Olivier Durbano will launch Lapis Philosophorum, the niche brand’s first fragrance not inspired by an actual gemstone. Lapis Philosophorum is the Latin term for the mythical philosopher’s stone…
Olivier Durbano Heliotrope ~ new fragrance
Olivier Durbano has launched Heliotrope, the latest fragrance in the “Stone Poem Jewels” series. It is named for the heliotrope stone, also known as bloodstone…
Olivier Durbano Citrine ~ fragrance review
Olivier Durbano’s Citrine fragrance has been on my mind since I first smelled it last fall, and it’s in the running as a candidate for my first full-bottle purchase of 2012 (that is, if treating myself to a Frederic Malle candle, $95!, does not win out).
Citrine is in the Durbano “Parfum de Pierre Poèmes” line, and it includes fragrance notes of lemon, orange, mimosa “buds”, ginger, pink pepper, incense, myrrh, carrot seeds (“sprouting” in many scents lately), musk, rosewood, gaiac wood, beeswax and amber.
Citrine opens with pungent, “hot” citrus, as if the heat of ginger root and peppercorns has been added to lemon juice (don’t wear this if you have a sore throat!) There is a floral sweetness in the opening…
Olivier Durbano Citrine ~ new fragrance
Olivier Durbano has launched Citrine, the latest fragrance in the “Stone Poem Jewels” series…
Olivier Durbano Pink Quartz / Quartz Rose ~ fragrance review
Pink Quartz / Quartz Rose1 is the latest from niche line Olivier Durbano, and joins the other fragrances in his Bijoux de Pierres Poèmes series. Like the others, it’s named for a semi-precious stone that Durbano uses in his jewelry. So far none of the stone-fragrance pairings in the collection have really resonated with me in any way, but this one is obvious enough (pink = rose) that even I get it.2
Pink Quartz is supposed to be a spicy chypre, and who knows, perhaps it is, although it does not smell like either a classic or a modern chypre to me. Under my own idiosyncratic (and somewhat random) classification system, it goes in the “rose + saffron” drawer, where it is far from lonely, rose + saffron combinations being rather thick on the ground lately. The opening is briefly sparkle and light, then it’s jammy-rich and spicy, and leans towards the Washington Tremlett Black Tie / The People of the Labyrinths A.Maze school rather than more transparent efforts like L’Artisan Safran Troublant…