wearability is much more than what meets the eye. It is precisely this quality, often elusive in the niche arena of scents, that accounts for the success of Armando Martinez's perfumes.
From his first foray into Perfume Shrine with the powdery rose and violet honeyed tones of Maquillage, to his masterpiece aldehydic, pearly white floral Pillow of Flowers, Armando has been playing with good quality natural ingredients and aromachemicals that are blended in an ultimate caress of softness and plushness that would never alienate the lover of pleasant aromas. His creations do not lack uniqueness and to wit one could very well mention the mould-breaking herbal Satyr which is certainly different and stranger than most similar attempts on the market. Yet even then, there is a base element that ties loose ends with a pacifying tone like a familiar lullaby one has been carrying in one's mind since childhood.
And it is in this context that Armando's latest fragrance, a shared scent that can be worn by both sexes, Benefactor, is entering the scene; a glimpse of Salome's veils for the delectation of oriental lovers everywhere.
"Benefactor, a scent that envelopes the wearer in a cloak of roses, vanilla and agarwood. A modern take on the age old arabic perfume. An oriental that is unisex. Benefactor's notes include: bergamot, camphor, turkish rose, saffron, vetiver, atlas cedarwood, vanilla, and agarwood".
(quote from Armando Martinez site).
Although a camphoric opening might predispose one for The Agony and the Ecstasy of none other than the perverse beauty of Tubereuse Criminelle by Lutens or even his equally strange yet lovely Borneo, in Benefactor the effect is subdued and short-lived enough to not jolt you into shock, yet challenge the nostrils with its peculiar aroma paired with a little culinary saffron, that spice that colours Middle Eastern dishes with its rich golden hues. As the camphoric note dissipates, a sweet and powdery rosiness like that in loukhoums emerges swan-down like from the mélange of notes with a little vanillic underscoring. At this stage the cosiness and softness is eminently beautiful without ever becoming insipid, with agarwood/oudh, that weird wood also appearing in the comparable Black Aoudh by Montale, so prized in arabian perfumery, playing the role of basso continuo all the while; providing the austere backdrop that veers the whole into the unisex universe of scents. A simple composition that never loses its charm, it has the benefit of making one feel at once warm, cuddly and familiar with just the right touch of opulence, daydreaming of a harem in the Arabian Nights.
If interested in purchasing a 2 ounce spray bottle or requesting samples, Mando is charging $65.00 a bottle for each of his creations, directly from his site: Click here. They are currently for sale also in Europe on First in Fragrance/Aus liebe zum Duft website. Click here for details.
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