Vero profumo line ~Onda: fragrance review

As we discussed the other day, Vero Kern is a very talented perfumer in the horizon of niche perfumery. She interweaves elements of surprise in her creations that astonish and make you immediately see that here lies a complex naturalistic composition that is meant for your intricate exploration.
And her talent shows through in her rich scent Onda.
Onda means wave in Spanish and Italian, while in the phrase “Que onda?” it means “what’s up”? In summary, don’t get swayed by the name, because it’s meant to signify that you should close your eyes and inhale deeply the kaleidoscopic journey that Onda is bringing on.

Deep within the Java jungle a great big tiger awaits: the rumour is that she is a man-eater, the fear and tremor of the country folk. It’s been some years that she roams the countryside assaulting her innocent victims; she’s a seasoned one, that one.
It’s very rare that you see her, hidden as she is through dark foliage, stepping on wet ground that doesn’t leave footprints behind. Yet, there she is…
It is with awe and amazement that you come to set eyes upon her when walking; her thick warm fur, her contrasting colours , her magnetic eyes that lure you and make you stare like an hypnotised novice in front of a cobra. The air is filled with the aromas of grass and roots: pungent vetiver that is uprooted, bundled and tied with ribbons, emitting a scent of earthiness and primeval dirt, like the soil on which no man has set foot on before. Mace pods have been crushed into your pocket as you stand there in your hardy leather chaps and as you put your hands out of it you suddenly realise that you are sniffable from the distance. Is your fate sealed? Will the man-eater attack? It all depends on your attitude. The bitter and carnal smell of what seems to be ambrette seeds interwoven with honeyed notes makes the approaching achingly desirable, even though you know of the grave danger you risk. The tiger approaches, sees you and appraises you. Stares you deep in the eyes with her own the colour of gems. You’d doomed. She’s one beautiful creature. And as she sits there you realise that today is your lucky day. You will be saved after all. Your amulet of Onda is safe-keeping you with its deep, erotic animalic smell. The musk that lies in its heart and makes you revert to a time of pre-lapsarian carnality with no shame.
You’re one of them! And out in the urban jungle to hunt for prey alongside her.

Onda manages to convert vetiver into a leathery animal that will make you forget all the citrusy, green interpretations you have already experienced by other perfumers (Guerlain Vetiver, Carven Vetiver) and stop you in your tracks as you come back to the original meaning of it: deep earthy roots, animalic undertones, rich pungency.
It will be difficult to pull for many as it requires a very self-assured woman to wear it and one with an attitude that is as far away from prudent as possible. However it is so unique that it merits to be tested even by those who say they cannot do these formulas. Less sweet that the admirable middle-eastern version of Vetiver Oriental by Serge Lutens or the very interesting, smoothed out Vetiver Tonka by Hermes; and very potent~ it can transport you to other places and images and make a statement for which you need never be apologetic about. And it lasts and lasts. If you have “it”, set out and charge.


Vero Profumo fragrances can be sampled/bought in Switzerland and neighbouring countries through the site. You can also contact Vero at profumo@veroprofumo.com.
Plans to bring the line to the US are scheduled for mid 2008.
Prices for Onda extrait de parfum are 105 euros for 7.5ml and 165 euros for 15ml.


Next post will tackle another Vero Kern perfume.

Top pic photography by Art Wolfe courtesy of allposters.com
Bottom pic by Helmut Newton collection Sex and Landscapes courtesy of temple.edu

Vero profumo line ~Kiki: fragrance review

The new niche line I have promised you is none other than Vero Profumo, the spiritual child of Vero Kern, a Switzerland based aromatologist and Paris trained perfumer under the mentoring of none other than famous legend Guy Robert.
I was immensely flattered to find that Vero had been browsing my blog from time to time and as conversation about perfume has a way of broadening horizons and make leaps into the territory of the unknown, I came to virtually meet this kind, eloquent, thoughtful person and try out the precious perfumes.

The introduction that is offered on the impressive and quite artistic site (click here to take a look) is very telling of the motivation that exists behind any intelligent, artful creation. Because perfumery is commerce, but in this day and age we so often forget that it is also an art form: something that does not take account so much the name, the image, the advertising budget and subsequent campaign as the topmost qualities to determine the impact of a scent in the market, but also a product that can bring elation and beauty in one's life at the spritz of an atomiser. As Vero so rightfully says:

"Fragrances and aromas are with us all the time, wherever we go. They can touch us emotionally, even seduce us, and they influence our wellbeing.
Perfume is more than a temporary accessory. It is an unseen "calling card" representing your personality. An imaginary embrace, a "folie a deux" or maybe even a liaison dangereuse. A "je ne sais quoi" that follows like the tail follows a comet".

Indeed unravelling the ties that make up a beautiful composition is like opening up an oyster to find a luminous pearl hidden inside; hidden from the world for the delectation it seems of an inward need. Vero uses precious essences and natural compounds as much as possible realising that the quinta essentia that those materials harbour in their core is accounting for a richer, more multi-nuanced experience than the one rendered by only aromachemicals as is the case with most mainstream perfumery. Of course the synthetic molecules out of a lab can also be used to great aplomb and in this line they are not excluded, but they do not take center stage; rather aid the main act like a chorus in ancient drama ~echoing the main theme, commenting subtly on the protagonists, offering some coaxing when needed.
Her line of perfumes includes three loveable creations in extrait de parfum concentration that captured me in varying degrees: Kiki, Onda and Rubj. Each individual and unique, yet all bonded by an artistic signature that accounts for a certain style through the line. And that is usually the mark of someone who knows what they're doing.
There is a desire to revert to the classicism of yore that provided masterpieces that endure, yet seen through a modern look that makes them awaken the emotions of a contemporary sensibility.

It is in this context that I came upon Kiki, a precious gem of a perfume that has me hooked and hankering for a note that I am usually averse to: namely, lavender. As readers of PerfumeShrine may recall, Andy Tauer's Rêverie au Jardin is one of the few lavender scents that have managed to capture my heart exactly because he managed to render a soft embrace out of it, caressed in a warm scarf worn around the neck on a cool evening strolling along a peaceful garden with a loved one.

If Andy's lavender is a casual, feel good scent that is to be shared with your long-time lover while holding hands and breathing the evening provencial air, making dreams about the eminent future, envisioning a cozy existence of loving sharing, Kiki is more extroverted and naughty signifying the attitude of an illicit couple out for a good time in the city of Light, Paris.
Although lavender is herbaceous and somewhat medicinal by nature (albeit the user of most commercial mass-market products would be hard pressed to realise that, as it is usually swamped by synthetic vanillin to make it cuddly), in Kiki it is clear and distinct for a long while but never becomes bitter nor unpleasant. The undercurrent of a bodily warmth hides in there and some muskiness that retains the sweet smell of sheets in which you have rolled over with your lover and later eaten on while on a Paris tantalizing naughty trip. It is redolent of sexy but classy lacy underwear in ivory that has been kept in those powdered-scented big cardboard boxes with tissue paper, to be used with the sole intent of getting out of it real soon. And if there is some caramel suryp in the room, it will see good use as well.

As the scent progresses interweaving elements of slightly sweet fruity notes that do not overwhelm it becomes intoxicating, like a promenade along the Rive Gauche and the Monmarte, trying to visualise the infamous Kiki de Montparnasse (real name Alice Prin) and her crazy 1920s days: a model, a lover, a nightime queen.
The lasting power and sillage are amazing, as this wafts caramely whiffs with powdery opoponax-patchouli accords throughout the day and into the night, whispering sweet nothings into the ear of the object of a dangerous and irresistible affair. As it can be shared by both sexes, it becomes a memento of a time spent in pure sensualism and pleasure in the big city. Who would have thought that when saying "lavender"? I knew you wouldn't be able to come up with an answer to that one...



Vero Profumo fragrances can be sampled/bought in Switzerland and neighbouring countries through the site. You can also contact Vero at profumo@veroprofumo.com.
Plans to bring the line to the US are scheduled for mid 2008.
Prices for Kiki extrait de parfum are 105 euros for 7.5ml and 165 euros for 15ml.


Next post will tackle another Vero Kern perfume.



Top pic from film Hors de Prix, courtesy of athinorama.gr
Pic of Kiki courtesy of kaismart.com/journal

Treasured features for Trésor

It was just a few days ago that Perfume Shrine was talking about revamped ad campaigns, inspired by the news that Kate Winslet, the quintessential English Rose of tremendous thespian abilities had been chosen to represent the almost classic fragrance by the house of Lancôme, Trésor.

I always thought she would bring pathos and freshness in anything commercial she might touch, remembering her in such roles as the romantically exalted Marianne in Sense and Sensibility or the outwardly rebellious, inwardly sensitive Clementine in the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". Even for a quite heavy handed composition as the original Trésor eau de parfum by Sophia Grojsman, a fragrance that first appeared in 1990 to subsequent throes of overpopularity that made it a little banal. Perhaps now is the time to lure in new customers who will see it with virginal eyes.
For your delectation, here are the first pics that have been sleuthed for you. Enjoy!


Pics originally uploaded at jjb.yuku.com

Kelly Calèche: fragrance review

The haunting, eerie feeling of Eric Satie's Gnossienne no.1 is tied to my mind to smells that resemble Kelly Calèche, the new feminine scent by Hermès, created by acclaimed house perfumer Jean Claude Ellena.

Like the ethereal yet stangely hypnotic nuance of the musical piece, this new perfume takes sparse elements and interweaves them into a complex and evocative piece of abstract, almost atonic art.

The name of the fragrance derives from the notorious Kelly bag, made famous by Grace Kelly who used it to hide her pregnancy on a photo shoot for Life mag in the 50s and somehow the name stuck. Calèche is of course the delicate and classy floral aldehydic chypre created by Guy Robert in 1961 which takes its cue from the fineest type of carriage (however the one depicted on the house's logo since 1945 is le gran duc).

Since Hermès begun its illustrious career in 1837 selling bridles and harnesses, catering to the equinine rather than the sartorial -for which it is more widely known today- leather scents had been into the core of the house for a long time.
Equipage (1970) is linked to that tradition mostly by name while Bel Ami (1986) is indeed encompassing the warm tannic, bitter notes of leather for discerning males. However a leather scent for women was missing from the line-up and Kelly Calèche was to be the new addition to the pantheon.

The luxurious and haughty manner of previous Hermès perfumes like 24 Faubourg for instance has been substituted with a sparseness and minimalism that is due to the signing up of Jean Claude Ellena as house perfumer fairly recently, a move that resulted in such offerings as the mineral-smelling Terre d'Hermès, the quietly serene Un Jardin en Mediteranée , the limpid, tart wonder that is Un Jardin sur le Nil and the restraintely gourmandish Elixir des Merveilles. But maybe he is mostly known for his Hèrmessences, a pleiad of scents that are selectively distributed only in Hermès boutiques, which present facets of different textiles tranlsated into an olfactory ambience. Needless to say that Perfume Shrine has long been a fan of mr. Ellena's work.


In this one he was inspired by a passage from writer Jean Giono's Jean Le Bleu. There the narrator talks of his departed father, a cobbler, who is "making soles in angel leather." (quote according to Woman's Wear Daily). The muse sounds incredibly alluring and it has created an anticipation across perfumephiles like no other scent for its upcoming release in summer. Luckily provident procurers have made it possible for me to obtain a sample and test it in the convenience of my own home which is always a plus.

The official notes are:

mimosa, narcissus, iris, lily of the valley, climbing rose, tuberose, leather

.

If I am to be honest, I have to say that this is not exactly what a die-hard leather fan who likes to don breeches and carry a whip, like the one depicted in the naughtily tantalizing yet very classy ad of the house, would imagine. The leather is so subdued as to make this incredibly wearable by all, eminently pleasant and very easy to adopt by women, as easy as a pair of driver's kid gloves in a buttery shade.
Men who like to dabble in women's scents unabashedly (and so they should) will find this a little too whispery for their tastes, perhaps. It's a very soft caress.
The floral notes do not make their appearence simultaneously. At the opening a limpid, slightly tart and a tad bitter citrusy note, comparable to the green mango-grapefruit note of Un Jardin sur le Nil , is opening the act to lure us into the ethereal dance of the flowers in attendance. In contrast to the afore mentioned scent however it doesn't last throughout, giving way to notes of powdery iris for a short while and then a honeyed mimosa note, so charming, so delicate, that plays tricks along with slightly greener blossoms. The soft touch of blanched suede is emerging slowly whispering words of cherubic innocence as the coda.

Like Satie's piece Kelly Calèche retains a coolness that is not to be mistaken with haughtiness. It is rather the slightly melancholic gaze of a woman who would also wear Après l'ondee by Guerlain. And this is no mean feat in my books.

Kelly Calèche makes its debut at the new Wall Street Hermès store on Friday June 21st 2007, then distributed more widely in other Hermès boutiques in August while it will be available in high-end specialty stores in the US, undivulged as yet.
According to Woman's Wear Daily :

"The new fragrance's lineup includes a 50-ml. eau de toilette spray for $75, a 100-ml. edt spray for $110, a 200-ml. body lotion for $65, a 200-ml. bath and shower gel for $45 and a 100-ml. spray deodorant for $40.
Prices are for the U.S."

You can purchase samples and small decants though through "Fragrant Fripperies".

Pic of Grace Kelly courtesy of Quorbis and ad pic from Hermès advertising.
Youtube clip originally uploaded by muzikahram.

Announcement: Parfums d'Armando Martinez widely available now

PerfumeShrine has always strived to veer off the beaten track and find first the wonders of tomorrow or the long-forgotten treasures of yesterday.
In the former category, parfums d'Armando Martinez, an artisanal perfumer from Nevada, US who works with reverence and admiration for the classics and nouveau art-niche, have been proven to be the object of admiration here on two occassions.
First his lovely fluffy makeup smell of Maquillage (reviewed in detail here ~ please note that since the review took place the lasting power has been revamped and boosted) and then his exquisite, masterful floral aldehyde named Pillow of Flowers (reviewed in detail here).
In the meantime he went on to create Satyr, a unique fruity animalic chypre.
His newest wonderful scent, Benefactor will be reviewed on this page shortly. Stay tuned!

It is with great pleasure that I announce today that Parfums d'Armando Martinez are now available for sampling and purchase at the First in Fragrance/ Aus Liebe zum Duft site.
Click here to go to the page directly.

They retail for 69 euros for 50ml of Eau de Parfum and samples are available for 3 euros each according to the policy of the site.

Pic comes from the FIF/Aus liebe zum duft site.