Indie classical perfume: Possets

Let's dive into the indie side of things, and into my favourite brands. In other words, let's talk about Possets. The indie fragrance world is heavily specialized in gourmands, which I haven't learnt to appreciate yet, so seeing a brand that specializes in abstract perfumes just makes me happy.

But what is an abstract perfume, you may ask? Well, I would describe an abstract perfume as a fragrance that isn't trying to imitate real-life smells, but to create something completely new that is more than the sum of its parts. Solinotes or hyperrealistic perfumes are not abstract perfumes, for instance. Also, abstraction is a spectrum, not a binary quality, says a_lang_face in this very informative Reddit post. The user also quotes perfume critic Tania Sanchez, who explains abstraction in Perfumes: the A-Z Guide.

Guerlain’s Mitsouko is in structure basically Coty’s landmark Chypre with the peach base Persicol added. However, Mitsouko doesn’t smell like two distinct things hashed together—far from it. Instead, it smells like a new creature called Mitsouko: an autumnal, poignant chord, rounded and full, something that feels on first meeting as if you have known it before, the way certain people you meet seem as if they were expecting you or you them, even if you are technically strangers.

What we’re really talking about is the art of abstraction in perfumery: the creation of a new smell for its own qualities, and not for any fidelity to things already known. How is it done? Magic. For example, a smart, funny, wonderful woman I know once wondered, referring to the great but long defunct Iris Gris (created by Jacques Fath), why the smells of iris and peach, in some mysterious proportion, create a third, haunting smell that is neither iris nor peach but something entirely new. She apologized for not understanding the science of it. It wasn’t science but art, though both rely heavily upon a combination of inspiration and happy accident. To illustrate the elegant simplicity of this particular idea, one night, while I was doing my best to help a friend drain some bottles that might be useful if they weren’t so full of wine, this friend, an amateur perfumer (toiling for love and not money), following a previous suggestion of Luca’s, took some Persicol, and mixed it drop by drop into a small vial of the closest thing on hand to iris butter tincture, Serge Lutens’s wonderful Iris Silver Mist. Magic is always most astonishing when done small and up close. For a while, we smelled only iris, then, for a time, both iris and peach. We were on the verge of getting bored with our game when one last drop pushed the mixture into the realm of the inexplicable. Instead of the iris and peach keeping their separate identities, we perceived billowing out of the vial a third presence, like a newborn dream object with the satin cool of its rooty father and a plummy richness inherited from its lactonic mother: it was Iris Gris in the rough. The idea itself is simple enough once you know it’s there, but finding and recognizing it is not so easy. You can no more predict the next great beautiful perfumery idea than you can predict the next catchy melody before you hear it.

Tania Sanchez

Reading the fragrance pyramid won't tell you anything about how an abstract perfume smells: this is true for L'Heure Bleue, Shalimar, Chanel No 5, and many other classical perfumes. A totally abstract kind of perfumes is the fougère family, which smells how fern should smell like, and not how it does in fact smell like. Another one that I haven't tamed yet is the chypre family, but it is in my to-do list. And a indie brand that excels in abstract perfumery is Possets.

Possets as a brand is committed to the exploration of Perfume as Art, and you can feel that commitment through their whole aesthetic: from oil paintings as illustrations to perfumes named after pieces of classical music. The brand is well-known for an abstract accord, named the Silver accord, which to my nose smells like a dry vanilla musk with a metallic edge to keep things interesting. In my opinion, their best iterations of the Silver accord pairings are the woody ones (Silver Cedar, Silver Oude, Silver Sandalwood): they give some sweetness to otherwise very sharp scents. But those aren't the most abstract of them all.

Because, actually, I am here to talk about their most unique offerings. First, let's talk about Lady and a Baby Unicorn: A wonderful combination. Using the right type and right amount and right dilution, vetiver (that sultry, earthy, wild, and dominant part) becomes positively docile, sweet, and innocent...almost fruity in the presence of three vanillas (dry, fat, and sweet). It's like the renewal of its virginity. It's vanillic, but not foodie, piney without pine in it, earthy, elegant, a really interesting and unusual combination. It's like vetiver and vanilla melded into a new scent, the scent of this perfume. Some say it reminds them of coconut, others say they detect a fruity quality, even some say that it smells like sweet grass! It is a perfume to be experienced, for sure.

Another perfumy, classic, abstract scent is Madame X: It’s musky, creamy, enticing, perfumy, slightly foody, but very skin-like. Its notes? Skin musk, wax, cream, lemon zest, champagne, and a kiss of bitter vanilla. What exactly is a bitter vanilla? What does wax smell like? And skin musk, is it a clean white musk, or a dirty animalic musk, or maybe something in between? Well, you need to experience this scent to be able to understand.

Now, my favourite abstract from the pack: Dangerous Oil. The description says: Six musks from blackest black up through a rare and gorgeous in itself purple/blue musk hybrid. A good jolt of labdanum and an edge of cognac. The heart note is an entire chypre made only for this project and used for no other. There is a fresh and almost gardenia-like part to this (but there is no gardenia in it), it is not a floral but a resinous blend but there is a mesmerizing beauty to it. It smells boozy, but not like you've been day-drinking, dark, syrupy but not cloyingly sweet, there's an oakmoss-y feeling to it that I can't quite pinpoint (hell, isn't this the point of abstract perfumes?). It is elegant, vintage-feeling, musky (duh), and overall gorgeous.

Unfortunately, I haven't tried all of the scent catalog so I can't describe (or try to) more of their perfumes. But do keep an eye on this brand, and don't look down upon the oil format! Feel free to comment or message me if you want more recommendations from Possets.