M MICALLEF LE PARFUM DENIS DURAND COUTURE

The first thing I smell on spraying my sample of Le Parfum Denis Durand Couture is ambroxan, but it’s just one facet of a strong medley of sharply “perfumey” and animalic notes. I like ambroxan, but as soon as I smell it I always know I’m in for the long haul, most likely 24 hours or more, and for the lifetime of whatever clothing gets sprayed. As the scent settles down on my skin, it first becomes sharp with light citrus, cinnamon, a note that reminds me of geranium, some sort of woods, the animalic notes, and patchouli. At this point it’s unexpectedly dark and intense, leading me to guess that it’s not going to appeal to everyone – a love it or hate it scent in the same genre as the Devil Scents, which it reminds me of. As it continues to develop it goes through a sweetish, “matte” phase where I initially thought it was languishing before its time. However, it quickly gets a second wind and produces an amazing, huge cloud of sillage worthy of any 1980s perfume. It’s sharp, spicy, and woody, with just a hint of teak-like base. I keep saying “sharp” because this is the best way I know to characterize the scent. I could just as well say “pointed” or “jagged”. This is not to say that it’s “rough” in a textural sense. In fact the fragrance is well-balanced and slick, but at the same time clearly defined and piercing, with a massively strong bite. About an hour into the drydown an oily rose makes its appearance, potentiating the industrial-oil/castoreum facets of the animalic-woody base. Somewhere around the 12-hour mark, most of the notes have faded away, leaving what smells like pure ambroxan, so my first impression was correct. Just as I expected, it’s still going strong 24 hours later.

DD Couture is a fragrance that I’d definitely wear and enjoy, especially when I want something to last from one day to the next.  It would work equally well on a man or a woman who enjoys strong scents, and would probably be spectacular on a man. When I first tried my sample, it was early in the morning with my breakfast coffee, and it took me totally by surprise, almost knocking me over. If you decide to sample this fragrance, brace yourself, apply sparingly, make sure you don’t have to go out in a perfume-phobic public venue right away, and be prepared for an all-out olfactory experience. It’s definitely worth the ride!

Notes given by perfumer: Cinnamon, tangerine, rose, orange blossoms, honey, animalis, sandalwood, patchouli, amber, white musk. 

Available as of April 2013 in a 50 ml EdP spray bottle that retails for $190. 

[Review based on a sample generously provided by Hypoluxe. Images courtesy of Hypoluxe] 

THE TWO FACES OF LILITH

This is the final chapter in the reviews of the fragrances made for Sheila Eggenberger's Devil Scent project, based on the characters in her novel Quantum Demonology. 

Neil Morris’s Lilith

starts out as a heady mix of flowers, citrusy roses and powdery violets, along with some newly cut grass. It is flowers at their most piercing and insistent, flowers that will simply not be ignored. It’s extremely sweet, keeping just below the threshold of cloying, pushing sweetness to the maximum level at which it’s still pleasant. The sillage has an almost candy-like edge to it, like candied violets.

There’s nothing at all funky about Neil’s Lilith, which came a bit of a surprise. It’s a straight-up floral fragrance that you could wear in any company. No one would raise their eyebrows, except maybe to ask what that divine-smelling floral scent is. This Lilith kills you with love, and you don’t even know it. It reminds me of the old Grateful Dead song lyrics from Push Comes to Shove …

“Shakin’ in the garden, the fear within you grows,

Here there may be roses, to punch you in the nose,

Wrap their arms around you, squeeze you till you cry,

Wrap you in their sweet perfume, and love you till you die.”

That’s exactly what Lilith does. I’m not a big fan of florals, but Neil’s Lilith is an amazingly gorgeous specimen of the floral genre. I would wear it proudly when I want to invoke the soft, super-feminine, seductive side of Lilith. Lilith reclining on a Barbie-bed in her pink lingerie smiling demurely and beckoning to her victim, or Lilith tripping through the sunshine in her flowered sundress, appearing oh so sweet and innocent, never looking at her admirers, but knowing that all eyes are on her and that her victim will inevitably be drawn to her for the kill. Lilith, who pushes her sweet and innocent appearance to the very border of credibility, stopping just milliseconds short of revealing her underlying evil intentions.

Eventually the no-holds-barred florals dry down, leaving a beautiful, soft, powdery comfort scent that makes you want to snuggle up next to it. At this stage it reminds me of a vintage Patou, only better. I could see Lilith becoming my go-to floral fragrance. Kudos, Neil! I’m probably going to "need" a bottle.

Olympic Orchids Lilith

is quite a different creature. LIL is as sharp as Neil’s Lilith is rounded, the floral notes pumped full of piercing kewda, aldehydes, and lime leaf announcing her heartless and evil intentions from the get-go. She’s an immaculately groomed schemer and dominatrix in stiletto heels, her leather underwear camouflaged by a lime-green designer business suit and persuasive smile, her whip at the ready in her designer briefcase. She intimidates her victims with absolute confidence and ruthlessness, using her irresistible will rather than her powers of sweet seduction to force them to their knees. Wealth, confidence, and power can be as seductive in their own way as breathtaking beauty and vulnerability are in theirs.

I’m blown away by how Neil and I managed to invoke these two opposing sides of Lilith so completely, Neil depicting her feminine side, I depicting her masculine side. Put them together, and you have an unstoppable force of nature. I have to go out in public all day today, but next time I’m home alone I’m going to try combining the two and see what happens. One Lilith on the right wrist, one on the left … the yin and the yang ... it should be interesting!

Many thanks to Neil Morris and Amanda Feeley for providing samples of their wonderful creations and to Sheila for inspiring it all. 

[All images taken from the Wikimedia collections] 

VINCE CAMUTO FRAGRANCES, SCRATCHY WOOL SWEATERS AND PRICKLY GREEN TEA

I must have led a sheltered life because I had never heard of Vince Camuto until I received miniature bottles of two new fragrances released under this label, an EdT for men and an EdP for women. Apparently there actually is a Vince Camuto, and he is (or was?) an American shoe designer and one of the partners who founded the shoe retail chain, Nine West. I was surprised to see that there are Vince Camuto clothing stores all over the world, so that just shows what a lifetime of thrift-store shopping will do for one’s retail cultural awareness.

The men’s mini EdT comes in a simple, tasteful, highly functional, clear spray bottle in a simple but elegant black and silver box. It makes a good first impression. The juice itself is unambiguously planted within the realm of traditional “men’s colognes”, with the usual citrus, lavender, spices, and woody notes. The citrus in the opening is a little bit sweeter and fruitier than average, lasting well into the middle part of the fragrance’s development. I like that.

Colognes are by no means my favorite genre, especially since so many of them smell so similar and are either fleeting in nature or unbearably strong. Vince Camuto is not one of those wimpy colognes that smells citrusy and herbal for an hour or so and then disappears. It’s strong and assertive, with plenty of sillage, without being overpowering. It lasts for a good 6 hours, probably more. I could wear it. 

The women’s mini EdP comes in a squatty bottle with a gold filigree plastic stopper. It’s spicy and floral, with just enough prickly green tea in the sillage to make it a definite no-go for me. It’s too bad because everything else about the fragrance is pleasant.

 I think I’ve written before about my strong aversion to the “green tea” note that’s used in so many mass-market fragrances. I don’t even know if it’s supposed to be a tea note, but “tea” fragrances are where I first remember smelling it, so I call it “green tea”. To me, it’s the olfactory equivalent of wearing a scratchy wool sweater, which I also can’t stand. Scratchy wool irritates me the entire time I’m wearing it, both physically and psychologically. Every so often I’ll buy a wool garment at my local thrift shop, thinking it looks so nice that I’ll have to give it a chance, but the first time I put it on, back in the "pass it on" pile it goes. Sorry, sheep. I know you meant well. The same thing happens with fragrances. I’ll put one on, smell the “green tea” note, which often isn’t even listed, and am immediately tempted to scrub. I think I must be hyper-sensitive to it. This aversion is my own personal peculiarity, so shouldn’t be taken as a generalizable negative comment. I know many people must love both scratchy wool and the “green tea” note, given their ubiquity in expensive clothing and in fragrances that receive lots of love from the consuming public.

Aside from the dreaded scratchy "tea" smell, the EdP pour femme seems fairly conservative and typical of its genre. I think most people would find that it “smells nice”, without being cognitively demanding in any way except for its substantial strength. After two or three hours the "tea" disappears, leaving a pleasant, somewhat spicy floral scent. What I can say in its favor is that it’s not a typical 21^st-century light fruity-floral. It’s cast more in the mold of a mega-sillage 1980s perfume, so for those who like that sort of thing and can tolerate the scratchy "tea" note, it might be perfect. 

A 3.4 ounce bottle of the men's cologne goes for $70 and the same size bottle of the women's EdP goes for $78, so neither of these is going to break the bank even if you buy a lifetime supply. 

[Review based on samples provided by Parlux Fragrances Inc. Images courtesy of Parlux] 

WINNER OF THE FRAGRANCE EVENT DESIGN DRAW

The random drawing took place this morning, and the winner of the 30 ml bottle is ..... GAIL! The runner-up is .... TARA DURKAN. Tara, you will get 5-sample set. Just e-mail me with your choices and complete mailing address. My contact info is in the profile section. Congratulations to the winners, and a huge thank-you to everyone who commented.

DEVIL SCENTS ROUND 4

I'm  finally coming to the end of the Devil Scent series, at least the ones I could get my hands on. These are the fourth in each series, names notwithstanding, so all that's left to review are the two Liliths. They're coming soon! 

Neil Morris Devil Scent #3

At first this smells a little more bitter than the others, with herbal notes that remind me of Amanda’s compositions in spirit, but of course nothing like the same scents in reality. At first it’s strong and full of intense green cut-grass and floral notes, accompanied by campfire smoke and spice. I’m probably one of the few people who dislikes the smell of fresh-cut grass, and here I find it incongruous when smelled next to the other notes. Sometimes incongruous is good, but here it’s just strange. Eventually the cold, wet, cut grass goes away, leaving a lovely floral-incense fragrance that’s rather subtle and warm, definitely more to my liking. As it runs its course, it eventually develops into a musky labdanum and incense base that smells a lot like some of my own Dev bases. That phase lasts a good while, subtle but clearly present. Even after a few wearings I’m still trying to figure out what to make of Dev #3. Maybe the mix of cold and dead, illustrated by cut grass, and warm, illustrated by smoke and spice, depicts the conflicted feelings of the heroine when the lost love of her life reappears. 

Coda by Amanda Feeley 

Starts out very spicy, scented with lemongrass and rose, much warmer than her other three. The same bitter herbs that were in the first three Devil Scents are still there, just buried under the strong spice and floral notes. As Coda develops, it becomes sweeter, almost candied, with vanilla undertones. It is full-bodied and rich, quasi-gourmand, and I really enjoy it a lot. I think it’s all-natural, so the sillage is very good, and it lasts for a respectable time. After wearing it a few times I’ve discovered that the lemongrass-citrus and herbal notes at the beginning are more or less prominent on different days. Overall, this is a soft, sensuous, romantic fragrance, a beautiful, happy ending to a difficult story. Amanda, you must release this so that everyone can enjoy it!

DEV #4 by Olympic Orchids

My DEV #4 (Reprise) is a calm variation on the starting notes of DEV #1, a stripped-down version that emphasizes the labdanum, with just enough of the other notes to recall the promise held by the beginning of the journey and to suggest that a new journey is about to begin. 

Once again, the three different perfumers’ interpretations of the story’s ending fit together like pieces of a puzzle to provide a coherent whole. Neil’s perfume suggests that the heroine has an approach-avoidance dilemma when Dev comes back into her life, one that is ultimately resolved in calm resignation. Amanda’s interpretation is a joyous celebration of the end of a long struggle, and the sweetness of being reunited with a loved one. Underlying the sweetness is the memory of the bitterness of the past, but the bitter notes make the sweetness all the more beautiful. My interpretation is that of a purifying and cleansing process in which the new beginning of the relationship is stripped of its old baggage and is free to continue on an honest basis of mutual understanding and acceptance. I was particularly struck by the fact that both Amanda and I chose to interpret this phase as the ending segment of a musical piece. In my version it was a reprise of the overture that included the final cadence, and in Amanda's version, it was a climactic and happy final ending. 

[cut grass photo adapted from Wikimedia; flowers and fruit by Georges Jeannin, 2011, Susanna's bath by Theodore Chasseriau, 1839]