HS3

Rose Chyprée – it’s incredible. Rose Chyprée is from Andy’s new Mémorables line – and it evokes memories. There’s something about it that’s comforting and familiar. It’s something that once you smell it, you want to keep smelling it, nose glued to it. The GF can’t get enough of it… for her, it makes her think of her horses back home in Arizona. It brings her memories of the desert, hay, flowers, and the scent of a horse, glistening with sweat, along with its worn leather saddle.

It truly is something special… all of Andy’s perfumes are hand made and packaged by him. He is really quite the talented perfumer. (Andy, quit the day job already!) This one has a pound of rose petals steam distilled in each bottle. That’s incredible. It is a small 15ml bottle, but it’s potent and a couple shots are all you need. Andy’s description from his website:

I stuck a regular 1ml sample vial here just to show scale… it’s a tiny little thing.

I generally don’t have much experience with reformations. Usually, the version I have is the version I know and enjoy. I have bottles that have batch differences, but they’re generally differences that I might notice because I’m me and obsess over little things, but they’re generally not noticed by others.

Well, I’ve finally really encountered a real, true reformulation. And I love both versions. I recently ordered a 90ml bottle of Route de Vetiver from Perfume Country. I even emailed after the order to confirm that it was in fact the 90ml size, which I was assured it was. I couldn’t wait. It arrived, and much to my dismay, UPS had treated it with as much love and care as a used diaper. The bottle’s cap had been broken into two and the nozzle had popped off with it, losing almost a quarter of the liquid inside. I was heartbroken. I emailed the company and received a quick apology back. They did the paperwork to submit the loss claim to UPS and within the hour, they told me my replacement was on my way.

In the meantime, my handywork (and the help of superglue) put the first bottle back together and it was functioning and on my shelf.
Today, the replacement came. I quickly opened it, holding any satisfaction at bay until I had the undamaged bottle in my hand. This time it was double wrapped in bubblewrap and packed tight with foam peanuts. I opened the box and pulled the (WHAT?) 100ml bottle out. I couldn’t be upset since I’d repaired what was left of the first bottle and doubted I’d be finishing two bottle of the rich, earthy vetiver anytime soon. I sprayed it on my elbow just for the pleasure and thought, hmm, something’s different. I grabbed the other bottle and sprayed the other elbow. YES, they’re totally different! Like, one has gritty, earthy vetiver root and the other (newer) is a slightly soapy, floral vetiver. I can draw similarities, but they’re different enough that I wouldn’t balk at the idea if someone told me they were two scents from two companies. Fortunately, I’m really digging both. One is the rich, austere vetiver root, and the other is a more modern twist with a floral touch that give much more versatility. It’s like two great scents for the price of one.

They’re only in their first 20 minutes now, so I’ll probably add some better thoughts here later (and pics too!).

I’ve had a sample of this for a while and will occasionally dab it on and enjoy it, but I’ve never really paid close attention to it until now.

Fleur de Liane opens up with luscious green notes. Imagine walking through a path surrounded by lilies in the morning after the first sun is hitting them. The smell of grass being mowed and the air filled with kicked up pollen and earth that you can taste. Though I can’t find it listed in the published notes, I get a distinct honeysuckle note (perhaps just the combo of lily and magnolia) that is strong and persistent. As it transitions, some of the melon notes come through, but not in a way I’m used to. There’s a stickiness to it, like pulling the flower off a honeysuckle vine to suck the liquid from it… jammy and tart, like a green apple Jolly Rancher.

It mellows to a soft, nicely crafted floral with the backdrop of crushed green vines with a velvety feel and a touch of earthy vetiver to keep it standing. It is in line with L’Artisan’s transparent feel, but it is by no means invisible. The dry down holds some great surprises – you’ll find some of the spice reminiscent of the pink pepper in Timbuktu, another from the Travel Series, and some of the zing similar to Piment Brulant’s opening. Duchafour’s signature is quite apparent. There is great presence all the way into the dry down in this; the evolution is pretty remarkable. I think this could certainly be unisex and anyone looking for a mouth-watering floral with crushed green notes on a bed of spices should add this to their list to try. The opening may lean slightly more to the feminine side, but the development of it moves it neatly back into the middle.

I don’t think this has gotten as much praise as others in their line, but don’t let that deter you. It’s a great release and is more than worthy of attention.

Here’s a series of Armani Vetiver Babyone. They have really great packaging – the inner box that holds the bottle is extremely sturdy. It’s coated in a high-quality stock, with a magnetically sealing closure and the box can open fully to lay flat and display the bottle. They wrap the box within the foldable box shown, then tie a stone wrapped in leather around the box.

I think the Les Eaux series actually has better packaging than the wooden EdP line. There’s a certain heft to these that feels good in the hand along with a wooden cap (as opposed to the plastic ,”real” stone caps of the EdP line). The other two vials in the pictures are handmade samples of Ambre Soie and Cuir Améthyste that the SA made for me.

Olivier Durbano Jade – This opens as dusty mint laden tea leaves. It’s a very lush, earthy mint – not like the smell of common mint flavoring, but rather the smell of the mixture of the soil with the moist mint that grew in the woods behind the house I grew up in. It seems to follow the pattern of Durbano’s previous releases and shares a number of qualities. There’s something about them that actually does bring the image of rock to mind – gritty, dust covered rock. This particular one seems to sit very close and keep its projection at bay. It stays dry and austere with classic notes of vetiver, patchouli and herbs that linger long after the initial mint and tea trip.

Omnia Granato – I’ve read a few places that this is supposed to have some dirty, animalic notes to it. I personally didn’t get much of that on the first few tries. I was pretty excited to try it in anticipation of those animalic notes, but luckily I still like the result quite a bit. What I do get is an initial blast of sweetened musks and vanilla, followed by a smattering of spices and smokey cedar and vanilla. I get a considerable semblance to Bois 1920 Sushi Imperiale, but seemingly not quite as complex and a bit sweeter in its drydown. As it settles, a few notes creep out that may be construed as “dirty,” but one might assume much of that claim was included in a PR brief. Either way, it works well.