Drinking Fig Gin and Smelling of Fig Perfume

Figs were revered by the ancient Greeks as a staple of life and this year on the annual sojourn to my husband's home in Adelaide I discovered a drink that would have truly been considered a nectar of the gods by those ancient Greeks. Pot & Stills Fig Gin is produced in the Adelaide Hills by a fig grower who was wondering what to do with all their excess figs a few years ago and with the help of a local distiller began turning them into gin. My introduction to the brand came at Cellar Door Fest, a monumental extravaganza for local small wineries who want to make consumers aware of their products. Amidst all the gorgeous wine displays I came across a sight similar to the one below.

The beautiful display of figs and the attractive gin bottles got our attention and after sipping it we left with a bottle of the stuff. I'm not always a gin lover but this drink is fantastic mixed with tonic and excellent just to sip straight with ice and a lime, but don't try bothering to find it unless you're in Australia. Production isn't that large and it has become so popular you have to practically be there when it's being unloaded from the truck to put on the store shelves.

All of this interest in figs got me to thinking about figs in perfumery, for as those of you that love perfumes know, it is always about the scent! Fig is one of the favorite notes I love to wear in summer. It is totally unisex. Almost any fig perfume I can name suits men and women equally well. It is refreshing on its on, but depending what notes the perfumer chooses to surround the fig it can be green, beachy, or jammy, and in my opinion they all have their own appeal. The recent history of fig perfume all started with one woman, though, Olivia Giacobetti who created Premier Figuier for the at-the-time newish brand L'Artisan Parfumeur in 1994. Premier Figuier is said to be the first fig perfume. Two years later Giacobetti would make a fig scent for Diptyque called Philosykos. I own both and only when testing side by side for this post realized that having both is probably redundant.

Perfumer Olivia Giacobetti.

L'Artisan Primier Figuer EDT is like a love letter to figs. Green and succulent, fresh and realistic as if one's hands are covered in figgy pulp. I can smell the purple bruise-colored skin of the fig, the green leaves of the tree, and the way the delicate branch holding the weight of the fig gives a "snap" and you get a hint of the goodness inside the fruit, escaping through the tiny hole left by breaking the connection to Mother Tree. Let me add here that I tried Premier Figuier Extreme and did not get this opening. I didn't find it very interesting so the review is only for the original version. A light milky scent tinged only slightly by coconut creeps in and everything in the scent comes down a notch, not an uncommon occurrence with L'Artisan scents, which are not known for their longevity. Long before its base note of sandalwood appears the scent is just a slight imprint on my skin. I guess this is why the Extreme version was made, but it does not feel like the same scent on my skin. I give this one a 10/10 for the realistic and natural scent but a 3/10 for longevity. But by perfume standards today it's not too expensive so my solution is to carry a decant with me and periodically respray throughout the day, giving myself a small thrill of pleasure each time that I do. I will add that like several of the L'Artisan fragrances, I think it is long gone and then it pops up again, out of the blue.

When I spray Diptyque Philosykos on its own I really enjoy the opening and it feels like fresh fig, but when I do the side-by-side comparison to the L'Artisan it pales for me. It's opening is at first green, but it made me think swampy green. The fig comes in next and it is pulpy and more green than sweet. The milky essence becomes very noticeable. As the scent develops I sense a wetness as if the rain is sitting on the broad fig leaves in droplets and also that smell of wet earth. The scent becomes slightly fruitier and the coconut is there, although not super strong. This one outlasts the L'Artisan EDT on my skin and it becomes a clean yet sensual skin scent eventually. Yet if I had to pick a favorite it is the L'Artisan. The first try was the charm, Olivia.

When I reviewed the Imaginary Authors scents back in 2016, Yesterday's Haze was one of my favorites and you can read the review here. In my original review I wrote about the warmth of the tonka and the delicious figgy vanilla cream. This time, though, I smell just a hint of smoke and woods, like a campfire smoldering near a fig orchard. The smoke smells very organic and it mingles with the slight sweetness of the fig. The Imaginary Authors website lists playful notes of walnut bitters and orchard dust, so perhaps it is the "hazy" notes which create this sense of smoke or dust for me. The greenness of the fig--the twigs, leaves and branches-- are emphasized over the sweetness of the fig in this scent. I am finding this less gourmand than I did three years ago. Can aging skin account for these changes? In any case, I liked it in 2016 and I like it in 2019.

Lothair by Penhaligon's London is a part of the Trade Routes perfume series and is meant to "evoke the tea clipper ships that navigated the globe to bring exotic treasures to Britain's shores." Opening notes are cardamom, grapefruit, juniper, and fig leaf, with heart notes of fig milk, lavender, magnolia, and black tea. Notes of wood, vanilla, and musk round out the base so it is obviously not a fig dominant scent, however the fig note is significant enough to include Lothair in this review. Lothair's opening is dry and spicy and one can picture sailors hauling big wooden trunks on board, fragrant with the scent of cardamom and other spices. Their is the salty tang of sea air and I can almost hear the waves beating against the boat's wooden hull. A whiff of black tea leaves comes from the bulging burlap bags. The fig leaf and fig milk add a slightly gourmand touch to the scent. English tea with cream anyone? This scent has a story to tell and it takes it's time unfolding. Towards the end of the scent life I get a mixture of spice and nuts that is addictive to me, almost like a warm grain cereal seasoned with spice and warm milk and sugar. This scent has a masculine vibe but I love to wear it for it's yum factor. Bertrand Duchaufour is the perfumer.

Detail of lotus painting from Jaipur City Palace, India.

Duchaufour is also responsible for the next perfume I want to discuss, Neela Vermeire Ashoka. The journey of Ashoka is meant to reflect the evolution of the Indian emperor from a ruthless conqueror to a benevolent ruler after his conversion to the Buddha's peaceful teachings. The scent starts with a fierce opening and softens into a floral heart. My own reflections when I spray this scent are Holy Fig! It's that beautiful to me and it is interesting that my mind went there, as Ashoka was a man transformed by his religion.

First are watery notes of lotus, hyacinth and fig leaf which make me think of the lotus dappled water surrounding the floating palace in Udaipur (or they were thirty years ago when I was there on my one year wedding anniversary). There is a thread of scent in this opening that takes me immediately back to the scents of India, garnered from the four years I lived there. I can't describe it to you but my brain recognizes the smell immediately and all I can say is that Duchaufour did his homework. Then creamy sandalwood mixes with milky fig for a swoony comforting and slightly sweet gourmand. In addition to the sandalwood there is a slender trail of incense rising. This is not strong; picture walking past a single burning incense stick with a faint but lingering smell. My perception of this note could be coming from any of these notes: fir balsam, myrrh, ambre gris, birch, Haitian vetiver, or styrax. Ashoka is absolutely gorgeous for the first hour but unfortunately after that the scent weakens considerably on my skin. If I could maintain that beautiful creamy opening of the fig mixed with the sandalwood/temple vibe I would be bathing in this stuff.

L'Artisan Caligna  was made to represent the clary sage fields surrounding Grasse and is an aromatic perfume. In the L'Artisan copy they speak of a jasmine marmalade note which had me super excited when I read it, but which I unfortunately never experience. The scent opens with a note of young fresh green fig. I smell the branches and leaves of the fig tree and the scent that pops into the air in that moment a fruit is plucked from the branches. This is a little more herbal than some of the fig scents I tried. It is innocent and light, and in my case, too light. It just doesn't have the appeal for me of it's sister scent, Premier Figuier, but if you aren't sure about wearing the fig note in perfume this could be a good introduction to the category.

The view from Villa Kerylos, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, France, Cote-de-Azur.

Jardins de Kerylos by Parfumerie Generale references a villa built in the Greek style that sits on the tip of the Beaulieu-sur-Mer peninsula, surely some of the most hallowed real estate in the world. Pierre Guillaume of Perfumerie Generale is French, and although I see fig in perfume as a more earthy and rustic note, this perfume has just a touch of that French fairy dust that makes you think "perfume" and not "fig jam".  The perfume opens brightly, a shaft of sunlight through the dense leaves of the fig tree.The fig note is a bit more muddled but does provide the customary earthiness and fresh fruit gourmand goodness. If you want your fig perfume to be a touch more sophisticated, Jardins de Kerylos could be one to try. A note of sycamore helps keep it dry and woody, and the perfume accentuates the green and woody aspects of fig. Guillaume describes this as luminous and it is so. Fig can be an earthy note but in this perfume it floats. Also to note, I can smell an impression of water, perhaps from this view of the villa.

Heeley Figuier opens with green fig and a touch of coconut. There is a touch of that aquatic note that makes some people smell pickle juice, but I only get the occasional whiff of that and it's not off-putting. The big opening fades quickly on my skin and then the aquatic/pickle smell is more noticeable. If you are sensitive to that note you may not appreciate this perfume. I think it might be discontinued as I am not finding a readily available link to buy.

www.BegonaMorton.com

Au Pays de la Fleur d'Oranger Figue Fruitee is the first scent that I've tried from the Au Pays line (I refuse to type the long name again) that I didn't fall for. It's not that I dislike it but it leaves me underwhelmed. Everything is very muted. The fig isn't really green and is not that fruity. It is a well mannered scent but rather forgettable. I would describe it as fig perfume at 50%. A leather note makes it dry as old boots.

Lubin Figaro is inspired by the Figaro trilogy of comedy plays written by Beaumarchais in 1778 (not a particularly funny time in France, the French Revolution would follow the next year). Figaro's opening is slightly alcoholic to me, but then a note of vetiver enters, grassy, dry and hay-like. This is a masculine scent and although there is a note of fig hiding amongst the vetiver, it certainly isn't prominent. This scent smells like a ride in a horse-drawn cart down a rustic country lane one hundred years ago, the fields lined with hay and in the distance there is a small fig orchard. This scent is dry and dusty.

DSH Perfumes Figue Interdite is a part of the Les Fruits Defendus, vol. 1 line that Dawn Spencer Hurwitz introduced last summer as light weight colognes for hot summer weather. This perfume is 100%  botanical and you can sense this when you smell, or maybe it's what you don't smell...any trace of chemical or synthetic scent. The scent is fresh and pure and totally natural. It is somewhat green, somewhat juicy, but not overloaded with either, just as you would find a fig tree in nature. At the beginning I smell flashes of an herbal, tobacco-like scent. It's very faint and maybe it is the ambrette seed or the vetiver that I am smelling. Although on the surface it would seem to be a simple perfume, like most of Dawn's creations it has a host of ingredients: balsam fir, costus, orris concrete, Mysore sandalwood, Texas cedarwood, jasmine, linden blossom, mimosa....the list goes on and on but you get the idea. Somehow she magically puts these diverse ingredients together and comes up with...fig, and a beautiful fig it is. Like most botanicals on  my skin, longevity is not astounding but that's the trade off. It is a watercolor wash of fresh fig with a beautiful woody skin scent dry down. Love!

www.ful-filled.com

Profumum Roma Ichnusa is green, green, green and in my world, this is a good thing. It's subtle, not a big sillage blaster. It is the green of the fig leaf, the actual fruit of the fig is downplayed here, and the green is like forging through a dense tropical jungle of green leaves. There is a touch of fragrant earth and the fresh aspect of the fig plant. Looking at the listed notes: myrtle, grass, hay, fig leak and fig tree wood, it is no surprise that the perfume feels green. I read that it is a salute to the coastline of Sardinia.

Carthusia Io has been around since 2000 and the perfumer is Laura Bosetti Tonatto. It starts off with a slightly bitter herbal note, not an unpleasant bitter smell but it is bone dry. Beneath this there is a note that reminds me of ocean water with only the slightest tang of salty air. Eucalyptus and mint in the top notes are refreshing and cooling. Anise adds a touch of spice, balanced by calm notes of tea and mint. This feels fresh and bracing, and like one of those scents that would cool you off on a hot day. The fig is dry and green. Very likable.

Don't let me forget Hermes Un Jardin en Mediterranee. This iconic scent by Jean Claude Ellena seems like it's been around forever (it was 2003) but because you see it everywhere I think it can be underrated. This is my favorite of all the Jardin series by Hermes. Jean Claude Ellena said about it, "An expression in perfume of a Mediterranean memory, a mosaic of olfactory, visual, and tactile sensations." From its watercolor wash of citrus note openings to the wood notes of cypress and cedar, it is the fig leaf that has the most distinctive presence. The notes sound simple but this is Jean Claude Ellena we're talking about, one of The Masters, and it is perfection. For some reason I had never taken this on beach vacations but this year I took it to Australia and wore it for my walks along the beach. Mama, Mia! I smell the salt of the water as if the crystals are drying on my skin and in my hair! I only get that salty aspect with the addition of some good old ocean breeze.

Now for something a little more gourmand, Les Senteurs Gourmandes Figue Sauvage  by Laurence Dumont, France. This is a flowery fruity fig with gourmand aspects. If you like fruity florals this is safe territory and you will recognize the dark sweet fruits mixed with ylang ylang and other floral notes as similar to that deep sweet richness found in other perfumes of this type.

Two fresh and light fig scents that I've written about before are Roger & Gallet Fleur De Figuier and Feuille De Figuier. I bought these when I was in France last year and they are pretty inexpensive but refreshing and lovely scents that I've enjoyed wearing. Fleur De Figuier is slightly sweet and Feuille De Figuier is the more green fig leaf. Both are fun, "don't think about it, just spray", type scents. You can read a detailed review here.

Here's one you can treasure hunt for, Miller Harris Figue Amere. It is discontinued but it used to be readily available at places like Fragrancenet.com. I see that is it not, now, but it is still on Amazon. This is a different fig scent; for one thing there appears to be no fig in the ingredients. It manages to juggle fresh and realistic nature smells but at the same time have an Oriental perfume formality. Notes include angelica, balsam fir, violet leaf, narcissus, rose, amber; no mention of even a fig leaf, though. It is like a Picasso, the painting is a woman who doesn't look quite like the woman but you get the idea. Same here. It is not exactly fig but it captures the green bitterness of the leaves and twigs and there is a fruity sweetness underneath it all that resembles fig. More than the other scents I've listed here, this is a fig in high heels and a black dress, or for a man, in a tux and tie. This is one of the few scents in my life that I finished the whole bottle. Why I didn't buy another when it was so available....well, we all have those stories.

https://frogmom.com/a-green-fig-preserve-recipe/

Let's look at some really green figs by Rouge Bunny Rouge. They do a couple of interesting scents using fig leaf. Let's first look at Lilt, an unusual scent of green fig leaves mixed with peach. Violet, which to me feels more like violet leaf, softens and sweetens. Later in the scent vetiver and musk make it slightly smokey and moodier. The scent is meant to represent sunlight and shade in a garden which has been pelted with rain. There is a light transparency at the beginning of the fragrance which later morphs into a darker calm. It feels like peach fuzz amidst a green tangle of foliage.

Incantation also uses fig leaf but its opening notes give a totally different experience. Rather than soft sweetness, it is very green and fresh. In fact it is so green that the random thought popped into my head that this is the perfect scent to wear on St. Patrick's Day! It achieves this with top notes of citrus accord, blackcurrant, fig leaf, and green tea. The blackcurrant is pretty tame here, more green than juicy berry. A hint of the spice notes of cardamom and coriander pop in an rose and orange blossom add a tiny bit of floral softness. I still smell the green aspects more than anything. Base notes of vetiver, cedarwood, beeswax, and musk round out the scent. Of the two scents I prefer the green vibrancy and fun of Incantation over Lilt, which starts out great on my skin but ends up a bit muddled and indistinct. Incantation feels darker and a little more mysterious.

 Giovanni Stanchi 1645

You may wonder if any of the perfumes I tried actually reminded me of my beloved Fig Gin? The closest would be Byredo Pulp. On the Byredo website it is described as "a shapeless mass of ripe fruits; unruly and sweet juices that channel flavor bombing". Yep, it's all that. Pulp opens with a stringent note that I took for grapefruit but must be the bergamot. I don't think the opening of a perfume has ever given me such surprise since I smelled Bat by Zoologist Perfumes. Pulp is such a great name because it does smell like the fleshy part of the fruit has been ripped from the rind, maybe a couple of days ago and is in that stage between succulent juiciness and rot. Akin to how jasmine can dance a fine line of being breathtakingly delicate or a fecal shock, this fruit teeters on the edge of succulence and malodorous mess. But it constantly makes me bring my wrist to my nose for another sniff, just like when I'm wearing Bat. Although the fruit here comes across to me as more plum than fig, fig is one of the elements in the melange we have here.

Find recipe at www.The-broken-bread.com

How could I finish a post on fig scents without mentioning Mugler Womanity? I wrote a whole post about it here in great and glorious detail. When I mentioned that the crunchy density of the fig in Womanity reminded me of the figgy pudding we used to eat in Scotland, some readers commented that they wear Womanity in summer as a beach scent for the caviar salty aspect of the scent. I can see that, and now it has become a year round scent for me. It's a mind bender; some love it, others hate it, but it definitely goes where no fig perfume has gone before.

What are your favorite fig perfumes. Have I missed them here? If so, please let me know.

Top photo from www.deviantart.com. All samples my own.

Byredo Sundazed

Perfume brands seem to all be releasing their version of a beach-style perfume in anticipation of Summer 2019, and Byredo  continues this trend with the release of Sundazed.

Let me start with a positive: I love the name. You know that feeling you get if you are a sun worshipper (slathered in SPF 50 of course)? Your skin is warmed by the sun, you can hear the sound of the ocean, and you drift into a sleepy haze of well being. Sundazed is the perfect name for this state, in fact, you'll find the term in the Urban Dictionary. They define Sundaze as:

A state of mind or place often associated with Sundays that promotes well being and relaxation. Combine the positive energy and warmth of water and sunshine and you'll be in a "Sundazed" state of mind.

So, excellent name. Now for what is going to be my shortest review to date. Opening notes are supposed to be lemon and mandarin. I have both of these trees in my Australian back yard and I'm here to tell you that, no, that is not what I smell. I smell neroli, or should I say, NEROLI. Now I happen to like neroli, unlike many who say it gives them a soapy vibe, so that is not the problem. The problem is that there are so many other neroli/orange blossom perfumes available at a much more reasonable cost. The first thing that flashed in my head when I smelled it was Elie Saab, although ultimately I much prefer it to the Sundazed. The opening moments are the prettiest and if this neroli-orange-juice accord could continue I might be hooked. But all to soon the realism of the neroli becomes more muted and musky. The only other note I get during the three or four hours I can smell the perfume is the cotton candy accord. This does nothing to change my initial impression of Sundazed or endear it to me. It's not a bad perfume, but chances are you have something similar in your collection already and it probably didn't cost you Byredo prices. But this is just my impression. Perhaps your skin will give you a better return for the money.

Byredo Sundazed sample purchased by me from Luckyscent.

Vanilla Vibes by Juliette Has A Gun

Are you a fan of the deconstructed food styling boards over on Pinterest? That is what the image above reminds me of, and I find them helpful for giving a quick and clear interpretation of ingredients, in this case of a perfume. Juliette Has A Gun has introduced a new perfume for the summer of 2019, Vanilla Vibes. The best news for me is that the vanilla is subtle and actually very wearable for warm weather. I am not the biggest fan of foody vanilla scents in perfume and the only time I can bear them is in cold weather when the richest element of the vanilla scent are somewhat subdued by the frigidity outside. Romano Ricci who founded the perfume brand maybe says it best:

I have been wanting to work with vanilla for some time.But not being a fan of sweet notes, I needed to find a twist. I chose sea salt. This transports the vanilla into a mineral dimension. Far from being overwhelming, the vanilla becomes suddenly more atmospheric, more elegant.

Ricci definitely achieved his brief. Vanilla Vibes is pretty much what you see pictured above; vanilla, orchid and sea salt in a bed of white sand. I don't love the very fist moment when I spray. I get a whiff of alcohol until it either evaporates or is absorbed into the skin. This happens quickly and once the perfume has a chance to warm on the skin the top note of fleur de sel becomes apparent. This gives that sense of sun-warmed skin, drip-drying after a dip in the ocean. Since there is no coconut you don't get the Coppertone suntan vibe, it is more skin/saltwater/sun. Heart notes of vanilla and orchid give the scent a slightly sensuous, but innocent, feel. These two notes were combined very effectively in Van Cleef & Arpels Collection Extraordinaire Orchidee Vanille and that same subtle beauty is present in Vanilla Vibes, but the addition of sea salt tempers any tendency towards sweetness. Base notes of benzoin, brown musk, sandalwood, and tonka bean are all used with a light stroke of the brush, whispering rather than boldly announcing their arrival. These notes all merge to further enhance the skin scent and it evolves into a golden amber glow, a scent that remains for several hours.

Photo from A Nice Little Tumblr

The bottle is getting a lot of love on the fragrance forums and fragrance Facebook sites. It gives the appearance of sand, fading to sea, fading to sky and really pictorially represents what's in the bottle. I enjoy this scent as it is light and very easy to wear, the vanilla is very muted on my skin, and it really does represent what my skin naturally smells like after a day at the beach. It reminds me somewhat of Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess without the coconut, Jennifer Aniston without the jasmine, or Jo Malone Wood Sage and Sea Salt without the sage. There is nothing profoundly new here. You may already have something similar in your collection. But it is well done and immanently likeable. I can see it being a staple for someone who lives by the sea or wishes they did.

Burning Man, which takes place every year in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada, was Ricci's inspiration for the scent. The scent is very unisex and if you are a fan of sun/skin scents I would consider this a pretty safe blind buy.

Here is a behind the scene look at the video promo shot for Vanilla Vibes introduction on May 1.



Photos are from the Juliette Has A Gun website. I bought my own sample at Luckyscent.

Tyrannosaurus Rex by Zoologist Perfumes

Painting by Mark Hallett.

I always anticipate a new release from Zoologist Perfumes for their creativity and sense of inventiveness. I would imagine if you are a perfumer it is energizing to conceptualize a scent via story board inspiration from  Zoologist's Victor Wong and know that originality is not only acceptable but desired. I have enjoyed the dizziness of inhaling nectar scents from the darting viewpoint of a hummingbird, the flight of a bat as it leaves its cave dwelling and soars through the night sky, and the charge of an elephant in search of food. I had read various reviews of Tyrannosaurus Rex painting it as a real beast of a fragrance so I kept delaying the trial of my sample in the heat of an Australian summer. Now back in the Northern Hemisphere we're experiencing some cool rainy days and  I decided it was time to try out the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Zoologist scents have always taken me on a journey and this one is no exception. The image that popped into my head as this fragrance evolved on my skin was the old Jurrasic Park ride at Universal Studios in Florida. My husband and I took our kids there about fifteen years ago and I remember reading that the ride closed recently so it could be rebuilt bigger and better. I always liked the cave rides, as we called them, at amusement parks. You're hot and tired from tromping through an amusement park filled with hoards of people, you've been standing in line for an hour, then finally you get to sink into your bathtub of a boat. You start to float, cool water mists your face and as you enter the darkness you wait for another world to unfold before your eyes. If you missed this particular experience here's a video below. It all looks rather tame and hokey now, but I loved it.

 Join me on this journey to experience the new Zoologist scent Tyrannasourus Rex!

My frame of mind as I apply the perfume Tyrannosaurus Rex: I'm ready for anything. Initially I smell something other-worldly, as if I've landed on a planet with a strange and different atmosphere to which I am not accustomed. The perfumer Antonio Gardoni used notes of bergamot, black pepper, fir, laurel leaf, neroli, and nutmeg in the opening, all of which sound rather ordinary. I was expecting  one of those creative lists with ingredients of cyanide, dragon's blood, or meteorite shards. Somehow he creates a moment of magic from these mundane ingredients, a pause where I thought, "I haven't smelled anything exactly like this before." Then within a minute the moment is very quickly quenched by the smoke of distant fires. The smoke intensifies and the smell is soon punctuated with the scent of burning tar. Is this a reference to the burning tar pits that supposedly swallowed dinosaurs whole? The Le Brea Tar pits in California came into being 65 million years after the disappearance of the dinosaurs, a fact I seemed to have slept through in science class, but lets not quibble. This is my dinosaur park ride and it is exciting and everything I hoped for.

La Brea Tar Pits as depicted by Charles R. Knight.

The sharp aroma of molten tar intensifies and the smell of out-of-control fires burning and smoking becomes even more pungent. This is the smell of scorched earth. Whether this is a result of flaming volcanoes pouring streams of red hot lava or an asteroid has just crashed and annihilated all life on Earth I do not know, but these fires are fierce. Cade oil is present in Tyrannosaurus Rex and is responsible for much of this smoke and tar. This cloud of thick smoke and bubbling tar is everything I've read in the reviews for the perfume. While the fires smolder, this erases any other smells for me. I get no champaca or jasmine, no geranium or rose, this is epic. Although I love to burn fires in my house's fireplace in winter, the smell always gives me an allergic reaction. That is what seems to be occurring now. The smoke is so freaking realistic that I begin to wonder, do I need to get my bottle of Afrin?

www.TheTimes.com.uk

Leather and patchouli add to the sensation of a large animal crashing about, the thick hide impervious to the flames and the large feet tearing out bits of earth as he pounds the ground, on a chase for his next kill. There is civet in the brew but I do not get a strong feral aspect to the scent; I believe the smoke overcomes that aspect on my skin.

This level of excitement can only carry on for so long. As our imaginary boat goes around the next curve in the river ride the smoke from fires still smolders but begins to fade in ferocity. Curls of ancient incense begin to rise from the smoking ground and it feels like a resurrection of the blistered landscape. Resinous frankincense along with cedar wood bring calm, and now finally  I begin to smell the florals which were MIA before. The florals are background noise and muddled to present an emergent landscape of rebirth and regeneration. I do not distinguish between the individual notes of geranium, champaca, jasmine, osmanthus, rose and ylang ylang. I have read that a rose oxide note was used to simulate the smell of blood as the T-Rex wrecks havoc, but the blood smell is not as pronounced for me as it was in Imaginary Author's Bulls Blood, for example.

We are nearing the end of this ride and things begin to change more quickly. The smoke is faint and fading. Florals are indistinct but present. The resins and incense have transformed this perfume into more of a smooth oriental-style scent and base notes of vanilla and sandalwood accentuate this effect. In truth I don't smell vanilla, I just feel it adds a creamy sweetness to the heavier smokey and wood notes. Once Tyrannosaurus Rex arrives to this point, the scent trail goes on for hours and hours. It has been quite the ride. I feel like we have traveled from the wildness of this:



to the softer side of the dinosaur:

Barney and young Selina Gomez

Maybe that's an exaggeration, Tyrannosaurus Rex still has some bite, but it has morphed into a very easily wearable resinous oriental perfume.

Let's talk about the perfumer that Victor chose for this project, Antonio Gardoni. I would love to know the process by which Victor picks perfumers for specific projects but pairing Gardoni with a rather ferocious scent like Tyrannosaurus Rex seems smart. Gardoni is an architect by trade and more recently channeled his love of plants and nature into an interest in fragrance creation. He first created perfumes for his brand, Bogue, in 2012. Bogue perfumes are known for having a presence and in some cases being a challenging ride. I have only smelled and reviewed one of the Bogue creations, MEM, and here is what I said: "There is a moment at the beginning when the civet and castoreum, supposedly base notes yet here they are in the first five minutes, take me on a wild ride that I'm not sure I'll safely survive." You can find the complete review here.

With Tyrannosaurus Rex, Gardoni and Victor Wong have given us a dazzling glimpse into a prehistoric world that somehow reinvents itself into a very wearable perfume. I have to admit that in the Zoologist world my preference is to be a warbling Nightingale or a flitting Hummingbird but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate the journey provided by Tyrannosaurus Rex.

You can read my other reviews about Zoologist Perfumes starting here with Bat.

Perfume sample was purchased by me from Luckyscent.

L'Artisan Parfumeur's Bana Banana

If you're like me the thought of smelling like a banana isn't instantly appealing, thus I almost walked by the L'Artisan display in Saks Fifth Avenue without spraying the brand's newest scent, Bana Banana. I'm so glad I changed my mind because I discovered smelling like a banana can be fun, but I especially love amber scents and that is where this fragrance eventually settles. I can honestly say I did not see that coming; it was an unexpected conclusion to the scent journey.

According to the historical information on the L'Artisan Parfumeur website, the scent of a banana was indirectly responsible for the creation of the company. John LaPorte, chemist and plant collector,  was challenged by a friend to create a banana scent as an accompaniment to the banana costume he was wearing to a gala event, the Folies Bergeres. Laporte accepted the challenge and realized that he had a passion for creating scent and thus the L'Artisan story began. Now decades later this origins story of the brand is being recognized with a banana-scented fragrance, created by Parfumer Celine Ellena.

When I first sprayed Bana Banana as I stood at the L'Artisan counter I almost laughed, the banana note is so realistic and dare I say, joyful. It smells a little like banana ice cream...think creamy, not sweet. It is also slightly green, emphasizing a tropical feel. This is not an over-ripe sugary banana. It is as fresh as if just picked. The banana note continues unabated for some time but is joined by floral notes of jasmine and iris and at this point the banana note becomes less prominent. Jasmine and iris are both fairly identifiable notes but here they blend to project a floral loveliness around the banana note; a beautiful melange without strong distinction for the individual florals. This may sound like floral plus fruity perfume but that is not how the smell translates; the scent is more subtle and polished than this. There is a mild spiciness of pepper and nutmeg; the pepper is weak, the nutmeg more forward. These spicy notes add interest, making the scent feel slightly gourmand. The scent continues to waft this soft floral banana note, accented with nutmeg and pepper, for a full two hours. Then comes Act II. Enter musk, tonka, and amber to the stage.

Bana Banana has slowly been transitioning to more of a skin scent with warm and slightly spicy overtones. The tonka and musk make the scent comforting and warm with a slight muted fuzziness. But then I start recognizing the amber in the scent. My skin loves amber and maybe because of that it is one of my favorite notes, but it has such depth and strength that I tend to only wear amber perfumes in cooler weather. Here we have a lighter amber, something I don't replicate in my collection of amber perfumes. As a comparison, I like light beer because it has the taste of the beer without all the heaviness that makes me feel full after four sips of regular beer. It feels the same here. You get all the beauty of the amber scent but it is somehow lighter, loftier. It radiates warmth and comfort as amber does, but doesn't overpower. If I think about it I can still smell the slightest trace of the banana in the scent.

The final stages of the perfume brought this image to mind. Just go with me here; this is a slightly strange analogy. The best baking tip my mother ever gave me was to slightly undercook cookies and sweet breads. If you stick a toothpick in a loaf of banana bread to test for doneness and it comes out totally dry then it's already too late. But if you catch that loaf of banana bread just before it gets cooked throughout and the toothpick comes out gummy there will be a moist almost doughy center. The next day instead of the bread being too dry to eat that moist center has become richer and more redolent of the banana flavor and the spices have intensified. That is how the dry down of Bana Banana feels to me; we've smelled the freshness of the banana but now it has transitioned into a richer state; slightly sweet gourmand, spicy with the zest of nutmeg, a mellow banana, a slice of blissful comfort.

If you are curious how a banana note smells in a perfume give Bana Banana a try. You may be pleasantly surprised like me. And if you like amber perfumes definitely try Bana Banana as this is very different from any other amber perfume you might have in your collection.

Top photo from L'Artisan. Thank you Saks Fifth Avenue Houston for the spray.

Arbor Day and DSH Perfumes The Voice of Trees

Way back when I was in elementary school we used to celebrate Arbor Day each year. This was before there was literally a holiday for every day of the year, before Save the Earth became a movement, and before the world's forests were being mowed down for monetary gain. I can remember my third grade class tromping out to the front of our brand new school, the lawn barren of  sheltering trees. Our principal Mr. Baird (how funny that I can't remember what I did two days ago but remember this name clearly) took a spade and dug into the earth, symbolically creating a hole for the sapling that shivered in the breeze.

Today Arbor Day has gotten lost in the shuffle but the concept remains a good one: plant a tree for future generations to enjoy. There is renewed interest about the healing properties of communing with nature and the Japanese have coined a phrase to describe the experience: Shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing. This is the recognition that immersion in natural environments such as forests provide healing and well being. I have this theory that if we provided every child in America, regardless of means, with camping or nature experiences while young it would cut down drastically in future violence. There is something mystical about walking silently through a forest and hearing the rustling and whispers from the surrounding trees.

Ocean-of-nectar.tumblr.com

Dawn Spencer Hurwitz is in close proximity to many forests from her perch in the high mountains surrounding Boulder, Colorado. On the DSH Perfume website, Dawn writes that the inspiration for The Voice of Trees came from very early childhood memories while camping and hearing the trees "speaking".  "As far back as I can remember I have loved the scent of pine needles, the early days of Autumn with soft rains and fallen Maple leaves, balsams on the poplar trees, and the scent of dry amber stuck to the bark of conifers, warmed by the sun," Dawn says. "For me this fragrance is pure pleasure, the embodiment of "the talking trees".

To wear The Voice of Trees is to have a mini "forest bathing" experience. Recently Dawn has been experimenting with Japanese-centric perfumes, particularly in her Haiku series: Japanese Moonlight, and although this fragrance was launched in 2015 before the inception of this series, it has that contemplative homage that I find in her Japanese-inspired scents. The opening is conifers, that hit of scent as you near a forest trail. It includes the green dampness of a needle-padded carpet beneath the trees, the sharp scent of pine needles and beads of sap, and the bitterness and smokiness of pinon pine. I have always felt a spiritual connection when surrounded by God's gift of nature in all its beauty and majesty,  and resinous and incense notes in The Voice of Trees symbolically infer you are in nature's temple. Woody notes of maple leaf, poplar buds, and sycamore accord add to the forest air. What I find most beautiful are the resinous and amber notes. I can smell the sticky pine sap that has hardened to amber resin, the balsamic aspects of balsam fir, and a faint smokey incense that threads through the life of the scent.

Image from www.ThriftyFun.com

The Voice of Trees isn't at all a vibrant Christmas-type pine scent. Rather it is the solitary walk through the trees, introspective and restorative, bathed in the scent of the trees and open to their message. Wear it for it's natural beauty; enjoy it's meditative qualities.

The Voice of Trees comes in a variety of sizes and is also available as a cream on the DSHPerfumes.com website. It is 98.5% botanical.

Top photo from www.OutdoorFamiliesOnline.com. Perfume sample from my own collection.

Chanel 1957 - When Coco Chanel Came To Dallas

Coco Chanel and Stanley Marcus in Dallas, 1957. Dallas AP photo.

The year was 1957. Stanley Marcus, founder and head of legendary luxury department store Neiman Marcus in Dallas, Texas, came up with a spectacular marketing idea: to bring the gloss of French chic to the Neiman Marcus flagship store in downtown Dallas. He created a concept called Fortnight to celebrate the store's upcoming fiftieth anniversary. He would bring the arts, food, and fashion of a selected country to Dallas and immerse the store in a cultural extravaganza. Naturally France, whose designer fashions were popular with the wealthy Texas clientele, was chosen as the inaugural featured partner. It would be two weeks of spectacular department store theater, and Broadway set designers were charged with making fantastic sets that would turn the Dallas store into a little slice of Paris.

The piece de resistance would precede the Fortnight celebration. Stanley Marcus announced he would award Coco Chanel with the Neiman Marcus Award for Distinguished Service in the Field of Fashion, which was seen as akin to an Oscars award for fashion designers. Coco Chanel knew she owed a good part of her success to her American buyers and clients. After World War II ended Chanel was not popular in Europe because of her rumored affair with a Nazi officer. Her Parisian fashion shows were widely panned and she was struggling to revive her brand. It was the American market who desired her designs and embraced the Chanel suit, and they sustained her business in these lean years. So it was with some eagerness and perhaps gratitude that Chanel flew direct from Paris to Dallas Love Field, where she was greeted by Marcus, and hustled into a waiting white Rolls Royce limousine.

A Texas-style barbecue took place at Marcus's ranch just north of Dallas to welcome the honored guest. The usual Western festivities commenced. Here is Coco Chanel pictured looking a bit uncertain about square dancing.

Marcus was always a bit of a showman and had arranged a fashion show utilizing cattle as models . In a mock wedding ceremony a top-hatted bull accompanied a heifer draped in a white gown with a veil and jauntily sporting a string of the already iconic Chanel pearls.

In the photo above you can see Coco Chanel to the left, and that is Elizabeth Arden, a past recipient of the award, sitting at the center of the table. There is a long-told legend from that night that although Chanel appreciated the Western festivities, she was less fond of the plate piled with barbecued beans and meats. At some moment, one would think maybe when all eyes were on the ungainly parade of cattle fashionistas, Chanel tipped over her plate of food under the table, purportedly on top of Elizabeth Arden's red satin shoes.

Chanel was accompanied on the trip by the iconic 1950's model, Suzy Parker, Chanel's muse, model and friend and also a Texas native.

Coco Chanel and Suzy Parker in 1959, Google image.

It has been two years since Chanel added to Les Exclusifs line of fragrances. The Chanel website describes the line this way: "Each scent evokes a chapter from the story of Gabrielle Chanel, reflecting the life and character of Mademoiselle." (When did they start referring to Coco as Gabrielle? Did I miss something?)

When I first heard that Chanel's newest perfume was called 1957 and that there was a connection to the Dallas Neiman Marcus I was immediately intrigued. Growing up in Fort Worth right next door to the Big D, Fort Worth was dismissively referred to as Cowtown by the Dallasites but it was a label we wore with pride. We personified the true spirit of Texas, unlike our uppity neighbors to the East, or so we imagined. But once a year in August before the start of a new school year all petty grievances were put aside and my mother would load my sister and I into the yellow Cutlass, sporty by 1960s standards but still the size of a small motorboat, and off to Dallas we went. My mother sewed most of our clothes but on this once a year event we were allowed to pick one special outfit. To show just how big of a deal this was, I still have hanging in the back of my closet the dress I picked before entering sixth grade, a little number influenced by the London Carnaby Street era with a  navy mesh stretch top and an attached suede mini skirt. It is probably still the most fashionable thing I own. Leaving our car and walking through the August heat and entering through those door with the distinctive NM logo into the chilled pristine air, a sea of glistening glass show cases and glamorously dressed sales assistants before us, the moment never failed to thrill.

The entry to Neiman Marcus, Dallas downtown. See Chanel to the right.

What influences would Chanel house perfumer Olivier Polge use to make a perfume marking this long ago union between the very French house of Coco Chanel with American pizazz and brashness? What were the similarities between the two? None that I could determine, as a native Texan and lover of everything Parisienne. I had heard that the new perfume was a collection of various musk scents. Did Polge choose musks for their indeterminate nature, their fuzziness, as if to say, "I don't quite know what to make of this marriage of cultures?" I wondered.

With a little research I found out that Polge did have a plan and it was to reference the more clean approach that Americans have taken to fragrance in the last three decades. In an interview with the Irish Times, Polge said, "Always in United States fragrances, there is a link between cleanness and sensuality. In European fragrance we have sensuality with a little more darkness."

Musks have become very popular. Francis Kurkdjian has been doing great things with musk-based fragrances for over a decade and more recently Sylvaine Delacourte, who branched off from Guerlain to form her own line, introduced five musk fragrances which I talked about here. But still, I find musk perfumes hit-or-miss and when I walked through John Harris in Adelaide and sprayed myself with Chanel 1957 I was just "in like". Reading several online reviews it seems others made an immediate judgment like me and walked away unimpressed. I wasn't sure I would write about 1957 as I tend to only review perfumes I like a lot or at least find interesting. I judged the longevity and silage to be weak and forgot about 1957, until the next morning. On rising I did my morning ritual of first coffee, then computer, but I noticed a beautiful smell wafting up from my arms as I clicked at the keys. It was a bit mysterious as I hadn't yet sprayed a perfume, then I realized it was 1957 which had lived tenaciously through the night and was ready to have a cup of coffee with me and greet the new day. I also rubbed a bit on the sleeve of the sweater I was wearing and now even days later, it smells glorious.

Photo www.flickr.com/photos/honeyandjam/

Call me a convert. And if you've already tried 1957 and dismissed it, maybe try it again. The perfume opens with muddled citrus, shafts of sunbeams, and the scent of a distant field of flowers carried on the breeze. There is a shiver of aldehydes which add sparkle and loft. These are not the aldehydes of a Chanel No. 5, which could be considered by some to be a bracing slap of the face. This is just a tickle of puff and fizz, like bubbly mineral water rather than the pop of champagne. I get more impressions than notes from the scent. The fragrance feels airy, as if carried by the wind then disappearing. There are moments when I smell light watercolor florals which fade into that gauzy blanket of musk scent. The scent become creamier and in my notes I mentioned sensing honey and vanilla. These are just impressions. The beauty of the scent is that none of these notes stand out but are blended together in a masterful way. It is a bit like having a chef curated meal where your taste buds sense they are being hit with a lot of flavors but it is the compilation of the whole that makes it savory.

Photo www.elizabethannedesigns.com

The scent seemingly disappears on my skin but then pops up unexpectedly hours later. It is a skin scent and while it references the "clean" fragrance movement in America, 1957's polish and sophistication are decidedly French. What I find the most intriguing is that when I put my wrist to my nose, I sometimes smell honey, other times pale florals, then musk. It is like a kaleidoscope of gentle soft scent. Perfumer Polge made the statement in interviews that "white hides great complexity", and I feel that here we experience this, layer upon layer of ways to sensualize the feeling of "white".  Polge also stated that because 1957 is a skin scent, each person's skin will individualize and interpret the scent. For this reason I feel that even though my skin presents 1957 as a unisex veering toward the feminine, on a man's skin his body chemistry might play up different aspects of the scent to make it lean more toward the masculine.

Chanel lists these notes: musk accords, bergamot, iris, neroli, cedar, honeyed and powder notes.

So next time you walk by a Chanel display, try Chanel 1957. And if you don't like it, try it one more time.

Note: Want more? Follow this link to the Fragrantica page and scroll down for Lanier's review. He always has an interesting insight and says it in the most perfect way.

Black and white photos from Dallas Morning News/Ap photos/Googleimages. Sample courtesty of David Jones, Adelaide. Opinions my own.