Hermessence Poivre Samarcande, Hermès

This to me has something in common with Diorama, which also contains caraway, but this is drier, less floral of course. I'd also say it leans a bit towards masculine.

The opening notes are quite sweaty and animalic but pepper is there too giving a nice edge.

It becomes altogether softer after half an hour, less animalic,then the oakmoss starts to do its thing and exudes a lovely hazy dry, sophisticated elegant musk. (in another review ISO E musk was mentioned, I'm not sure I recognise that but this does have a muskiness that's not altogether natural so that must be it, it's not harsh to my nose, but it depends how sensitive you are to synthetic musks)

The oakmoss is definitely what gives this perfume its classic style, but it feels contemporary too - not too complex. Also the woody notes are lovely - the nutty scent and pencil shavings effect of cedar and the dryness of oak, but there's something soft and milky there - what perfumers describe as 'lactonic' I suppose.

All in all, a perfect unisex perfume for those who enjoy woodiness with a bit of complexity. I'm pleased to have discovered this some time after it was released because I love woody perfumes but so many are too harsh, too simple, or not natural.

This is quite lovely, it has a subtle complexity thanks to oakmoss, the caraway is subtle, not too spicy (to my nose anyway) the woods natural.

It seems fairly light, but don't underestimate the carrying effect of oakmoss (or ISO E etc).


Suggestions:
Season - Autumn/Winter
Suited to- daytime/low-key events/
Mood/style - relaxed, elegant, casual

Nirmal, Laboratorio Olfattivo

If you're seeking the hazy perfume mystique of iris Nirmal doesn't quite offer that, it's more the rootiness of iris that you'd find in Iris Silver Mist by Lutens, then the carrot enriches that aspect and violet lends a clear green floral that blends in a way you might call vegetable-like.

Heeley's Iris de Nuit has similar notes, but is totally different - far more poetic, gentle, inky and green in mood. Nirmal is more earthy and autumnal to my nose anyway.

The overall effect is rich, deep, woody and sweet but not at all sugary. Unlike a lot of niche perfumes, it smells like a proper perfume - it's quite abstract, also sophisticated but not heavy or obvious.

I think this perfume would appeal to those who like a classic with contemporary edge. I tend to go for lighter, green irises and the richness of this would only work for me in the deep of winter, but it's lovely, and if you seek depth, elegance, and enjoy woody, rooty perfumes, this is absolutely worth testing. There's something about it that makes me think of leather, suede and dark fruits - which is odd since it has none of those.
For today's tastes I'd say it's fairly gender neutral, neither girly nor macho!

Galop d'Hermes

A moderately powerful Hermes, silage-wise. I'd also say quite sophisticated and feminine - maybe due to a powerful rose and noticeable osmanthus which gives that soapy bright floral (rose) and peachy softness (osmanthus) combined.

The leather is noticeable up front - dry, slightly suedey and very nice, but it does fade a bit into dry down after an hour, lending a softly animalic background. (For more on leather perfumes, you can read my earlier post Here if you like).

Mostly what's wafting up from my arm is rose. The osmanthus and suedey leather give it a ladylike aura, almost vintage in feel, I think.

If you can imagine a more feminised Cuir de Lancome, more powdery and a little more sweet, that's quite close.

To compare to L'Artisan's Dzing! I'd say it's more floral, more classically feminine, probably less sweet.

It speaks of a well groomed woman, I'd probably prefer something a bit more casual, less 'money' in feel, maybe more unusual, but this feels very good quality

Silage and longevity good to moderate.


Suggestions:
Season - Autumn/year round
Suited to- all occasions - depending on how much sprayed.
Mood/style - elegant, poised, refined

New short reviews ...

Though it's early Autumn I've indulged in a little spring-clean of this blog - among other things some of the links are missing from my 'A to Z of perfumes'.


Also, on Fragrantica I have reviews dating all the way back to 2007! So what I've decided to do is add some of the more interesting reviews from my Fragrantica page, but they'll be short and sweet in contrast to my usual long rambles.

For those who enjoy a long ramble though, you can still look up those longer musings in the 'A to Z' list from the menu above.

Hope you'll enjoy all the new short perfume reviews coming up! ...

Back again! Perfumes for Autumn ...

I decided to take a break from blogging about perfume recently. Partly because perfume collecting/sniffing can be an expensive hobby, but also recently the priority was setting up my new house and focusing on painting so it's been a really busy time (if you'd like to check out my art blog here's a link -  Rose Strang Artworks).

I've only researched a few recently, including Ideo Parfumeur's Last Canto...

It's appealing in many ways - as the title suggests, it's a flirty dance with a slight difference -  ultra femme in a coquettish slightly pink way, with touches of warm spice and animalic cumin.

If you're sensitive to cumin you'll get the sweaty tones, but it does stay pretty - warm with cinnamon, powdery with iris, mostly just the right touch of sweet, and a bit tasty with milky gourmand almond and fluffy heliotrope. I like that it touches on the contemporary mood of slightly retro powdery scents, while not being too predictable - a fairly imaginative perfume that stays pretty while being different and subtly sensual.

Having said that, there are some perfumes you know you can always wear, they just feel comfortable and right for any occasion, Last Canto wouldn't be one of those perfumes for me because although I find it pretty, it lacks the elegance and easy-to-wear feel of my favourites - it's slightly sweet and a touch sweaty - on some days I'd find it a bit sickly I think.

Today I'm testing out perfumes to wear for autumn - I had most of my perfumes in storage over summer months while I was traveling and I was surprised by the fact I missed my perfume collection since I thought I'd grown less fascinated by perfumery in general (fellow perfume aficionados will understand!) Turns out I just needed a break from it.

I've honed the collection down over the years quite a bit, so most of it consists of perfumes I'll definitely wear at some point. Over summer I survived on Prada's Infusion d'Iris and Cartier's Baiser Vole (I say this tongue-in-cheek, I do have some sort of perspective on life I hope!) but I did get a bit bored between those two perfumes, perfect as they are for any occasion in summer.

I found myself missing Ponte Vecchio for Women by Nobile (reviewed in my previous post - Here). I associate it with summer, but I think I'll have a few more wears of this into mid September, since it has a woody warmth deep down, also the dominant note of iris suits most seasons for me, except coldest winter. It does have a fairly bright white floral aspect though, and for me those develop best in warm weather when the soapier aspects soften, or blossom on warm skin, or the soapiness is refreshing on hot days.

I'm looking forward to wearing Rahele by Neela Vermeire this Autumn (also reviewed in my previous post Here) though I won't be buying a full bottle as I'd rarely wear it and it is pricy, like most perfumes made by independent niche houses. It's perfectly suited to early Autumn I think - with soft, spicy leathery notes against the powdery apricot fuzz of osmanthus.

I bought my decant of Rahele from the excellent online sample site 'First in Fragrance' which is based in Germany - link here - https://www.ausliebezumduft.de/

I'll be testing a few samples each month or so, so look forward to resuming posts here on a monthly basis at least.

I'll leave you with a photo from my recent trip to the beautiful area of Ardnamurchan on the west coast of Scotland, just imagine the lovely scent of wood and salty sea I experienced in this as yet unspoiled wilderness - breathe it in, aaaah!...

Rahele

'Red Boats, White Sun'. Rose Strang 2012

Rahele, launched in 2016 by Neela Vermeire, was inspired by the famous 17th century French travel writers Tavernier, Bernier and Thévenot and the idea of an 'east meets west' Europe/Orient perfume aesthetic.

I immediately think of colonialism and E.M. Forster novels with such concepts! But in this case it's from an Indian perspective, since Neela Vermeire is herself Indian. 

Vermeire created Rahele in collaboraiton with the rockstar 'nose' of perfumery, Bertrand Duchaufour, but I can sense her influence strongly here since Duchaufour perfumes are usually very characterful, with notes that recognisably stand out, whereas Rahele is more reserved and speaks of grace and balance.

If you want to unpick it, I suppose the 17th cent. 'west' aspect is here in the form of oakmoss (always present in chypre perfumes and very much a French influence), violet and violet leaf (characteristically temperate zone, slightly aquatic, green and 'cool' in tone) and iris; powdery, refined and mysterious, and again absolutely characteristic of classic European perfumes. 

Think Chanel classics such as No 19, 28 La Pausa, Cuir de Russie - all of which feature prominent iris, though going back much farther, iris featured prominently in ancient Greek and Roman perfumery.

We're well accustomed nowadays to the combination of Oriental and European perfume notes,

though these perfumes tend to open with the lighter citrics and florals, drying down to an ambery vanilla base. Rahele offers somthing different; a smooth blended quality throughout from start to finish in perfect balance.

The key to this might be in the way green notes of violet and violet leaf harmonise with the green intensity of cardamom. The powderiness of iris with the suede-like texture of osmanthus (a classically Japanese flower) in addition to woody, powdery sandalwood. Add the scent of mandarin, to blend with the apricot fruitiness of osmanthus and the whole blends together in a beautiful and quite unique way.

Osmanthus seems central to this composition, the scent of the flower is a perfume in itself really, it's smooth, golden, savoury/sweet - almost like apricot tea if you can imagine such a thing, but it's mostly the sense of texture that makes it such a lovely addition to perfume; it's very soft-edged (though not delicate) and it's often described as having a suede or leather-like scent.

Though this perfume is quite unique, it does in fact remind me of the dry down of Coco Chanel (though not the modern-day version which has hardly anything in common with the original 80s perfume).Those of you who were teenage or older in the 80s will remember those two pillars of 80s perfumery: Opium by Yves Saint Laurent and Coco by Chanel. I always prefered the latter, because although it shared all the spicy ambery impact of Opium, it was considerably softened by rose and, similarly to Rahele, featured a generous helping of osmanthus. I have very fond memories of wearing Coco, especially in my late teens when I lived in Greece with my boyfriend at the time, who was re-building an ancient village in the hills of Paros over-looking the vivid blue Aegean. 

'Blue Bay', Rose Strang 2012

We lived on the building site in a long brick building with rough cement floor and a huge hammock bed, but in the midst of this (cough) charming rural scene, I kept my make-up and bottle of Coco Chanel in a little wall-niche on a slab of polished Paros marble! Maybe its powerful aroma helped keep the moths and lizards at bay! Anyway, by the time I returned to Scotland in the late 80s, this Baroque and dark style of perfume was making way for the minimalist chic of CK One and Issey Miyake's L'eau d'Issey. (I never did love those aquatic-style perfumes!).

Into dry down Rahele is softer, definitely more powdery than Coco, but that suits me fine since Coco in eau de parfum, as it was, would blow your socks off in comparison to the lighter styles of perfume worn today! Rahele is also slightly sweeter, and if I could change anything about this perfume it would be that ubiquitous vanilla dry-down, thankfully though, the osmanthus is still very present, ading its soft suede texture and warmth.

I haven't yet mentioned that Rahele is diferent in style from Vermeire's earlier launches, of which I've tried just one - Trayee. But her debut perfumes were absolutely India-oriented, in fact Trayee reminded me of kulfi ice-cream (she really does do wonderful things with cardamom!) though against a backdrop of beautiful sandalwood and incense.

Rahele appeals to me far more than Trayee ultimately though, probably as I've never really been drawn to gourmand style perfumes, however authentic and classy.

As summer mellows towards Autumn, I really can't think of a lovelier perfume than Rahele right now, with its golden apricoty osmanthus, dusted with soft green powder and spice.

(If you like the paintings and photographs in this post, you can view more at my artist's website at   https://rosestrangartworks.wordpress.com/gallery/ )

Autumn pond reflections, Rose Strang 2011

Pontevecchio

It's been quite a while since I posted here as I've been more busy than usual, but with a bit more time on my hands I've started to quite miss my perfume musings!

So today I'd like to introduce my favourite perfume of the summer this year; Pontevecchio for Women by Nobile 1942 - a new discovery for me, though it was released back in 2009.

It's not a well known perfume, at least not among non perfume obsessives. I discovered it on First in Fragrance, a German online perfume and samples shop.

As always I was hunting for an ultimate perfume of some sort. Usually my searches are related to season and since it was May the search was for a summer perfume with a difference.

Sampling by post is a great way to try something unusual, I tested a few, but Pontevecchio 'spoke' to me. It's quite different from my usual style but I liked it so much I bought a bottle, though it's fairly rare for me to buy full bottles. Also I tend to go for fresher summer florals, or something more moody with shady/powdery hints of iris (my summer stalwarts being Cartier's Baiser Vole or Prada's Infusion d'Iris)

Pontevecchio refers of course to the old bridge lined with artisanal shops that spans the River Arno in Florence. The perfumers of Genoan perfume house Nobile 1942 decided on this as the name for their first fragrance, (created in 1942) for men. Pontevecchio for Women was their second.

Incidentally I'd love to try the men's version, just to see what male character images it conjures up, because Pontevecchio for women suggests beautiful images of dreamy renaissance gardens - a painting shimmering into life - Simonetta Vespucci wafting away a bee as she sits for her portrait, no longer an idealised study in static line and pattern but alive in warm sunlight. Despite its citrus and green floral notes, this perfume is definitely warm.

It smells slightly old-fashioned, though having said that I can't pinpoint it to a particular perfume I know, or have known. It just has the feel of a timeless classic. Analysying it, aside from all the poetic musings, I'm pretty sure it's to do with the perfumery methods used by Nobile 1942. From a quick peruse of their website it's clear they're painstaking about quality and authenticity.

Although the opening notes are fresh, almost contemporary (mandarin, coriander seeds) the drydown has that warm, relaxed musk that's easy on the nose -with the combination of orris root (from iris) and oakmoss (here described as white moss, so probably a contemporary version of oakmoss since the original is now banned in large amounts).

Hence its old fashioned aura - creamy, rich florals in pure absolute, authentic base notes - this couldn't be more different from the spiky synthetic freesia or peony featured in many contemporary women's perfumes, or scratchy synthetic notes such as ISO E, ambroxan or 'Cashmeran woods'. (I'm not against synthetics generally, but those mentioned can irritate the nose and throat in large amounts I find).

The official notes listed on Nobile 1942's website (those that we non-perfumers are told of anyway) are bergamot, mandarin, coriander, Florentine iris, Indian jasmine, Bulgarian rose, sandalwood, musk and amber.

At the same time I discovered this perfume, a friend of mine who enjoys giving tarot readings told me the Nine of Pentacles was featuring sigificantly in my life. I don't know how seriously to take such things! But it did make sense since this last year life seems easier for me in many ways, not just financially, but increased confidence in painting. Somehow the process of painting and exhibiting is all a bit less angsty, and since I'll turn fifty this November I like to think angst is a feature of the past. (just saying that makes me feel a bit angsty mind you!) and so it is that Pontevecchio is my perfume of summer this year  - it's tranquil, warm  and uplifting.

Most of my 'holidays' are work-related - involving painting trips into the Scottish islands up north, which I love - they're pure artistic inspiration (my latest series of the Hebrides can be viewed here if you'd care to take a look) but I think now a sunny holiday is required to fully appreciate this perfume of summery tranquility!