12/21/2012
MemoryOScent
37 Reviews
MemoryOScent
2
Savoury lemon drops
Living in a warm climate and with summer approaching fast I find myself turning to lighter, citrus fragrances. My love for weird smells keeps poking me and pointing me to strange directions though. Grain de Plaisir is part of the “Les Aromatiques” collection, a collection of fresh herbal fragrances that also includes Garrigue, a dead ringer for Green Irish Tweed and Cool Water (yes, there is a third heir to the throne of originality). Grain de Plaisir (Seed of Pleasure) is one of the most daring fragrances in the market. Francophones will recognise this seed (grain) as celery. The idea of using celery in a perfume is quite strange but it has happened before. Never has celery been put in the centre of composition like this though. Grain de Plaisir opens with a thick, strong lemon note, the kind of note most people would associate with Lifesavers candy (or Lemon Pledge). The lemon here is un-etherial, un-apologetic and very culinary. Like grating the zest off of 10 lemons. Oily and bitter. Soon after the first impressions the curious celery note comes into play. It is hard to describe how exactly this smells. It is not the smell of celery seeds, not even the smell of celery. It is the increment of flavour added to a sauce when celery is thrown in to the mix. The end result is not foody but it is herbal. Like a garden of aromatics. The thick citrus and herbal celery are joined by a bitter pine smell. It is not very complex but it is very unusual. Although the composition is bitter and earthy it manages to infuse a strange happy vibe. It is like the happiness one feels when digging in the garden, pruning shrubs, getting their fingernails dirty with nature. Simple, raw fun.