Santa Maria Novella Alba di Seoul- fragrance review

 

Smoky is a loaded concept, because so often it falls into one of either styles: the incense-y smoke that recalls woody and resinous scents of piety and zen like Avignon, or the dense feel of the campfire like Lonestar Memories or the fragrances by Beaufort. These both lend themselves to autumn, of course, but we aim to provide a middle-ground between seasons, for which Alba di Seoul feels exceptionally well-matched. 

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 There is something undeniably familiar to me in Alba di Seoul and I managed to track it in the vintage version of Tsar by Van Cleef & Arpels, a wonderful fragrance in the old-school-mold of masculines, with a mossy background. I remember the days I adored it on my beloved and recall the days I borrowed it in the desire to extend those memories. In Alba di Seoul the citrusy, botanical and mossy elements manage to project light, bright and unfazed by the warmth, still lending a soupçon of darkness for the days to come, just like in Tsar, though they do not smell identical by any stretch of the imagination (if only...). It is the melding of light spice (nutmeg) with the tightly woven elements of wood, leathery tones, green violet leaves with their acrid, sharp and jolting feel, and plush patchouli with just a warm tinge of musk which bring on the ambience which I love. Despite the word Alba meaning dawn in Italian, the feel in Alba in Seoul is that of a cloudy afternoon when the sun is there but hidden behind the trees and you savour the warmth on the skin but also feel a light chill to come. 

It's a complex feeling of tactile sensations which I personally enjoy very much any time of the year, but especially in the first days of autumn when I'm feeling particularly energized. Criminally unsung, delightfully unique if you like things no one else has discovered...yet.

Etat Libre d' Orange Soul of My Soul-fragrance review

 Soul of My Soul by Etat Libre d' Orange was originally a Selfridges exclusive coming out in 2020, but I smelled it a couple of years later, after the quarantine of the pandemic, which limited my traveling severely.

It was a sampling in passing; it seemed nice enough, but in that lackluster quality that "nice things" often display. Damned with faint praise, in short. The fact that it was in "the expensive line" by Etat Libre d' Orange made me crinkle my nose (and my mind too!). Why is it that companies need to introduce a more expensive collection within their existing perfume brand? As if to alienate their older customers through snubbing, and to attract a new kind of customer that is not very knowledgeable about fragrance—the kind of customer who thinks "it's expensive, it must be very good indeed." For anyone seasoned in perfume collecting and appraising, this is surely reason to turn up one's nose and leave empty-handed. And this is exactly what I did. Though in hindsight, it wasn't too expensive. In the span of a mere six years, we have seen exorbitant prices asked.

A few years passed by. This past summer, in a perfume swap with a lovely lady, she sent me a decant of Soul of My Soul, and the fragrance ended up in my lap again. Lap, almost literally, as I tend to sample fragrances not only on wrists but lower on the body, observing how they rise and flow in the air, noting down their development and sillage. It was nice but not perfect. But quite nice indeed. There was an oddly familiar tonality about it. For a couple of days, I struggled to recall what it reminded me of. Hell, that's a difficult situation for any perfume lover, when you almost have it at the tip of one's tongue, but the actual name of the scent eludes you. If you have sampled, worn, and owned too many fragrances, this is a plight you must have found yourself in more than once.

"Soul Of My Soul draws inspiration from the refined butter and milk offered in honor of the gods of Mesopotamia, the god of fire in Persia, and the gods of India. The scent is described as a creamy explosion in which the scent of musk mixes with iris butter and conveys a strong vanilla balm, followed by a combination of tonka and benzoin for a sweet but strong trail."

What can you expect from that? A lactonic fragrance, right? A warm scent, fit for wintertime.

Wrong. 

And then one day it dawned on me: Soul of My Soul had something in common with the discontinued Ginepro di Sardegna. It opened differently, with a bit of lightly smoky, masculine, woody elements, but yes, it dried down after a few minutes into the well-known dry, powdery freshness I had loved in the Acqua di Parma scent.

I scavenged my old blue bottle to compare, with remnants only remaining at the bottom. Yes, I was right. Though it's not actually as powdery as a vat of talc. Most people do tend to wax on about Mediterranean forests, which is odd, because juniper is not exactly the kind of tree one finds in Mediterranean landscapes in abundance; one would sooner find maritime pines, olive trees, fig trees, cypresses, and a vast array of bushes with dry, dusty-smelling branches that read scorched and botanical under the sun. The power of naming and imagery is eternal, I suppose.

Karmacoma by Anomalia Paris- Bittersweet Suede Embracing Vanilla Pods

 Karmacoma by Anomalia Paris: A divorce from everything you used to call “normal” — from habits, permission, and the version of you that learned to behave seems like the perfect motto for entering autumn and the new academic year with flair. Karmacoma is inspired by the aesthetic of a blank canvas, where we boldly script our dazzling and magnificent future. This is also the autumn I'm researching vanilla, it seems, and although I tried this during the warmer months, as the weather cools down, it translates as the perfect cozy fragrance to warm my way into the rainy season. 

The delightful element is its leathery top note, composed by Sidonie Lancesseur as a bittersweet element to enhance the saffron note. A Greek saffron note, no less, among the top quality ingredients in the world, small production extracted by hand. The powdery effect of vanilla and musk is further enhanced by a peppery, spicy garland that ebbs and flows. Its effect on the wearer is what the French call "troublant," which means "intriguing" in the best possible sense. Who could have thought a vanilla would be so nuanced?

On Vanilla; Colombian and Otherwise

 Colombia, Vanilla’s New Production Hub in the World

A speech given during the Barcelona Perfumery Congress last year by Ricardo Ramos, Independent Perfumer of Colombian Origin based in Granada/Spain.

"With an estimation of more than 4300 species of orchids, Colombia is a country with a major diversity of this beautiful botanical species in the world, having more than its 35% native from Colombian territory. The existence of Vanilla in Colombian territory has been ancestrally known among farmers and indigenous communities, being used by a few expert coffee farmers in their coffee plantations, adding it to the coffee beans as an aromatic, sophisticated twist. And among indigenous communities as well, as a tool for seduction, for scenting their clothing, and for making fragrant necklaces (Otapa) and garlands to attract lovers, as mentioned by the Jesuit monks in the 17th Century.

"Some of the very first well-documented vanilla species in Colombia date from The Royal Botanical Expedition to New Granada headed by José Celestino Mutis between 1783 and 1816, and years after that, the British Colonel J.P. Hamilton documented in his “Travels through the interior provinces of Colombia” published in 1827, the existence of abundant fragrant Vanilla species along the
Magdalena and the Cauca River basins. Later, during the nineteenth century, Colombian, North American, and Spaniard botanists recorded the existence of vanilla species in the provinces of Valle, Cauca, Cundinamarca, Tolima, and Huila.
During the XX Century, with the development and commercialization of synthetic Vanilla, the interest in natural Vanilla progressively disappeared, allowing the vanilla plants to be destroyed, becoming a product for very local use in countless communities.
Recently, in the current XXI Century, due to the high demand for vanilla in the world and the difficulty of its production and exploitation, interest in wild vanilla has been reborn in Colombia, with recent studies on the species surviving in the Pacific and Amazonian areas.

"The Universidad Nacional of Colombia (UNAL) started a project in 2015, doing research about the spices in the Pacific area,
starting from the shore coast of the Cauca province up to the coast shores in the Choco province, documenting the existence of nine native vanilla species, including the most commercial in the world: Vanilla Planifolia, initially known exclusively from Mexican territory. The study highlighted the existence of hybrid species with outstanding and rare olfactory profiles, which could be highly valued in the global food and cosmetics industries. In the Colombian Pacific, factors like natural pollination, the abundance of water, and the humid climate encourage its growth, resulting in the first flowers after a year and eight months, which means 2.5 years in total for having fruits. This is a shorter period compared to productions in Mexico, Madagascar, and China, because in those regions they must wait up to three years to have the first blooming and nine more months for the first fruits.

In recent years, in the Cauca Valley region, the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Cali and the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Palmira and Medellín Campuses, have increased the study of the vanilla orchid across biodiversity, agroecology, conservation, and sustainable use. Currently, thanks to the agreement signed with SWISSAID ( Swiss Foundation for Development Cooperation) Colombia, the UNAL Medellín Headquarters began research to study the insects associated with vanilla cultivation in Bahía Solano, where SWISSAID started a project to stimulate vanilla as a local development product that generates income for indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, through training on effective crop management. The project, which began in 2016 with 18 producers in the area, today has more than 200 farmers and has materialized in the community company Aromas y Sabores, which carries out the entire process of purchasing, collecting, curing, and marketing vanilla."

Inkera, the latest creation by Colombian perfumer Ricardo Ramos, is therefore an ode to the relationship between vanilla and the Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities of the Colombian Pacific, as well as a vehicle for introducing Colombian vanilla to the world.

Inkera is the first perfume to feature Colombian vanilla in its formulation, specifically from the Chocó region, home to *Vanilla planifolia* agroforestry crops tended by ancestral Emberá communities and Afro-descendant families.

In addition to vanilla, the fragrance features a *Viche* liquor accord, a traditional artisanal spirit from Colombian Pacific communities made from fermented green sugarcane juice. Historically used as a medicinal tonic for stomach ailments and snakebites, *Viche* lends the fragrance green, jungle-like tones, the sweetness of cane honey, and mineral and subtle marine nuances. Another ingredient making its perfumery debut in Inkera is Pipilongo (*Piper tuberculatum*), an ancestral long pepper also native to the Colombian Pacific; it offers sparkling nuances reminiscent of petitgrain with woody depth, alongside a warm, zesty, spicy heat. 

Fragrances that Smell Like Cosmetics: an Experimental List

The tender, sometimes playful associations of violet and iris-powdery references account for the popularity of several sweet florals in the market, especially when coupled with the intensely feminine note of roses producing an almost "makeup" vanity-table effect. Here is an experimental list of fragrances that reference cosmetics, especially face powder and retro lipstick, in their scent. 

generative AI borrowed via Pinterest

Cosmetics-smelling Fragrances You Might Try (the list is merely a fraction of what is available):

Accordo Viola by L' Erbolario

Viole Nere by Meo Fusciuni

Blanc Violette by Histoires de Parfums

Irresistible Nude Velvet by Givenchy

Putain des Palaces by Histoires de Parfums

Love, Chloé by Chloé or its dupes, since it's been discontinued

Drôle de Rose by L'Artisan Parfumeur (ditto)

Météorites by Guerlain (the original vintage creation, found in secondary market)

Après L'Ondée by Guerlain

Lipstick Rose by Frederic Malle

Iris Eau de Parfum by Molinard

Kenzo Flower by Kenzo

Fleurs d'Ombre Violette – Menthe by Jean-Charles Brosseau

Balenciaga Paris L'Essence by Balenciaga (also in the secondary market as it's been discontinued)

Violet Blonde by Tom Ford (ditto)

Violette Precieuse by Caron

Violette Fumée by Mona di Orio

Citizen Queen by Juliette Has A Gun 

Insolence Eau de Parfum by Guerlain

L'instant Magic Eau de Parfum by Guerlain

True Love by Elizabeth Arden

Cashmere Mist by Donna Karan

Kenzoki Rice Steam Sensual by Kenzo

Sophistique by Mark

Hush Hush from 2160 Tuesdays