Zoologist Perfumes Part Three: Nightingale

The artwork on the labels of Victor Wong's Zoologist Perfumes is so engaging and witty in its depiction of the animals representing each perfume, and it has played a big part in giving the brand a distinctive presence. They are all beguiling but this drawing for Nightingale is my absolute favorite, and I think by studying it you can get a window into the perfume, as I will explain in my review.

Nightingale, one of Zoologist Perfumes newer offerings introduced in 2016, was created by Japanese perfumer Toomo Inaba. There are two interesting facts about Mr. Inaba's collaboration with Zoologist Perfumes: one,  Nightingale was his first commercial perfume and two, he had already created this scent before being approached by Victor to contribute to Zoologist's scent library. It required only a few tweaks to be accepted as the brand's newest scent.  It is immediately apparent that Nightingale's approach is different from the two perfumes I've reviewed previously, Bat and Hummingbird. Both of these scents were impressionistic scent stories following the journey of the animal they represented. Nightingale doesn't directly reference the bird and it's journey; it's origins are more esoteric.

When Mr. Inaba originally created the perfume he was inspired by a poem from around 1000 B.C., written by the younger sister of the reigning Empress of Japan, who had decided to enter a nunnery. The poem read: "Soon you will be wearing a black robe and enter nunhood. You will not know each rosary bead has my tears on it." She then gifted her sister with a rosary made of agarwood in a box adorned with a plum blossom. Mr. Inaba used these notes as a reference point to make a perfume featuring plum blossom. The blooming of these blossoms are a herald of spring in Japan, along with the song of the nightingale. You can read more about Toomo Inaba here in an interview on the Zoologist website.

Notes for Nightingale are:
Top Notes: Bergamot, Lemon, Saffron
Heart Notes: Japanese Plum Blossom, Red Rose, Violet
Base Notes: Oud, Patchouli, Sandalwood, Moss, Frankincense, White Musk, Labdanum, Ambergris

The opening of the perfume has a Japanese aesthetic, quiet yet distinctive and slightly exotic. It is as if I've opened a little wooden box and a beautiful scent comes forth. I can sense the light of the bergamot and lemon but they are indistinct; however, they serve to set the stage for the classic fruity chypre formula: a bright opening, a fruity heart, and a dark mossy base. The saffron note lends a whisper of intrigue and spice. The plum blossoms begins to take center stage but the fruitiness of the note is kept in check by the darker base notes. I enjoy chypres and this one stays rather linear on me once it reaches this stage, which suits me just fine as I very much enjoy the fragrance. Just as the nightingale above is outfitted in her structured kimono and decorative obi, this perfume with its slightly retro vibe reminds me of an era of elegance for ladies and gentlemen.

Perfumer Toomo Inaba has taken Nightingale in its own direction. Whereas Hummingbird brims with life and Bat swoops exhuberantly, Nightingale is quieter, more somber and mysterious. Ultimately it strikes me as still. Peaceful. Calming. And have I mentioned that this is the only Zoologist perfume that the juice is not the standard pale yellow but instead is a beautiful salmon pink? Not that this should matter, but it charms me. That echanting label, rose-colored juice, pink floral chypre scent! I am smitten!

Read more about Zoologist Perfumes in Part One, Part Two. Part Four and Part Five.

Photos are from the Zoologist website. Samples are my own.

Zoologist Perfumes Part Two: Hummingbird

I chose Hummingbird as the second perfume to review in my look at the Zoologist Perfume line. I knew that Zoologist's creative director and founder, Victor Wong, selected Shelley Waddington to create Hummingbird. I have admired Ms. Wadddington's work at her own company, EnVoyage Perfumes, and previously reviewed one of her scents here.

The initial opening of Hummingbird is simply delightful. For a moment we travel with the tiny hummingbird, zipping from flower to flower in frenzied flight to sip the succulent nectar from the heart of the colorful blossoms. The air is filled with sweet floral smells as well as fruit and honey ambrosial scents. It is not difficult to imagine how this lush garden of fragrance drives the tiny hummingbird into delirium in its desire to sample everything .



These are the listed notes in Hummingbird:
Top Notes:  Apple, Cherry, Citrus, Lilac, Muguet, Pear, Plum, Rose, Violet Leaf
Heart Notes:  Honey, Honeysuckle, Mimosa, Peony, Tulip, Ylang
Base Notes:  Amber, Courmin, Cream, Moss, Musk, Sandalwood, White Wood

The opening is very floral and I particularly can pick out the lilac. This is probably one of the prettiest lilac scents I've ever smelled. Maybe the strong lilac presence is unique to my skin as I checked a few reviews and didn't find mention of this. There is a slight citrus sweetness, think lemonade, not a basket of lemons. Flitting in and out are fruity notes and I particularly pick up the apple and pear. For a few minutes I smell these notes intensely but then other flowers start to flit in and out: mimosa, honeysuckle, peony. It is the sensation of zipping through a garden and briefly sampling the delights of each bloom then quickly moving on to the next. Honey notes give the florals a lush sweetness that feels golden. Hummingbird feels like spring in a bottle.

The florals stay bright and alluring for a surprisingly long time. They fade very slowly into the base notes which on my skin presents as a very light amber musk with a slight wood note. Even after a sleep I can still smell traces of crushed lilacs on my skin. Just as I was amazed at how the perfumer managed to capture the flight of the bat in Zoologist Bat, I am equally impressed with Ms. Waddington's ability to capture the flight of the hummingbird in a bottle of perfume. Well done!

The Zoologist blog has an excellent interview with the perfumer, Shelley Waddington, here.

Shelley Waddington is also the perfumer for the brand's newest release, Civet, but unfortunately when I ordered my samples it had not been released so I will not be reviewing it until a later date.

Read more about Zoologist Perfumes in Part One, Part Three, Part Four and Part Five.

Top photo www.azmzphotos.wix.com. Youtube video JCVDude. Bottom photo from Zoologist website. Samples are my own.

Zoologist Perfumes Part One: Bat

One of the things I wanted to do when I started my blog was examine some perfume houses entire line of fragrances, or at least as many as I had access to. Buying tiny samples can quickly become surprisingly expensive and I always appreciate reading differing reviews which can help me decide if a particular fragrance sample might be worth my time and expense. I wanted to be another voice out there giving my opinions for whatever they're worth, but last year I only managed to do one house, Berdoues Cologne Grand Cru.  I decided to start 2017 reviewing the perfumes from a house that has fascinated me since I first became aware of it, and that has garnered quite a few accolades in other fragrance blogger's best of 2016 round ups, Zoologist Perfumes.

Zoologist Perfumes is the creation of Victor Wong. In 2013 he came up with the concept of founding a line of perfumes based on animals and using a variety of perfumers to create the scents. The brand has become known for its offbeat and unusual creations and received accolades and awards for the early 2016 introduction of Bat, which won this year's Art and Olfaction Award in the independent category. The brand is also recognized for the quirky Victorianesque artwork on the bottle labels. The illustrations are reminiscent of a time when intrepid explorers rode steamers to far off and exotic destinations, tramping through unexplored wilderness to bring back information of the natural world to the masses.

My first sniff of Zoologist Perfumes Bat almost makes me laugh, it is so wildly creative and realistic. For a city girl I have had an unusual number of bat encounters and this perfume brought back vividly one such contact with the nocturnal creatures. In the early 1990's my family lived in Sarawak on the island of Borneo. One three-day weekend my husband and I took off with our three five-year-olds on a tiny plane to visit the nearby Mulu National Park, home to Deer Cave which was then the largest cave in the world. (The discovery in 2009 of Hang Son Doong cave in Vietnam now claims that honor). The day of the cave exploration we hiked in the jungle for some way until we reached a river where we then boarded longboats, gliding down the narrow waterway bounded by impenetrable jungle. Upon alighting we continued our hike along a three kilometer plankway until reaching the huge yawning opening to Deer Cave. In those days there weren't many tourists so no more than ten of us gathered outside the cave awaiting the daily spectacle of the departing bats at dusk. Sure enough around 5:30 the bats began to emerge, first a few in thin spiraling streams, then eventually a multitude numbering over two million that physically blotted out the light of the sky and turned it inky black.

Millions of wrinkle lipped free tailed bats leave Deer Cave in Gunung Mulu National Park at dusk. Getty Images.

We explored their cave habitat which fortunately has raised walkways so one doesn't have to step on the years of accumulated guano. It was a marvelous and mysterious place and applying Bat to my wrist brought back the memory of entering that space; the damp earth and vegetation, limestone walls, dripping water, and strong animal scent. The perfumer responsible for pulling off this recreation is Ellen Covey who has her own line of perfumes, Olympic Orchids Perfume. Dr. Covey's background is fascinating. She grew up as a bit of a nomad, living with her family in Switzerland, Germany, Italy, and France and learning the languages of each. She returned to the States and began to pursue a medical degree but was enjoying her job in a lab so ended up going a more academic route. While pursuing her doctorate at Duke in chemical senses she became exposed to the auditory systems of bats, and she studied bats in their natural habitat. This mixture of scientist/perfumer really works to make Bat an impressionistic rendering of the winged creature in its habitat and following it on its night flight adventures.

Bat's notes are listed as:
Top Notes: Banana, soft fruits, damp earth
Heart Notes: Figs, tropical fruits, mineral notes, myrrh, resins, vegetal roots
Base Notes: Furry musks, leather, vetiver, sandalwood, tonka

The perfume's journey starts in the damp cool cavern where the bat hides and rests in the daylight hours.  Bat's opening captures the cave habitat. Vegetal pungunt scents, water dripping from limestone cavern walls, and earth rich, loamy and moist. Fortunately we don't have to smell the guana which is piled on the cavern floors, although if my 20-year-old memory serves me, I don't remember it being a particularly horrible or overpowering smell. Mineral formations that would be found in a cave can also be noticed in the scent. I am really fascinated how Dr. Covey has managed to capture this variety of smells in one perfume.

Antique bat print from Google image.

At dusk the bat takes flight into the moonlit skies, swooping and feasting on ripe fruits of the forest. I smell the fig faintly, a subtle warmth and sweet creaminess. I also sense bananas and other ripe fruit smells. The fruit is balanced by the earth and humus so it never becomes a fruit bomb, just vaguely tropical.  As the fruit notes emerge the scent softens and makes me feel like I'm on a hike in nature with fresh and unusual scents actively engaging the senses. The longer the perfume is on my skin the softer it becomes and I eventually lose the strong cave sensation. A soft earthy musk emerges and a mere tinge of leather, which helps to illustrate the bat's silky fur and leathery wings as it dives and cavorts through the night before returning to the cave to beat dawn's light.

There is no doubt that Dr. Covey has created a superb "journey of the bat" with this perfume but is it wearable? That depends. Probably not for the novice who has never ventured beyond department store perfumes, and I don't mean that in the condescending way it may sound. Some are quite content with their perfumes and don't feel the need to explore further. But for those of us who have caught the scent bug, niche perfumes at their finest represent that sweet spot where boundaries are pushed and unfettered creativity can explore facets of scent that may not be commercially viable to mass markets. Zoologist Bat is certainly representative of that realm of creativity but it is also a very wearable scent. The initial opening may surprise you for a moment but it is not unpleasant, merely unexpected. Picture yourself standing at the mouth of a cavern, hesitating for a moment before you push onward to explore the mystery inside. What will you find? Once you submit  you find there is nothing to fear, just a different world than you are accustomed to and beautiful in its own unique way. Thus Zoologist Bat weaves its own unique path, taking you on a journey of unexpected delight.

There is an interesting article in the Zoologist blog on Ellen Covey here.

Read more about Zoologist Perfumes in Part Two, Part Three. Part Four and Part Five.

Top photo Google image. Fragrance samples are my own.

A Contemplative Perfume: Memoire Liquide Encens Liquide

A planned post on incense fragrances failed to materialize in the pre-holiday rush but I find I am still very much enjoying wearing one of the perfumes I was going to write about thanks to its calming beautifully scented presence. This one is also getting some buzz on Facebook Fragrance Friends, due to several members scoring a lucky find at TJ Maxx. I was one of those fortunate souls and I eagerly grabbed the box, which looks like a little book with a frilly French label, as this was a brand I'd been interested in investigating. The perfume is Memoire Liquide Encens Liquide from the reserve line.

Contemplative incense perfumes remind me of attending Christmas Eve services, candles glowing, and soaring hymns sung by robed clad choristers. When I traveled in Europe my favorite thing to do was investigate cathedrals, both the well known landmarks and the local ones I stumbled upon. I am fascinated by the impossible flying buttresses, soaring vaulted ceilings, ornate statuary, and magnificent stained glass windows. I know it shouldn't theoretically make a difference where you choose to worship but I can't help but be more inspired when I'm in one of these magnificent edifices, built as a tribute to God but also a huge testament to the skills of the humble craftsmen. Many years ago I enjoyed The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Although he normally pens thrillers, his fascination with the many cathedrals scattered across the landscape of England inspired him to write this book detailing the building of a majestic cathedral and the village of workers that sprang to life to make this happen. If you have any interest in the subject and have never read the book it's well worth the read.

 I didn't grow up Catholic so incense didn't actually play a part in my worship, but I still find that incense scents are evocative of the church experience. I don't really want to smell like strong smokey incense and Encens Liquide gives the aura without the more strident smells of some of the more photo realistic incense fragrances. The perfume starts on my skin with a powdery amber. It is bright and glowing, reminding me of basking in the pool of rainbow sunlight beams filtering through the colorful stained glass windows. Gradually the amber turns more resinous, lending the scent a sparkling warmth. Some scents have the effect of provoking calm attitude and clear thoughts and I find Encens Liquide to have this reaction. The incense in the perfume is hinoki which is used in Japanese ceremonies and it is mellow and sweet. (I have reviewed another scent using hinoki incense here.) The fragrance also has notes of black tea and white musk. I can't say I get the tea note but the musk is pillow soft but understated. As the perfume goes into the third hour I begin to get notes of vanilla even though I don't see it listed as an ingredient. I love the way the vanilla interacts with the incense. In the final hours of wear Encens Liquide has lost that initial amber resinous radiance but it is still a comforting and contemplative scent and I keep sniffing my wrist to get another hit of the addictive scent. I can smell the hinoki drifting in and out all the way to the final curtain.

Memoire Liquide was started in 1984 by two sisters in California, thus making the brand probably one of the earliest created and still surviving niche perfumeries. The sisters initial business was developing personal oil scents for their clients. In 2009 they introduced five of the most popular mixes in an eau de parfum spray formula, each one meant to evoke a memory of time or place. Until recently I saw Memoire Liquide available at several perfumeries but since finding my box at TJ Maxx  it seems to have suddenly disappeared from their websites. They have a Facebook page where you can email and request to buy, but my best advice is if you're near a Marshalls or TJ Maxx go check it out. Hopefully they will find another distributor as I would have paid full price for this perfume, which was reasonably priced. If anyone has more information please let me know in comments.

Top painting of Notre Dame from etsy in Afremov ArtSudio here. Second photo is Google image of Salisbury Cathedral. Perfume is my own.

Silver Bells: Sparkling Perfumes To Wear This Christmas Holiday

 

Something about cold weather and the holidays makes me love wearing aldehyde perfumes. They are as sparkling and as effervescent as a fine dry champagne. They are crisp and chilly like a walk through Central Park in December. They feel dressy and special as befitting holiday parties and events, and go perfectly with gowns in satin or velvet, bedazzled heels, and sparkly earrings for ladies or the perfect outrageous cravat for the gents.

Aldehyde perfumes were popular in the 1960s but they gradually fell out of favor as a more natural approach to perfumes became popular in the 1990s, at least these are my memories. When I was a twenty-something I found strong aldehyde perfumes overbearing and obnoxious. I probably would have used the term "old lady perfumes" when describing them. But as the years ticked by and life experiences gained, somewhere along the way I changed my mind. Suddenly they seemed complex and mature compared to my everyday perfumes. There are many other bloggers that could tell you about the chemical process in aldehyde perfumes that cause the whoosh effect when the sprayed perfume hits the skin. I can't tell you why it happens but only that I love that rush of scent and that sensation of walking through a door into the cold chill of a winter day, the dry frigid air stinging your face and eyes. Some compare aldehydes to the pop of a champagne bottle and the fizz of the bubbles. My favorite time of year to wear these perfumes is in the cold weather when the perfume's amplified notes are muted by winter's chill and the notes feel sharp, silvery, and almost metallic, thus the reminder of silver bells in the song.

Clinique Wrappings was introduced in 1990 as only the second addition to the brand's line, twenty years after the debut of their first perfume Aromatics Elixir. Imagine these two strong take- no-prisoners perfumes and the gutsy statement that makes about how different the perfume market was then. Who knew that in less than a decade Clinique would be introducing the bland Happy and it's yearly flankers; meanwhile the Wrappings is rarely available on the Clinique counter or is hidden away like the relative that makes a bit of a scene after too much holiday tipple. If you want Wrappings you need to grab it around Christmas when Clinique makes it available. I must admit I forget about Wrappings every year until Christmas, when its name is subliminally triggered as I begin to wrap presents to put under the tree. Then when I spray it I am reminded why it is the perfect scent for this time of year. That rush that smells like frigid air. The green that smells like silvery fir needles laced with snow. Mind you, it's not a pine scented perfume, just very green. But at the beginning of the perfume's life on my skin it conjures the image of walking through a frozen forest, pine needles glistening with frozen ice glitter. Wrappings sparkles with aldehydes. There are a whole host of notes in this perfume but as was the custom of the era, no particular notes stand out. It is more a melange of floral and woody notes that eventually becomes more of a green chypre fragrance when the fizzy giddiness recedes.


A most traditional choice of perfume featuring aldehydes would be Chanel No. 5, but I prefer Chanel No. 5 Eau Premiere.  As much as I'd like to wear the original for the grande dame she is, it comes off screechy and shrill on my skin. I find the Eau Premiere to have that champagne sparkle and pop without the bitter acrid edge of the original. This one is floral with heart notes of jasmin and rose. My bottle is from the original 2007 introduction of the perfume. It was reintroduced in 2015 and I am uncertain what changes if any were made to the formula. I don't think there has ever been a more perfect "little black dress" perfume created than the Chanel No. 5 in its various guises, and the Eau Premiere in particular makes me feel like I'm in my finery holding a bubbling glass of Tattingers.

DSH Perfumes Deco Diamonds was created by perfumer Dawn Spencer Hurwitz as one of four perfumes to conceptually illustrate an exhibit at the Denver Art Museum in 2014, Brilliant: Cartier in the Twentieth Century. Dawn has had several collaborations with the museum and this one attempted to capture the luxury and sparkle of the Cartier jewels in the exhibit. Deco Diamonds specifically was created as a tribute to the Cartier diamonds worn by the Duchess of Windsor. The copy on the DSH website says, "She was bold, stylish, hard and a force to be reckoned with. Deco Diamonds mirrors this ferocity in a most beautitful way."

Deco Diamonds also starts with the zoom of aldehydes which Dawn describes as "a blazing and dazzling white sparkle."  Eventually the perfume becomes even richer as intense florals of jasmine, tuberose, gardenia and honeysuckle peep through the galbanum and aldehydes. But what distinguishes this perfume and makes it quite different from the two above are the animalic notes of   civet and hyrax. These animalic notes are much more intense  than the ones found in DSH Perfumes Chinchilla, which I reviewed recently here. I enjoy the combination of the sparkling dazzle of aldehydes and the strong, almost feral agressiveness of the animalic notes, and I think it perfectly captures the spirit of the woman it was created to emulate, Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor. A confident man or woman could rock this perfume but it's definitely not for the timid.

These three perfumes for me capture the essence of bustling city sidewalks, window displays brimming with holiday scenes and people carrying an excess of packages to soon be transformed to gifts under the tree. They also give me a sense of cool, silvery metal, thus the tie in with the song below, the original Silver Bells from the 1951 motion picture The Lemon Drop Kid.



Disclaimer: In reading up on aldehydes and their use in perfumes several said that comparing their use to adding sparkle and fizz was an amateurish take, and that the notes can often be soapy or waxy. I am in no way an expert but can only state my opinions, and what I get from the aldehydes is described as best I can in the above reviews.

Top photo Dominique Corbasson. Tree photo Google images. Perfumes from my own collection.

Ballet Inspired Perfumes Part Two

In Part One of ballet inspired perfumes, scents to wear to the ballet and specifically in this festive season the Christmas performances of The Nutcracker, three perfumes from the Les Parfums de Rosine line were featured. In this post we will look at four more perfumes inspired by elements of the ballet.

Keiko Mecheri Lady Pointe opens with one of the most distinct blackcurrant notes I have ever smelled in a perfume. It is uplifting and very fruity but not at all sweet. There is a touch of citrus in the opening but the rose comes in to mingle with the blackcurrant note fairly quickly. There are also notes of orchid, suede and musk, but what I am mostly noticing is a grape- jammy rose. In the final stages of wear notes of tonka bean, incense, oakmoss, patchouli, and sandalwood combine with the rose to render a darker air to the perfume. I particularly notice the tonka bean which gives a slightly powdery gourmand note, once the intensity of the intoxicating black currant and rose notes have dissipated. Lady Pointe conjures images of red ballet shoes and purple-skinned black currants. This perfume is rich, dark and unexpectedly fun.

With Penhaligon's Iris Prima we move away from the rose-based ballerina perfumes and on to iris. Iris can be an austere, proper note which perhaps suits the theme of ballet dancers and the endless hours of practice and fierce dedication required to make a mark in the profession. The iris starts off very similarly to Prada Infusion d'Iris on my skin. I get the quiet, grey iris note and the starched smell that often accompanies iris perfumes. There is a touch of pink pepper in the opening which gives it an initial ping but that quickly disappears. The perfume also has notes of leather, sandalwood, vetiver, amber, vanilla and benzoin. I smell the iris with the softest touch of leather. The leather is a super soft and pliable note and it is an easy comparison to imagine it the the well worn leather of the ballet slipper that we are smelling. For me this wears like a winter companion to the Prada Iris, the leather note providing a darker hue to the usually light iris note.

Strange Invisible Perfumes Prima Ballerina has a very different take from the perfumes featured thus far. For one thing, it does not feature a leather or suede note to indicate the ballet toe shoes. Also, there is no sandalwood, a nod to the wooden stage and practice studios, that features in the previous entries. This interpretation is an aromatic perfume featuring the rose note. Strange Invisible Perfumes is one of the early originators of botanical perfumes and based in California. This scent opens with a lime note which gives the very pretty and true rose note a citrus lift. It also has notes of sage which give a light herbal quality to the naturalness of the perfume. I would say that this perfumer is not trying to draw a hyper realistic scent picture of the ballet performance including elements of wood, leather and sweat, but is instead trying to relay a portrait of the romance of the ballet and the beauty of the ballerina dancer. I find this scent to be very feminine.

The final perfume inspired by the ballet is Amrita Aromatics Vaganova: a Bittersweet Ballet Floral Botanical Perfume. It features notes of ginger, rosewood, tuberose, sandalwood, cedar, rosin, and satin; altogether a most romantic list of ballet inspired notes. Even if I had blind tested this, I would have guessed it is a natural perfume. It has that bright organic presence that naturals often show. Ananda Wilson says about her perfumes, "Know that when you purchase a natural perfume, it is an intimate engagement in the wild natural world and will not offer the predictable, cloying, or forceful type of experience that commercial perfumes often do." My experience wearing this perfume: I smell the opening brightness of the ginger. Woody notes of rosewood, sandalwood, and cedar give a nod to the scuffed practice floor, and there really is a dustiness that gives the aura of the rosin that the dancers dust their ballet shoes with to prevent slipping. The tuberose note never becomes apparent to me. And although I didn't confirm this with the perfumer, I am assuming the perfume's name is taken from the renowened Vaganova Choreographic Institute in Leningrad, the highly competitive school for the Kirov Ballet. This perfume was beautiful and very personal; like many naturals it wears close to the skin and longevity was about three hours.

Are there any other ballet inspired perfumes that you wear?

Nutcracker Ballet photos from George Balanchine's New York Ballet production. Red ballet slippers photo from Pinterest. Samples are my own collection.

Ballet Inspired Perfumes: Les Parfums de Rosine Ballerina No.1, 2 & 3

Every year the week before Christmas one of our family traditions is to attend a performance of the Nutcracker Ballet. There is an order to the tradition. It starts with pre-theater fondue and champagne in the formal living room which gets used about five times a year, fire blazing and tree lights twinkling. Then in our dressy finery we go to the Bass Hall in downtown Fort Worth, the two trumpeting angels adorning the building setting the mood even before we enter. The atmosphere is festive with young children in their Christmas outfits getting photos with the Mouse King or Nutcracker beside the towering tree. Then the familiar music starts and we are immersed once again in the magical world of Clara and her cast of characters. This ballet, which was first performed in St. Peterburg in 1893 to rather tepid reviews, is now a mainstay in cities around America during the month of December.

Flickr Photo Lindz

Les Parfums de Rosine is a French perfume house founded in 1911 that didn't survive the harsh economic reality of the Great Depression. The house was revived in 1991 by Marie-Helene Rogeon, whose grandfather had worked with the original owner. The perfumes all feature a rose note and so far the house has created 37 variations. One of the newer introductions was in 2014 with the debut of Ballerina No. 1, followed in 2015 by Ballerina No. 2 and No. 3. The perfumes are meant to represent the three stages of a ballerina's life. No. 1 is the young student just learning the craft; No. 2 represents the maturing dancer as she becomes more polished; and finally No. 3 is the prima ballerina in her prime and at the top of her game.

Les Parfums de Rosine Ballerina No. 1 is a fruity floral but if you're not a fan of the genre don't be alarmed . Despite the achingly cute pink bottle bedecked in its own frothy tutu, this is a fruity floral designed with tight reins on both sweetness and fruitiness. It starts with a touch of innocent white rose, followed by notes of pear and peach. The fruit notes are mellow and smooth. I can smell the freesia if I put my wrist to my nose and inhale. Middle notes of rose, peony, and violet smell softly floral and the merest touch powdery. What is really interesting is the dry down where a milky note combines with musk, sandalwood, and vanilla. On my skin the vanilla is very mild and the milky note adds a creaminess to the sandalwood that is very appealing. This would be a perfect perfume for a young woman you're trying to introduce to finer perfume styles. I'm too old to be their target market but I wouldn't turn down a bottle if it came my way. It is a pretty, proper, and a happy fragrance.

Les Parfums de Roseine Ballerina No. 2 opens with a beautiful strong rose note. It smells extremely freshly picked and organic. As it settles the rose intensifies and a raspberry note gives it a jammy sweetness. This perfume is classified as a woody floral and there are a long list of notes:  bergamot, raspberry, and orange blossom in the opening; rose, magnolia, violet and iris in the mid range; and at the base sandalwood, patchouli, ambrette seeds, vanilla and amber. I'll be honest, for me it predominantly is a rose perfume although in the later stages I get a whiff of leather shoes scuffing the wooden practice floor.

Les Perfumes de Rosine Ballerina No. 3 represents the prima ballerina as a confident dancer with a stage presence. This rose is deeper and more multifaceted right from the beginning. Top notes are fuchsia flower, rosebuds, black pepper and pink pepper. The opening is much more opulent and deep than the other two perfumes. Mid notes are black rose and violet leaf. Base notes of sandalwood, oud, cashmeran, patchouli, cedarwood, carmalized vanilla and amber make this perfume even darker as time goes on. The patchouli is the first base note I smell, lending an earthy quality. Then the cashmeran, vanilla, and amber kick in and the perfume becomes slightly sweeter and denser like rosy hued amber.

All three perfumes are pretty. No. 1 and No. 2 are more feminine. I would say No. 3 is unisex. I was surprised how much I enjoyed wearing the girly Ballerina No. 1. No. 2 has a beautiful opening rose note, but after that it kind of fizzled for me. There was no real development on my skin. I most enjoyed wearing No. 3. In warm weather I found it  to be more fierce and demanding it's moment in the spotlight. In cold weather it softens to a more comforting rose cashmere on  my skin. In the United States www.beautyhabit.com carries these perfumes. You can also order directly from the company here. Their samples are called enchantillons. I ordered a full set about six years ago and it was one of the prettiest sample packs I've ever received from a perfume company.

Finally, here is one of my favorite moments from The Nutcracker, The Dance of the Snowflakes.


Top photo Google image. Second photo of Bass Hall from Flickr. You tube video is the New York City Ballet. Samples are my own from Beautyhabit.