3
The Church Conundrum
Demachy’s New Look 1947 was a powdery, demure fragrance with a floral sweetness that appealed to many. That being said, from observations it didn’t particularly sell well–often hidden in the backs of drawers along with Vetiver, Granville, and Cuir Cannage. For me, it didn’t have that “edge” Dior is particularly known for. It didn’t stand out from any of the Maison’s other scents.
So, here we have Kurkdjian’s controversial statement piece, as the house’s new master perfumer. Much more interesting, edgy, and less mass-appealing than his previous release for the line, Dioriviera. Early internet consensus has stated a strong dislike of this new iteration of New Look, completely unpalatable and abrasive…
…And it’s absolutely fascinating to me. I kind of love it.
What Kurkdjian has done is solve the decades-long quandary of The Churchy Incense fragrance, which falls like this:
• There’s a very particularly niche market for people who want to have the liturgical experience of Catholic incense bottled in a perfume (think Avignon, Cardinal, Lavs, Eau Sacree, Mortel, Pure Incense, so on, so on)
• But there’s a huge problem, which is that the C12 aldehydes used to give frankincense its characteristic radiance and piercing-ness are ephemeral and volatile.
• And with the bans on various aroma-chemicals and raw materials over the years, this has become increasingly impossible to do, so most perfumers have to make a choice between: a) packing in as many volatile and ephemeral aldehydes as possible, achieving this maximum luxurious quality of incense but as a result minimising the longevity and usability of the fragrance, or b) try to achieve the “church” qualities through other means, other materials and accords and nuances, but ultimately miss or fall short in achieving something truly close to the real thing, something lifelike and magical
• And as a result we end up with a market heavily divided on this topic: the Eau Sacrees and the Unums of the world would opt for more abstract approaches to “churchy incense,” the Avignons and Pure Incenses would opt for the most real, albeit fleeting, thing.
Kurkdjian’s latest creation somehow completely forgoes the laws of physics, and manages to create an almost completely realistic, church-like fragrance with extreme radiance and sharpness, but also incredible longevity for its class. The result is absurd: loud, screechy, powdery, smoky and radiant all at once. It’s extremely impressive. Take note that there is no other aldehyde/incense dominant fragrance that can compete with this.
As for the scent itself? It’s very interesting, and worthy of taking the mantle of New Look for how genuinely daring it attempts to be: there is absolutely no sweetness in here, if you’re looking for something that would even evoke a reminder of a reminder of a memory of a feeling of BR540, you’d be greatly disappointed. The opening is undoubtedly aldehydic and piercing, and very much has this liturgical energy about it. After quite a while, the smokiness builds up, along with some powdery nuances, and begins to draw itself closer to the skin. I’m often reminded of chalk, or something equally powdery-white and sterile in nature, of which this phase lasts quite a long time. The ambery base is also somewhat detectable, not so much in its sweetness but more in its sensual, almost rubbery musk-like qualities. It’s at this point the fragrance behaves more molecular in nature, more current in perfume’s trends.
I am not particularly a Kurkdjian fan. I don’t care for most of his creations, aside from perhaps his one for Narciso Rodriguez’s men’s collection. But I will say that I am impressed, and pleasantly surprised after such a milquetoast introduction to his new line of perfumery for the house of Dior with Dioriviera.
So, here we have Kurkdjian’s controversial statement piece, as the house’s new master perfumer. Much more interesting, edgy, and less mass-appealing than his previous release for the line, Dioriviera. Early internet consensus has stated a strong dislike of this new iteration of New Look, completely unpalatable and abrasive…
…And it’s absolutely fascinating to me. I kind of love it.
What Kurkdjian has done is solve the decades-long quandary of The Churchy Incense fragrance, which falls like this:
• There’s a very particularly niche market for people who want to have the liturgical experience of Catholic incense bottled in a perfume (think Avignon, Cardinal, Lavs, Eau Sacree, Mortel, Pure Incense, so on, so on)
• But there’s a huge problem, which is that the C12 aldehydes used to give frankincense its characteristic radiance and piercing-ness are ephemeral and volatile.
• And with the bans on various aroma-chemicals and raw materials over the years, this has become increasingly impossible to do, so most perfumers have to make a choice between: a) packing in as many volatile and ephemeral aldehydes as possible, achieving this maximum luxurious quality of incense but as a result minimising the longevity and usability of the fragrance, or b) try to achieve the “church” qualities through other means, other materials and accords and nuances, but ultimately miss or fall short in achieving something truly close to the real thing, something lifelike and magical
• And as a result we end up with a market heavily divided on this topic: the Eau Sacrees and the Unums of the world would opt for more abstract approaches to “churchy incense,” the Avignons and Pure Incenses would opt for the most real, albeit fleeting, thing.
Kurkdjian’s latest creation somehow completely forgoes the laws of physics, and manages to create an almost completely realistic, church-like fragrance with extreme radiance and sharpness, but also incredible longevity for its class. The result is absurd: loud, screechy, powdery, smoky and radiant all at once. It’s extremely impressive. Take note that there is no other aldehyde/incense dominant fragrance that can compete with this.
As for the scent itself? It’s very interesting, and worthy of taking the mantle of New Look for how genuinely daring it attempts to be: there is absolutely no sweetness in here, if you’re looking for something that would even evoke a reminder of a reminder of a memory of a feeling of BR540, you’d be greatly disappointed. The opening is undoubtedly aldehydic and piercing, and very much has this liturgical energy about it. After quite a while, the smokiness builds up, along with some powdery nuances, and begins to draw itself closer to the skin. I’m often reminded of chalk, or something equally powdery-white and sterile in nature, of which this phase lasts quite a long time. The ambery base is also somewhat detectable, not so much in its sweetness but more in its sensual, almost rubbery musk-like qualities. It’s at this point the fragrance behaves more molecular in nature, more current in perfume’s trends.
I am not particularly a Kurkdjian fan. I don’t care for most of his creations, aside from perhaps his one for Narciso Rodriguez’s men’s collection. But I will say that I am impressed, and pleasantly surprised after such a milquetoast introduction to his new line of perfumery for the house of Dior with Dioriviera.