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Notes07/06/2020
Pinkdawn
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Pinkdawn
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37
Going to the firs
When the days get hotter, you long for a perfume that brings freshness and cooling.
Mostly this is found in citric scents. But as sparkling and invigorating as they are, one also wishes for a change from the lemon grove. At least I felt this way. In my search for a summer scent that refreshes without citrus, I came across Eau de gentiane blanche, a cologne by Hermès, created by Grandmaster Jean-Claude Ellena. I can't really speak of coincidence here. My last summer scent, Concentré de Pamplemousse Rose, was also created by Ellena, as was Un jardin sur le Toit, which I've been enjoying wearing for months. For this reason, and according to the descriptions, I'm prepared to make a blind purchase. On ebay for a good price € 58,82.
I admit it: I am not a fan of bottlings where you never know exactly what you are going to get and which - extrapolated - are usually more expensive than the original. I also love the moment when I open the cellophane wrapper of a perfume - even if it's a blind purchase - and I experience the fragrance for the first time. Maybe I need that kick, the surprise, the new. Fortunately, I've been able to trust my feelings so far, and I haven't been disappointed except for one time (Oud al Misk).
EdGb has long been on my wish list. What I have read about this fragrance so far has made me curious. I like scents that bring new impressions. At EdGb I hoped to find that - for once no citrus scent, but still refreshing, and no flowery sweetness. The scent is usually associated with mountain landscapes and mountain streams. Purity, clarity and calmness are attributed to it.
What experiences will I have with it?
First of all, the flacon - as so often in Hermès' work, the famous carriage lantern is reproduced, and its dark colour distinguishes it from most others in the Cologne series. In its mixture of dark green and smoky grey, it already looks very awe-inspiring.
I spray the scent. Cool, dry freshness. "I'm going to go to the pines," is my first association. Not because EdGb smells like pine needles. It is rather the feeling of being catapulted into a - I say - wild and romantic mountain landscape. The mixed forest here has already given way to a coniferous forest. This forest can stand it even at high altitudes where other trees are respectfully left behind.
It is not a realistic alpine landscape. More like these Japanese pictures in shades of grey of high forests and mountains, where you never know if they are photos or watercolours.
Coniferous trees, which become more and more sparse the further up it goes. Rugged, steep cliffs with wafts of mist hanging from them.
Into the pines. Yeah, that's it. I'm thinking of the video "Without You." You can find everything there: the clear mountain stream, the rugged rocks in which Lindemann & Co., in very picturesque retro mountaineering gear, climb the rope to face the hardships of the ascent. Rammstein love it heroically. They play with pathos. And what could be more pathetic than a mountain drama with a snowstorm, wordless, meaningful glances and the inevitable misfortune. Till Lindemann falls into the deep, remains lying badly injured and is dragged to the summit the next day by his comrades - no, of course not to the hospital. One last look at the imposing mountain panorama, then he closes his eyes forever in this little film.
The deliberately pompous text corresponds to the pictures. I have always wondered where Lindemann takes these old-fashioned phrases and expressions from. As a Germanist, I naturally see references to the language of the Romantic period. Perhaps he reads in "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" every day (or has a busy assistant - although he can also be an assistant who does that for him). As the child of a journalist and an author he will also have internalized the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm as well.
Especially the lyrics to "Ohne dich" were interpreted in numerous ways. There are the most abstruse interpretations - from environmental protection to suicide and cocaine to soldiers (?!) and murder of the companion ... I had to smile at how seriously the text was taken. And that nobody seems to realize how much romantic irony and winking is behind it - as so often, if not always, with Rammstein.
No, I haven't strayed from the subject. On the contrary. Because EdGb also plays with pathetic set pieces. Even the name "Water of the White Gentian" evokes alpine associations, although it is actually the famous blue gentian you meet in the mountains.
It is possible that the yellow gentian, from whose root the popular gentian brandy is distilled, is called white gentian in France. Or is it an albino gentian? In any case, the white is better suited to the mood of the fragrance than this outrageously radiant blue of the Gentiana.
The scent really has something of the atmosphere of the "Without you" video. It transports us into a mountainous landscape that, perhaps apart from the rustle of the wind, is quiet - at least the birds don't sing anymore - but by no means sweet. We find ourselves in high mountains, which are per se an area of latent danger, as the author of these lines has experienced herself on various mountain tours.
The landscape that is suggested here has something sublime, majestic, wild.
Even the completely unsweet scent has an elitist effect, radiating puristic austerity.
The dry coolness of the top note is reminiscent of papyrus. But it wouldn't be Jean-Claude Ellena if a certain grassy note didn't appear. Or rather, hay nuance. The valley must have been mowed today. The scent of hay penetrates right up to the borders of the vegetation zone. Admittedly, this is not an intense hay scent, but only a breeze that blows by like the tinkling of bells on a Sunday morning.
You can feel the clean, clear air. Something mossy mixes into the composition and makes the fragrance darker. It becomes tart and bitter. Gentian root. Aromatic, a bit earthy, but very, very dry.
The iris adapts to the overall picture and comes here not flowery, but powdery, with the spice of - I would say - forest wood.
I find it pleasant that this fragrance has nothing playful or fruity, but remains true to its line all the time, so to speak.
It becomes especially beautiful when the incense comes gently into play. It makes me think of silvery fog over mountain forests and gives the whole thing a fine, well-dosed mystical touch, which finally finds a happy end in the soft musk note - but a little bit sweet.
For me, EdGb is a summer scent that awakens memories of hiking in the mountains, of rocks, via ferrata, nature in its untouched form - beautiful, impressive, but always a little threatening for acrophobic city dwellers at these heights. All this resonates in the EdGb, without the threatening, of course. So it remains pleasantly playful. And that's a good thing.
Especially in a summer like this one, where at least for me there will be no holidays, although it would be just wonderful in the mountains now, EdGb offers a small substitute. I have made a good choice.
After all the praise for this extraordinary fragrance, I shouldn't hide the fact that sillage and durability are disappointing in this Hermès cologne as well. The fragrance has something impressive that deserves more intensity in this respect.
Mostly this is found in citric scents. But as sparkling and invigorating as they are, one also wishes for a change from the lemon grove. At least I felt this way. In my search for a summer scent that refreshes without citrus, I came across Eau de gentiane blanche, a cologne by Hermès, created by Grandmaster Jean-Claude Ellena. I can't really speak of coincidence here. My last summer scent, Concentré de Pamplemousse Rose, was also created by Ellena, as was Un jardin sur le Toit, which I've been enjoying wearing for months. For this reason, and according to the descriptions, I'm prepared to make a blind purchase. On ebay for a good price € 58,82.
I admit it: I am not a fan of bottlings where you never know exactly what you are going to get and which - extrapolated - are usually more expensive than the original. I also love the moment when I open the cellophane wrapper of a perfume - even if it's a blind purchase - and I experience the fragrance for the first time. Maybe I need that kick, the surprise, the new. Fortunately, I've been able to trust my feelings so far, and I haven't been disappointed except for one time (Oud al Misk).
EdGb has long been on my wish list. What I have read about this fragrance so far has made me curious. I like scents that bring new impressions. At EdGb I hoped to find that - for once no citrus scent, but still refreshing, and no flowery sweetness. The scent is usually associated with mountain landscapes and mountain streams. Purity, clarity and calmness are attributed to it.
What experiences will I have with it?
First of all, the flacon - as so often in Hermès' work, the famous carriage lantern is reproduced, and its dark colour distinguishes it from most others in the Cologne series. In its mixture of dark green and smoky grey, it already looks very awe-inspiring.
I spray the scent. Cool, dry freshness. "I'm going to go to the pines," is my first association. Not because EdGb smells like pine needles. It is rather the feeling of being catapulted into a - I say - wild and romantic mountain landscape. The mixed forest here has already given way to a coniferous forest. This forest can stand it even at high altitudes where other trees are respectfully left behind.
It is not a realistic alpine landscape. More like these Japanese pictures in shades of grey of high forests and mountains, where you never know if they are photos or watercolours.
Coniferous trees, which become more and more sparse the further up it goes. Rugged, steep cliffs with wafts of mist hanging from them.
Into the pines. Yeah, that's it. I'm thinking of the video "Without You." You can find everything there: the clear mountain stream, the rugged rocks in which Lindemann & Co., in very picturesque retro mountaineering gear, climb the rope to face the hardships of the ascent. Rammstein love it heroically. They play with pathos. And what could be more pathetic than a mountain drama with a snowstorm, wordless, meaningful glances and the inevitable misfortune. Till Lindemann falls into the deep, remains lying badly injured and is dragged to the summit the next day by his comrades - no, of course not to the hospital. One last look at the imposing mountain panorama, then he closes his eyes forever in this little film.
The deliberately pompous text corresponds to the pictures. I have always wondered where Lindemann takes these old-fashioned phrases and expressions from. As a Germanist, I naturally see references to the language of the Romantic period. Perhaps he reads in "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" every day (or has a busy assistant - although he can also be an assistant who does that for him). As the child of a journalist and an author he will also have internalized the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm as well.
Especially the lyrics to "Ohne dich" were interpreted in numerous ways. There are the most abstruse interpretations - from environmental protection to suicide and cocaine to soldiers (?!) and murder of the companion ... I had to smile at how seriously the text was taken. And that nobody seems to realize how much romantic irony and winking is behind it - as so often, if not always, with Rammstein.
No, I haven't strayed from the subject. On the contrary. Because EdGb also plays with pathetic set pieces. Even the name "Water of the White Gentian" evokes alpine associations, although it is actually the famous blue gentian you meet in the mountains.
It is possible that the yellow gentian, from whose root the popular gentian brandy is distilled, is called white gentian in France. Or is it an albino gentian? In any case, the white is better suited to the mood of the fragrance than this outrageously radiant blue of the Gentiana.
The scent really has something of the atmosphere of the "Without you" video. It transports us into a mountainous landscape that, perhaps apart from the rustle of the wind, is quiet - at least the birds don't sing anymore - but by no means sweet. We find ourselves in high mountains, which are per se an area of latent danger, as the author of these lines has experienced herself on various mountain tours.
The landscape that is suggested here has something sublime, majestic, wild.
Even the completely unsweet scent has an elitist effect, radiating puristic austerity.
The dry coolness of the top note is reminiscent of papyrus. But it wouldn't be Jean-Claude Ellena if a certain grassy note didn't appear. Or rather, hay nuance. The valley must have been mowed today. The scent of hay penetrates right up to the borders of the vegetation zone. Admittedly, this is not an intense hay scent, but only a breeze that blows by like the tinkling of bells on a Sunday morning.
You can feel the clean, clear air. Something mossy mixes into the composition and makes the fragrance darker. It becomes tart and bitter. Gentian root. Aromatic, a bit earthy, but very, very dry.
The iris adapts to the overall picture and comes here not flowery, but powdery, with the spice of - I would say - forest wood.
I find it pleasant that this fragrance has nothing playful or fruity, but remains true to its line all the time, so to speak.
It becomes especially beautiful when the incense comes gently into play. It makes me think of silvery fog over mountain forests and gives the whole thing a fine, well-dosed mystical touch, which finally finds a happy end in the soft musk note - but a little bit sweet.
For me, EdGb is a summer scent that awakens memories of hiking in the mountains, of rocks, via ferrata, nature in its untouched form - beautiful, impressive, but always a little threatening for acrophobic city dwellers at these heights. All this resonates in the EdGb, without the threatening, of course. So it remains pleasantly playful. And that's a good thing.
Especially in a summer like this one, where at least for me there will be no holidays, although it would be just wonderful in the mountains now, EdGb offers a small substitute. I have made a good choice.
After all the praise for this extraordinary fragrance, I shouldn't hide the fact that sillage and durability are disappointing in this Hermès cologne as well. The fragrance has something impressive that deserves more intensity in this respect.
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Fragaddict12
Cym
Hajuvana
