La Via del Profumo Milano Caffe & Venezia Giardini Secreti: fragrance reviews & free bottles giveaway

I'm starting with the really spectacular: We have a giveaway on Perfume Shrine, one winner will win TWO free perfume bottles of the newest creations by La Via del Profumo straight from Italy, one of Milano Caffé and one of Venezia Giardini Secreti (the first two fragrances in the new Italian Series). The draw is open to all till Wednesday 19th midnight and all you need to do is comment in the comment section below to be eligible. The winner will be announced on Thursday.

Now that we got this off our chest, let's concentrate on the gorgeous fragrances themselves!

La via del Profumo, an authentically artisanal line of exquisitely crafted fragrances, composed by natural perfumer Abdes Salaam Attar (Dominique Dubrana) in Italy, is proud to present the new "Italian Series," an homage to five great Italian cities (Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome and Naples) and the Italian country as a whole.

MILANO CAFFE

A sybarite fragrance needs the proper mind-frame to work and Italy with its languid climate and smooth contours of land naturally lends itself to it. The pervading and intoxicating scent of freshly ground coffee is one small part of this luxury of letting time slip by. The mingling of chocolate in the composition of Milano Caffé recalls the dusting of cocoa powder on the white "caplet" of a hearty and filling cappuccino, drunk leisurely with a view of the impressive Duomo before taking a stroll down the Via Montenapoleone for some serious window shopping. The Milanese are nothing if not sticklers for detail, from their dog's collar to their impeccable shoes, and I can feel in Milano Caffé the vibrancy of the elegant woody and spicy background which hums underneath the culinary notes of the top. Coffee is naturally a complex smell, comprised of caramelized & smoky/acrid facets on one end, of woody, like freshly sharpened pencils, on the other.

via virtualtourist

The dry quality of the fragrance despite the tonka bean and ambery richness elevates the composition into classic resinous-balsamic level; one mistakes smelling Milano Caffé for a full-bodied vintage that peels layer after layer after layer. In fact, what is most surprising is finding a hint of the cocoa-facet of orris and something which reminds me of the fluff, the flou quality of the resin opoponax, amidst the proceedings. This caress under the dark and bitterish flavor of coffee only serves to consolidate the infiltrating appeal of that highly prized bean, that elixir of life, the coffea arabica, cutting its slightly acidic character. Although the spicy woodiness might make Milano Caffé more conventionally masculine in direction, its richness and cuddly chocolate note makes it a great choice for the woman who doesn't follow trends but rather sets them herself. After all, it is no accident that coffee and coffee shops were seen as the nursery of revolution and of anarchy, and that both Ottoman Turkey in the 17th century and the Ethiopian church banned the exotic bean's secular consumption; it's that stimulating!

VENEZIA GIARDINI SECRETI

Venezia Giardini Secreti is inspired by the small "pockets" within Venice and the tales of the very popular in Italy Corto Maltese cartoon books, specifically "Favola di Venezia" ("Tale of Venice"). Venice is also the abode of Chevalier de Seingalt, more commonly known as the greatest womanizer of them all...

The solace of the shady gardens breeds flights of fancy and the escape of the intrigue of the political world: "When the Venetians are tired of the constituted authorities, they hid in these three secret places, these doors at the bottom of the secret passages opening to beautiful places and other stories ..." Whatever the story is, Venezia Giardini Secreti is redolent of the sweetly intoxicating scent of blooming jasmine and of rose blossoming in the summertime, allied to the mysticism and the marine signature of ambergris, an emblem of the naval tradition of "La Republicca Marinara".

via 

In a way there is a kinship between Tawaf, La Via del Profumo's jasmine fragrance from the Arabian Series, which is redolent of the jasmine sambac variety, rich, heady, like an aching pleasure and a call of beauty, and the latest offering in the Italian Series. And yet in Venezia Giardini Segreti the direction veers into less of a resinous floriental, with the anchoring of the base providing the softest pungency, an animalic hint more than a mysterious, apocryphal rite. For all the secrecy of the passages under the canals—which lead to gardens of a hundred delights and of the erotically charged tales of Casanova—the elegance and grace of Venezia Giardini Segreti is manifested in a touch of soft leather, a hint of motherly milk, a whiff of salty sea ...

La Via del Profumo Tawaf: fragrance review & bottle giveaway

"It was the month of March last year when I stopped by in Arabia on my way back from Oman and went to Mecca. Silk produces strange optical effects according to the way it is woven. One afternoon I discovered the Ka’aba in a colour I had never seen it before. Instead of a dark black on which the oven calligraphies were nearly invisible, the particular sunlight of that afternoon made it light grey, enhancing the calligraphies."

 Thus begins the inspiration behind Tawaf.... The Ka'abah is the geographic center of the Arabian soul, of its spirituality, culture and civilization and Tawaf (طواف) is the name of the muslim ritual consisting of circumambulations [7 times counter-clockwise] around the Ka’abah, the cube shaped building in Mecca, adorned with black silk.

El Topo (1970) film via killthesnark.blogspot.com

Abdes Salaam, the all naturals perfumer pilgrim which travels under the passport of Dominique Dubrana, now has encapsulated this spiritual journey into a new fragrance that is as oriental as it is mystical. It's a common westernized preconception to think of the scents of the East as seductive by default, a tradition inaugurated by Shalimar (Guerlain) in the 1920s when anything eastern seemed filled with promise of forbidden delights, but the apocryphal spirituality of the Middle East hides in the sockets of this jasmine-strewn all natural oriental that aims at the soul as much as it does at the body. Forget all about the Middle Eastern tourist-y "oudh" fragrances churned out by western niche brands too.

The Tawaf fragrance is the aromatic "melody" of the scents that surround those performing the Tawaf. It brings together the trails of Jasmine Sambac that pilgrims wear, the rose water poured from buckets to wash the white marble floor and the Oppoponax attar spread by the handful over the corners of the Ka’abah. These are the essences that comprise the new fragrance. Other ingredients meaningful in the Arabic tradition are Narcissus and Myrrh. Tawaf is a binary perfume constructed on the combination of two accords that intertwine without melting one into each other, the Jasmine Sambac accord and the Oppoponax resin accord interweaving like two colored Chinese silk fabrics which display two different colors depending on how the light shines on them."

I am already a fan of most of Abdes Salaam perfumes (if you have read this blog long enough, you know it by now) so it wasn't such a leap falling in love with a perfume which combines two of my favorite notes: jasmine and opoponax. You got to love a perfumer who is as assured of himself as to publicly state that "it's not difficult to make a good fragrance". Even more so when he's not profiting of the short-cuts that using a handful of passe-partout synthetics present in today's industry ("let's put a lab-produced citral and peony top note with some rose & patchoulol in the heart and boost the base with tons of Iso-E Super and Ambroxan for tenacity & diffusion and call it a day"). But the blending in Tawaf, although recognizably a melange of jasmine and opoponax resin (the latter giving that hazy, soft focus effect that seems like you're seeing everything through a vaseline-smeared lens), is so much more than the sum of its parts. The golden ambience of the jasmine is warm, plush, generous, late summery in feeling, yet with an austere and unusual broom hint. The flower takes on facets of honeysuckle and still green narcissus; fatty, happy, yellow, elevated on an elemental plane where plant emerges from the soil triumphant, alive, touching the sky. The myrrh inclusion is ascetic, bittersweet, offsetting the sweeter floral essences and the delicate rose veil.
Tawaf surrounds the self with the mystery and awe reserved not for tales of maudlin romance, but for the encompassing need for a higher being that knows no religious boundaries and no country borders. And for that it is essential. It's hard to believe anyone wouldn't -at least-like it; it would indicate they're soulless...

Tawaf is available at the La Via del profumo site in 15.5 ml, 33 ml and 50 ml bottles (beautifully decorated with Arab calligraphy). There is also an innovative Tawaf blending kit the aim of which is to allow you to compose the fragrance according to your personal taste. With the kit you’ll be able to change the perfume every day in a different way, to match your mood and state of mind.[more details on the link]

 A 15ml bottle of Tawaf will be given by the perfumer to a Perfume Shrine reader. Please share in the comments how you envision a spiritual experience related to smell (or if you have any such scented spiritual experience!) to be eligible. The giveaway is open to US and Canada readers only, this time, due to USPS regulations (sorry about that...). Draw remains open till Friday 26th midnight and the prize will be posted by the perfumer directly to the winner.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Abdes Salaam & La Via del Profumo fragrances, 
Mapping Scents of Spitiruality.

In the interests of disclosure, I was sent a sample for reviewing purposes by the perfumer directly.

La Via del Profumo Mecca Balsam: fragrance review & bottle giveaway

O Marvel! a garden amidst the flames.
My heart has become capable of every form:
it is a pasture for gazelles and a convent for Christian monks,
and a temple for idols and the pilgrim's Kaa'ba,
and the tables of the Torah and the book of the Quran.
I follow the religion of Love: whatever way Love's camels take,
that is my religion and my faith.

~Ibn al-`Arabi, Tarjuman al-Ashwaq, in The Mystics of Islam, translated by Reynold A Nicholson


Balsamo della Mecca, or Mecca Balsam in English, is the latest all-naturals fragrance developed by perfumer Dominique Dubrana, whose nom de guerre is Abdes Salaam. It was inspired by a trip the perfumer took to Mecca during Hajj. Salaam parallels the aromata invading the streets of Mecca with a river carrying labdanum, franincense,benzoin and agarwood, and which pours to the street 5 times a day along with the pilgrims who walk up to the great mosque. Accordingly Balsamo della Mecca/Mecca Balsam contains autocthone notes of: cistus labdanum, frankincense, benzoin, agarwood, tonka bean, tobacco, Indian tuberose and Damask rose.


The olfactory landscape of Arabia and Mecca in particular is unusual for a westerner, the proflugation of scents unforgettable, the catchartic ritual requiring the lavish use of perfumes up till taking the simple white dress of Ihram... This aromatic ambience was recreated through the artistry of one of the best all-naturals illusioninsts of this world, Dominique Dubrana of La Via del Profumo, an Italian niche line which includes the esoterically-named "Scents of the Soul". Regular readers will recall how the vetiver-infused Samurai as well as the euphorically tangy neroli marvel Morning Blossom have occupied these pages in the past. This time Salaam was most generous in offering one full-size bottle of the latest fragrance to one of our readers, which I took some liberties in photographing for your enjoyement (So if you want to win, you know what to do, leave a comment!)



Comparing Mecca Balsam to other scents, one would be inclined to classify it alongside the rich ambience of Amouage oriental attars (Amouage attar Tribute isn't at all foreign to this idea) with their majestic sweep and incredible lasting power. Even though most all-naturals have a more fleeting appearence, some of these base-heavy Arabian inspired compositions, such as Mecca Balsam, anchor themselves with conviction through the marriage of resinous and balsamic touches.

Indeed Mecca Balsam feels like it is all base, all depth, all the time! Its wonderful, smoky-ambery leather core is comprised mainly of labdanum and incense (both benzoin and frankincense for the latter; interpolating warm and cool, sweet and sour respectively) and these two notes reverberate throughout the duration of the fragrance on the skin almost audibly, such is their bass & drum dynamics! Lovers of the shredded tobacco and "cola" effect (due to the synergy of tonka bean and the balsams) that hides in the heart of classic orientals such as Youth Dew, Tabu and the percursor Coty's L'Origan, or more modern interpretations such as YSL's Opium, Escada Collection and even Eau d'Italie's Paestum Rose (with its root beer vibe), will be delighted to find a replicable effect in Mecca Balsam. These would also provide great layering partners in lotion form, to traject the tracks into the night. Aficionados of the mini-cult that is Madame X by Ava Luxe will find in Mecca Balsam a luxurious upgrade using only the finest ingredients.
Even though agarwood (oud) is mentioned within the notes, its inclusion is not the -be-all-end-all of the presentation like it is with several Montale oud fragrances or indeed some of the other "ouds", such as By Kilian or Tom Ford's. Instead working its magic in the wings, it only hints at its presence, as do the precious flowers (rose and tuberose). Mecca Balsam could be worn by both sexes with ease and is sure to create both a warming, reassuring ambience around you as well as a pulling, sexy effect that won't go unnoticed.


Balsamo della Mecca/Mecca Balsam is available directly from La Via del Profumo in 16ml bottles (for €34,17) or 55ml (for €91,67) of Eau de Parfum.

This is the actual bottle that will be given to one lucky reader, courtesy of Profumo.it. State your interest in the comments! (Draw is now closed, thanks for participating).

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Labdanum, an important material, Abdes Salaam/Profumo.it scents, Scents with leather notes, Labdanum scents and info

All photographs © by Elena Vosnaki/Perfume Shrine.