Itchynose

I would probably look back fondly at my youthful days in the ‘90s if I could remember much at all. Half of the memories were erased by drugs and alcohol, the other half by shame and regrets.

I have kept plenty of music from those grunge days though –the soundtrack of sweaty nights spent half baked in smoky bars and nightclubs– to bring the few surviving memories back should a nostalgic mood arise. Now there is also Black Powder from Jusbox and if the vinyl record for a cap wasn’t enough of a hint most releases from this house use musical genres as inspiration: reggae in "Green Bubble | Jusbox", soul in "Feather Supreme | Jusbox", psychedelic rock in "14Hour Dream | Jusbox" to name a few. Here Julien Rasquinet attempts to recreate the angsty vibe and “let it burn” attitude of the grunge days through the power of smell in lieue of sound. And burn it does indeed.

Countercultural music has never seemed to be too concerned about notes or harmony –from the singing of Yoko Ono to the bass playing of Sid Vicious– and neither does Black Powder. In this composition there are fruits, spices, woods and resins but everything is wrapped in thick dark grey smoke, not unlike the rebellious early ‘90s youth that only seemed to sense disappointment in the air. These kids in Doc Martens and lumberjack shirts want to light up their joints and set fire to the establishment in the process. They may be too apathetic to start a revolution but they can drag their feet close enough to that grunge musical bonfire where the regrettable ‘80s and the old American Dream go up in flames all night long. All the world’s a stage and it’s made up of highly flammable material.

The party will be over soon but the sentiment will live on. The column of ash and pungent smoke rising up in the air will be bottled into little perfume flacons and so Black Powder will be born. Spray that flamethrower with grunge abandon and let it all burn.

Now playing: Soundgarden - 4th Of July

The opening is sharp like the first lick of sour candy. There is a fruity fig note somewhere but its sweetness is overshadowed by a high pitched lemon that dominates proceedings for a while. This is no Fico di Amalfi, the citron comes first in the title for a reason.

The other notes that slowly creep in as the dry down begins are a subdued combination of cedar wood and musk. Although pleasant there is a strange contrast between the juiciness of the fruit in the opening and this much dryer combo but the clash does not detract all that much from the experience.

There isn’t much else in the way of fireworks here but those looking for a sharp, clean, slightly sweet and uplifting citrus freshie for the summer won’t feel too disappointed with Citron Fig.

Sidonie Lancesseur, the perfumer behind Kilian's Apple Brandy is also the nose responsible for many other wonderfully boozy scents such as Straight to Heaven, Single Malt or Frapin's 1270. To say she has mastered the alcoholic genre would be an understatement.

Here Madame Lancesseur has created yet another quintessential masculine Kilian fragrance: boozy but classy, sober yet playful, elegant and mischievous at the same time like a James Bond in party mode. In that sense the scent shares more similarities with the sweet Single Malt than the drier Straight to Heaven, although if the former featured whiskey and the latter rum, in Apple Brandy the protagonist drink is a more laid-back calvados or distilled cider liquor.

The sharp, tannin-filled opening is followed by the deep aroma of old oak barrels and smoke, and the balance of this simple and effective combo shifts as the scent dries down, from a rather fruity and very alcoholic opening to a much woodier, comforting and subdued final phase. Performance is discreet throughout but acceptable, perhaps a necessity for a subtle scent that invites a few chosen ones to come closer if they want great things to happen.

All in all another beautiful creation worth celebrating with the right company and a drink or two.

There is a fig tree in my back garden that keeps me busy all year round. Branches grow and extend all over the place and regardless of how many I manage to chop one year twice as many will take their place the following season.

During spring the garden is taken over by bees and bugs and in late summer, once the figs start dropping from the branches like hand grenades the insects multiply. Any attempt at gardening will leave me bitten, stung and with plenty of decomposing fig pulp stuck to my soles.

In autumn the massive fig leaves have turned brown and started to fall, waiting for the rain that will turn them into a wet and musty blanket all over the floor. Before winter arrives the last gardening tasks of the year are completed in preparation for the cycle to start again only a few months later.

Philosykos brings me back to this garden every time I spray it: I can smell the wet leaves, the wood and branches as they go through the seasons: very green and fresh during the spring-like opening, more woody as the scent evaporates with the summer heat and almost earthy during the autumn-like drydown. It smells clean, transparent and natural but also at times milky with an almost rubbery feeling, bringing to mind sticky sap. Since the fragrance recreates the entire tree and not just the fruit it remains a perfectly unisex fragrance throughout, light and easy to wear by anyone almost all year round.

One day I wlil move to another place and no longer have a fig tree to keep me busy throughout the year but I will always keep a decant or two of Philosykos to bring those memories back.

Oftentimes the initial stage of a fragrance is the most exciting part and it's rare –at least for me– for the fading drydown to beat an opening full of fireworks. Eau Duelle is one of such exceptions: a scent that requires patience in order to reach the proverbial pot of gold.

The first few minutes may come across as too loud or agressive particularly for a Dyptique fragrance, usually so full of restraint. There is an abundant bright spice that is fizzy like ambroxan, and it combines with cypriol oil to create an almost sour accord that the most sensitive nostrils won't appreciate. Thankfully this stage doesn't last too long.

Once the spice settles the real protagonist rears its head. It's a warm, slightly powdery and very pleasant vanilla –far from sickly sweet– next to some wood and incense. This is a much more enjoyable combo that comes to the forefront fully as time goes by, ending up in a sober, unisex vanillic woodwork smell with a hint of smoke. It's a perfume that could be categorized as spicy, woody and sweet but it never approaches gourmand territory.

A few hours later most of the notes are gone and there is just a faint vanilla scent on the skin, so comforting that one wishes it would never fully fade away.