When I got a decant of La Via del Profumo Sharif in the mail, two things of note happened: an autumn chill arrived in the Northwest, sweeping away summer in one afternoon, and my cat, Vanya Mandelstam, um, “sullied” the Sharif packing materials that I had thrown on the floor. Both of these events had an impact on my relationship with Sharif, but first….
Sharif smells wonderful. It starts off with a nose-searing note that smells like tonka beans in turpentine (with a nutty background aroma, almost dessert-like, but not too sweet). A beautiful, almost smoky, leather scent appears next, blending well with tonka and spice (a clear, pungent cinnamon-clove note). Sharif remains in tonka-leather-cinnamon territory for a long time before turning a tad powdery with musky (civet) amber in the dry-down. There is a hint of smooth “incense ash” in the base notes also. The entire composition is fine-tuned and high-quality (what a relief it is to smell Sharif after sampling too many cheap perfumes from other houses recently).
Now, to my “relationship” with Sharif. First, its arrival on a chilly day was auspicious; this is a cool-weather perfume. Though it is not overpowering and dense, it has more tenacity than you’d expect from a natural perfume (it lasts at least six hours on my skin, with minimal sillage). Sharif does not possess what sometimes ruins natural perfumes for me: a sameness in ‘texture’ and a ‘cooked’ aspect, as if the fragrance notes were extracted from plants using oil and a hot frying pan (to put it crudely). Sharif is fresh and buoyant.
Vanya Mandelstam, who has appeared on this blog before in my review of Caron Yatagan, has a nose for musks and he could not ignore the fact that natural civet is present in Sharif. (He was infuriated.) Though he attacks me (a combination of rough licking and biting) when I wear Yatagan, he wants to obliterate Sharif from his environment — so I apply Sharif after I leave the house for Vanya’s peace-of-mind and my cleanness-of-floor.
La Via del Profumo has info on its website regarding its natural materials; it clearly states that Sharif is “non-vegan” due to the musk in the composition. Natural civet musk has been replaced in many mainstream perfumes with synthetic civet musk (in Yves Saint Laurent Kouros, Chanel No. 5, and Frederic Malle Musc Ravageur for example). Civet musk has an elevating effect in perfume, it heightens and prolongs the scents of other ingredients. Synthetic civet musk is fine by me and its use eliminates problematic aspects of obtaining civet musk “naturally,” either by the death of the civet or by its captivity on civet “farms” where the animals are subjected to “milking” on a regular basis — an uncomfortable process to say the least. La Via del Profumo is honest in letting consumers know its civet musk is real, but I have no idea how the company obtains it. The perfume consumer can decide for himself or herself whether to wear perfumes with real musks (IF, and this is a big “if,” a perfume company is forthcoming about the type of musk it uses).
Sharif is available directly from La Via del Profumo; 10 ml (€36), 32 ml (€105,60) and 50 ml (€165) Eau de Parfum.
Note: top image is via Wikimedia Commons.
Ha, I like your story of Vanya. He seems like a character of note. I’m thinking I should try some of these in proximity to my cat and see what happens. I have a sample of Yatagan…
MichaelM: long sleeves are recommended!
What an intriguing (and delicious) sounding scent! The impression I got while reading was something like an Ambre Narguile or Tonka Imperiale spritzed on leather and waved over a bonfire for a few moments. How far off am I, Kevin?
Whatever the case, this is a must smell and if the musk was sourced in as humane a method as possible, I wouldn’t mind owning something with such an alluring description.
My Diva, a 14-year-old seal point Siamese, is far too proud to allow herself to react to the perfumes I wear. However, when she thinks no one’s looking, she’s been known to have a field day with packing material, large enough envelopes (she’s barely 7 pounds so can cram herself into the tiniest spaces) or even the many small boxes I get. If she isn’t too busy rolling about on discarded bubble wrap, that is.
That’s funny. My cats are afraid of bubble wrap.
AbScent: I’d have to revisit those two scents, but I’m thinking Sharif is less foody…even if the leather weren’t there.
That “nose-searing note” in opening almost put me off the one time I wore this, but after about 15 minutes it was really lovely. I need to give it another try now that the weather’s cooler. I don’t recall my cat having any reaction to it (no perfumes seem to bother him so far), but next time I’ll offer him my wrist and see if he has an opinion.
Janice: be grateful he has no interest
This sounds like exactly the thing I’d like to try. Luckily my dog could not be less interested in scent of any sort that comes from a bottle. I’ve tried a couple things around her and she appears to be thinking, “This does not smell like chicken. I’m assuming you have some kind of point here, but it does not smell like anything I wish to eat, so you can stop now. And go find me some chicken.” I like that Mr. Vanya is rather more discerning, but I suppose his opinion comes at a steep price. I’m sure life with him is interesting.
Kimberly: well, he IS food-driven, but NOT when it comes to civet apparently.
I adore his Mecca Balsam, and so Sharif was already my greatest lemming for the fall even before your enticing review fanned the flames. I AM going to live dangerously and order it unsniffed! But I don’t have a cat, so at least my apartment is safe. And I’ve decided when I do get a cat to name him/her Catagan!
Noz; I hope you like it! I ordered a perfume unsniffed yesterday too…may we both be happy!
Kevin – what did you order unsniffed?
Bang Bang…apparently it’s in no hurry to get in stores.
My big-boned, long-tailed, domestic short hair Sammy (a 10-year-old pound rescue whom I’ve had for nearly seven years and couldn’t change his name since he knew it well) likes to lick any scent on the interior of my arms. Can’t discern his fragrance preferences, but suspect the milkier they smell, the better he likes them. Long explanation why: He lives on the second floor of my house, the dog (until recently two dogs) on the first. On the rare occasion I bring a small bowl of ice cream or cottage cheese upstairs with me to the computer, he attempts to push his mouth and face into it.
SRH: ah…another “separated at home” animal couple. Teddy Calzini (orange tabby) lives downstairs/Vanya lives upstairs and unless I want a $2000 vet bill…ne’er the twain shall meet!