You can find a really great, in-depth narrative around the creation and background of the scent here [Behind the Scene - The Smell of the Landscape].

This is from the accompanying papers:

This perfume is the product of a search to find the essence of the Mastenbroek polder – the essential elements that Mastenbroek what it is.

Situated between Zwolle, Hasselt and Genemuiden, Mastenbroek stems from the late Middle Ages and is an archetypal Dutch polder. Straight, narrow roads dissect the low-lying countryside; irrigation ditches reflect the perpetually fluctuating sky; farms sitting atop elevated knolls unfold into the horizon.

Mastenbroek’s residents, primarily cattle farmers who have lived and worked in this polder for generations, actively partook in the Essence club and eventually determined the aromas and scents that make up L’Essence de Mastenbroek.

Located on the polder’s periphery, near the old steam pumping station, is the Essence source. It is here where the bottles are filled, and packaged and where you can refill your empty bottle.

It goes on to tell more about the steam pumping station and directions, etc. One thing I got a kick out of was the additional blurb and “ingredients” listed on a stuck-on amendment at the back of the paper:

This perfume is part of the art project L’Essence de Mastenbroek and has not been dermatologically tested.

Ingredients: Scent extracts, clouds, water, cattle, grass and earth.

Gee, I hope I’m not allergic to real bits of cattle.

Get comfortable – there are bunch of shots here.

I think NowSmellThis summed it up perfectly:

Esprit de Cuir smells like it looks in its glass sample vial: sweet, warm, thick, and golden. Imagine motor oil laced with honey, a pinch of clove, and a few drops of birch tar, and you’ve got Esprit de Cuir once the faint hint of citron dissolves.

The bottle and packaging were actually a bit of a let down for me. While the bottle is beautiful, it’s certainly not hand painted entirely, but maybe just some details here and there. The box it came in had the quality of a box you’d get with snap cracker fireworks. While the idea of the cork is novel and romantic, it’s certainly not going to keep the bottle sealed – I tried using it for a couple days and it was actually wicking the contents out and the cork was actually wet (but never touching the liquid). I ended up opting for keeping the plastic seal it was shipped with in and that seems to work just fine. Don’t get me wrong – it’s still quite lovely and I’m more than pleased. And the contents are what matters anyways!

Here are some shots of the porcelain bottle from Auguste:

Stéphanie Bakouche has created for MDCI a complex formula where the soft and the wild, the fresh and the sensual, interact with warm, precious oriental notes.

Here we have an “oriental fern,” spicy and aromatic, with a captivating blend of grapefruit, bergamot, violet leaves, white thyme, cardamome, lavender and ginger headnotes.

A warm heart of cedarwood, bourbon vanilla and musc creates a precious and definitely masculine base which here too contribute to a well-balanced construction, true to the demands of the brand: elegant, precious, masculine and extremely sophisticated.

Here are some photos of the bottle, along with the resin edition of the bust:

This Xerjoff hand blown Murano bottle is one of the most exquisite perfume bottles I’ve seen. Each one is hand blown in Venice, Italy and finished with gold flakes and placed in an ebony wood base. They’re numbered in their edition and placed in an equally beautiful, finely crafted box with accompanying stamped certificate. This particular bottle was destined to contain Xerjoff Homme, a rich, intense leather that develops over hours and pulsates from warm skin with subtle floral nuances throughout the day.

The bottle is also available in red, green, a delicate golden glass, and a striking black. Any scent can be added to any color. I also included some photos of the refill kit presentation, as even it is superbly done and makes a lovely bottle on its own.

The Xerjoff line is available through the official Xerjoff site, and also at Parfums Raffy and Luckyscent (but they do not carry the Murano bottles or refills).

A while back, I sampled Parfum d’Empire Eau de Gloire and loved it. It’s been sitting on my wishlist for over a year now, and I finally snagged a deal on a new bottle. I snapped a few shots when I got it out of the box and thought it would be a good way to start posting on here again.

Hope you stick around – I’ve got some very neat photos to post over the next couple weeks, including a bottle of Invasion Barbare that was just ordered and some gorgeous shots of the Murano bottle from Xerjoff. I’ve also got a big pile of samples just waiting to be tried.

http://www.luckyscent.com/shop/category/511/page/1/brand/Xerjoff.html

The caps turned out to be a little crooked in a few, so I’ll probably send new versions with a single cap imposed on each for consistency. Still cool that my photos are being used there on LS now!

Here are a few shots of opening it yesterday:

I even included one from the Hipstamatic iPhone app – love the fake toy camera!

I’ll try not to make this quite as lengthy as the Modoc post, but it should definitely give you a better feel for the bottles and to see their level of quality!