Top Notes 
Heart Notes 
Base Notes 
12/15/2012
Apicius
222 Reviews
Apicius
1
Hüür op ze semmeliere!
In one of his earlier shows, the Bonn comedian Konrad Beikircher pointed out that our local Rhineland dialect uses the same verb for to simulate, and for to think thoroughly: semmeliere. For the Cologne and Bonn mindset, it has the same value if somebody is engaging himself in hard (intellectual) work, or if he is just pretending to do so. The local laissez-faire is not what foreigners would expect from Germans, but presumably they will not even notice it: everything in Cologne is neat and tidy unless you look behind the scenes. Many people actually appreciate this rather relaxed general attitude, and only in rare cases the results are devastating - like in 2009 when during construction work, a subway tunnel broke down causing the historical city archive and several apartment buildings to collapse.
Thinking thoroughly – and not to semmeliere – is what the Cologne brand Farina should do about their Tina Farina series. Today, I purchased my second bottle from that series, and again, the content of it is considerably different from what I tested in their shop. Even more, when I look at my German review which I wrote half a year ago, I cannot detect any discernible lavender in it now. Not being aware of the fragrance pyramid, I found some frankincense to be the most prominent note, whereas now I clearly see that it is a woody fougère accord. However, the tester in the Farina shop did not have any fougère note at all. What are they doing there?
At Farina in Cologne, everything is neat and tidy. It is a tourist trap, with friendly staff: you can get all sizes of their famous Original Eau de Cologne, and with nice packaging. It the back room, you find the 24 perfumes of the Tina Farina series – one ladies' and one gents' fragrance for each sign of the zodiac. The paper packaging is okay but when you open it, the big bottles are rather ugly and out of style. They use one standard bottle for the gents' and one for the ladies' fragrances, and they attach the perfume names with adhesive tape. They offer printed copy paper as test strips. One 100 ml bottle only costs 39 €. The whole setting of this series gives me the impression that they don't really care: it seems they do not expect any of their tourist customers to have some real interest in perfume, and so they think their sluttery will stay unnoticed. What I find shocking and also a bit embarrassing is the lack of craftsman's pride that is expressed by all these circumstances.
I wouldn't care if just these fragrances would not deserve something so much better. There have not been many perfume releases quoting the historical fougère accord during the last decades: Houbigant's Fougère Royal, Penhaligon's Sartorial, Washington Tremlett's MPH, maybe the gents' cologne by Jacques Zolny, but that's about it. Farina's Charme for Men must be counted in as a very respectable and unique interpretation. My bottle of Charme - which represents the taurus - gives me a beautifully discreet and elegant citric top note – and since Farina is famous for their traditional Kölnisch Wasser, citric top notes is what they are supposed to be good at!
Slowly, the woody fougère accord creeps in and determines the general direction. What I know as the classic fougère or fern accord is not beautiful in itself, it is sharp and spicy, somewhat reminiscent of Pernod aniseed or fennel, and it can really hurt. Something needs to be done with it, and in case of Charme the balance is provided by vague flowery notes and the leftovers of the citric top. Like all classic fougères it is not advisable to sniff it directly on the skin where you sprayed it. Charme provides its charm only within its sillage, and so you have to simply wait until the fragrance you wear comes to your nose by itself. Unlike the other fougères mentioned, Charme's longevity of 2 hours is really poor, but that is okay for me. I cannot detect a separate base note beyond the woody fougère.
A spectacular classic fougère accord is something that can get on one's nerves. I am sure they are all coumarin bombs, and at least I feel sick if I get too much of it. The other fougères with their Eau de Parfum strength may sell well but I have my doubts if people will use them up. I really enjoy the citric freshness of Charme – no other classic fougère has that. It is surely the most accessible in a class of rather demanding fragrances.
The Tina Farina perfumes are available at the Farina website, but you will have to switch to the German content in order to find them. After all, buying blind seems to be the only option anyway.
Thinking thoroughly – and not to semmeliere – is what the Cologne brand Farina should do about their Tina Farina series. Today, I purchased my second bottle from that series, and again, the content of it is considerably different from what I tested in their shop. Even more, when I look at my German review which I wrote half a year ago, I cannot detect any discernible lavender in it now. Not being aware of the fragrance pyramid, I found some frankincense to be the most prominent note, whereas now I clearly see that it is a woody fougère accord. However, the tester in the Farina shop did not have any fougère note at all. What are they doing there?
At Farina in Cologne, everything is neat and tidy. It is a tourist trap, with friendly staff: you can get all sizes of their famous Original Eau de Cologne, and with nice packaging. It the back room, you find the 24 perfumes of the Tina Farina series – one ladies' and one gents' fragrance for each sign of the zodiac. The paper packaging is okay but when you open it, the big bottles are rather ugly and out of style. They use one standard bottle for the gents' and one for the ladies' fragrances, and they attach the perfume names with adhesive tape. They offer printed copy paper as test strips. One 100 ml bottle only costs 39 €. The whole setting of this series gives me the impression that they don't really care: it seems they do not expect any of their tourist customers to have some real interest in perfume, and so they think their sluttery will stay unnoticed. What I find shocking and also a bit embarrassing is the lack of craftsman's pride that is expressed by all these circumstances.
I wouldn't care if just these fragrances would not deserve something so much better. There have not been many perfume releases quoting the historical fougère accord during the last decades: Houbigant's Fougère Royal, Penhaligon's Sartorial, Washington Tremlett's MPH, maybe the gents' cologne by Jacques Zolny, but that's about it. Farina's Charme for Men must be counted in as a very respectable and unique interpretation. My bottle of Charme - which represents the taurus - gives me a beautifully discreet and elegant citric top note – and since Farina is famous for their traditional Kölnisch Wasser, citric top notes is what they are supposed to be good at!
Slowly, the woody fougère accord creeps in and determines the general direction. What I know as the classic fougère or fern accord is not beautiful in itself, it is sharp and spicy, somewhat reminiscent of Pernod aniseed or fennel, and it can really hurt. Something needs to be done with it, and in case of Charme the balance is provided by vague flowery notes and the leftovers of the citric top. Like all classic fougères it is not advisable to sniff it directly on the skin where you sprayed it. Charme provides its charm only within its sillage, and so you have to simply wait until the fragrance you wear comes to your nose by itself. Unlike the other fougères mentioned, Charme's longevity of 2 hours is really poor, but that is okay for me. I cannot detect a separate base note beyond the woody fougère.
A spectacular classic fougère accord is something that can get on one's nerves. I am sure they are all coumarin bombs, and at least I feel sick if I get too much of it. The other fougères with their Eau de Parfum strength may sell well but I have my doubts if people will use them up. I really enjoy the citric freshness of Charme – no other classic fougère has that. It is surely the most accessible in a class of rather demanding fragrances.
The Tina Farina perfumes are available at the Farina website, but you will have to switch to the German content in order to find them. After all, buying blind seems to be the only option anyway.
