Almond, marzipan and Tonka Latte by Dusita

 

Marzipan, the almond paste soft enough to mold into shapes, on the other hand, has known commercial success long before hazelnut became a household name. 

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There is Hypnotic Poison of course to thank for that. a staggering success across all age brackets, to the point that for many this is the archetypal Poison (especially millennials who did not recall the original Poison from the 1980s). Pi (Givenchy) was also strong, especially in the years following since its launch in 1998, opening the vista for masculine fragrances into something unapologetically sweet. Jour de Fête, again from L’Artisan Parfumeur, took the almond note into a special preparation in 2004: sugared almonds (also called Jordan almonds for some). And then Tonka Impériale from Guerlain folded the almondy paste into the glorious effect of a baroque serving table in 2010. 

photo borrowed via 

 Dusita Tonka Latte is the latest offering on the edible deliciousness of almond, launched in 2025. Soft marzipan is an understatement. As I had written, back when picking the best launches I had tried until the first weeks of summer, "The gourmand genre is overshadowing everything in its stride, commercially dominating the market, especially in the 17-40 age group. It's not something to cry about, of course, people need the jolt of newness to respark their interest in perfumery. The French brand Dusita recreates the milk-almondy genre with their newest creation Tonka Latte in a refined way. It therefore makes it possible to indulge in a gourmand fragrance without being overwhelmed by the diabetic proclivities of so many other scents. If you're searching for that easy-to-wear milky-creamy scent of toasted almonds and posh body lotions, the scent to wear after a bath and on silken sheets beside a loved one, you've arrived. Look no further."

Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Aegea: fragrance review

 

Estée Lauder just launched a new limited edition flanker to its popular 2008 fragrance Bronze Goddess named Bronze Goddess Aegea. The name suggests inspiration from the feeling of an island escape on an island in the Aegean Sea. Following last year's Bronze Goddess Flora Verde, the new version differs from the tropical suntan lotion of coconut and ylang that most summer flankers of that sort of genre have to offer.

The allusion of the Aegean with its rich history and specific references is hard to do justice in a perfume, nevertheless. And yet Bronze Goddess Aegea is not amiss. It has a dry feeling of dried hay that perfectly recalls one feeling that is prevalent in Greece: the dust from the ground, the soil, which sits on everything till the gust of wild winds of the Aegean redistributes it anew.

Lauder has again invested in the tourist interest for Greek island-hopping, launching Aegean Blossom for the Aerin brand. The images were breathtaking, the minimalist luxury of a veranda over the sea and pottery with big, fragrant flowers flanking the easy living of summer. A dreamlike sequence.

The coconut is discreet in Bronze Goddess Aegea, more of an idea of suntan oil than of actual suntan formula, or tropical fruity, and the so-called bougainvillea note manages to give that dusty feeling to the proceedings. It's as if one lays down on a stack of dry hay to rest when the sun rises to its apex and tourists are advised to lay low, wear their hats, and take little to no action apart from taking a swim. It's a silent hour, the hour of siesta, of the moment when the upcoming transport is almost liquified at the end of the horizon. Then rises the fig — inviting, green, and very delectable — a very characteristic note of Greek summer, beloved in perfumery ever since Premier Figuier (L' Artisan Parfumeur) and Philosykos (Diptyque), whose Hellenic-inspired background makes my heart warm. It's a lovely fig note, delicate, smooth and mouth-watering, which elevates Bronze Goddess Aegea beyond the usual summer concoction. 

The clean musk at the base makes it last and become skin-scent-like after several hours, melting with the green-milky-soft ambiance. It makes this limited edition a must-add to any Lauder collector, but more importantly, a must-have for anyone dreaming of catching a whiff of the glorious Greek summer while cooped up in an office somewhere urban and stifled. Enjoy wisely as Bronze Goddess Aegea is a limited edition! 

NOTES for Bronze Goddess Aegea
Top: Italian bergamot, ylang-ylang, violet leaf
Heart: fig nectar, pink bougainvillea, jasmine sambac absolute
Base: sandalwood, coconut milk, musk

More PerfumeShrine articles to read: Beauty and the Beach, beachy scents for summer

Ex Nihilo Iris Porcelana: fragrance review

 

In January 2022, Ex Nihilo introduced a new women's fragrance, Iris Porcelana. The inspiration for its creation was fine porcelain that came to Europe from the East, as well as a perfume material called Pallida iris. The perfumer is Dalia Izem (of Givaudan), a young perfumer from Dubai. The fragrance joined the main collection of the brand named Initiale, which already includes bestsellers such as Fleur Narcotique and Lust in Paradise and is therefore a useful gauge of how brands perceive materials and concepts. 

photo borrowed from Pinterest

The iris one is very popular, having become almost synonymous with a delicate feminity that is so sought after by many, many women nowadays. Alongside violet, it's often at the core of "powdery fragrances." Notes like milk, vanilla, iris, ambrette seeds, cashmere woods, musk, "cotton," and soap also define a genre of fragrances that create a sense of comfort and serenity, very sought after during and since the pandemic. Truth is, iris "notes" are routinely produced through less expensive methods. But this is neither here nor there; their magic happens not because of the cost itself, but of the perceived value.It's all a game of smoke-and-mirrors! But it works. It definitely works. 

 In Iris Porcelana by Ex Nihilo, the iris is rendered lightly metallic, with an eau de vie touch, and then fanned on something totally unexpected: Hazelnuts! The star ingredient appears thanks to a potent aromachemical in several creations in recent years. Being safe for even food use (GRAS), it is exploited with gay abandon in perfumery, exactly because it is not going to be on the chopping block of potential allergens in the near future. 

 From the intense praline in Angel Muse by Mugler to Amouage Guidance (a fragrance which I reviewed here and which takes Filbertone to the next level by overdosing), this trend shows no signs of abating: Devotion Intense, Patchouli Noisette, Valentino Uomo, English Oak & Hazelnut (Jo Malone), Aimez moi comme je suis (Caron), Joop! Homme Eau de Parfum, several boutique fragrances in the Trussardi line, Vetiver Gris, and even La Vie est Belle L'eau de parfum Intense. The precursor in the combination of Iris Porcelana is probably Praliné de Santal by innovative niche creator Pierre Guillaume. He coupled the sandalwood milkiness with the hazelnut savory facets and created an atypical fragrance that fascinates. And of course the pioneer was Mechant Loup by L'artisan Parfumeur as far back (in relative terms of contemporary perfumery) in 1997!

Zadig & Voltaire This is Her: the mysterious jolt of Ambroxan and Lactone

 

Cecilia Bönström, artistic director of Zadig & Voltaire, told wwd at the time of This is Her! and This is Him! launch that the idea was to break from what already existed on the market and "to find a balance of something really clean and something darker, more mysterious." The woody, floral, and gourmand This is Her!, signed by perfumer duo Sidonie Lancesseur and Michel Almairac, contains notes of pink pepper, Sambac jasmine, silkwood blossom, milky chestnut, whipped cream, vanilla, cashmere woods, and sandalwood. 

photo borrowed from pinterest

It's all very soft, tender, plush... creamy, like a dessert or maybe a body lotion? I think therein lies the riddle. Although This is Her! masquerades as a gourmand fragrance with all those sweet and edible references in the given notes, in reality, the composition reveals one characteristic that is overlooked. The lactonic impression is, in reality, translating as... metallic. Clean and a little bit shrill. With lots of starched musks (Cashmeran adding a shredded sensibility of salty epidermis) and a layer of abstract floralcy the way Noa by Cacharel or Classique by Gaultier are abstractly plush, feminine, soft, and dreamy. 

 Any woodiness (Ambroxan mainly) is interpreted the way Artificial Intelligence would interpret the picture of woods. Indeed this is all due to the Ambroxan that lies hidden in the formula and the Cashmeran (cashmere woods) in the given notes of the pyramid, with its salty-clean musky-woody appeal. This is part of the charm, as most women would object to much woodiness in their everyday fragrance; they tend to associate it with masculinity or sobriety. But formulas reminiscent of body lotion with musky garlands and irone-rich laces? And a little bit vanilla? They're mad for them! 

The whipped milk construct is especially comforting presented as such, since the term "milk" might refer to edible milk pudding, but also body milk products. Milk also connotes life-sustaining breast milk, the Milky Way, and even droplets of semen in outré works of art bordering on pornography. The mental interplay between "deserving to indulge" but also "deserving to pamper myself" is, in my opinion, the crux of the matter, what makes This is Her! so commercially successful. The eyes interpret the white contours, the startling black lettering of hip and cool upon this unspoiled canvas, the mind reads the indulgent presentation of olfactory effects, and then the nose and skin recognize immediately the familiarity of skin-scent effects that work their well-known magic, acting as an insulating cocoon against the cruel world outside. That's how you build a best-seller for the masses, apparently.

Woudacieux Mousse d'Arbre Gris: Fragrance Review

 

There are few things I appreciate more than stumbling upon a clever word play which intrigues my mind and excites my hopes for something unusual. Mousse d'Arbre Gris was one such thing in the perfume world, and it caught me by surprise, since I had not heard of the Woudacieux Haute Parfumerie brand before. Lucky for me, the Internet and its wonders has a way of introducing me to all sort of bright ideas. And so, on I plunged and tried the fragrances.

 

Mousse d'Arbre Gris immediately impressed me. The wordplay lies in arbre being tree in French, while ambregris is grey amber, the notorious perfumery ingredient from sperm whales. And mousse is froth, foam, the fluffy texture of a dessert or lather. In short, it's not what it seems, it's so much more. 

All the Woudacieux fragrances I tried give the sensation of high ratio of natural extracts in them. They have this herbal, primal quality about them. The initial spray of Mousse d'Arbre Gris is redolent of jatamansi, or spikenard (the Latin name Nardostachys jatamansi indicates being part of the honeysuckle family). Native to the Alpine Himalayas and mentioned in the traditional medicine system of Ayurveda, jatamansi/spikenard is precious and important.

The scent of Mousse d'Arbre Gris is both green, herbal, resinous, between salty and warm-powdery -it gives mysterious and welcoming vibes of the vegetal and earthy kind.
The brand as a whole has a hippy-classy quality about them, the fragrances are vegan and produced in limited batches (2000 were created for this one). The illustrations speak of an affinity for botanical sketches on old books, and the fairies that seem to be dancing on the labels give an impression of a Victorian album.

It's a quiet and introspective scent that projects moderately and creates a sense of allure about its wearer. The synergy of synthesized castoreum,civet and ambregris gives a rich body behind the greener and floral touches of the top. It's supple and soft, ambery, non invasive yet still very there. The company introduces it as "an introductory turn on for both sexes" and it really is.

The 20% concentration of compound in the Eau de Parfum ensures a great lasting power to the mix and a value for money application. You only need a couple of sprays I found to fulfill the frothy mix of mossy-herbal softness aura around you. The bottle can be found on the official website. You can see images of the brand on their Pinterest account.

 

Agent Provocateur Blue Silk: fragrance review

 Blue Silk, part of a flanker duet launched in 2018 by lingerie brand Agent Provocateur (the other being Lace Noir) is credited to Beverly Bayne, shifting from the usual Christian Provenzano creative umbrella. 

The company presented it thus: "Making a sensuous entrance into the Agent Provocateur fragrance collection, Blue Silk is an unforgettable perfume, feminine, provocative and deeply romantic. Piquant top notes of woody, rosy pink pepper, revitalizing citrus from lemon and mandarin and exhilarating, fresh juniper combine with floral middle notes from classic rose and rich, sweet, precious jasmine, alongside the honeyed peach tones of nectarine and the warmth of spicy cinnamon. Leaving a lingering feeling of deep, almost smoky sensuality are the base notes of hypnotic musk, cooling, earthy vetiver, creamily sweet sandalwood and the vanilla, praline-like tones of aromatic tonka bean."

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What is uncanny about Blue Silk is its delicious top note of bright and lightly sweet spices. It almost creates the impression of the opening of YSL's discontinued Nu eau de parfum, a fragrance overseen by Tom Ford (and this is telling in so many ways.) The spices are almost rejoicing, they never come across as sharp like the air within the spice cabinet. The composition is redolent of the steamed puddings of Jungle Elephant, but done in miniature form; there is none of the bombastic sillage of Kenzo's mastodont. 

The muskiness surfaces like a silky undergarment peeked through a crepe dress; it does feel silky and soft, very wearable and romantic, melding with the wearer's skin, and creates erotic imagery without prompt. Priceless.

As with most Agent Provocateur fragrances Blue Silk is available in 100ml Eau de Parfum at advantageous prices online and is highly recommended.

Baruti Onder de Linde: fragrance review

 Exploring the Baruti line, a niche collection by Greek perfumer Spyros Drosopoulos, based in the Netherlands, I found myself transfixed by Onder de Linde, which roughly translates from the Dutch as "under the linden trees." (Sounds dreamy, doesn't it?)

This extrait de parfum has a way of speaking of blue skies and honeyed blossoms in a modern, totally unexpected way, as the floralcy does not arise till halfway in the heart notes. It might be that it came right when we were facing a very ominous winter, with the hope of spring far in the air, so this promise of joy and uplifting optimism was a much needed glimpse of a better future. It acts like an anti-depressant, almost, on a weary soul. It's honeyed, but restrained in the sweetness, not veering into gourmand territory at any rate. It's neither powdery, which many fragrances in this genre tend to fall into, especially ones which couple the heliotropin and aubepine molecules into mimosa notes that embrace lindens. It's soft like a feather, enduring like the faith of youth in itself.

The brand implies added notes of pear and lilac, which I do not detect per se (and I do love lilacs), but the effect is nothing short of a magical late spring, early summer morning when the birds are chirping and you're on to the love rendezvous you've been awaiting all your life, or – more prosaically – the career step you've always hoped for. It's that joyous, honestly. 

With the assistance of Madeleine Hillen (perfumer's assistant and lab manager) and Maria Chetskaya (brand manager), Baruti is going forward, plunging into the demanding niche sector, where you have to put your money where your mouth is to survive among hundreds of companies building their portfolio of scents day by day, year by year. It's clear they're destined for a bright future!