Kovex

Filippo Sorcinelli is a jack of all trades. Graphic designer, creative director, photographer, painter, and trained musician. His entry into the world of fragrances is a blessing for me, as his connection to the church is likely the reason why incense plays a significant role in many of his scents, one of my favorite fragrance notes.

He began working as a church organist as a child. Inspired by this, he developed his fragrance family Extrait de Musique, whose bottles are meant to resemble the stops of a church organ. Many good and wearable scents revolve around the theme of resin.

The Unum collection is, for me, the most special of his fragrance family in the best sense. A wide range of diverse fragrance concepts that truly celebrate niche perfumery, as most of these scents are quite extraordinary. Since he also worked as a tailor for Popes Benedict and Francis, the garments were reportedly even sprayed with his scent LAVS before delivery, which - although not mentioned in the fragrance pyramid - brings the incense theme back to the forefront.

Not quite as chaste are his more experimental scents from the X SÉ collection, which thematically engage with the sexual depths of the red-light district. Well, Siddartha Gautama (Buddha) also had to explore both the spiritual AND the worldly world before he could enter Nirvana. In this respect, Sorcinelli remains true to his religiosity.

The fragrances released in 2022 from the SuperFluo? collection are, in my view, the "harmless" and most accessible of his works, with Dolcissimo Sollievo immediately captivating me. No wonder, as incense is also present here, albeit in a homeopathic dosage.

In my opinion, the top and base notes are listed in the fragrance pyramid exactly the opposite of how I perceive them. The first impression is citrusy and slightly bright-resinous, which is not surprising, as it contains elemi resin, which is transformed into elemi oil through steam distillation, with lemon being one of the defining scents. This is not fruity and not as fresh and invigorating as in many other citrus fragrances, but appears very muted. Rosemary accompanies it a bit and softens the edges of the elemi resin.

Of the listed flowers (iris, lily of the valley, and gardenia), only nuances can be detected, more companions than standalone scent carriers. The marine notes are far from making Dolcissimo Sollievo an aquatic scent. No penetrating synthetics that quickly lead to an unpleasant artificial impression through an excess of Calone, as is often found in drugstore fragrances. Rather, a hint of minerality, a pinch of salt, and we find ourselves at the beach.

In my compartmentalized thinking, I roughly divide incense into three directions: the smoky, the aromatic, and the light and airy, as it appears in most fragrances when it is not allowed to take center stage, as here. This leads to a fragrance losing its heaviness, lightening the scent notes, which is a revelation for me, especially in connection with iris.

What is immediately noticeable from the start is this warm-soft, slightly vanillic amber tone that runs through the entire fragrance journey and adds a mild and, for me, pleasantly tolerable light sweetness. I usually associate amber more with winter fragrances, but here it lays like a fluffy light carpet over the other scent notes and prevents the fragrance from being stamped as a typical summer freshie. It reminds me of a flaming sunset by the sea in spring or late summer when the day is coming to an end and the temperatures are slowly dropping.

These are also exactly the situations in which I can well imagine wearing Dolcissimo Sollievo. Not on the hottest summer days, but rather on the cooler evenings in a maritime setting when a T-shirt is almost too cool to be outside. A well-groomed and fresh yet warm fragrance that creates comfort and coziness.

Well done, Mr. Sorcinelli, it can indeed be simple and uncomplicated without olfactory challenges. I stand by it: it’s good that he has expanded his artistic creation to include perfumes.

I am a business economist, a cool strategist, an ice-cold calculator, the sharp pencil my tool, calculating, weighing, and decisively making choices. All traits that I throw out the window in the world of perfume. Did I say something?

The perfume industry seems to evoke traits in me that make me doubt my sanity. The announcement that fragrances are being discontinued, reformulation fears, the last available vintage scent, limited editions. All topics that trigger me, make me act irrationally, and lead me to make hasty decisions. I hate myself for it. But still: they manage it time and again. Yes, yes, I know: the limbic system. The remote control of our feelings. It's pointless to fight against it. Am I excused then? Absolutely!

I like art. I like artists. Antonio Gardoni is one. A trained architect, specialized in interior design, graphic and product designer with renowned clients like Nike, Redbull, Google, and so on. He must know what he's doing. And then he has his own perfume brand. Does that fit? Oh yes, he knows his stuff.

His wonderful fragrance Maai opened the doors to floral scents for me, the other, quirky is expressly welcome. I could wallow in it.

And then the announcement of a new fragrance in a limited edition of 500 pieces. Again, packed with scent notes that make it hard to imagine the result. Is that the risk of a blind purchase worth it? What? Already sold out? No way. Search, browse, find. Only one left? Order button pressed faster than the page could reload the images. They got me again.

10 opens wonderfully bitter and citrusy. No fruit, just the zest of the peel, the distillation of branches, leaves, and unripe fruit, green, invigorating, and refreshing. This is how spring is ushered in. It lasts surprisingly long, has expressiveness, I can't get enough of it, especially since the fig plays a small supporting role or the fig leaf, the fig milk, whatever, I can't resist green fig. How did he know when naming it that I would give it 10 points? So he's also a clairvoyant.

After about 30 minutes, floral notes sneak in, impossible to determine who is stealing the show from whom, reciting scent notes is pointless. The overall result counts. It becomes softer, gentler, the bitterness of the first minutes gently dissolves, merging on the skin. It remains consistently unsweetened, the prime example of a unisex fragrance. Only the powdery clouds in the later stages shift the accents from herbaceous to sweet and could give the impression of something sweet.

As for animalic notes, I am undaunted. Here I can take away the fear. The civet kitten only purrs a little, just enough to give the fragrance a daring little push. I can also reassure incense detractors. The incense here only lifts everything a little, adding a bit of edge. This is how fragrances are made. Not flashy but subtle art. The mastery of a van Gogh is only recognized when you get really close.

As can be read, the fragrance 10 is supposed to be just a stopover to a final fragrance that is set to be released in 2023, practically a participation in a project that is not yet finished.
One almost wants to shout at him: “Stop! Don’t stop, it can’t get any better!” And I’m triggered again. Will I also buy blindly in 2023? Oh come on, in spring the tax-free inflation compensation flat rate is coming, which no one expected either.

Karim Abu El-Ez was a happy young man. In his cultural circle, it was customary for parents to negotiate the choice of the future spouse with the bride's parents. While many of his friends struggled with their predetermined fate, he was in the fortunate position that his parents chose his childhood sweetheart.

Shayenne grew up in his neighborhood, and even as children, they drew their future in the dry sand with sticks. When they moved a few years ago with their parents to a distant oasis, as their mother could no longer endure the barren desolation of the desert village, they lost sight of each other. However, he could never forget her.

The wedding was to take place in the oasis of their new home. A multi-day arduous ride through the desert preceded it. To avoid being in the constant haze of the camels, he positioned himself at the front of the caravan, also to indulge in his eager thoughts undisturbed. They had been on the road for three days already. Nothing but dry sand, blue sky, and scorching heat sharpened his senses, as there were no visual, olfactory, or acoustic stimuli to distract him from his thoughts.

The olfactory journey of Desert Nights to Remember only begins upon reaching the oasis, as the scent is different from what the name suggests, not really a desert scent like Andy Tauer has implemented quite authentically, for example.

The perfumer Sylvie Jourdet has created a brand with Dear Diary that is almost unknown. There is no dedicated website. The sources for obtaining it are rather difficult to find. In fact, it seems the lady does not place much value on an online presence. Even on the website of Histoires de Parfums, for whom she has created some fragrances, there is no reference to her. As so often, it was a chance acquaintance that led to discovering this scent. Thank you, Verbena!

When Karim and his caravan reached the oasis, it was as if he entered another world. The climate shifted abruptly from dry to humid. The vibrant colors of the village and the lush vegetation flooded his senses. Typical oriental spices from the nearby market, such as saffron and sweet cinnamon, combined with fresh thyme complemented the scent of jasmine and the blooming rose bushes climbing the walls in a wonderfully harmonious way. It was as if the wood of the market stalls was defending itself against the midday heat by exuding resins, laying a veil over all the other scents.

When he finally embraced Shayenne after all those years of mere memory, he inhaled the seductive scent of her body. It seemed as if all the scents of the surroundings had settled on her sweat-drenched skin to form a symbiosis that created a frivolous-erotic mood within him. Her bright green eyes beneath her black hair reflected all the longings he had been eagerly anticipating on his journey through the desert. Yes, Karim was a happy man.

Desert Nights to Remember is, in my view, a highly erotic fragrance that can be worn equally by both genders. Rose and jasmine are so intimately intertwined without one becoming dominant that a completely new scent profile emerges. Yes, the fragrance is sweet, but it is far from the synthetic tonka sweetness of the current fragrance trend. The spices and resinous impressions are so delightfully harmoniously integrated into the floral ensemble that they keep each other in check. Above all, there is a lascivious animalic quality from the very beginning that never feels sleazy or dirty. Even though castoreum is listed as a fragrance note, I attribute this animalic quality more to the sweet, humid, floral-sweaty overall picture of the scent. A fragrance to feel good in, which reveals its strengths fully in the cooler seasons. Even though I prefer to smell floral and sweet fragrances on others, I make an exception here.

Your father completely fulfilled many of the clichés associated with a shipping captain. When you introduced me to your parents over 20 years ago, we sat in the garden, at the edge of the thatched-roof house, framed by ancient beeches and oaks. He was taciturn, his gaze more grim than inviting, more of a silent observer than an extroverted entertainer. He radiated authority, and he knew how to conceal his worldliness and understanding of people.

He could hardly see me anymore. An eye disease that gradually led to complete blindness had recently forced him to give up his captaincy before a doctor would do so with a certificate. Responsibility was something he understood more than to bear, as someone who navigated tens of thousands of gross tonnage of goods across all the world's oceans. But it was not his way to boast about old sailor stories, nor to lament his fate. An upright, a quiet, and honorable man, your father.

L'Odorat - Étude 1.5 reminds me of him. The furniture from his old captain's room was in the basement, the guest room. Heavy tropical hardwood furniture, various wood-carved artworks from all over the world, shipping utensils, snake skins, and huge turtle shells. Souvenirs from a bygone era when customs still allowed such things, when import regulations fit on a beer coaster. On the shelf, his old leather-bound diaries, weathered by time, filled with countless entries of life, of your father's life.

Whenever a fragrance makes it difficult for me to recognize or isolate its notes, I know that I have a masterpiece before me. I like to compare this to a classical orchestra when the instruments are tuned before the concert. You perceive the individual instruments, but it is certainly not a pleasure to listen to. Only when the conductor leads the instruments through the composition does it become a symphony. Only the interplay creates harmony, and the instruments merge with one another. It is hardly possible to distinguish a violin from a viola. A total work of art emerges, whose individual protagonists are indispensable for the whole.

L'Odorat - Étude 1.5 opens with a delicate leathery and slightly resinous scent impression. Right from the start, the fragrance pyramid wants to mislead me, to feign a progression that does or does not exist in this order. The leathery impression is very subtle and by no means as blatant as Tom Ford celebrates in his famous leather scent. Rather, it evokes the aroma of an old wallet, which still contains leathery nuances but has been enriched by the full life of its owner, much like your father's old diaries. Did he place cyclamen between the pages of the book? Did he preserve herbs for eternity? The leather is aromatic but only a hint, a notion of what nature and the past have to offer.

No one would claim, "Hey, great perfume you're wearing, it smells like ink." But one can indeed extract that familiar scent of ink from your father's handwritten diaries. L'Odorat - Étude 1.5 shakes the bars to the gates of hidden childhood memories. A familiar, a comforting scent that connects my school memories with your father. Security, safety.

The pages of the diaries smell of papyrus, dried by the salty air of the seas, enriched by the woody notes of the heavy woods of the captain's room, from whose pores the resins exude in a steady stream of memories.

L'Odorat - Étude 1.5 is a mystical fragrance, subtle in its radiance, self-contained yet so familiar. Radiating warmth, like your father's eyes, from which the light was taken, yet still able to give one the feeling of being at home, belonging, and being embraced in his heart.

I spent my childhood ski vacations regularly in the vicinity of the Austrian Maria Alm. A very family-friendly and extremely quaint guesthouse on a mountain opposite the Aberg, accessible via an unpaved serpentine road that made the ascent only possible with the use of snow chains.

The special charm of this guesthouse with about 10 rooms lay for me as a child not only in the fact that everyone knew each other and the snowy winter evenings were spent together in the cozy little dining room with a roaring tiled stove, but also in the fact that a cow barn with about 40 cows was attached to the inn, where I spent my time every day after my ski lessons. The not unpleasant aroma of the barn, with fresh hay and cow dung, has burned itself into my brain for eternity.

However, this smell has absolutely nothing to do with Zoologist's latest creation, Cow. If Oud had been used, which can indeed come close to this aroma depending on its origin and expression, that would have been plausible. Cow, however, takes a completely different direction and, as so often, Zoologist manages to create an association for me with the animal name. But perhaps I am just a victim of a clever marketing strategy. Nevertheless, I can align the scent with my memories, but more on that below.

Cow starts off very fresh with a light, bright floral note. The apple, which I usually do not like in fragrances, has only a brief but natural guest appearance and makes way for a delicate interplay of lily of the valley and violet, so soft and pure that my heart immediately feels quite gentle. Soon, a very slight sweet milky aroma joins in, further emphasizing the scent's gentleness. The whole composition is so wonderfully fresh and clean that the fragrance is perfectly suited for the warmer seasons. Fluffy fresh laundry musk combined with heliotrope does the rest to enhance this overall impression of clean, cozy freshness with a whisper of vanillic sweetness.

Cow is a subtle fragrance with a manageable longevity of 5 - 6 hours for me, perfectly suited for cool spring moments up to the warmer summer months.

It is not the case that Zoologist always wants to depict the immediate smell of an animal with its fragrances. Often, it is also the olfactory impression of the habitat, the food, and sometimes even a correspondence to the essence of the respective species. And here, for me, the circle closes.

The cows I visited in the barn after my ski tours, I would scratch for hours the curly hair between their horns, firmly convinced that they enjoyed it just as much as I did. What imprinted itself were their large gentle eyes under the densely fringed lids. Who wouldn't soften? And that is exactly where my connection lies, which I establish from the name of the fragrance to its scent. Although I am rarely inclined towards floral fragrances, it is this impression of a fresh spring flower meadow as well as the delicate, sweet, and soft undertone of the fragrance that is reflected in the eyes of these gentle giants.