Named after the masterpiece by German writer Herman Hesse, Narziss and Goldmund are a pair of fragrances for men and women, respectively, from the Dorissima line of Doris Brugger. Brugger has an impressive resume — she was mentored by Gianni Versace and later consulted with Lorenzo Villoresi about the creation of her products. The fragrances were inspired by her travels to India and Sri Lanka and combine natural essences of the Far East to create captivating fragrances for both men and women…
Being a huge fan of Creed, it was with excitement and some trepidation that I tested Original Santal, one of Creed’s two launches for 2005 (the other being Love in White). I was quite disappointed with Creed’s previous launch, Original Vetiver, mostly due to the fact that it was anything but original (though truth be told, I’m considering buying a bottle anyhow) and word of mouth has not been much better for this new scent.
Original Santal is a 21st century interpretation of a scent created by Creed for Emperor Franz-Josef of Austria Hungary in the 19th century. It is an Eau de Parfum housed in a beautiful red-orange, typical Creed bottle. It has notes of cinnamon, coriander, juniper berry, lavender, rosemary, ginger, mandarin, neroli, orange wood, Mysore sandalwood, cedar, benzoin, vanilla and ambergris…
I recently tried 8 of the fragrances in the Geo. F. Trumper line; these were my favorites:
The Geo F Trumper Sandalwood fragrance was released in 2002 to honor Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee. It has notes of bergamot, lemon, lavender, clary sage and spice notes, white jasmine, carnation, geranium and rose, sandal, patchouli, amber, vanilla and a hint of leather. This is a very nicely done, slightly sweet sandalwood, very smooth and creamy…
Diptyque launched Tam Dao in 2003, and I assume the fragrance was named for the Vietnamese hill station north of Hanoi. Tam Dao was established as a resort town during French colonial rule; the town is now inside of Tam Dao National Park and is a popular weekend tourist destination. Diptyque’s Tam Dao fragrance was created by perfumer Daniel Moliere, and the notes include rosewood, cypress, ambergris, and sandalwood.
Like many sandalwood-heavy fragrances, Tam Dao gets off to a bit of a rocky start. The top notes smell like a burst of cedar with an unpleasant, almost acrid undertone which I can’t quite pin down. It is close to gasoline, but not quite. It settles quickly to a creamy sandalwood with a distinctly resinous edge. The cypress lends an aromatic, slightly evergreen bite in the early stages, but it is still a very soft fragrance, with little to temper the dry woods…