Sunday, January 27, 2019

Does Clothing Color Influence Your Perfume: A Look At Purple Perfumes



I snagged a pair of drastically reduced boots back in the early fall in a rich purple suede. Naturally this required a few additions to my wardrobe to compliment the boots, as I was woefully short of purple clothes in a closet full of too much black. But what surprised me was how wearing head to toe purple affected my choice of perfume. I wanted to smell of juicy sweet plums or tart blackberries. Just like perfumes can have "seasons" to me, some perfumes also give me the impression of color by their scent.

I've always thought that it would be fun to make up the names of paint colors. Some are so inventive. Names like Jam Session, Silk Kimono, or Plum Pudding,   And how to identify the color of the boots? Of course they are purple, but color offers so many descriptives: violet, eggplant, lavender, orchid, blackberry, currant, maroon,

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I decided that my boots are mulberry, a deep rich color between purple, berry and brown, with so many positive connotations, like the mulberry syrup put in the salad dressings I so enjoyed in Turkey. Did you know crayon colors get "retired"? Mulberry left us in 2003.


Photo from www.TheOdysseyOnline.com

Purple has been the color designated for royals throughout history and there is a factual reason for this. The materials needed in the Middle Ages to create purple by mixing reds and blues were all costly and rare so became a sign of wealth and power. The color that became known as royal purple was produced by the Phoenicians in what is today Lebanon. The dye came from a species of sea snails and this inky color was more costly than gold. 

What perfume notes smell like purple? Most of these are scents with plum notes but blackberry or redcurrant can give that feel of purple too. Here are some perfumes that "speak" to me in purple.

Pele-Mele by Galimard

I suppose if you live in Europe Galimard is a familiar brand, but I had never heard of it before my trip to France this past summer. I bought a sample box with a variety of six small bottles and one of them was Pele-Mele. It is a what has become a ubiquitous floral fruity fragrance but in this case it is a reminder that this category can smell fabulous when a little restraint is used. The top notes are peach and plum, followed by rose and green tea, then finally musk and sandalwood. On my skin the rose mixes with the plum to give a watery but nice version of plum which persists throughout the wear of the fragrance.

 


Plum Japonaise by Tom Ford

The opening moments of Plum Japonaise are to die for. I loved this whole collection--Shanghai Lily, Fleur de Chine, and Rive d'Ambre--in addition to this one which were released in 2013. There is an electric moment in the opening that has such an Oriental vibe, just like Fleur de Chine, which I own in the giant sie. This moment is short but sweet and evaporates quickly, followed by a haze of smoke and incense. Notes such as The plumy wine note is strongest in the beginning of the scent and oud eventually dominates the fragrance on my skin. I enjoy the opening the most but with notes of saffron, cinnamon, camellia, benzoin, fir, and amber, this aura reminiscent of Japan infiltrates the scent. When I wear this scent I feel like I am wrapped in a purple silk kimono and waving sticks of incense inside a Buddhist shrine deep in a forest of pine and fir. This scent is sexy, sophisticated, and a bit mystical. Even though this was a limited edition it is still somewhat readily available.




One Umbrella For Two by Floraiku

Floraiku is a new brand that features minimalistic scents loosely based on haiku poetry. This spare Japanese style of poetry emphasizes that every word count, and Floraiku features spare perfume designs with minimal notes. Beautiful presentation is part of the package and the package will be expensive! Nevertheless, it is very beautiful, but what about the scent? One Umbrella For Two open with a nutty aspect, some have called it the smell of a Japanese rice cake. A note of plum is there but it is dry and has a sparkle like a plum brandy. The grain scent continues to be quite strong throughout the opening. Eventually this nuttiness fades and the blackcurrant takes center stage. The only other notes listed are tea and cedar. The tea is a variety called Genmaicha and it has the scent of roasted rice, which enhances the grain aspect of the scent. The blackcurrant note is fruity but dry, not succulent. I am experiencing the tartness of the fruit, although not as tart as something like Jo Malone Blackberry and Bay. 





Enchanted Forest by The Vagabond Prince

This perfume open with a hyper-fresh note of fir forests and a very fleshy blackcurrent. There are a host of notes but the overall feel is walking through a forest with a very strong blackcurrant note, as if you can smell the skin of the fruit and are peeling it back to discover the shivering globes of fleshy fruit. There is a slightly unsettling note for me that makes this scent seem very realistic of place, but that is slightly disquieting. I am not quite sure what I am smelling but this could be the note that makes some reviewers not care for the scent, while others adore it. I remain undecided.


Bibliotheque by Byredo

Bibliotheque opens juicy and lush with an explosion of dark plum. This takes all the attention but is soon followed by  notes of peach and rustic leather. The leather is dry and dusty as opposed to smooth and buttery and for a moment it subdues the plum.  After about thirty minutes everything settles down and Bibliotheque becomes a softer skin scent on me, quite a surprise after the big opening! 



Mirabella by DSH Perfumes

Perhaps Mirabella was an early study for perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz's  more recent series of fur-based scents, because from the first I smell the civit and castoreum. Dawn is not one to shy away from these notes and in fact she embraces them, especially when trying to create a perfume in the classic/vintage style. Mirabella is classified as a chypre floral and opens with bright bergamot, spicy notes and fruits. There is a strong hay scent from notes of broom and a very feral beeswax. Like many of the DSH Perfumes there is a basket of florals: rose, jasmine, orange blossom, osmanthus, orris root, tuberose, and ylang ylang. The plum note feels dark purple and dry. Basenotes of sandalwood, leather, benzoin, oakmoss, and vanilla give this perfume a classic feel. As you might imagine, with all the notes I've listed the plum is a member of the chorus, not the soloist, but it does provide an integral component and it is what makes this perfume "read purple" to me. Dawn gave it the name Mirabella for the mirabella plum, so she must have meant it to be the grace note of the perfume. Mirabella smells like a serious perfume but after the first hour the animal notes give just a teasing whiff. This smells like a perfume from the past you find at a garage sale, and when you open the bottle your eyes roll to the back of your head as you remember what women used to smell like.  Today, of course, men would be equally fragrant wearing this perfume. I was going to post a picture of a Mirabella plum, which I assumed was purple, but in fact they are golden in color! 



Black Tulip by Nest

Black Tulip enjoys the beautiful artwork that is on all the Nest bottles and in this case the art is a good representation what you will find inside the bottle. The perfume opens with a blast of grape-scented plum and patchouli. The patchouli makes it reminiscent of Angel by Mugler but after the first thirty minutes the patchouli is a lot less aggressive. With its name, Black Tulip, the perfume definitely references flowers on the darkest end of the color spectrum. The plum note used is called black amber plum, and I had to look that up to see if it was a real thing or one of these made-up notes, like unicorn tears or kitten breath, but indeed, these are a real thing and are in fact grown prolifically. The skin of the black amber plum is so dark purple it almost looks black and the inner fruit is amber colored. There are also notes of violet and jasmine, but I can't pick either one out. Although Black Tulip made me think of Angel, other reviewers on Fragrantica mentioned Bath & Body Works retired Black Amethyst or Black Opium as being similar. If you like fruity florals and can handle a tame patchouli, this might be for you.


Tulips by Ida Ten Eyck O'Keeffe 1936

Now for a quick art fact. I can't resist as it ties in so perfectly. The Dallas Museum of Art is hosting an exhibition of Ida O'Keeffe's paintings. She is the younger sister of Georgia O'Keeffe, and although very talented she received no help from her sister or Georgia's husband, Alfred Steieglitz, a legendary photographer and art gallerist who successfully promoted Georgia's career. In fact, Georgia insisted that her sister stop promoting and displaying her art, and that there could only be on female O'Keeffe painter in the family, ultimately leading to an estrangement between the two. A curator at the Museum has gathered Ida's paintings from many individuals and for the first time her work is being displayed in a museum. I thought it was such an interesting story, and when I saw this painting just a couple of days ago I knew I had to put it in my story. Now back to perfume. 

Feminite du Bois by Shiseido

Sometime in the past--maybe twenty years ago-- I acquired a bottle of Shiseido Feminite du Bois and at this time it was already becoming rare. Way back in 1992 Serge Lutens and Pierre Bourdon came up with the concept for a scent built on cedar, plum, and spice and  Christopher Sheldrake was brought in to finish it. Feminite du Bois would eventually gain cult status. Sometime before 2006 it was discontinued and this is around the era that I acquired my bottle. Then in 2009 Serge Lutens was given the rights to Feminite du Bois and reintroduced it under his brand. I never have tried the Lutens version and although he maintained it was virtually identical the rumblings were that it lacked the magic of the original. When I spray Feminite du Bois it has a cedar note that bursts forth in a shimmering wave of freshness, and gives the impression that you have stepped outside and the air is unexpectedly cold and the smells from the woods around you are heightened and magnified in their fresh briskness. Through reading more about the perfume's creation I conclude that the Super E is responsible for this supercharged shimmer. I know nothing about chemistry so I'll stop there but it is a stunning effect. Notes of deep purple violets and dry plum merge with the wood note to eventually give the cedar note a calmer, deeper aura. The scent will go quiet and then hours later burst forth with little explosions in mysterious waves of scent. I have not tried the Serge Lutens version which is available still today so I don't know if it lives up to the original but I suspect not, as I never really hear chatter about it on the fragrance forums. I would like to be wrong, though.

Mure et Musc by L'Artisan Parfumeur

L'Artisan Mure et Musc is the most subtle scent listed here; not at all surprising as it is L'Artisan after all. I believe this is their oldest scent as Mure et Musc is the earliest fragrance I see listed for the brand and was created in 1978. In 1993 an Extreme version was released as there were grumblings about the lack of projection and longevity, but it is still more of a watercolor scent and on my skin it takes a while to pick up steam. My sample may be old but I don't get a strong shot of blackberry at the beginning. It is more subtle with the blackberry muddled with the musk notes. As the scent begins to mix with my skin the musk blooms and there are moments when I catch a salty note which reminds me slightly of the salty caviar note in Womanity by Mugler. Even though this is the Extreme version I find it to be a light skin scent but the combination of blackberry and musk is very pleasant and a nice background scent.

These are just a few of the many scents that remind me of the color purple. Do you have more?





5 comments :

AustralianPerfumeJunkies said...

Hi Cynthia,
I'm not a colour/perfume smeller but the bottle for Aedes de Venustas original scent is a lilac and it has always struck me as the perfect colour for the fragrance inside.
Part of me thinks Synesthesia would lessen my enjoyment of fragrance because I'd ALWAYS be wanting to match my fragrance with my outfit.
I love that a chance buying of a pair of boots has so changed your life.
Portia x

Unknown said...

Cynthia, Dior "Poison" was my go to when we lived in Hong Kong. Loved it - gorgeous purple - and made me feel totally luxurious on application! Had to give it away on one of our moves and haven't had a bottle since. Still revel at the thought of the fragrance! Frandy

Cynthia said...

Portia, I don't know if I officially have synesthesia, but certain perfumes do trigger this response. Hey, I just arrived in Adelaide for three months so if you make it this way reach out and we can have a sniffathon together.

Cynthia said...

Hi Frandy, You should give it a try again. I told you I thought it had changed but on your skin, maybe not.

Undina said...

Purple is one of my favorite colors (in clothes) but I'm awful with paring perfumes to almost anything - colors, characters, songs, etc. Still, periodically I make some connections though, mostly, it's based on either the color of the bottle, name of perfume or color of the prominent flower in the composition.