Indie natural line Aftelier has launched Cuir de Gardenia, a new fragrance:

Cuir de Gardenia retains the unique beauty of the tiare flower, not allowing it to morph into the hundreds of petals of a floral bouquet. One trembles in awe, metaphorically, when blending with the incomparably sumptuous tiare (gardenia) absolute. I had been incredibly fortunate to find an artisanal grower and distiller of the ultra-rare, costly, precious gardenia. In Cuir de Gardenia, I wanted to retain the pure loveliness of the creamy sweet and singular gardenia fragrance, and knew that the rounded warmth of an oil-based perfume (solid and extrait) would be the perfect format.

There was no doubt that the sexy, rich aroma of castoreum was the perfect counterpoint for the gardenia; a yang for its yin. The ideal leather aroma is a marriage between some antique castoreum absolute I had gotten from an old perfumer’s estate with a tincture that I made from sustainably sourced castor pods. These two scents are quite distinct -- the antique aroma is more leather & intense, while the freshly made is sweet, powdery & musky. Cuir de Gardenia is unusual in that it has no top notes; I created it in such a way that the gardenia appears immediately, unimpeded from the opening of the perfume onward, merging seamlessly with the leather. The natural isolates ethyl phenyl acetate (reminiscent of a bunch of sweet peas) and the candy-like maltol contribute sweet and floral notes to the animalic base of the perfume.

Additional notes include jasmine grandiflorum.

Aftelier Cuir de Gardenia is available in 1/4 oz solid perfume ($240, sterling refillable compact) and as a limited edition 2 ml perfume mini ($55).

(via press release)

Update: see a review of Aftelier Cuir de Gardenia.