The Different Company has launched Sublime Balkiss, a “surprising fragrance, with a familiar touch to it”. It is named for Balkiss, aka the Queen of Sheba, and is described as a modern chypre fragrance without oakmoss (real or synthetic) or animal-derived raw materials.
Sublime Balkiss was developed by perfumer Celine Ellena, and features two kinds of patchouli: the traditional essence, and a modified modern patchouli which emphasizes the cocoa powder notes…
Sel de Vetiver is the sixth fragrance release from the niche house The Different Company, and the second entry by perfumer Celine Ellena, who took over after her father Jean Claude Ellena became house nose at Hermès. Sel de Vetiver has notes of grapefruit, cardamom, Bourbon geranium, lovage, Haitian vetiver, patchouli, iris and ylang ylang.
Sel de Vetiver opens on grapefruit, very pale and soft and lightly sweetened. The patchouli, though subdued in any case, is more noticeable in the top notes than later in the dry down, and there is a green herbal undertone that adds some liveliness to the early stages. As it settles, it gets warmer, dryer and earthier, and in keeping with its name, saltier.
The “scent of salt drying on the skin after bathing in the sea” was given as one of Celine Ellena’s inspirations for the fragrance, and that description is as apt as any: the dry down smells very much like saltwater drying on sun-warmed skin. If I close my eyes and inhale deeply, I can make out a bit of cardamom, but for the most part, the glimmer of liveliness in the opening is smoothed over into something more quiet and hushed, in which no one note really stands out on its own…
Bois d’Iris was launched in 2000 by The Different Company, who reportedly gave nose Jean Claude Ellena and designer Thierry de Bashmakoff (who also designed the bottle for Bvlgari Black) carte blanche to create a unique line of luxury fragrances. Bois d’Iris features notes of iris, vetiver, bergamot, cedar, narcissus, geranium and musk.
Like yesterday’s Hiris, Bois d’Iris is an earthy fragrance, but it is a very different take on earthy. If Hiris is like a walk in the woods with a cool breeze blowing, the sensation of wearing Bois d’Iris is closer to being in an undergound tunnel, with the smell of damp wood and roots.
Bois d’Iris starts off peppery, but with none of the sharp edges that characterize the top notes of Hiris…
Niche perfume line The Different Company has opened its first boutique, on the Rue Chabanais in Paris. (via cosmeticnews)
The Brazilian rosewood tree has become an endangered species due to its popularity as an ingredient in perfume and other scented body products. This article in the New York Times talks about local efforts to create sustainable rosewood plantations.
A study at the University of California, Berkeley, found that humans have better sniffing abilities than previously thought, and can "track" odors in the same manner as dogs. Thanks to Tania for the link!
Jasmin de Nuit is the latest fragrance from The Different Company, and the line’s first release created by Celine Ellena, daughter of well-known nose Jean-Claude Ellena. I believe that I read somewhere (but as usual can’t find the link) that Celine Ellena has spent some years creating fragrances for cosmetics. This is her first major perfume release, although she also created the now discontinued Biotherm Relax.
The notes for Jasmin de Nuit are bergamot, black currant, egyptian jasmine, star anise, cinnamon, cardamom, sandalwood, musk and amber. According to The Different Company, the fragrance has unusually high concentrations of Egyptian jasmine absolute, a variety which is said to have a fruitier undertone than those more commonly used in perfumery.
Jasmin de Nuit starts with lush, rich jasmine and just a touch of bergamot…