The winners of the draw…

…for Barkhane by Teo Cabanel are:

1 large sample for Europe/Canada/rest of the world (i.e. excluding US):
Beatrice88.

1 atomiser containing 1/2oz (US):
Kingpharroh

15 samples (US):
Undina
Tatiana
Colin
CrystesMom
Gail
Holly F.
Stacey Walls
mim
Sandy Vasalos
Laurels
Tomatefarcie
Minette
Zuzu
Caragh from Chelmsford
sandipants


Congratulations everyone! Please send me an email with your shipping data, using Contact or email in Profile, including "Barkhane draw" in the title of your message for my ease, please. And I will take care these reach you soon.

Thanks everyone for the enthusiastic participation and till the next one! (soon)

Patricia de Nicolai: News on Availability and Name Change of Balle de Match

The well known niche brand parfums de Nicolai, working under the aegis of the current president of L'Osmotheque and perfumer par excellence Patricia de Nicolai, has repositioned as discussed previously. In this decision several factors have come in and the effects can be seen and felt in the packaging, brand identity (and "motto") as well as the categorization of fragrances in the portfolio.
In that latter issue, Balle de Match becomes the subject of changes.

via townandcountrymag

The fragrance continues to be produced as an eau de toilette concentration, available in 30ml (36€) αnd 100ml bottles (108€), as is customary for de Nicolai products, but the name changes: from now on, Balle de Match becomes L'Eau de Sport, a cologne for "jeunes sportifs" as claimed on the website. The woody citrus composition, hinging on grapefruit, and an alliance of pink and black pepper, is a refreshing tonic for days when the mood is casual and the style effortless.

Teo Cabanel Barkhane: fragrance review & free perfume draw

There are generally speaking three directions on amber, that perfumery trope which although reminiscent of alembicated elixirs derives in reality from the late 19th century and its advances in chemistry. Roughly, much like human body types, there is the thick-set endomorph, vanillic and zaftig amber, often powdery but a little too snuggly the way a favorite aunt suffocated you as a child when she tried to hug you; there's the linear ectomorph, naturally rail-thin and giving only a hint of an oriental, fit for people who consider sipping a latte as having the equivalent of a dessert orgy only the calories fly off their cage-like backs (Marc Jacobs Amber Splash I'm looking at you); and finally the elusively callipygean mesomorph, its discovery as awe inspiring as the realization of the protagonist in They Live, an amber that's got to be extra-terrestrial, since there's no other explanation for its perfect, almost perverse precision and special abilities.

photo by Francesco Middei for National Geographic via Pinterest (Namibia sand dune)

Some of my favorite ambers belong to that last category, managing the trick via either a generous helping of herbal accents (Ambre Sultan by Lutens is the crowning example) or a devious splattering of incense notes, via frankincense or myrrh (Ambra del Nepal or Angelique Encens are decent examples.)        

Barkhane belongs to this special category, a foudroyant amber perfume both thanks to its transparent treatment of the labdanum (cistus)-vanillin pairing and the bittersweet myrrh resin which illuminates it the way vitraux illuminate a cathedral. From a distance Barkhane suggests repetition, since Alahine (Cabanel's 2007 fragrance) was also a terrific amber. But it is not, since it lacks the rosy floralcy and the woody element, as perfumer Jean-Francois Latty here focused instead on the introduction of a tempered oud note which tilts it into the slightly medicinal, more masculine or unisex territory. There is also a notable spicy component (reportedly built on cumin and curry notes) which melds with the myrrh.

Last but not least: the lasting power is phenomenal for something so well balanced and, yes, at its fighting weight.

Barkhane is the latest fragrance by niche French brand Teo Cabanel, re-introduced recently in the States and repackaged to new heights of luxury under the direction of heiress Caroline Ilacqua. The fragrance's name derives from the naturalist Alexander von Middendorf, who used it to describe "the smooth velvety dunes which gently ripple under powerful desert winds".

I have a self-bought* large sample for one lucky reader in Europe/rest of the world. If you're in the USA, thanks to Hypoluxe Inc.'s generosity, there's the option of one BIG 1/2oz spray for ONE lucky winner and 15 sample vials for 15 more winners. 
Please enter a comment saying your opinion on amber fragrances and if you have a favorite/Kryptonite one and please state whether you're in Europe/USA/rest of the world. 
Draw is open till Thursday midnight, winners to be announced sometime on Friday.
(*The company did send me another one for reviewing purposes)

Penhaligon's Tralala: new fragrance

This April Penhaligon’s will release Tralala, a new fragrance inspired by the fantastical universe of Edward Meadham and Benjamin Kirchhoff.

“We do not have a signature but rather a handwriting. We like to tell stories in different ways.” Meadham Kirchhoff

Meadham Kirchhoff’s shows have been scented by Penhaligon’s for the past nine seasons. The designers themselves have chosen a diverse selection of scents to represent their collections, including Hammam Bouquet, Bluebell, Castile, English Fern and Cornubia. The inevitable outcome of this ongoing collaboration, Tralala is an opulent, hedonistic blend created by Master Perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour.

A small note in passing? I guess this means that the long defunct L'Artisan Parfumeur fragrance Framboise Tralala will not get re-released anytime soon (at least under that name).

Notes for Penhaligon's Tralala:

aldehydes, saffron, whiskey and violet,
leather, tuberose, incense and carnation,
patchouli, vetiver, musk and vanilla.


info via press release, notes via E.Knezhevich

Monday in Blue and Other Melancholic Stories

The blues, "but I still got the blues for you", Rhapsody in Blue and Blue Monday, the bleakest day in the year, as I discovered just today upon opening my online subscriptions. Little did I know that the third Monday of January is officially termed "blue", supposedly because the weather is at its dullest, the festive spirit has worn on, the resolutions for the New Year have had their chance of proving how futile (or impossible to keep) they are and everyone is just waiting for the nascent buds of spring to formally and univocally feel better.

Blue seems a loaded term in Anglo context, whereas where I come from it's all blue skies and azure seas and a feeling of contentment; or alternatively the eye of God (this is why the protective "evil eye" amulets routinely display a blue eye). There is no S.A.D at my place, as far as I know, and mid-January is usually halcyon days with plenty of sunshine and temperatures in the 15-17s Celsius. Greeks, however, with their inherent sense of drama, do black better, close as it is to true funereal colors; once upon a time there were whole villages with people perennially dressed in black in mourning for someone or other lost in war. Melancholia literally means "black bile" in Greek.
It might also have to do with blue just performing more joyfully in these southern latitudes: a beautiful piece of lapis lazuli edged in 18K gold had lost most of its vibrancy and intensity when brought to the grey skies of the UK when I was a student. Lackluster, it just wasn't the same. But two weeks back home and I started to wear it again, an amulet of Pharaonic resonance, no doubt because the country of the Nile exploited its natural sunshine the same way to enhance the beauty of gems.

The French word glauque although directly inspired by the Latin (and the Greek glaykos/γλαυκός which means "light blue") has come to denote a qualitative awfulness or vacuousness as in lifeless and listless. Blue doesn't really do well in French either (at least in that respect) it seems…

Nevertheless blue is a beautiful concept for fragrances, both in shade and in nuance: from the wistful L'Heure Bleue (denoting the hour that the French call entre chien et loup) to the bright cerulean of its modern Guerlain "rendition" L'Heure de Nuit (whose shade one of my wittiest readers compared to Toilet Duck's to the burning of my mind's "eye" ever since), blue makes an honorable appearance in fine fragrance. Just think of the gorgeous "lantern" design by Guerlain, famously utilized in Guet apens, or the majestic blue of Shalimar or even of the pentagon of Tauer perfumes. Blue "sports" fragrances for men have somehow blurred the positive associations of blue (well, at least the escapist ones, if the bleak ones remain, given how awfully bad many of those fragrances smell) yet there are some examples of blue perfumes (or flacons!) which eschew the rule that "blue=marine", such as the infamous case of Angel by Thierry Mugler, Armani's La Femme Bleue or Cacharel's Loulou in its memorable turquoise.

So tell me, which are your "blue perfumes"? Are they wistful and nostalgic, filled with saudade, or are they colored blue and evoking seascapes and fresh ocean spray?

pics via pinterest