EauMySoul

Violet Ida is like a powdery iris lover’s dream! It’s PERFECT!! Soft, powdery, silky, buttery orris, not the formal stoic sort of iris but the friendly kind. This perfume smells like kindness, a beautiful heart, a smile, a friendly hug. It’s the scent of the sweet girl next door or the princess in a storybook. Or even a baby wrapped up in a violet blanket. It smells innocent and pure yet still all grown up. It’s the scent you fall in love with and take home to meet mom.

"Ida represents goodness, tenacity and morality in a world of desperate cruelty”

☝️ It smells like that. It smells sweet, lovely and kind. This is one beautiful iris fragrance and anyone who loves powdery iris will fall head over heels for it. Violet Ida steals your heart.

While scrolling Instagram recently, I couldn’t help but notice a photo of Chypre-Siam, being the vintage Coty fan that I am. It reflects the 1940’s (ish) French foil label style they used, and the same green and gold colors used for Chypre, the chypre that started them all. So, I hit the brakes and started reading. I commented that I it looked authentically vintage and the Instagrammer responded “smells even more vintage”. Okay, that’s all it took so I started googling.

I found the website and was immediately sold by the up front, no holds barred, proud exclamation by Manuel Cross of Rogue as being “non IFRA compliant fragrance art”. No stammering, no dancing around it, no “I hope nobody notices we aren’t compliant”, none of that, he clearly says I make perfume the way I want. I like him already. So, I reached out to him with some questions. He then generously offered to send me some samples.

So far I have only tried Chypre-Siam but I am so impressed already. He completely nails the feel of Coty Chypre but with a bit of a Mitsouko twist, especially in the opening. Fans of real oakmoss will be delighted by his “IFRA can jump off into a lake” stance because it’s full of it. This is a true classic chypre, masterfully created, with natural and synthetic materials perfectly balanced and used properly to enhance each other.

If you like true vintage style, run, I can’t recommend this highly enough. When I first smelled Chypre-Siam, I thought how can a new perfumer make something this good? Then I researched more and found that Manny has been studying perfumery, fragrance history and aroma chemicals for 10 years. Being a chef by trade, I assume that skill transferred over into making perfume as well. Good stuff.

The dry down on this makes me want to eat my hand. No, it’s not gourmand or anything it just smells so good I almost want to cannibalize myself. When I first applied it, I wasn’t blown away. It has a bit of a camphorous, gasoline-like opening, and it drowns out the notes a bit and it smells like it’s going to be a typical dark oud-ish oriental. But it doesn’t actually have oud listed as a note but the combination of the woods used and the dark, resinous smokey aspect gives it an oud like feel in the opening. But it transitions away from that into this almost inky resinous incense and tonka. It has this sexy, mysterious, yet spiritual feel and it hovers closely to the skin, making it more personal experience. It has a similar vibe as Mortal Skin without the purple berries and the complexity. They do not smell the same but it has that dark inky quality. It’s not an overly complex smelling fragrance but it’s a perfect smelling fragrance. Just the right amount of everything and the dry down is a non stop wrist sniffer. Very long lasting although more of a skin scent after 4-5 hours. Unisex leaning masculine. High quality and rather natural, bordering on oily smelling.

I get a lot of samples from very kind people in this community and sometimes some of them get sort of lost in the madness. I have had this sample for at least a year probably, and for whatever reason I’m just getting around to trying it this morning. Do you ever have a sample that’s been sitting around your house forever and when you finally try it you’re like holy smokes THAT has been here the whole time?? This is one of those occasions. Palindrome 1 is not just a good fragrance, it’s a FANTASTIC fragrance and I could actually see it becoming one of those talked about and hyped scents by guys on the order of Aventus. It doesn’t smell like Aventus, but it’s got that “thing” about it where I could see it being popular in that way. It’s a bit of a bro scent in that it smells fantastic, projects like a beast and is slightly on the safe side, like a hybrid of designer, niche and luxury.

Palindrome 1 is luxurious, citrusy, yet warm, it’s a winter citrus with a warm base. The notes are sicilian mandarin, italian lemon, cacao pod, incense, opoponax, tolu balsam, ambrette (musk mallow), labdanum, tonka bean and sandalwood. I find it linear, but in a good way, in a way that reflects the name which means the same forward and backwards such as words that are spelled the same when letters are reversed. It’s sturdy and doesn’t alter, crowd pleaser yet interesting, and certainly not boring. This is a fragrance that will have strangers telling you that you smell good. I find it rather masculine and could see it being worn for many occasions as it manages to be date night worthy yet professional.

For those who like something more offbeat or unusual in a fragrance, you may consider it a tad “safe” but it’s hard to deny it smells good. By anyone. It’s like that. It flat out smells fantastic. I find it rich and warm but with a perfect touch of citrus that makes it more well rounded and workable in any season. If you’re into compliments I strongly suggest giving this one a try.

I have gone bonkers for this, love at first sniff! The ginger in this makes the fragrance for me. Clutch leans masculine yet I feel perfectly comfortable wearing it, in a Dior Homme or Bvlgari Black sort of way. It smells nothing like DH or BB but something about it gives me that sort of feel, in the way DH and BB is light and heavy at the same time, and unisex while clearly being masculine as well. It has classic masculine notes, cedar, oak, leather, smoke, and comes across as boozy, with lots of vanilla, but unlike most fragrances with those notes which are usually too much for me, it’s not too heavy or overwhelming because of the fresh ginger. It also isn’t too thick, it’s exhilarating with a balance of warmth and coolness and any heaviness is countered and uplifted by the truly excellent ginger used in this. Justin Frederico seems to have a real knack for achieving this, as all 3 fragrances he’s done for Perfumology have this quality. This is one of my favorite qualities in a fragrance, a balance of heavy and light, so maybe that is why these fragrances appeal so much to me. I will go as far as saying Clutch is one of my favorite fragrances of 2018. Justin Frederico is a perfumer to watch and based on the first 3 releases from Perfumology, Nir Guy is excelling as a creative director as well. I love a fragrance that comes with a story attached to it, it gives it more meaning, gives you something to ponder as you smell it, and makes it feel more personal. I feel more connected to a scent with a story to tell. Wearing Clutch today, I opened my sunroof, something I would not normally do in winter lol. But I wanted to experience it the way it was intended, with the feel of an open road and fresh cool air. Even if in a midsize fully automatic SUV without a clutch lol. Wonderful fragrance, highly recommended.