1
From a Library Lost
Far away from the last windows, where no daylight can ever penetrate, in the soul of ancient libraries, the labyrinth of dusty shelves, at the end of worn stairs and creaking floorboards, seemingly endless corridors, a bookbinder lives in the shadow of times past, surrounded by sharp webs of glue. His fingers are powdery pale roots, fused with the glue on the backs of the books, holding the gray, already acidic pages and the sheets of thin animal skins. He wears a coat made of leather bindings, so thin and worn that you can see through it to the fine wisps of smoke from old stories.
***
Pineward Perfumes, based in Utah, originally devoted itself to the scents of dark primeval forests beyond civilization. From time to time, however, Nicholas Nilsson leaves the familiar archaic paths to turn his attention to other themes. In my opinion, he is often less convincing when he does this, but there are always surprises, and “Tome” is one of them.
The focus here is on different qualities of old paper, glued book blocks, leather bindings, and dusty, powdery notes. For me, the leitmotif of the fragrance is the glue, which is sharp and clearly present right from the start and gradually transitions into adhesive-like sandalwood resin notes in the heart. From this, a powdery, dusty, earthy accord of ambrette and iris root literally emerges, which in turn initially reveals slightly sour old paper (paper produced before 1990 tends to develop a sour tone over the years), which is given even more tart nuances by black tea and subtle animalistic parchment (which, as is well known, consists of thin animal skins). Leather forms a rather transparent framework, remaining in the background until the end, creating the impression of lying with your nose over glued book blocks of old, open, dusty books in a slightly earthy, musty library whose wooden floors and shelves give off only a faint smell of their own.
Nilsson primarily uses highly concentrated absolutes in his alcohol-based perfumes, which also ensures that Tome has a pleasant presence for many hours. He deliberately does not produce the fragrances in limited quantities, as he does not want to create any pressure to buy or hype around his brand.
(With thanks to Cenno)
***
Pineward Perfumes, based in Utah, originally devoted itself to the scents of dark primeval forests beyond civilization. From time to time, however, Nicholas Nilsson leaves the familiar archaic paths to turn his attention to other themes. In my opinion, he is often less convincing when he does this, but there are always surprises, and “Tome” is one of them.
The focus here is on different qualities of old paper, glued book blocks, leather bindings, and dusty, powdery notes. For me, the leitmotif of the fragrance is the glue, which is sharp and clearly present right from the start and gradually transitions into adhesive-like sandalwood resin notes in the heart. From this, a powdery, dusty, earthy accord of ambrette and iris root literally emerges, which in turn initially reveals slightly sour old paper (paper produced before 1990 tends to develop a sour tone over the years), which is given even more tart nuances by black tea and subtle animalistic parchment (which, as is well known, consists of thin animal skins). Leather forms a rather transparent framework, remaining in the background until the end, creating the impression of lying with your nose over glued book blocks of old, open, dusty books in a slightly earthy, musty library whose wooden floors and shelves give off only a faint smell of their own.
Nilsson primarily uses highly concentrated absolutes in his alcohol-based perfumes, which also ensures that Tome has a pleasant presence for many hours. He deliberately does not produce the fragrances in limited quantities, as he does not want to create any pressure to buy or hype around his brand.
(With thanks to Cenno)