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Strange Invisible Perfumes Essence of IX ~ fragrance review

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Strange Invisible Perfumes Essence of IX

I don’t drink much (anymore) and maybe (or maybe not?) that’s why I’m such a sucker for booze notes in perfume. Stuff like this…

She commissioned a twelfth-generation master distiller, also located in Napa, to produce an exquisite batch of French oak essence for the perfume. One of the defining alchemical accomplishments of the composition, the oak essence was triple distilled in old European copper stills from a wine called ‘Esprit de cognac’ which is aged in French oak barrels.1

…gets my attention, and add in rose, white sage, black currant, wild honey and lavender (ok, in all truth I can often do without lavender) and you’ve got something I’d like to try. The ‘she’ in the quote above is Alexandra Balahoutis, of indie botanical line Strange Invisible Perfumes, and the perfume is Essence of IX, a limited edition project in collaboration with California winery Colgin Cellars.

Essence of IX opens quite boozy (really, maybe it’s just the alcohol) and herbal, and it’s slightly medicinal to boot…

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L’Artisan Parfumeur Vanille Absolument (was Havana Vanille) ~ perfume review

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Havana, Cuba

Havana Vanille is the latest fragrance to join the travel series at L’Artisan Parfumeur. It follows Bois Farine, Timbuktu, Dzongkha and Fleur de Liane — not bad company, as these things go. This time, we’re off to Cuba:

From its vibrant Salsa rhythms, its famous cigars and Cuban rum, it is certain there is something magical about Havana. It is a place that contrasts all others. This mysterious fragrance is reminiscent of travels around the world, the nostalgia of crossing the seven seas to discover far off treasures and the smell of a wooden boat mingling with the aroma of rum and spice.1

The perfumer is Bertrand Duchaufour, who developed all of the L’Artisan travel series fragrances to date with the exception of Bois Farine, and the notes include rum, clove, dried fruits, narcissus, tonka bean, helichrysum, vanilla, smoked woods, moss and balsamic notes. Sound good so far? It sounded darned good to me, and lo and behold, I was not disappointed…

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True Religion for Men, Billy Jealousy Illicit and Thierry Mugler A*Men Pure Malt ~ fragrance reviews

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True Religion for Men

True Religion for Men

It’s a lot harder to find a good-fitting pair of jeans than it is a ‘good-fitting’ cologne. My house is full of jeans that no longer make the cut (except for gardening duty) — jeans that are too: short, faded, loose, “deconstructed” or embellished for my own good (and the good of innocent onlookers). It’s hard to find a slim-tailored pair of dark blue jeans that have not been abraded, faded/bleached, embroidered, ripped or whiskered. True Religion Brand Jeans are not ‘me’, but what about the new True Religion for Men cologne?

As usual, the company description of True Religion for Men is confusing and unintentionally amusing…

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Guerlain Homme ~ fragrance review

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Guerlain Homme cologne for men

I always enjoy watching Sylvaine Delacourte, Guerlain’s head of fragrance development, in action; I have no idea if she would be fun to work with or for, but she always appears vivacious and flirtatious in Guerlain film clips. Watching Delacourte and Thierry Wasser, Guerlain’s exclusive house perfumer, discuss Guerlain Homme on the Guerlain Homme website is amusing. Delacourte, sitting next to Wasser and staring straight at the camera, claims the idea for Guerlain Homme came to her six years ago as she drank a thirst-quenching mojito in Cuba at the Hemingway Bar. Wasser, upon hearing this pronouncement, lowers his head, laughs and gives Delacourte a look that reads: “Oh, NO she didn’t!” Wasser then says HE’S been working on a mojito accord (rum, mint and lime) “on my own”. (It’s really too bad there’s not a Liz Smith of the perfume world; let’s just say Delacourte and Wasser collaborated on Guerlain Homme.)

Guerlain is marketing Guerlain Homme as a new type of fragrance — a new type of ‘freshness’ in perfumery; Wasser calls it “inimitable”. The Guerlain Homme film ad is set in a jungle, where a well-groomed, half-naked, modern-day ‘Tarzan’ drinks at a watering hole alongside wild animals. I like the goofy ad but there is nothing really new, wild or animalic about Guerlain Homme. As I wear Guerlain Homme, I don’t think “Tarzan” or “jungle” — I imagine a Lacoste-clad guy on a Caribbean veranda sipping a mojito alongside Delacourte. But just because Guerlain Homme is not wild, or wildly original, does not mean it’s bad; in fact, this is the first new mainstream Guerlain fragrance I’ve liked in a long time…

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Serge Lutens Chene ~ fragrance review

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tree bark

As every serious Serge Lutens fan knows, every year, one fragrance from the “exclusive” collection (i.e., those that aren’t exported to the US) is selected as a limited edition addition to the “export” collection (i.e., those that are). These fragrances get packaged in the regular export bottle (i.e., the tall rectangle) instead of the bell jar you get in Paris, and they hang around until they sell out. Last year’s pick was Fumerie Turque; this year, we’re getting Chêne. I don’t know why it is never Iris Silver Mist or Tubéreuse Criminelle, but I keep waiting and hoping.

Chêne was launched in 2004, and described as “the comfort and magnitude of oak” (chêne is the French word for oak). It was developed by perfumer Christopher Sheldrake, and the notes include cedar crystals, wood sap, black thyme, immortelle, beeswax, silver birch, rum absolute and tonka bean. Chêne opens on the rum absolute and sweet green wood sap, lightly honeyed…

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