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Fragrant Father’s Day Gifts ~ 2015 Edition

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Father and Son, the emperors Qianlong and Yongzhen

Seasoned perfumistas will do just fine when choosing colognes for their fathers, so I’m concentrating on scented “sides” this year — perfumed items that make life more pleasant. (Fathers…feel free to treat yourself to anything on this list.)

Brooklyn Grooming Beard Lovers Set: Beard oil kit with four scented oils, including Commando (scent-free), Williamsburg (cedar, Ho wood, ylang-ylang), Fort Greene (pine, rosemary, juniper, lavender, bergamot) and Red Hook (Bay Rum, cardamom, citrus), all in 4 dram vials, and 1 oz Pilgrims Beard and Hair Tonic (rosemary-scented), plus a Brooklyn Grooming limited edition beard-moustache comb…

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Serge Lutens L’Incendiaire ~ fragrance review

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Serge Lutens L'Incendiaire brand visual

“The fire is not within the perfume but within me. I want to ignite the smoldering embers of the perfume world, to put the fire back in perfume!” — Serge Lutens, on his fragrance L’Incendiaire1, the first release in his “luxury” Section d’Or collection

Many creative directors wax rhapsodic (and incoherently) about their perfume lines and themselves. Just this week Roja Dove claimed he introduced OUD to the niche fragrance world in 2011…over a decade after he was beat to the punch by many others (niche, and non-niche). I smiled when I read this bit of hyperbole on the Serge Lutens webpage: “Section d’Or is infinite. Serge Lutens takes infinity to a new level.” Only Lutens can bottle, nay, expand infinity! Read his “writings” if you don’t believe me — read too much, and you’ll want to head beyond infinity yourself for some brain-rest…

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Frederic Malle Cologne Indelebile ~ fragrance review

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Frederic Malle Cologne Indelebile

Here’s what Frédéric Malle has to say about its newest offering, Cologne Indélébile1:

A clean scent, yet surprisingly magnetic. A modern yet traditional Eau de Cologne that lasts forever. Dominique Ropion embraces musk’s nature as both a quasi-aphrodisiac and a scent of purity to create a very personal interpretation of Eau de Cologne. A splash of the best neroli intertwined with orange blossom, bergamote, and the most technical musks for a scent that endures, and endures, and endures… Cologne Indélébile (Permanent Cologne).

My preliminary edits…

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Three in One: reviews of Annick Goutal L’Ile au The, Salvatore Ferragamo Vendemmia & Acqua di Parma Colonia Ambra

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Annick Goutal L'Ile au The, Salvatore Ferragamo Vendemmia & Acqua di Parma Colonia Ambra

Annick Goutal L’Ile au Thé

Perfumer Isabelle Doyen; fragrance notes include mandarin, citrus, osmanthus, tea, white musk

Annick Goutal just released L’Ile au Thé, a new unisex fragrance inspired by the South Korean island of Jeju. It’s true that Jeju Province produces teas and citrus, but there’s nothing about L’Ile au Thé that couldn’t be attributed to many locales. I could even “inspire” such a fragrance here in the Pacific Northwest, in Seattle, by wearing a classic Eau de Cologne while drinking a cup of fragrant green tea…or sipping my tea next to the blooming Buddha’s hand citrus or kumquat trees in my bedroom. There’s nothing “exotic” about L’Ile au Thé; it fits in perfectly with Annick Goutal’s recent releases: nice fragrances that don’t bare their teeth or muster much emotion beyond a wan smile. (I could almost have used Robin’s review of Vent de Folie as the basis of this review.)

L’Ile au Thé goes on smelling of citrus rind and blossoms; it’s a happy, if quiet, opening.

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Masque Milano Tango & Luci ed Ombre ~ fragrance reviews

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Masque Milano Tango

I love rough-and-ready amber fragrances. I’m not a fan of dainty or too-sweet (polite) amber perfumes (except in soaps or candles, and even then…). Masque Milano’s Tango1 is my type of amber; it presents a spicy amber that’s singed around the edges. The perfume begins with the aromas of pepper, charred cardamom and “tempered” cumin (as I sniff, the color that comes to mind is rich sepia). While remaining dark in character, Tango’s heart has glimmers of floral notes (“simmered/reduced” rose and jasmine…warm and rich, not fresh or clean). As Tango develops, I smell leather, tough musk, and only mild sweetness (tonka, vanilla, benzoin and clover accent the richer, burnt/caramelized notes; they never take over the composition)…

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