VTrancoso

I am an unconditional fan of the scent of "Immortelles". Not because the Greeks used it to crown images and statues of Apollo, since the plant symbolized love. But, above all, because of the beautiful and unforgettable olfactory memories that I associate with it.

When, in the late summer afternoons, I returned from a beach along the dunes of the coast of southwest Portugal, I was blessed by a warm breeze that brought the comforting, spicy and relaxing scent of "Immortelles" (Helichrysum italicum) with small golden-yellow flowers.

That is why I have been a fan of "Sables" by Annick Goutal since the very beginning. Launched in 1985, it was probably the first fragrance in history in which Immortelles took center stage.

A masterpiece that has been the great reference among fragrances centered on "immortelles" or "everlasting", and was conceived as a declaration of love from Annick to her husband (Alain Meunier), trying to reproduce the sublime atmosphere of the days spent in Corsica during the summer.

Since the 3 subsequent versions have been inferior to the original (although still interesting) I have always been attentive to all the fragrances centered on Immortelles.

Since then I have tried many without being able to find one as realistic as the 1st edition of Sables. To date, the ones that have come closest to this level are: L'Eau des Immortels by Voyages Imaginaires and Le Mat by Mendittorosa. Far behind are: Immortelle Corse (Parfums d'Empire), Everlasting by Scent Trunk, etc.

But now, something has appeared that I consider to be on par with the original Sables and which is my best discovery among the perfumes launched in 2025. The scent of Immortelles is finally well reproduced and well underlined by the other notes that accompany it in the background.

A spicy, slightly smoky/woody and dry scent. Like the atmosphere of happy summers by the sea, with a silent and intense sun beating down on a warm and wild landscape with rocks and dunes dotted with mustard-colored Immortelles whose scent blends into our skin.

I must say that it is difficult to describe (it is "compact" and almost impossible to decode) and it is one of the most "avant garde" fragrances that exist and that is already "in another league". A creation understood by those who have a more advanced perfume culture.

It is an experience that lasts at least 3 days (at which point you can still feel the "civet" of the drydown).
We know that Mr Gardoni mentioned “the final fragrance actually contains 86 ingredients, applied with a technique of “micro-balancing mini quantities of almost ‘invisible’ elements” to create notes, “ghosts,” and suggestions that are “hard to pin down.”

For me it started with a taste of caramelized bitter orange (or maybe tangerine marmalade?), and continued with the aroma of burnt sugar over custard and a little Coca-Cola. All of this is based on a symphony of different types (which are 5 after all) of lavender – distilled in such a way that the end result ends up being atypical for the lavender we are used to and which is mixed with a little pine resin and vetiver (perhaps also with medicinal mint candies). There is a multifloral and fruity facet with a bubblegum flavor. Sometimes it feels like I'm detecting many scents I've smelled before in the distant past. There are chords that disappear and come back again. There are so many ingredients (86!!!!) that I probably won't detect many. However, after 2-3 hours, I feel more flower petals and, as a result, the evocation of the soft skin of a female neck.
After the sensation of walking through the aromas of a street in the first “Blade Runner” film and climbing the stairs of a city that is constantly rebuilding itself with every step, the perfume takes me to the figure of an old sage taking refuge in his beard and in the shadows of the memories of an immense library – with reams of books getting lost in a ceiling of impenetrable clouds. A huge, silent space like the room where the hero of the film 2001: A Space Odyssey grows old.
A drydown awaits us accompanied by the orchestra's bass drums playing “Also sprach Zarathustra” – in the version from the soundtrack of this film.
Many other “ghost” places could be told but I don’t want to spoil the surprises of those who also come to experience MEM’s long journey.
MEM probably means Memory but it could also, in my understanding, mean Memorable. Because it could go down in the history of perfumery as one of the first of a new generation of fragrances – based on different assumptions.

White Duke is inspired by the fascinating figure of Gabriele D'Annunzio and makes me feel the atmosphere of the first decades of the 20th century - just as I imagine it.

A perfume that, after a brief citrus and spicy opening, is marked by the prominence of the sweet sensuality of Amber and the mystery of incense. With good duration (about 12h) it has moderate projection. The balsamic oponax seasoned with patchouli is a plus for my taste. The drydown on the skin is smooth and sweet. Just like D'Annunzio, it is a provocative, seductive fragrance, triggering strong sensations.

It is irresistible to remember Gabriele D'Annunzio who was not only a great Italian poet, writer (The Triumph of Death) and playwright. Alongside his literary career, he developed an eccentric political career. Protagonist of a life of excess, d’Annunzio made aestheticism his own lifestyle (his life motto), always seeking new sensations. With the declared intention of establishing modern narrative prose in Italy, he assimilated the main characteristics of European decadentism and the incessant search for Beauty. In the first decade of the 20th century d’Annunzio was probably the most famous Italian poet in Europe. Seen as a devil with an angel's writing, D'Annunzio remains indisputably irresistible: without a doubt the finest Italian writer of his time, an aesthete who would make Oscar Wilde look like a mere bourgeois, a seducer with the tact and appetite of Casanova, a political fanatic and a soft-spoken and passionate orator.
He became famous with the novel The Plesurer, published in 1889, dedicated to the actress Eleonora Duse, with whom he had a stormy romance. One novel among many attributed to him. His appetite and sexual performance were legendary. He lived with several women simultaneously (it is said that the passion of some of them led to suicide). He hosted cocaine-fueled orgies in his palace like a precursor to Hugh Hefner with the Playboy bunnies. His opulent palace, which reflected his excesses and aestheticism, was (and is) located on the northern shore of Lake Garda in northern Italy (the largest lake in Italy, with 5 islands, located in the province of Brescia), and extending over an area of ​​about 370 km at an altitude of 65 meters above sea level).
Around his house there is a labyrinth of secret and fantastic gardens, there are planes and boats from the First World War, there are waterfalls, statues, a Greek-style auditorium, battlements of a fortress and on top of a hill there is his mausoleum guarded by enormous stone dogs.
The house is a museum of fantastic pieces, generally from that period, where there is almost no space between them – whether on the walls, on the furniture, or in the bathroom with a bathtub and sink in Lapis Lazuli surrounded by dozens of bottles of perfumes, lotions, etc. A magical place worth a visit (see attached video).
He was also a hero of World War I - where he was on the side of the Allies - having distinguished himself by commanding fleets of planes. He achieved celebrity as a fighter pilot (he lost sight in one eye in a plane crash). Among his many achievements, the most famous was the conquest of the city of Fiume (today Rijeka in Croatia) on September 12, 1919, leading an army of 2,000 Italians. There, D’Annunzio proclaimed himself “Duce” (leader/Duke) and invented the gesture that would later be copied by Hitler and Mussolini during World War II. His figure (with a curled mustache) would also later inspire Salvador Dali. In 1937 he was elected president of the Royal Italian Academy). D'Annunzio died of a stroke (some authors claim that this happened "at the hands" of one of the several "playmates" with whom he cohabited - a Tyrolean blonde named Emy Huefler) at his home on March 1, 1938. He was given a state funeral.

Des Cendres is super elegant, comfortable and at the same time conveys the serenity of a countryside landscape waking up dewy and evolving into flowers that open before an afternoon in sepia tones.

Perhaps a distant relative of the vintage Polo Green and Naomi Goodsir’s equally elegant Bois D’Ascèse. Projection is moderate and lasts on the skin until the next morning.

The opening is green and fresh with galbanum taking center stage, aided by mint, which shines in an immense pine forest next to the glass water of a serene lake.
From afar, a fragrant and smoky breeze of burnt wood (pine and birch tar) reaches us.
Shortly after, soft and subtle floral notes appear, splashing an atmosphere of moss, musk and leather.
As we enter the forest we feel the animalic tone (hyraceum) which is subtle and never exaggerated. Vetiver and Patchouli give a subtle earthy vibe.

The olfactory journey is always made with the smell of burning aromatic plants from a field lost in the memory of our adolescence and accompanies us in a scene painted in greens, browns, violets and grays that connects us with the harmony of Nature's silences.

Just what we need right now.

Despite being a floral, it is a unisex fragrance that begins with a creamy lily that quickly becomes associated with the texture of violet petals. There is a dark rose adding thickness to the composition. Blackcurrant contributes a fresh facet, while Patchouli adds an earthy vibe. All of this contrasts with the woods, oakmoss and vanilla/musk that act as a supporting base. A chiaroscuro of flowers against a background of sweet woods. I didn't detect the cognac note.

Floral, Powdery/Earthy, Creamy, Woody.
It has moderate projection and lasts until the next morning close to the skin.

I don’t consider it a “dark” fragrance. IMHO it is intimate, subtle, elegant, romantic, soft and somewhat melancholic, modern and vintage.

We imagine a nobleman who, through an unknown miracle, travels through time.
In a palace in the mid-19th century, he is alone on a balcony overlooking a flower garden. He wears a purple Victorian outfit scented with the nostalgia emanating from the flowers in the garden. He looks at the full moon on a windless night and dreams of a woman he doesn't yet know, but can guess. He closes his eyes as if expecting something prodigious. In the universe, something somewhat mysterious happens because when he opens his eyes again he is still in Paris, but now in the 21st century on a terrace overlooking a city shining in a twilight sky where a metal tower stands out in the distance. He was in the middle of a party and was wearing a dark purple tuxedo.
There were people talking in groups and music in the air. In a corner sheltered by a small garden sat, alone, the woman he had always dreamed of. They looked at each other as if they had known each other forever and in silence they embraced each other - definitively - dancing to the sound of "Where or When" sung by Carly Simon, enveloped in the perfume that continued to emanate from him.
Some people mentioned that small dark blue butterflies were flying over the pair. But perhaps they were petals from a 19th century garden.

Some things happen for the first time
Seems to be happening again
And so it seems we have met before
And laughed before and loved before
But who knows where or when?