Penhaligon’s will launch Sartorial, a new fragrance for men, this month. Sartorial was “inspired by the scents of the workroom at Norton & Sons, Bespoke Tailors at No. 16 Savile Row”.
Sartorial is a contemporary interpretation of a classic Fougère…
L’Artisan Parfumeur Traversee du Bosphore ~ new fragrance
L’Artisan Parfumeur will launch Traversée du Bosphore, a new fragrance by perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour, in November. Traversée du Bosphore was inspired by a journey to Istanbul…
L’Artisan Parfumeur Nuit de Tubereuse ~ perfume review
Sometimes it’s best to start at the end: L’Artisan Parfumeur’s new Nuit de Tubéreuse is a stunning perfume. Perfumer Bertand Duchaufour is reportedly not exactly the house nose at L’Artisan, and for that matter, he developed quite a few fragrances for the house before he was officially hired in 2008, but the L’Artisan line feels different after the last three major releases under his direction — Havana Vanille, Al Oudh, and now Nuit de Tubéreuse — and to me at least, different in a good way, although L’Artisan has long been one of my favorite perfume houses. There has been much discussion recently about whether or not niche is still a meaningful term, and of course one could argue that in terms of size and distribution, L’Artisan Parfumeur is not a niche firm anyway. Whatever: Nuit de Tubéreuse is an unusual and impressive take on tuberose, and it cheers me no end to know that there are still companies out there launching perfumes like this. Niche or not niche, I don’t care — Nuit de Tubéreuse is the exactly the sort of perfume that keeps me blogging.
All of that said, I’m not at all sure that I like it, and I put off this review so that I might wear it enough to make up my mind. I still haven’t made up my mind. It’s going in the purgatory basket. But let’s get back to the beginning…
L’Artisan Nuit de Tubereuse ~ new perfume
L’Artisan Parfumeur will launch Nuit de Tubéreuse, a new fragrance built around tuberose absolute:
A perfume for a secret Parisian summer night
Parisian summer nights are too romantic to be resisted…
Penhaligon’s Amaranthine ~ fragrance review
From the looks of so many celebrity fragrances, it must be easy to turn out a tropical, fruity floral fragrance. It’s almost become a cliché. Not that there’s anything wrong with a jumble of white flowers, roses, and grape juice, it’s just that it gets boring. In Penhaligon’s Amaranthine Eau de Parfum, perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour shakes up the tropical fragrance game by adding a distinctly sweet, milky note; a kick of spice; and a healthy portion of naughtiness to the fruity, banana-inflected flowers most people associate with tropical fragrances. The result is a sort of tropical-oriental, like Jayne Mansfield Jane Russell in Macao.
According to Wikipedia, amaranthine either relates to amaranth, a gorgeous plant with dripping reddish-purple stalks from which you can harvest grain; or an imaginary flower that never fades. Another online definition said amaranthine stands for “eternal beauty”. Penhaligon’s website lists Amaranthine’s top notes as green tea, white freesia, banana tree leaf, coriander seed oil, and cardamom absolute; its heart notes as rose, carnation, clove oil, orange blossom, ylang ylang oil, and Egyptian jasmine absolute; and its base as musk, vanilla, sandalwood, condensed milk, and tonka bean absolute. (Props to Penhaligon’s for listing perfumers on their website.)
When first on my skin, Amaranthine smells like green tea and kiwi with a trace of cumin…