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On Vetiver: Vétiver Extraordinaire for Frederic Malle
Vétiver Extraordinaire manages to exist in vetiver purgatory, where the namesake note floats as just a vetiver. As a note it appears eagerly on the palette, omnipresent and stark with a general attention to its adornments. Present at the front and detracting into the mid and back of a composition,…
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On Oud: Oud 27 by Le Labo
In the modern niche market there exists a strong rift between the synthetic and naturally derived oud within a fragrance. One camp focuses on the natural derivation of oud. Treated minimally, and constructed through an exercise in pairing complements. The consequence is an oud placed in a position of high reverence.…
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Monthly Musings: An Interesting Month, August 2016
It has been a bizarre month for me – I experienced a sort of flatness, an uninspired lack of charge to engage in any sort of formalised fragrant writing. This made me ponder over the process of reviewing scent, forcing myself to look at fragrant writing as a concept. However,…
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Cultural Juxtaposition: Bois de Violette by Serge Lutens
The result of clashing temperaments, Bois de Violette combines a melancholic Victorian floral with a phlegmatic oriental stewed wood and fruit accord. The high-waisted attitude of the melancholic Victorian floral focuses here on a single floral note of violet, with its ability to capture a mood of elegance and prim…
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Le Mat by Mendittorosa
The dynamic combination of rose and patchouli, in terms of component parts, is perfume at its most simple. This is distinguished from a singular scent, where perfume contrastingly relies on construction – involving more than one part. The combination of rose and patchouli is easily a case study within the…
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Strange Fruit: Jubilation 25 by Amouage
A considerably attractive feature of Amouage is the strong presence of intersectionality, forming a statement on the culture of perfumery. Depending on how you look at it, perfumery can be a very French-European practice, or it can be a Middle Eastern mindset. Both have their respective merits, and whilst I…
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Monthly Musings: On Approach, July 2016
This month I have had intensive thoughts about the notion and practise of reviewing fragrances. I want to begin writing monthly musings because whilst I like writing in an academic style (serious, serious, and serious!) – there is always so much that goes beyond and behind a finalised blog post.…
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Déclaration by Cartier
As a self-confessed Jean-Claude Ellena tragic, it is interesting to smell what is considered some of his earlier works, especially observing his transparent style as it grows and develops with confidence – becoming more and more obviously transparent in nature. It becomes apparent that there is a lot of self-referencing to be found: noticing…
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Comme des Garçons by Comme des Garçons
It’s remarkably difficult as a reviewer to not only find new and worthy scents, but also approaching new angles within these reviews. It is easy to report to blog readers and offer a running commentary of how a perfume smells at each stage, but it is a newfound difficulty when…
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China White by Nasomatto: Postmodern Chypre
The postmodern chypre moves away from the great drama of the classical chypre. I am cautious not to associate classical mossy chypres with maximalism. Instead, I refer to them as works of great drama. Defined with equipoise and infinite competing forces normalising on the skin, revealing interesting modulations as time…
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Olfactics 