Jul Et Mad Aqua Sextius: fragrance review

The shady, cloistered Cour Mirabeau in Aix-en-Provence hides a treasure trove of small cafes to challenge even Athens. But it is the seemingly endless array of fountains that belies the connection with my city of dwelling. The palpable coolness and crispness of water spray in the air are solace in the hot summer months, the ivy clad building where Chez Feraud gets its business, the birthhouse of the painter Cezanne transformed into a small museum, the parade of students resting their bikes by the bottle green hitching posts on the street a buzzing beehive of life… A slice of that joyous life is caught in Aqua Sextius, launched by Jul et Mad last March during the Excence scent exhibition in Milan.

via

Aqua Sextius is the latest opus by Cecile Zarokian, a perfumer that shapes up to become a force to be reckoned with in the niche perfume sector. I have enjoyed her Amouage Epic for the ladies, exhibiting a gift for plushness that doesn't drag by impenetrable density. Her portfolio includes fragrances for Jovoy, Laboratorio Olfactivo and MDCI Perfumes, and also other even more esoteric or fledging brands which I admit haven't really explored (but am open to all the same!). The latest composition she submitted to the real life binational couple of "Jul et Mad" (Julien Blanchard and Madalina Stoica-Blanchard) who have based their brand onto their real life romance, told chapter by chapter, fragrance by fragrance, is wildly different from the thing I expected before checking out the press description.
Although Aqua predisposes one for "water", my mind reeled more into the "Eau" French counterpart that usually denotes a light and limpid citrus & herbs composition inspired by the time-honored eau de cologne recipe bequest from the 18th century onwards. Boy, as I wrong in assuming.

Aqua Sextius by Jul et Mad comes across as indeed an "aquatic" and if there's one genre which the current perfumista micro- world hasn't quite forgiven the 1990s (the median perfumista's budding years, I suppose therefore dismissed for being naive?) it is "marine" fragrances.
This is mainly a fault of the relative blandness of the blends, the impression of chilling silence before a piercing battle cry (that'd be the 2000s uber-sweet gourmands that'd risk giving cavities even by osmosis) rather than the smell of water bodies and the sea that aquatic fragrances in vain tried to approximate. As a consequence of perfumers not being entirely able to catch the nuance seascape into a predetermined "chord" or "note", a couple of aces up their sleeves became olfactory code for "aquatic", realism be damned: Calone, the smell of cut melon, dewy and too sweet to stand for convincing water but wildly propaged such as in CK Escape; violet nitriles, giving the damp and juicy impression of sliced cucumbers and dewy violet leaves (a successful example in Eau de Cartier); dihydromyrcenol, a metallic citrus-lavender molecule with a side of dish wash cleaner, famously enshrined to public consciousness in Davidoff's Cool water and its prolific spawn. Unless you'd been told (or had been suggested to by images of sea & river spray via advertising and packaging) you'd hardly pick "water" or "sea" to describe those notes. No matter, they're part of semiotics.

The duo of Julien and Madalina (the Jul et Mad of the company's brand name) apparently asked Zarokian for a fragrance that'd replicate their meeting in Aix-en-Provence (the Latin name of consul Gaius Sextius reflected in the later Germanic-rooted Aix): the fountains, the buzz of warm weather insects, the countryside, the romance of Southern France. One tends to forget it, rapped up into the Parisian sophistication perpetuated for public consumption, but France is a Mediterranean country, a significant part of its shores bathed in the azure of Mare Nostrum. But as mentioned above, catching that elusive scent is supremely difficult. Aqua Sextius instead turns to mint and a hint of eucalyptus to give a fresh green piquancy reminiscent of the "city of 100 fountains" as Aix-en-Provence is famed as, a slice of cedar woodiness and musky amber diffusive elements, the "marine" part reminding me of dihydromyrcenol (thankfully sans Calone). "The market has homogenized tastes and the crisis hasn't really changed that; people turn to   what is already familiar", comments Vincent Gregoire, trend watcher and the Nelly Rodi lifestyle director. Maybe is this a reason behind using such a familiar "note" in a celestial fragrance that comes from a niche brand?  It could be. It could also be a personal bet that Cecile Zarokian put herself in for; it's not easy to divest a popular trope of its signs and view it anew. I don't know what to make of it, really but at least I can see where Zarokian is coming from.

The fragrance's shade, an inviting aqua (bit bluer than the green depicted above in real life) that I'd love to include in my summery chiffon blouses arsenal, is one of those cases that the coloring of the juice is supremely matched to the olfactory impression rendered.

High marks to Jul et Mad for offering several options of packaging in even really small sizes for perfumephiles to cut their teeth onto, such as the 20ml black glass Compagon atomiser and the 5ml Love Dose miniatures.

Exhibition IP01 London: Perfumer Cecile Zarokian and Illustrator Matthieu Appriou

Come and greet perfumer Cécile Zarokian in London during IP01.
Cécile has developed an artistic project with an illustrator, Matthieu Appriou, leading previously to an exhibition in Paris, which was part of the event Rives de la Beauté,: the objective of [IP]01 was to correlate 6 visuals and 6 perfumes, in perfect harmony. One of the two universes gives birth to the other, then reverse: paint brush following olfactory narration, nose lead by sketch. Now in London, the adventure continues...

Exhibition 01

When
September 5th - October 4th 2013
Monday to Friday 10am to 6pm

Where
Illuminum Lounge, 41 Dover Street, Mayfair
LondonW1S 4NS

What it involves
Cécile secretly creates 3 fragrances (1,2 and 3). Matthieu seizes the fragrances and translates them into visual emotions.
Matthieu creates 3 images (4,5 and 6). Cécile draws her inspiration from them and depicts the images olfactively.

Sounds like a morning or afternoon well spent!

[IP]01 exhibition in Paris: Where Drawing & Perfume Meet

Perfumer Cécile Zarokian and illustrator Matthieu Appriou are uniting illustration and perfumery in a unique vernissage that will take place on 28th September 2011 (starting at 18:30), incorporated into the Rives de la Beaute exhibition (28Sep-2Oct) in Paris at Atelier-Galerie, 51, rue de Vnaigriers-75010 (that's in the 10th arrondissement). The name of the project is of course self-evident: I for illustrator, P for perfumer...

We have liked Zarokian's work on Perfume Shrine indeed: Her Epic for Women for Amouage has received raves on a review we had posted in the not too distant past. But who is she? Let's see in more detail.

Cécile Zarokian graduated from I.S.I.P.C.A (Institut Supérieur International de la Parfumerie, Cosmétique et Aromatique Alimentaire), the reference school for perfumery training worldwide founded by Jean-Jacques Guerlain in Versailles in 1970. During her two-year vocational training in Grasse Cécile learned how to create perfumes under supervision of Robertet, one of the leading creators and manufacturers of fragrances in France. Consequently she pursued her carreer at Robertet’s creative centre in Paris, where Cécile strengthened her knowledge of perfumer trade on behalf of Michel Almairac, who has successfully competed for numerous fragrances during his carreer.
She was still a trainee when she won her first woman’s eau de parfum, Epic for Woman, which had been designed for an Omanese fragrances brand, Amouage, and launched in France at the end of 2009.

In 2011, Cécile decided to found her own company, CECILE ZAROKIAN SARL, in order to be able to dedicate her entire time to working freely as a freelance perfumer. You can check it out at:
www.cecilezarokian.com

Matthieu Appriou graduated from the École supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Brest in 2000.
He went on with his artistic research by creating installations in Les Beaux-Arts.
Matthieu exhibited two pieces of work in 2001 and 2003 respectively: “On va tous y perdre des plumes” at the Centre d’Art Passerelle, in Brest for the collective exhibition Au bénéfice du doute, and “Châto immo” at the gallery 40mcube within the project of Chantier public, in Rennes.
Since 2005, he has settled in Paris collaborating with the agency Comme ça on projects for
J.M.Weston, Hennessy, Krug, DomPerignon, La rose des vents-Scène Nationale de Villeneuve d’Ascq, Le théâtre de l’agora-Scène Nationale d’Evry-Essonne.

In 2008, he created NO-OM, and worked on the graphic standards of the group regart.net
(Webflashfestival / Centre Georges Pompidou), as well as that of Champagne Jean Comyn.
He also contributed to the design of the web sites of Bollinger, Château Lynch Bages as a consultant and created the 2009 demoguide site for Microsoft.

Illustrator under the pseudo “Telmolindo”, currently reprsented by  the artist agency Créasenso, he has worked for  La Caisse desMonuments Nationaux, Eurostar, Van Cleef & Arpels, le Musée des Ducs de Nantes as well as for Archéa, Musée d’archéologie of the town of Louvres. You can check out his website here.

You can also check out the Project on its own page.

Amouage Epic for Women & Epic for Men: exclusive fragrance preview & review

It's no secret that Amouage, the Omani fim with a cult following, has impressed us with their dense, proudly classical compositions which hark back to an era of intense glamour and calculated style which by now seemed long-forgotten if not for them. As if one entered the Atlantis in Dubai and found out all the water faucets were of solid gold but made to look matte from a distance. After all, we have already lovingly reviewed the utterly gorgeous Jubilation 25 and the appealingly unusual baroque Ubar on these links, so there's no denying it.



The concept of the new Epic duo (in contrast to Ubar it is presented in both declinations, for men and women), explained when we scooped the news, is a fusion coming directly out of the Silk Route, the fabled course from China to the West through the hard desert soils of Arabia. The two new fragrances incorporate traditional Middle-Eastern notes of oud and frankincense, as well as tea and Chinese flowers representative of the Far East, like heroes crossing the steppes in their own personal quest for inward glory. Of the two I was much more swayed into contemplating a big bottle purchase by the magnificence of the feminine and let me explain why.

Amouage Epic for Men recalls an old-fashioned leathery (due to castoreum) fougère, a little reminiscent of Bel Ami or even Jules, with spicy accents and a light oud note throughout which is pleasing to me as the dense mustiness of oud usually leaves me with sensory overload unable to smell anything else. The spices, of the cool type, such as prominent cardamom, mace and nutmeg, along with the tea note, could have escaped from Cartier's Déclaration. But careful: in order to envision those notes in Epic one should picture the former's perfumer, Jean Claude Ellena, having gained a few pounds, accordingly acquiring a taste for heavier molecules and jotting down notes at a smoky oriental den where assistants bring in mysterious batches of eastern ingredients instead of the luminous and diaphanous atmosphere of Cambrais. The musky drydown phase of Epic for Men is sprinkled with incense, but the interplay of animalic with more austere elements stop it short of it being an erotic sense in the Kama Sutra sense of the word, although it possesses sensuality of its own. My man pronounced it "trying a bit too hard perhaps" despite its ~on the whole~ rather light and somber (rather than flamboyant) nature; which I deduce is his equating such scents with overt manifestations of masculinity when there is no need to. Although it is an easy entry into real oud and should have people approach it without fear, I think I prefer the more distinctive Jubilation XXV myself.

Amouage Epic for Women stands a magnificent specimen of artistic triumph for the house, its distinctive marriage of oud and rose perhaps the loveliest espousal of those precious ingredients on the market today.
The sophisticated, otherwordly character of this scent is immediately apparent, with the dark, velvety petals (underscored by complimentary geranium) unfurling into infinity under the gaze of medicinal and shadowy oud/oudh; the latter lending a strangely cool & warm aspect to the composition along with a nutty aftertaste. Greenish and fresher tonalities peek beneath the gauzy gowns like a gust of wind that surprises. This interplay of temperature has been a favoured game since at least the gothic Tubéreuse Criminelle, but it has come out to the fore again with another Lutensian composition we reviewed recently, the just launched Fille en Aiguilles. In Epic for Women the rounder ambery and floral elements underscored by a discreet sweetness conspire to produce an achingly beautiful synergy of brainy and sensuous elements fit for a princess. But its Parthian shot is there are no seductive stakes in the cards and this is a young, pensive woman (or man, who could wear this equally well) with an introspective, contemplative look who can fall hard for legends; "a faithfull heart who makes wishes come true".



Notes for Amouage Epic for Women: Cumin, pink bay, Damascena rose, cinnamon, geranium, jasmine, tea, amber, musk, incense, sandalwood, patchouli, vanilla, guiacwood, orris, aloeswood/oud.
Notes for Amouage Epic for Men:Pink pepper, cumin, cardamom, saffron, mace, nutmeg, myrtle, geranium, myrrh, aloeswood/oud, sandalwood, leather, incense, cedarwood, musk, castoreum.

The two flacons for Amouage Epic reflect the well-known design of the brand now interpreted in a luminous imperial green, the colour which is thought to protect from evil in the East, decorated with a Swarovski crystal. The Eau de Parfum is presented in 50ml/1.7oz and 100ml/3.4oz bottles. Soon at select boutiques and now online at the official Amouage site. If nothing else, click to watch the oneiric video of a woman dressed in flowing black gowns (with Japonesque makeup) accompanied by the grand 2nd movement of Beethoven's 7th Symphony.
The talented creative director of Amouage, mr.Christopher Chong informed us that he will be at the Pitti exhibition in Italy in September to answer the queries of perfume enthusiasts and present the new fragrances.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Amouage scents and news
Pic of Peter O'Toole and Omar Sharrif in Lawrence of Arabia via thecia.com.au