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Beautifully abstract sparkling white floral
Kenzo fragrances tend to have a certain minimalist Japanese aesthetic. Kenzo Power is pushing that aesthetic up a notch - with many powerful ingredients but still maintaining that ethereal weightlessness. Effervescent, right off the bat. It sparkles, literally! Aldehydes, perhaps? A generous dose of bitter, green, floral Bergamot, boosted with some zesty, green Lemon, makes for that vibrant opening - add to that a dash of spicy, fresh, green Coriander & terpenic, green Cardamom oil - maybe a drop of Jasmine Abs, or something similar, with a little push from floral, fruity Hedione & green, fruity, woody Verdox and it feels like a fruity-green "tea" accord at the top. The cinnamic shades from the Tolu Balsam resin and sharp & dry Cedarwood in the base make this "tea" feel drier, and more earthier/brown over time. The combination of Cinnamon (from Tolu balsam) with Coriander, Lemon, Neroli is responsible for the Coca-Cola feel - those 4 ingredients plus a few others are part of the Coke recipe.
The heart feels like an abstract woody-floral block, leaning mostly white, with passing shades, to keep it interesting - green, floral Neroli + extremely fresh, Rosy-metallic Coranol + Freesia-like Ethyl Linalool + some Muguet notes (Lilial/Lyral/Florol) + shades of Rose/Geranium (Phenethyl alcohol/Geraniol/Citronellol) + woody, violet-y, dried-fruity Isoraldeine + berry-like, violet-y, woody Beta-ionone + Iso E Super, provides the discreet sillage. There's also subtle Osmanthus/Apricot hints beneath the tea & white flowers.
There's some creamy, almond-y, cherry-pit Heliotropin & powdery, sweet Coumarin in the base, probably in small amounts. Labdanum, in trace amounts, can convey an ambery, fruity-tobacco feel. Musks would almost be mandatory in formulations like these - I sense, seed-y, berry-like Ambrettolide and powdery-vanillic Musk-T to sweeten, and smooth out the whole thing and accentuate key facets.
It has a passing resemblance to Declaration (Jean-Claude Ellena) by Cartier, from 1998 - similar theme - airy-abstract floral with a strong emphasis on Cardamom & Tea. Polge's minimalistic rendition, Kenzo Power, also deserves as much attention. It's a beautifully abstract, unisex, fresh, fruity white floral. Meditative & weightless - absolutely delightful to wear, especially on hot days - extremely refreshing and uplifting. A discontinued gem, from Kenzo.
9/10
The heart feels like an abstract woody-floral block, leaning mostly white, with passing shades, to keep it interesting - green, floral Neroli + extremely fresh, Rosy-metallic Coranol + Freesia-like Ethyl Linalool + some Muguet notes (Lilial/Lyral/Florol) + shades of Rose/Geranium (Phenethyl alcohol/Geraniol/Citronellol) + woody, violet-y, dried-fruity Isoraldeine + berry-like, violet-y, woody Beta-ionone + Iso E Super, provides the discreet sillage. There's also subtle Osmanthus/Apricot hints beneath the tea & white flowers.
There's some creamy, almond-y, cherry-pit Heliotropin & powdery, sweet Coumarin in the base, probably in small amounts. Labdanum, in trace amounts, can convey an ambery, fruity-tobacco feel. Musks would almost be mandatory in formulations like these - I sense, seed-y, berry-like Ambrettolide and powdery-vanillic Musk-T to sweeten, and smooth out the whole thing and accentuate key facets.
It has a passing resemblance to Declaration (Jean-Claude Ellena) by Cartier, from 1998 - similar theme - airy-abstract floral with a strong emphasis on Cardamom & Tea. Polge's minimalistic rendition, Kenzo Power, also deserves as much attention. It's a beautifully abstract, unisex, fresh, fruity white floral. Meditative & weightless - absolutely delightful to wear, especially on hot days - extremely refreshing and uplifting. A discontinued gem, from Kenzo.
9/10
An Opulent White Floral
I love Serge Lutens. If I had to pick just 3 perfume houses for the rest of my life Serge Lutens would definitely be one of them (Guerlain & Hermes, would mostly be the other two). I've never worn a Serge Lutens I didn't like. This one is no different - I absolutely love it. It blows my mind everytime I wear it.
It starts off pretty intense with an intoxicatingly indolic Jasmine note slapping you in the face as soon as you spray it on. Definitely feels like Jasmine Sambac Absolute (at least tiny amounts of the natural, given that the current IFRA limit is a maximum of 0.25% in the concentrate) boosted with other Jasmine like aroma-chemicals(fruity Benzyl Acetate, Celery like cis-jasmone, waxy floral Hexyl cinnamaldehyde) and also a touch of Indole to really amp up the animalic raunchiness inherent in Jasmine sambac flowers.
Some Petitgrain, and Lemon peel to accentuate the green facets, with an intense citrus-y freshness - some Neroli oil dressed up with Orange crystals (powdery orange blossom note), Methyl Anthranilate (a very powerful tangerine accented orange blossom like note with lot of sweetness; commonly used for the quintessential fruity grape smell/taste in sodas, chewing gums, candy etc.) - to build that Orange Blossom heart.
A classical Muguet heart made with Florol (a creamy white floral note with a rosy tint) and Hydroxycitronellal (a very diffusive sweet, white floral note with green accents) and probably some other Muguet notes too - to give an overall smoothness & the massive floral elevation.
Tuberose = Benzyl Salicylate + Benzyl Benzoate + Methyl Anthranilate. Eugenol for some spiciness.
All this built on a very diffusive base of Iso E Super(cedary-vetiver/amber), Hedione (airy, fresh, jasmine-like) and a Musk accord built with a few different types of Musks - Ambrettolide (slightly fruity, Hibiscus/Ambrette seed-like facets), Musk-T(sweet, vanillic, diffusive) to aid the sillage & to introduce the muskiness right from the heart and probably traces of some powdery/animalic musk like Cosmone or Muscone.
This is how the current formulation feels when I wear it. Even without smelling the older formulations it seems quite obvious that this was a monster originally - probably with a lot of naturals, lot more raunch & definitely muskier in the base. The current formulation, with the black label, doesn't last too long on my skin (3-4 hrs tops on my skin/longer on fabric, with intense projection only in the first hour)- which doesn't seem to fit with the opening theme of this perfume or with the Lutens/Sheldrake style in general. I'd surely be looking for an older bottle of this - would be totally worth it. But whatever it is now is still very good.
If you love Jasmine and/or Orange Blossom then this is highly recommended. Absolutely glorious white floral, in the opulent Lutens/Sheldrake style. Masterpiece, really!
10/10
P.s: After spending a lot of time with aroma chemicals - smelling them repeatedly and building accords - this is how I read a perfume in my head these days. Once you get used to the various components it seems really difficult to miss them in a blend. Sometimes I don't understand anything in a blend though. But at other times I smell so many things that are not even mentioned in the pyramid. It's a beautiful feeling - the clarity to be able to distinguish individual components in a blend. I love perfume!
It starts off pretty intense with an intoxicatingly indolic Jasmine note slapping you in the face as soon as you spray it on. Definitely feels like Jasmine Sambac Absolute (at least tiny amounts of the natural, given that the current IFRA limit is a maximum of 0.25% in the concentrate) boosted with other Jasmine like aroma-chemicals(fruity Benzyl Acetate, Celery like cis-jasmone, waxy floral Hexyl cinnamaldehyde) and also a touch of Indole to really amp up the animalic raunchiness inherent in Jasmine sambac flowers.
Some Petitgrain, and Lemon peel to accentuate the green facets, with an intense citrus-y freshness - some Neroli oil dressed up with Orange crystals (powdery orange blossom note), Methyl Anthranilate (a very powerful tangerine accented orange blossom like note with lot of sweetness; commonly used for the quintessential fruity grape smell/taste in sodas, chewing gums, candy etc.) - to build that Orange Blossom heart.
A classical Muguet heart made with Florol (a creamy white floral note with a rosy tint) and Hydroxycitronellal (a very diffusive sweet, white floral note with green accents) and probably some other Muguet notes too - to give an overall smoothness & the massive floral elevation.
Tuberose = Benzyl Salicylate + Benzyl Benzoate + Methyl Anthranilate. Eugenol for some spiciness.
All this built on a very diffusive base of Iso E Super(cedary-vetiver/amber), Hedione (airy, fresh, jasmine-like) and a Musk accord built with a few different types of Musks - Ambrettolide (slightly fruity, Hibiscus/Ambrette seed-like facets), Musk-T(sweet, vanillic, diffusive) to aid the sillage & to introduce the muskiness right from the heart and probably traces of some powdery/animalic musk like Cosmone or Muscone.
This is how the current formulation feels when I wear it. Even without smelling the older formulations it seems quite obvious that this was a monster originally - probably with a lot of naturals, lot more raunch & definitely muskier in the base. The current formulation, with the black label, doesn't last too long on my skin (3-4 hrs tops on my skin/longer on fabric, with intense projection only in the first hour)- which doesn't seem to fit with the opening theme of this perfume or with the Lutens/Sheldrake style in general. I'd surely be looking for an older bottle of this - would be totally worth it. But whatever it is now is still very good.
If you love Jasmine and/or Orange Blossom then this is highly recommended. Absolutely glorious white floral, in the opulent Lutens/Sheldrake style. Masterpiece, really!
10/10
P.s: After spending a lot of time with aroma chemicals - smelling them repeatedly and building accords - this is how I read a perfume in my head these days. Once you get used to the various components it seems really difficult to miss them in a blend. Sometimes I don't understand anything in a blend though. But at other times I smell so many things that are not even mentioned in the pyramid. It's a beautiful feeling - the clarity to be able to distinguish individual components in a blend. I love perfume!
1 Comment
Glorious Monolithic Amber
Hats off to Christophe Laudamiel, for creating one of the most opulent Amber fragrances out there! A few years ago Christophe had made the formula public, as a dedication to his recently passed friend, on Instagram. It's a rather simplistic formula - which gets rid of everything but the most essential raw materials - for maximum impact. It's only made from a handful of ingredients (as the notes listed above) - a massive dose of Vanillin, making up more than 1/4th of this formula, supporting an even larger block of Sandalwood-like raw materials (Bacdanol, Sanjinol, Polysantol, Ebanol, Sandalore & Javanol). The Ambery-ness is crafted with another monolithic block mostly made of naturals - Labdanum Resinoid, Cistus Absolute, Ambreine, Patchouli & Olibanum oil. That's all of it.
If one were to take any of these blocks by themselves it'd be impossible to understand how this perfume works. Typically anything above 3-5% of Vanillin in a formula tends to get very sweet - though perfumers do use higher doses occasionally. Jacques Guerlain probably used more than 20% Vanillin in Guerlain Shalimar - but it's tamed with a rather huge dose of Bergamot and the florals. In the case of Amber Absolute it's the remaining massive blocks, of Sandalwood & Ambery raw materials, that tame the massive dose of Vanillin or maybe it's the other way round. Without that much Vanillin this would probably be an overwhelmingly funky Sandalwood dominant fragrance and without the Sandalwood & Ambery materials the Vanillin would likely kill everything else and this would be just a cloying Vanilla scent.
The magic here is in the balance that Christophe has achieved with so many high impact materials. And even though Vanillin has been the topic of discussion - this perfume, true to it's name, is about Amber - represented here by Labdanum(&Cistus). They bring the raw, animalic, spicy, (over-ripe)fruity, sweet, smoky, balsamic nature of Amber to the forefront - everything else is just dress, make-up, & lighting. Ambreine, the element besides Ambroxan, that gives natural Ambergris it's characteristic aroma, highlights the main theme. The Sandalwood, with it's deep, creamy, nutty, musky, woody facets, provides the perfect base for this Amber to rest on. Patchouli adds some camphorous earthy dirtyness with a touch of Chocolate and the Olibanum oil brings it's classic pine-y, cool, resinous incense facets to complete this Ambery-ness. And the massive dose of Vanillin ensures that the sweetness sets in right at the beginning and stays all the way through. All this beautifully comes together to make a glorious Monolithic Amber. It performs exceedingly well on my skin - with insane longevity, lasting 24hrs+ on me and for days on my clothes (i don't even spray on clothes - this is just from wearing my clothes over perfumed skin). It can be supremely cloying on a hot day but works like magic on really cold days. It just surrounds you with a gorgeous vanillic-ambery aura that follows you everywhere. I feel lucky to have bought a few decants when this wasn't yet discontinued. It is perfumes like this that remind me why I love perfumery so much! It's absolutely magical.
10/10
If one were to take any of these blocks by themselves it'd be impossible to understand how this perfume works. Typically anything above 3-5% of Vanillin in a formula tends to get very sweet - though perfumers do use higher doses occasionally. Jacques Guerlain probably used more than 20% Vanillin in Guerlain Shalimar - but it's tamed with a rather huge dose of Bergamot and the florals. In the case of Amber Absolute it's the remaining massive blocks, of Sandalwood & Ambery raw materials, that tame the massive dose of Vanillin or maybe it's the other way round. Without that much Vanillin this would probably be an overwhelmingly funky Sandalwood dominant fragrance and without the Sandalwood & Ambery materials the Vanillin would likely kill everything else and this would be just a cloying Vanilla scent.
The magic here is in the balance that Christophe has achieved with so many high impact materials. And even though Vanillin has been the topic of discussion - this perfume, true to it's name, is about Amber - represented here by Labdanum(&Cistus). They bring the raw, animalic, spicy, (over-ripe)fruity, sweet, smoky, balsamic nature of Amber to the forefront - everything else is just dress, make-up, & lighting. Ambreine, the element besides Ambroxan, that gives natural Ambergris it's characteristic aroma, highlights the main theme. The Sandalwood, with it's deep, creamy, nutty, musky, woody facets, provides the perfect base for this Amber to rest on. Patchouli adds some camphorous earthy dirtyness with a touch of Chocolate and the Olibanum oil brings it's classic pine-y, cool, resinous incense facets to complete this Ambery-ness. And the massive dose of Vanillin ensures that the sweetness sets in right at the beginning and stays all the way through. All this beautifully comes together to make a glorious Monolithic Amber. It performs exceedingly well on my skin - with insane longevity, lasting 24hrs+ on me and for days on my clothes (i don't even spray on clothes - this is just from wearing my clothes over perfumed skin). It can be supremely cloying on a hot day but works like magic on really cold days. It just surrounds you with a gorgeous vanillic-ambery aura that follows you everywhere. I feel lucky to have bought a few decants when this wasn't yet discontinued. It is perfumes like this that remind me why I love perfumery so much! It's absolutely magical.
10/10
Soft, sweet & Sophisticated
The original Dior Homme (2005) by Olivier Polge was monumental in bringing the Iris/Cocao based soft-sweet woody prettiness to men's perfumery. It was a masterpiece - that, IMHO, suffered a bad reformulation when Demachy took over at Dior. Even though the 2011 version was pretty good it wasn't anywhere as good as Polge's original - in terms of depth, character or performance. But, fortunately for us, we get a chance to try his variation on the same theme - here for Valentino. Quite a masterful one at that.
Valentino Uomo starts with a typical modern freshness - loads of Bergamot boosted with Linalool/Ethyl Linalool for that sweet, dry, airy vibe right from the beginning. There's even a lime-y touch of the infamous Dihydro Myrcenol that leads the way to some camphorous Lavender and some terpenic herbs like Thyme or Rosemary - with a hint of vegetal leafiness (probably Violiff or Viridine or something similar). One can already smell some muskiness radiating here - which means some top-note musks like Musk T(ethylene brassylate) and/or Exaltolide - quite soft, slightly sweet & powdery - to set the tone for the Iris to come. As the effervescent Bergamot fades it slowly reveals the Iris heart- built around Ionones (alpha, beta, & gamma) - sweet, woody, floral, warm, parma violet-y, orris root-y with hints of raspberry - rounded off with some caramellic sweetness from tiny doses of Ethyl Maltol and probably traces Aldehydes C14 & C18 - for a peachy/lactonic touch. All this is placed upon a rather typical dose (20-25%) of Iso E Super - for that ambery/cedary background accentuated with some Vetiver nuances probably boosted with tiny amounts of Cedarwood oil and touches of Evernyl (oakmoss) & probably Cetalox. All of this dries down to some more sweet muskiness- probably Ambrettolide, for it's nutty/seedy feel with hints of fruit - rounded off with some Vanillin & Coumarin, for that classic praline-esque sweetness.
Except for the big dose of Bergamot, and probably the tiny amounts of Lavender, Cedarwood & Vetiver oil, this perfume is almost all aroma chemicals - which is even more of a testament to how good Olivier Polge really is. To make something so full of aroma chemicals smell as smooth, airy, & natural as it does is nothing short of genius - that's something I realize more & more as I keep smelling these raw materials / aroma chemicals in their pure form and try to make my own aromatic concoctions.
Even though it has some connotations that traditionally would be interpreted as masculine I feel this is totally unisex - can be worn by anyone who enjoys soft, sweet, woody florals. Smells great on anyone - with average projection but great longevity. Definitely recommended - especially if you like Dior Homme but are unhappy with it's performance. It's not overtly sweet or heavy to be categorized as a full blown gourmand - it's quite fresh, airy & soft with just enough sweetness that makes for a sophisticated fragrance.
9/10
Valentino Uomo starts with a typical modern freshness - loads of Bergamot boosted with Linalool/Ethyl Linalool for that sweet, dry, airy vibe right from the beginning. There's even a lime-y touch of the infamous Dihydro Myrcenol that leads the way to some camphorous Lavender and some terpenic herbs like Thyme or Rosemary - with a hint of vegetal leafiness (probably Violiff or Viridine or something similar). One can already smell some muskiness radiating here - which means some top-note musks like Musk T(ethylene brassylate) and/or Exaltolide - quite soft, slightly sweet & powdery - to set the tone for the Iris to come. As the effervescent Bergamot fades it slowly reveals the Iris heart- built around Ionones (alpha, beta, & gamma) - sweet, woody, floral, warm, parma violet-y, orris root-y with hints of raspberry - rounded off with some caramellic sweetness from tiny doses of Ethyl Maltol and probably traces Aldehydes C14 & C18 - for a peachy/lactonic touch. All this is placed upon a rather typical dose (20-25%) of Iso E Super - for that ambery/cedary background accentuated with some Vetiver nuances probably boosted with tiny amounts of Cedarwood oil and touches of Evernyl (oakmoss) & probably Cetalox. All of this dries down to some more sweet muskiness- probably Ambrettolide, for it's nutty/seedy feel with hints of fruit - rounded off with some Vanillin & Coumarin, for that classic praline-esque sweetness.
Except for the big dose of Bergamot, and probably the tiny amounts of Lavender, Cedarwood & Vetiver oil, this perfume is almost all aroma chemicals - which is even more of a testament to how good Olivier Polge really is. To make something so full of aroma chemicals smell as smooth, airy, & natural as it does is nothing short of genius - that's something I realize more & more as I keep smelling these raw materials / aroma chemicals in their pure form and try to make my own aromatic concoctions.
Even though it has some connotations that traditionally would be interpreted as masculine I feel this is totally unisex - can be worn by anyone who enjoys soft, sweet, woody florals. Smells great on anyone - with average projection but great longevity. Definitely recommended - especially if you like Dior Homme but are unhappy with it's performance. It's not overtly sweet or heavy to be categorized as a full blown gourmand - it's quite fresh, airy & soft with just enough sweetness that makes for a sophisticated fragrance.
9/10
Intensely Animalic Patchouli & Leather
All Naso fragrances are made with attars as bases. They work with distillers in Kannauj, the perfume capital of India, to create customized extractions with these perfumes in mind. They then blend these natural attars with aroma-chemicals, and alcohol to make them wear more like a western perfume.
The raw materials are natural & intense. And one point to note regarding most attars, especially from India, is that they're, almost always, distilled on to a base of Sandalwood oil - so it could be Rose, Tobacco, Jasmine or Vetiver - they're steam distilled on to a base of Sandalwood oil. So the presence of Sandalwood notes is unavoidable even if it's never mentioned in the pyramid.
I had to wear this one a few times before I could sniff out at least some of the individual notes/accords. This one opens with an intensely skanky/animalic Patchouli. They've probably paired it with Castoreum absolute or it's replacer. It has a strong odour reminiscent of iso-butyl quinoline - that smoky leathery-woody animalic - totally reminded me of Lui(Mazzolari) & Ten(Knize) - even hints of the mighty Kouros(YSL). It takes a few good hours to really get to the dry down which starts off with crisp & smoky Vetiver oil and some Tobacco notes. The tobacco is further propped up by a generous dose of Coumarin (probably including some Tonka Bean absolute) - hint of sweetness & intensely dry hay. The dry woody nature of the Tobacco trails off to a woodier base of almost all Sandalwood materials - Sandalwood oil + some aroma chemicals. Javanol seems possible simply due to the high impact of the note. The Sandalwood aroma will fill the house for a few days - especially if someone else is wearing it. On myself, I seem to go anosmic to Javanol pretty soon. Finally, a hint of Vanilla and a touch of Labdanum (maybe).
This perfume is mostly heart & base notes. Nothing remotely fresh or airy about this. Definitely has a lot of naturals in it - which makes it smell quite different on everyone. It's not as polished/finessed as any of the high-street brands or the niche houses - but it's slightly more rough-edged like so many of the Indie brands from around the world.
I'd surely recommend trying their sample set - for a different kind of aromatic experience. My personal favorites from this house are - Basil Sambac, Bergamot Tamarind, & Tabac.
The raw materials are natural & intense. And one point to note regarding most attars, especially from India, is that they're, almost always, distilled on to a base of Sandalwood oil - so it could be Rose, Tobacco, Jasmine or Vetiver - they're steam distilled on to a base of Sandalwood oil. So the presence of Sandalwood notes is unavoidable even if it's never mentioned in the pyramid.
I had to wear this one a few times before I could sniff out at least some of the individual notes/accords. This one opens with an intensely skanky/animalic Patchouli. They've probably paired it with Castoreum absolute or it's replacer. It has a strong odour reminiscent of iso-butyl quinoline - that smoky leathery-woody animalic - totally reminded me of Lui(Mazzolari) & Ten(Knize) - even hints of the mighty Kouros(YSL). It takes a few good hours to really get to the dry down which starts off with crisp & smoky Vetiver oil and some Tobacco notes. The tobacco is further propped up by a generous dose of Coumarin (probably including some Tonka Bean absolute) - hint of sweetness & intensely dry hay. The dry woody nature of the Tobacco trails off to a woodier base of almost all Sandalwood materials - Sandalwood oil + some aroma chemicals. Javanol seems possible simply due to the high impact of the note. The Sandalwood aroma will fill the house for a few days - especially if someone else is wearing it. On myself, I seem to go anosmic to Javanol pretty soon. Finally, a hint of Vanilla and a touch of Labdanum (maybe).
This perfume is mostly heart & base notes. Nothing remotely fresh or airy about this. Definitely has a lot of naturals in it - which makes it smell quite different on everyone. It's not as polished/finessed as any of the high-street brands or the niche houses - but it's slightly more rough-edged like so many of the Indie brands from around the world.
I'd surely recommend trying their sample set - for a different kind of aromatic experience. My personal favorites from this house are - Basil Sambac, Bergamot Tamarind, & Tabac.
