New Escentual Post: Acqua di Parma Colonia Club Perfume Review

I’m starting to really get into Acqua di Parma as a fragrance brand. Their classic Colonia is an iconic eau de cologne that’s difficult not to love and last year’s Rosa Nobile has quickly made its way into my regular rotation. There’s an effortless simplicity to all things Acqua di Parma that appeals to my calmer and more refined sides. Of course, they may be a paired-back brand, but that doesn’t mean that Acqua di Parma is exempt from releasing lots of flankers, and their famous Colonia is available in a number of interpretations, ranging from intense versions to oud and leather fusions.

This summer, Acqua di Parma are extending their fragrant wardrobe by launching Colonia Club, a new twist on Colonia that is inspired by the idea of an private members sports club. The result is a surprisingly complex eau de cologne that is somewhere between a salty marine scent and a minty fougére. I think its great and it also proves that sporty fragrances don’t have to smell like sweaty Lynx-soaked boys (or Axe-soaked for my American buddies). Click here to head over to Escentual to check out my full review.

Continue reading →

The Green Wonder – Olfactive Studio Panorama Perfume Review

If you’re ever feeling bored with the state of modern perfumery or exhausted by the endless onslaught of (often underwhelming) launches, I recommend that you take a few minutes out to explore the fascinating fragrant offerings from Olfactive Studio. This French-based niche house creates scents inspired by photography, specifically the images and techniques associated with the prevalent medium, and their range covers a vast number of olfactory styles, from smoky florals to strange spice creations. In short, Olfactive Studio is an exciting brand with an entirely unique viewpoint.

The studio have just launched their seventh fragrance – the Clement Gavarry-penned ‘Panorama’. Inspired by the Miguel Sandinha photograph of the legendary Sheats Goldstein house in Los Angeles, California (see below), Panorama is a green fragrance that boasts an unconventional note of wasabi. In keeping with the photograph from which it takes inspiration, Panorama contrasts urban and modern landscapes with verdant vegetation to create a fragrance that is large and expansive, with a plethora of nuances that are all intensely green. Get ready to be fascinated, folks, because this scent is one heck of a green wonder.

Continue reading →

New Escentual Post: Lolita Lempicka Sweet Perfume Review

The ‘Candy’ in my pseudonym may be a glaring link to the fact that I have a huge sweet tooth. I’m being deadly serious here – when it comes to sugar there is no time for humour. From food to fragrance I must admit that I enjoy a bit of the sweet stuff and no brand does sugar more prolifically than Lolita Lempicka. With their latest launch, the appropriately named ‘Sweet‘, they have gone sugar and cuteness overload with a fragrance based on a “cherry-cocoa lipgloss accord”. Need I say more? Click here to check out my review in this week’s Escentual column.

Continue reading →

Aloof Amber – LM Parfums Cicatrices Extrait de Parfum

Just a speedy review from me today. I was recently sent a sample of Cicatrices, the latest Extrait de Parfum from LM Parfums. It’s interesting for me, to try something completely new from a brand that I’ve had no exposure to previously – it’s almost like opening a tiny window into a new world. Sometimes there’ll be a marvellous fantasy land just behind the curtains, and sometimes, all there is to be found is a barren wasteland of cold, depressing nothingness. Cicatrices definitely isn’t the latter, but it’s not quite the former either.

LM Parfums is a French brand created by Laurent Mazzone, a figure within the fashion industry who has worked with “some of the greats of French perfumery” to create his line of fragrances. His latest fragrance, Cicatrices is named after the French word for scars and is described as an “intimate oriental” that boasts notes of amber and liquorice. Available in Extrait de Parfum, Cicatrices is a rich fragrance with top notch ingredients and a pleasing sense of depth.

“Beautiful, rich and complex this is a scar of the most delicate kind – a fragrance that leaves its mark, locking in the emotion of a moment for all time.”

– LM Parfums

Continue reading →

Salt and Steel – Paco Rabanne Olympēa Perfume Review

Olympēa - Paco Rabanne's new Goddess — Olympēa – Paco Rabanne’s new Goddess

Criticise Paco Rabanne all you want, but you can never say that they don’t have a knack for tapping into the zeitgeist. Their fragrance launches are a perfect example of how marketing drives the success of a modern perfume, with irresistible packaging and expensive advertising campaigns drawing the consumer in. Take 1 Million for instance – a perfectly decent woody amber fragrance that most likely wouldn’t have had the phenomenal success it has if it weren’t packaged inside a faux piece of gold bullion and marketed with a club-culture inspired ad that tapped into the image and money-obsessed nature of modern youth. They are anything, if not clever.

Their latest launch for women, ‘Olympēa‘, which arrives as the feminine counterpart to 2013’s Invictus, comes with all of the trappings of a typical Paco Rabanne launch right from the show-stopping bottle shaped like a laurel crown to the high-budget visuals, but the scent itself appears to have a bit more depth than one would usually expect. Created by perfumers Anne Flipo, Dominique Ropion and Loc Dong, Olympēa is described as the “fragrance of a modern day goddess” and a “statuesque idol of conquest and victory”. That is quite the description, I must say, and in truth, the fragrance is more intimate and cuddly than the concept would lead one to expect, but that’s not to say that Olympēa is without interest, in fact, it’s really quite intriguing.

“The fragrance of a modern day goddess, Paco Rabanne Olympea Eau de Parfum makes a statement of strength, power and seduction. Between myth and reality is where you’ll find Olympēa, a statuesque idol of conquest and victory. Her fragrance is just as commanding as she is, featuring a legend-inspiring salted vanilla accord that elevates her above the clouds.”

– Paco Rabanne

Continue reading →

New Escentual Post: Amouage Sunshine Woman Perfume Review

Let the Sun Shine... — Let the Sun Shine…

A little late to the party (again) with this one, but what I lack in speed, I make up for with my fanboy enthusiasm. This summer I’ve been rocking of a lot eau de colognes, light florals and zingy citrus scents, so the first spritz of the warm, bakery tones of Sunshine Woman was quite a surprise. This is an unusual summer fragrance that flirts with gourmand tones of almond and vanilla, whilst also getting friendly with some hot and waxy white florals. So, if you want something a little bit different to the usual citrus follies of summer, then Sunshine may be something to consider. Click here to head on over to Escentual to read my review.

Continue reading →

Engagement Distance – Bogue Profumo MAAI Perfume Review

I interrupt our usual programming of new perfume reviews for something that isn’t entirely brand new – MAAI by Bogue Profumo. I actually received my sample of MAAI quite a while ago. It was generously sent to me by a very lovely perfumista (she knows who she is) and with so many things, it got caught up in my sample pile and didn’t receive too much attention. You know how it is, fellow fragrance nerds, there’s simply so much out there to smell that not everything can receive the attention it deserves. Anyhoo, a few weeks back I was prepping my review for Papillon Artisan Perfumes’ marvellous Salome, and very much felt in the mood for modern fragrances with a classic or vintage feel. MAAI immediately sprung to mind and here we are…

MAAI comes from the Italian niche house, Bogue Profumo, ‘bogue’ being French slang for ‘bug’, as in a computer virus. Founded by perfumer Antonio Gardoni, Bogue offers “neo-classic perfumery through experiments: through infusing resins, woods, roots and metals in alcohol” and MAAI (which is named after the Japanese martial arts term that describes the distance between two opponents, translating as ‘interval’) is his boldest work. In a fortuitous coincidence of events that aligned rather nicely with my rediscovery of my sample of MAAI, I recently found myself at Bloom Perfumery, Covent Garden experiencing Gardoni unveil the hidden secrets of fragrance. The experience was rather enlightening.

Believe me when I say that Gardoni is an incredibly affable and creative individual who approaches perfumery from a completely different angle to most. His approach seems entirely experimental, right from the way that he infused the alcohol used in MAAI with resins, incense and juniper, to the intense multi-aldehyde accord he created for the fragrance, the results seem to come together in a completely organic manner. I admire his spirit and enthusiasm, and the fruits of his olfactory projects, as evidenced in MAAI and his other fragrance ‘O/E’, are really quite something!

Continue reading →

New Escentual Post: Jean Paul Gaultier Ultra Mâle Review

What do you get when to you take Jean Paul Gaultier’s Le Mâle to the gym and tell him to avoid manscaping for a few weeks? Well, you get Ultra Mâle, that’s what. Ultra Mâle is the latest incarnation of Gaultier’s beautifully buffed sailor boy, and this time our beloved seafarer has gone rogue. Launched to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Le Mâle, and created by the perfumer Francis Kurkdjian (the same dude behind the original) Ultra Mâle brings the (timeless) barbershop fougére bang up to date and places it in a more oriental setting, and a thoroughly rugged one at that. To read my full review on Escentual, simply click here!

Continue reading →

Dancing the Dance of the Seven Veils – Papillon Artisan Perfumes Salome Perfume Review

Perfume lovers across the world have been watching the New Forest studio of Papillon Artisan Perfumes with bated breath. Last year, Papillon launched with three fragrances; Angelique, Anubis and Tobacco Rose – three perfumes that boldly said that a scent should be beautiful and unique, rather than awash with gimmickry. Papillon Artisan Perfumes have been a refreshing addition to the world of perfume that, along with Sarah McCartney’s hugely important 4160 Tuesdays, has put independent British perfumery on the map – a fact reflected by the nomination of all three Papillon scents for Best New Independent Fragrance at this year’s Fragrance Foundation Awards. It stands to reason then, that Papillon’s latest scent ‘Salome‘, launches in a veritable cloud of fragrant excitement.

You will hear a lot of talk about Salome and her erotic, and animalistic tendencies over the coming months. “Pure filth” is what they’ll call her and perfume lovers here, there and everywhere will revel in her raunchy and primal ways. But there’s more to Salome than meets the eye, and there’s another facet that deserves praise – her golden sheen and glittering sense of movement, to be specific. Salome is a dancing diva moving methodically and mesmerisingly through the many hypnotic motions of the dance of the seven veils.

Salome takes its name from the biblical character – the daughter of Herod and the dancing woman from the New Testament. In a recent interview on The Candy Perfume Boy, Papillon Perfumer Liz Moores explained how a vintage photograph of a 1920s flapper girl was the inspiration for Salome; “I have an original vintage photograph of a 1920’s flapper girl in a state of undress; she’s positioned side on to the camera with her breasts bared and the lower half of her body only slightly covered with ostrich feathers. The woman in this photograph fascinates me; I have often wondered who she was, where she lived in the world and what her name might have been. In my head I called her Salome, a name befitting such a beautiful and daring woman of her time.” This photo, which potrays the seductive dancer partly nude informs Salome’s vintage tones and erotic escapades. This is a fragrance made in a style seldom seen in this modern, post-IFRA age, and it acts as a startling reminder that perfumes can still be richly textured, gloriously complex and absolutely, downright filthy.

Continue reading →

Enter New Bohemia – Jo Malone London Mimosa & Cardamom Perfume Review

I must admit that I have a little bit of a soft spot for Jo Malone London. In my opinion they do what they do and they do it very well, specifically, they create pleasing, low-key fragrances for scenting both people and their homes, and package them all beautifully. Jo Malone London sell a lifestyle, one that is housed within the simplicity of their structured bottles, placed carefully in gorgeous boxes and tied with beautiful bows. It’s a life that looks and smells good.

Over the last year or so, the brand has started to become a little bit bolder with their offerings. Rain & Angelica, a limited edition from their London Rain collection was weird and glassy, like crystallised drops of summer rain. There was also last year’s Wood Sage & Sea Salt, another unusual blend that was somewhere between salted caramel and sea spray. Oh and we mustn’t forget Incense & Cedrat, the latest addition to the Cologne Intense collection and an absolutely gorgeous benzoin-heavy incense that begs to be snuggled. They’ve been very busy making some intriguing scents, it must be said.

The hard work of Jo Malone London continues this autumn as September sees the launch of a brand new pillar fragrance for the brand. Focusing on the rich notes of Mimosa & Cardamom, this new launch (unsurprisingly called ‘Mimosa & Cardamom‘) created by perfume Marie Salamagne is an ode to word travel, eclectic fabrics and a mixture of cultures seen through the lens of a bohemian blend of flowers and spice. Without offering too many spoilers for the rest of the review, I will say that Mimosa & Cardamom really lives up to its inspiration and I for one think that it’s great to see such an underused yet fascinating note as mimosa being used front and centre in a mainstream fragrance. Good work, JML.

Continue reading →