videecco

Point du jour combines two of my favorite things: aromatics and incense. In French, Point du jour refers to the beginning of dawn. Think about the meditative hour before sunrise, when one is awake before everyone else. It opens as an aromatic, herbal, medicinal bomb, with a head of thyme (never savory or food grade), followed in the half hour by clary sage.

Unlike Arquiste's Peau, here the clary sage never leans towards a subtle body odor but stays strong, herbal and medicinal, with clean undertones. A very beautiful frankincense (not unlike Sheldrake's L'Orpheline, or CDG Avignon) pierces through and replaces the herbs as time goes by, then it's thyme again with a hint of clove, then it dies on a fancy herbal, masculine-leaning barbershop scent.

Although it boasts eucalyptus and incense, this would not be redundant with Diptyque L'Eau Trois as it's radically different. You could aslo argue it shares some DNA with Lutens' Encens et Lavande (also from Sheldrake). It could very well become another pillow favorite. Don't be fooled by the Matin thematic, to me this is mystical, contemplative, almost dark.

Smells like the colors: purple and dark green.

Wow is this mineral: rain on a cliff with pines, whipped by the cold wind. Petrichor notes are not mentioned anywhere but they are all over this.

This opens on a terpenic breeze of pine, eucalyptus, and a discreete outline of petitgrain. Very civil muscs close the march. On fabric, the pine notes linger for a while -- a few hours after applying I was doing pushups in a cloud of forest air -- but on the skin, they are fleeting. Some might think of the basenotes to be a bit too tame, I personally love those kind of clean and intimate scents.

De Fille en Aiguille, also from Sheldrake, comes to mind, this time with no fruit nor resin, a more airy, fleeting, and resolutely mineral proposition. There is also a coldness that I associate with Iris Silver Mist: altough the two are very different, the mood is similar.

Perhaps my favorite in the Matin Discovery Set.

Smells like the color: blue-gray.

In my mind, mixing incense and amber with algae is akin to making a Nutella-pickle sandwich. Yet a sample of this is what triggered the purchase of the whole Matin Discovery Set. Algae done right can blend so well with skin on a hot summer day. On the other hand, incense and amber are winter staples to me, best appreciated at nighttime. But somehow… it works.

I was enthralled by the opening. The algae note reminds me strongly of a favorite of mine, Parfum d'Empire's Acqua di Scandola , where it's evocative of skin warmed up by the sun after a sea bath. The beautiful airy incense that laces the algae after a few minutes remind me of another of Sheldrake's brilliant execution, L'orpheline, whithout the cold aldehydes. To my taste, what's might be out of place is the amber basenotes (disclosure: not a vanilla fan). Although I happily own Acqua di Scandola, I want to keep experimenting with Dans le bleu in different seasons and settings. Surprisingly, for a line I understand is meant to be on the quieter side, I could smell my blotter meters away and for days. Test on paper first.

Smells like the colors: pale yellow and purple.

Update: after having tested this on a very hot day, I can tell this is not the right setting to wear it. Heat pushes the briny facet to the back, keeping only an ozonic vibe, while the ambery, almost vanillic incense is thrusted forward. Still looking for the setting where this oddity would be just right.

Three images:

The first is a peaceful hammam or steam bath, where a camphorus oil is mixed with the water vapour, mixing the warm and the fresh in a delicious, calming, yet invigorating sensation.

The second is a still, quiet pine forest after the rain.

The third is a small empty chapel where myrrh and olibanum have just been burnt without smoke, leaving the visitor with a ghost presence.

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On skin and blotter, the opening is very aromatic, herbal and forest-y even, with a hint of pine and a camphorous facet that strongly associates with eucalyptus, and not rosemary (rosemary oil contains high levels of 1-8 cineole, also known as eucalyptol.... so that could explain it). Here we are, where the hammam meets the forest for a grounding effect that makes you want to breathe deeply and stay in the moment.

Past the first few minutes, the caraway hits hard on skin. On blotter and fabric, the first notes persist and the caraway just makes a peek that complements the olibanum and the myrrh that then start to come out.

The perfume then turns to a skin smell barely an hour after application on any kind of surface, staying close to the wearer, so intimate one could barely smell it on themselves unless they have applied a healthy dose of sprays, or resprayed.

Past the first few hours, the camphorous notes are gone, leaving us with a pure, calming, churchy vibe of olibanum and myrrh. This incense finale can linger in for many hours, albeit very discreetly: tried on my pillowcase at night, I could still smell it in the morning.

A naturalistic, timeless delight.

Smells like the colors: dark green, brown.