"I have to say that green is the only color I understand. I can really frame it; I know how to work with it. I see other colors, and they feel alien. I cannot give you a rational explanation why."
This is what Alfonso Cuarón, film director and creator of the 1998 intelligently modernised remake of Dickens's Great Expectations has to say on his use of colour. The film is strategically orchestrated in green hues, from Finn's shirt to Estella's DKNY wardrobe to the artwork hanging on the Florida house walls and tiny details on Chris Cooper's rented tuxedo... He could have been channeling Roxana Villa, artisanal all naturals perfumer who excels in her green blends. Imagine how I felt when a green sample was awaiting for me in the mail!
One of the things that always makes a difference with artisanal perfumers is presentation: Beyond the superficial, there's just something adorable about being presented with a nicely put together sample with a handwritten note. With Roxana Villa this gets elevated into an art form. Not only is her whole site and shop gorgeously art directed thanks to her unerring eye and her illustrator husband Greg Spalenka, she takes the time to prepare lovely ribbon-tied little packages with alchemical symbols and wax-stamps embossed with bees...a symbol which has inspired her to even tend her own hives! With an introduction like that, one is braced for the best.
Indeed Hedera Helix, Latin for English ivy, does not disappoint. A green chypre the way that genre should be, deep, emerald green, graceful, with delicious top accents of citrusy notes (it smells like a mix of pink grapefruit and orange blossoms to me) and crushed leaves (such as rhododendron, violet leaf absolute with its metallic accent and peach leaf absolute, softer and rounder), as well as that classic floral heart (rose-jasmine-pelargonium) which we tend to associate with elegant, classy, old-school perfumes that smell like perfume and not aromatherapy alloys. A warm combination of what smells like oakmoss and honeycomb is underpinning the perfume.
The viscous, inky liquid looks brownish-green in its tiny vial and upon unscrewing sheds a tentacle of climbing greeness in the room, expanding and radiating beautifully. The fragrance of Hedera Helix is nuanced, multi-layered, creating tension and a questioning adventure as each layer peels off and it's fit for "greens" lovers as well as those hankering after proper floral chypres with a grassy-leafy direction. Ivy is one of the sacred trees of the Celtic forest and part of the Tree Ogham which makes it a symbolic choice for the perfumer who dabbles in the apocrypha of the Celtic tradition. Perfect to usher in spring, as it conjures ivy twigs shining bright under the sun's rays while the insides are cool & crisp and home to more mysterious creatures.
It's indeed like a kiss on the water....
Hedera Helix began its life as a special commision in 2007, but it soon took wings and became more widely available. It's too lovely not to be shared among those of us who love greens.
One solid perfume for a lucky reader! Please leave a comment to enter the draw.
Draw remains open till Friday 23rd.
Samples are available on Roxana's Etsy store. In the interests of disclosure, I was sent a sample directly from the perfumer.
"It was a hot afternoon, and I can still remember the smell of honeysuckle all along that street. How could I have known that murder can sometimes smell like honeysuckle?"
~Double Indemnity, 1944
Dark Passage is a limited edition, g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s perfume by Swiss genius Andy Tauer which doesn't smell of honeysuckle. It does smell of film noirs and danger though like there's no tomorrow. Last time Tauer issued a limited edition it was the legendary Orris. If this hasn't had your ears perked up, I don't know what will. Perhaps that Dark Passage is a dark alleyway of a scent, full of spilled booze, contraband and dangerous women with luring tentacles the size of Barbara Stanwyck's evil quota in classics of the genre. I can only say I was very honoured to be among the extremely few people who got to try this amazing perfume.
Dark Passage is also rebellious; as Tauer says about the creation: "For me this first SNAPSHOT fragrance comes as a relief. Finally, I can do a fragrance that does not need to go through any distribution and sales machinery and EU registration and other investments. It is just here. If you are interested in it: Get it."
Dark Passage is perched on the darkness of natural, dirty, raw patchouli, a note poised between the woody and the camphorous. "Patchouli coeur which means”heart of Patchouli” is basically a patchouli that is rich in patchoulol. I am using a quality that is 66% patchoulol. I use it together with “standard” patchouli.[...]Patchouli coeur is even a bit more on the light, airy, musky side. Yes, there is a musky aspect that is stronger and underlined in Patchouli Coeur. I got mine from Ventos, but the description on Robertet‘s internet site is wonderful. It is in French and thus even more mysterious: “Odeur : le cœur de patchouli présente un aspect olfactif très propre, ambré, terreux, patchoulol, oriental.” Thus, it smells clean, of ambergris, earth, patchoulol, and oriental", clarifies Tauer.
But that's not all, nor is it the whole truth: Dark Passage is a perfume full of patchouli and you can't but like that material to fully enjoy it, but there are other elements to entice and to sway the character. Labdanum I believe, coupled with [no, I was wrong] beeswax musky-animalic notes, giving a sweet, intimate, almost suede aspect; a very prominent cocoa note from natural cocoa absolute, not wrapped in gourmand wiles but rendered bitter, noir, dirty, tobacco-rich...There's also a bit of birch tar, which aids both the bitterness of the chocolate facet and the leathery note, as well as a snippet of vetiver, rendered musty and as black as the night on the swamp where someone is dumping bodies on the hush.
Most importantly: Dark Passage is not bound by IFRA rules!
If you want to compare with something you might have tested already, I can only think of Ayala Moriel's Film Noir, which is another dirty, deeply dark heartless patchouli; that one isn't as cocoa-rich, though as this one.
Packaged in 7ml enamel atomizers and available in limited edition quanities, the Tableau Snapshots are smaller in scale and with a different scope. You can find all about the inspiration, the project (part of Kickstarter to promote the new Brian Pera film "Only Child") and where to buy on this post.
HURRY!! Dark Passage is only available till March 29th!
One small sample available for one lucky reader!
Draw is now closed, winner announced on Home page.
Peeking into celebrities' private lives has been the collective, flesh-eating story of our modern urban lives; there's simply no way of avoiding it and we've been conditioned to expect our daily dosage of carnage. To that end Karl Lagerfeld exposes his bathroom himself to Harper's Bazaar, photographic his Parisian apartment and his array of skincare and haircare (you'd expect the latter) comprising Creme de la Mer, Elseve, Kerastase, Dior, Shu Uemura and Klorane Dry Shampoo (an intriguing revelation is that he uses it to make his hair look whiter than it is!). But what fragrances does he keep beside the newspapers?
On his counter I can spot two Serge Lutens bottles (my money is on either Sa Majeste la Rose, Douce Amere or Arabie), Guerlain Shalimar Parfum Initial as well as the classic Shalimar in the black limited edition bottle "Black Mystery", Balenciaga Paris, Chanel Les Exclusifs Eau de Cologne(this was made to his exigency, so it makes sense to always stock it and use it) or even more possibly No.22 since the name is short on the bottle, as well as Guerlain Cologne du 68or alternatively his own Karleidoscope which shares a similar looking bottle. I also spot a silvery can of Jean Paul Gaultier fragrance on an upper shelf.
From Cordoba in Spain to the foothills of the Atlas Mountains...Leather tanning is an ancient and refined art and the fragrances which utilize this slightly primitive, animalic scent of the hides have been the fascinating milieu of some of the most sophisticated perfumes in the history of perfume-making. The wild scent of tallow teams with the smouldering, tarry aroma of black birch and the powerful accord of Russian hide gives way to the smoother notes that evoke the matte beige lightness and softness of suede. Giorgio Armani, no stranger to this universe of scent, is supplementing his exclusive collection with one such fragrance, giving an opulent interpretation for modern tastes.
Armani Privé is issuing a new fragrance in the collective opus of sumptuous wooden bottles, set to circulate more widely this spring: Cuir Noir.
Part of the even more opulent collection Les Mille et Une Nuits within the Armani Privé brand, the new Cuir Noir is an olfactory tale that pays homage to the orient and the eternal fascination with the East. This new oriental adventure, just like Oud Royal, Rose d'Arabie and Ambre Orient before it, depicts the perfumes and enchanted atmosphere of the Arabian Nights. The fragrances form a quartet of dreams, inspired by blue desert nights and whispers seeping through ornate arabesque grilles.
The perfumer has tamed the exotic nature of noble and rebellious ingredients, sweetened the sharpness of "gold and spice" and softened smoke and resin. For Cuir Noir the perfumer envisioned a gradiation of ambery shades, from golden blond through reddish copper to deep brown; a soft suede texture; and the velvety creaminess of a liquer.
To accomplish that, the opening was constructed to immediately smell of rose essence paired with Australian sandalwood, set off by a hint of coriander and nutmeg. The progression is more textured with leathery and smoky notes of gaiac and oud alternating. The base is sweet with Tahitian vanilla absolute and benzoin balm.
The new Cuir Noir will be available at select stockists who carry the Armani Privé line.
Le Démon, dans ma chambre haute,
Ce matin est venu me voir,
Et, tâchant à me prendre en faute,
Me dit: «Je voudrais bien savoir,
Parmi toutes les belles choses
Dont est fait son enchantement,
Parmi les objets noirs ou roses
Qui composent son corps charmant,
Quel est le plus doux.» - O mon âme!
Tu répondis à l'Abhorré:
«Puisqu'en Elle tout est dictame,
Rien ne peut être préféré.
Lorsque tout me ravit, j'ignore
Si quelque chose me séduit.
Elle éblouit comme l'Aurore
Et console comme la Nuit;
Et l'harmonie est trop exquise,
Qui gouverne tout son beau corps,
Pour que l'impuissante analyse
En note les nombreux accords.
O métamorphose mystique
De tous mes sens fondus en un!
Son haleine fait la musique,
Comme sa voix fait le parfum!»
—Charles Baudelaire
All Together
This morning in my attic high
The Demon came to visit me,
And seeking faults in my reply,
He said: "I would inquire of thee,
"Of all the beauties which compose
Her charming body's potent spell,
Of all the objects black and rose
Which make the thing you love so well,
"Which is the sweetest?" O my soul!
Thou didst rejoin: "How tell of parts,
When all I know is that the whole
Works magic in my heart of hearts?
"Where all is fair, how should I say
What single grace is my delight?
She shines on me like break of day
And she consoles me as the night.
"There flows through all her perfect frame
A harmony too exquisite
That weak analysis should name
The numberless accords of it.
"O mystic metamorphosis!
My separate senses all are blent;
Within her breath soft music is,
And in her voice a subtle scent!"
—Charles Baudelaire, translation from ReadBooksOnline.net
Let me tell you when I first promised our Elena to review Guerlain Chamade for this blog: December 11, 2008. In fact I still have a copy of my request:
"Just wondering if I may review Chamade and/or Samsara. I've been accumulating material for those two and they are going to be interesting. (You would be surprised by how the Buddhist definition of samsara, considered the root of pain and suffering, is worlds away from what Guerlain is trying to portray.) As for Chamade I may even upload the actual drum beat! (Plus the pivotal moment of the movie.)"
Well, writing a review for Samsara was not that labour intensive. Yet as all of you could tell it took me more than three years to get this review done, and never would I imagine turning the piece into a multi-part marathon.
Why? As some of you might have noticed I have chosen to blog less and less over the last couple of years. Started out as a mild lethargy and gradually morphed into a full-blown hiatus at one point. Have I been busy? Yes and no: I’ve always managed to find time to blog before, even a miniature piece or two.
So what happened? I started to see a huge chasm between the artisanal and the commercial in this business, the art really not lining up with the money. Don’t get me wrong: as a business graduate I know very well that perfumery houses are here for its survival. Yet the interesting side effects of the 2008 financial meltdown are still unfolding among perfumery brands: all major players, for one, are more lean and determined to get a piece of the action. Translation: the bottom line now really counts, more than ever.
To be perfectly honest I’m all for marketing research, and pushing a product nobody wants to buy, at least to me, is the greatest sin on earth; with this being said I can only stand mindless renditions of Marc Jacobs Daisy for so long.
Kindly allow me to reiterate: I’m not against commercial viability; I’m just against mindless plagiarism. I’m not against approachability; I just don’t like philistines all that much. I don’t even mind cutting costs on material and development; I just won’t stand thoughtless slash across the board because nobody was “supposed” to know when materials are downgraded.
I prefer, in all my sincerity, modernization—but I want to do it with standards. If it comes at the costs of cutting excessive corners than, well, what good are brand managers, let alone executives?
Of course, I know there are still passionate, conscientious people working in this industry, working very hard to make a difference. And my thoughts are not in any shape or form trying to disparage the true artists. (Please don’t ask me to name names of this or that—because I simply won’t.) But I decided to listen more since then. And to really start thinking about what makes the legends of the past so great in the first place: after all, those who cannot learn from the past are doomed to repeat the failures.
That’s my ultimate purpose for reviewing Chamade, articulating what made it great in the first place. Perhaps the ideas could be transported and lifted for generations to come, even though the exact ideas might not be in vogue any more.
To me the ultimate reason behind the success of Chamade is quite simple. People cared. Say what you will about French perfumery, its politics: people took the time to think about the genuine dialogue between the product and the culture, how the time affects its culture before coming up with a genuine proposal. Making genuine products with perfectly valid constructs. Again, I know not every perfumer can be Ernest Beaux, nor all fragrance account managers have the immaculate tastes of Coco Chanel, but if the latest release is a very simple xerox of the latest marketing reports (bottled, of course) with zero imagination attached then, again, what good are people arming diplomas from top-notch MBA programs?
Thus by the same token I am still stand behind my favourable review of Hermes Hermessence Iris Ukiyoe (2010). Or Chanel No. 5 Eau Première (2008). And honestly I am even that tough of a fragrance critic—but showing one’s work is a pre-requisite in my book. Kindly allow me to repeat: showing one’s work is a pre-requisite.
Still, back to my story: I started writing this series on Tuesday, March 6—
It's going to be the longest review I've ever written! I'm at the bottom of third page and haven't fully covered the cultural background.
That’s when Elena’s common sense kicked in: otherwise all of you would have to read this series in one, extra-lengthy post. Five parts in one sitting.
(At this point I have to give credit where credit is due: without Elena’s tireless patience in the first place not a single word of this series would come to life, let alone her often thankless edits of my unruly writing. She’s really a trooper.)
The series, once get going, proved to be a quick waltz. Part 1 through 4 was submitted within one day. Part 5 came a day later because I couldn’t find the right artwork: luckily Ms. Danielle Jarvis showed me her piece; otherwise the readers would have to stare at nothing but words upon reading the blooming epilogue.
Before I go I want to share with all of you one more thing about my thoughts on Chamade. I’ve always deduced that Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 27, its third movement Adagio, is a musical approximation of its ideas, the romantic mad aches. Try testing the fragrance while listening to the performance below: there’s nothing on earth quite like the pairing.
Thank you all for listening. It’s been a joy from the heart.
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