Review
“It’s chic to be drab” DS & Durga tells us in the tagline for their new fragrance, Brown Flowers. It’s an unusual statement from a fragrance brand, but DS & Durga is not your typical outfit and rather than trying to crowd please, like much of the fragrance industry, they’re not afraid to be different. The tagline and name of the fragrance come with tongue pressed firmly in cheek (Brown Flowers is so off-putting it comes full circle). But let’s not mistake DS & Durga for not being serious – they may not take themselves seriously (they have fun with what they do), but they certainly do take the creation of unique perfumes very seriously indeed.
At the London launch of Brown Flowers, DS & Durga perfumer and co-founder David Seth Moltz provided a very specific description of the inspiration of the fragrance, derived from a visit to Philip Johnson’s glasshouse in Connecticut. I shall paraphrase below:
“Perhaps someone’s aunt stays in the guest house, she’s a dilettante who gets into drawing classes, and starts making potpourri. She makes a perfume called Brown Flowers, made with a musk you can only get in Europe. Everyone’s wearing it. If she could just get a few bottles into Barneys she’ll have made it. She has a boyfriend who plays a guitar in a band, nobody knows his name. It’s a drab heavy ‘70s floral. Oh and her name is Simone by the way.”
I truly admire a brand that creates such vivid and specific olfactory stories and without a single material being mentioned in that description above, one gets a real sense of what this fragrance is trying to convey. So is Brown Flowers really a drab floral? Does it evoke the 1970s? And more importantly, should you seek it out and give it a sniff? Is it chic in a counter-culture way? Well, read on and you shall find out!
Controversial fragrance opinion ahoy: I think the Tom Ford Signature Collection (i.e. the more mainstream, slightly lower priced collection that includes the likes of Black Orchid, White Patchouli, and Noir etc) has better fragrances than the higher-priced Private Blends. Maybe it’s the (slightly) more reasonable price point that attracts me but the Signature Collection is where the Tom Ford brand executes its most interesting ideas in the most successful way. In fact, they even tend to move some of their better Private Blends into the Signature Collection after a period of time (see Costa Azurra and Cafe Rose).
Bois Pacifique is the latest addition to the collection. The brand calls it “a woody spicy scent of majestic woods” which, I think means that it’s quite woody… They speak of “freedom” and “vitality” but the one word that best captures the experience of Bois Pacifique is “subtlety”. For a brand known for its heavy hitters, this is quite the turn of events and it fills a gap within the current collection: that of a soft skin scent that does not demand attention.
Let’s Sniff!
I always wondered whether the noses and minds behind classic fragrances such as Shalimar, Nº5, Poison, Opium, CK One etc. had any inkling that these creations would be considered as masterpieces. Did they know they were making history at the time? Or was it years later that the classic status was bestowed upon them? If so, how quickly did this happen? I think the answer varies but the moniker of classic is something that is most often awarded in hindsight and it really is the test of time that is the true decider.
We can, I think, see fragrance history in the making and it’s easy to point to a number of creations over the last decade or so that have quickly become modern classics. These are scents that have broached entirely new olfactory ground and have become hugely popular because they smell so entirely unique. I’m talking about fragrances such as Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s fiery marine Baccarat Rouge 540, Le Labo’s crystalline woody Santal 33, and of course, Marc Antoine Barrois’ spacially ethereal Ganymede.
Ganymede comes from a creative partnership between couturier Marc-Antoine Barrois and perfumer Quentin Bisch. They speak of their kinship as part of this creative synergy and how it has helped translate Marc-Antoine’s emotions and imaginations into olfactory art. Ganymede is described as a fantasy, one inspired by the moon of Jupiter and the Trojan prince from which the satellite takes its name. That all may sound a little bit abstract, but Ganymede is an abstract, cerebral fragrance that presents an entirely new olfactory experience. Is it destined to be a classic? Well, I think the answer to that is incredibly simple: it already is.
In this review I’m sniffing Ganymede in both its Eau de Parfum and Extrait concentrations. Two perfumes born from the same creative spark but with completely different points of view.
Let’s Sniff!
As the year draws to a close it’s time to reflect on all that 2024 was. Personally 2024 was a year that can only be described as ‘hot garbage’ but we get through these things, as we do. We move. From an olfactory standpoint things were more positive and whilst I haven’t been writing about fragrance for some time, I have been keeping my finger on the pulse, or nose on the scent as it were. Yes, there is a lot of crap out there still (and dupes, so, so many dupes!!) but amongst the not so good there were lots of beautiful things that piqued my interest.
So what stood out to me in 2024? The answer is a few, very varied things. I discovered a new (to me) brand, fell in love with a perfectly-executed flanker, fanboyed over one of my favourite perfumers, was surprised by daring olfactory exploits, bought things on a whim, and loved yet another instalment in a fragrance franchise I already love. I think that’s a pretty good summary, so without further ado here are my six favourite fragrance launches of 2024! Please note that I fully intended to pick only five but I wasn’t able to be that strict with myself, soz.
Christopher Chong, in-house Creative Director at Thameen London and I have something in common: we’ve both taken an extended break from the world of perfume but now we’re back! I’m certainly very happy to be back and to be smelling his work again. You’ll be familiar with Christopher’s fantastic work at Amouage, a brand that he really turned around and brought to the forefront of niche perfumery. The perfumes he creates are bold, innovative and often times challenging. He is not one to shy away from brashness, working with world-class perfumers to push the boundaries forward. You may have not loved everything he did at Amouage but you can never accuse anything he has worked on of being boring and for that, he deserves a huge amount of respect.
Having taken up residence at Thameen London, Chong presents The Britologne Collection. Consisting of six fragrances (as of now), this capsule collection within Thameen London’s wider oeuvre is an homage to Britain and the traditional Eau de Cologne, fusing both words together to create Britologne. The result is a collection that subverts that classic Eau de Cologne structure, pushing it firmly into the 21st century with fragrances that are dramatically unique and fantastic examples of olfactory storytelling. The Britologne Collection may be inspired by familiar themes, but if I’ve learned one thing from my years of sniffing perfumes created under the direction of Christopher Chong, it’s to expect the unexpected.
Let’s Sniff!
Infleurno is the latest fragrance from Eau de Boujee (formerly ‘Boujee Bougies’), a British fragrance house that creates bold, high-quality perfumes with exciting and unique concepts. It is loosely based on their Hellflower candle, which was inspired by a terrible sci-fi novel with a fantastic name. They call Infleurno a “pyrotechnic burst of citrus and florals” with a description that channels Persephone, Hades, fruits, embers and demons. If that doesn’t have you intrigued, then I can’t help you, my friend.
I cannot be unbiased about anything created by Nick and Pia of Eau de Boujee because they have been my friends for a long time and I spent a few years working with them at their fragrance house Olfiction, where I specifically worked on one of the Boujee Bougies (Thorny). So I’m not going to try and hide my bias here, but I will say that if I didn’t like this fragrance (or any scent from their brand for that matter), I simply wouldn’t write about it. Make of that what you will. Anyway, disclaimers are boring so let’s move on to the fun stuff, i.e. the review.
Let’s Sniff!
Hey there, it’s been a while.
I’ve been a bit out of the loop with new fragrance launches for quite some time. Whilst I’ve still maintained an interest and have visited stores to keep up to date with what’s fresh and exciting, I have to admit that I’ve only been moved by a handful of new scents over the last 12 months or so. Perhaps I’m too out of the loop or I’m not smelling the right things, or maybe I’m just getting fussy in my old age, but certainly in the mainstream, there doesn’t seem much to get me excited.
I did recently come across something that tickled my nose in the right away and I’m sure you’re already guessing what it is: Eau d’Ombré Leather, the latest launch from TOM FORD. I’ll admit now that I hold the controversial opinion that the TOM FORD Signature Collection (Black Orchid, White Patchouli, Noir, Costa Azzura etc.) is miles better than the more expensive (and often, IMHO, underwhelming) Private Blends. I’d happily own one of each of the Signature Collection scents (and in fact, do own my fair share) and this new, somewhat lighter interpretation of the staple Ombré Leather (which I do also love) is no exception.
So here I am, raising my head tentatively about the parapet to tell you about a fragrance I like. Feels a bit like old times, doesn’t it? I’ve missed writing a lot (and snapping shots of fragrances to accompany that writing too) and a huge amount has happened since my last post in October 2021. I feel like I’m an entirely different person to who I was then and maybe I’ll be a completely different writer, who knows. I’m not sure if I want to write more than this or more often. This may not be me jumping back into the pool, it may just be more a case of me dipping my toe in, but I do know that I felt compelled to write something today. So, here we are. Let’s see if I can remember how to do this…
Let’s Sniff!
I’ve been waiting for a fragrance from French brand BDK Parfums to click with me for a long time. Don’t get me wrong, everything they do is very well crafted and pleasant, and the packaging is exquisitely luxurious and well considered. It’s just that nothing has moved me yet. Perfume is so personal, right? So, sometimes a brand just doesn’t gel with your tastes or style, no matter how good they are, and that’s how I feel about BDK, well, I should say “that’s how I’ve felt”, because since their latest launch ‘Velvet Tonka‘ came along, everything has changed.
Velvet Tonka is described as being a tribute to the Morrocan origins of BDK founder, David Benedek, capturing the flavours and landscapes of the country “like a sweet, indulgent breeze coming straight from the Atlas Mountains”. As part of BDK’s Collection Matières the fragrance focuses on the rich and complex note of tonka bean with its supple facets of coumarin, marzipan and vanilla, blending it with key materials of orange blossom and almond. The result? A decadent gourmand that surprises with its lightness of touch.
Summer is over (almost) so in my latest IGTV I’m looking back over the season to showcase the scents I wore throughout the summer. Expect lots of cooling refreshment and a few surprises too! Click the link here to watch the video or head below the jump to the embedded video.
The Candy Perfume Boy 