Esxence - Meeting the Osmothéque (3)

-
The last two fragrances explored with the guidance of Patricia de Nicolai were Nuit de Noel (1922), by Ernest Daltroff (Caron) and Iris Gris by Vincent Roubert for Jacques Fath. Nuit de Noel contained mousse de Saxe (a specialty by De Laire, a raw material lab located in Paris) and a synthetic molecule that was often used in the following decades: isobutilquinolin, with its leather and smoky, harsh note.
Iris Gris instead is very fascinating due to a superb quality of Florentine orris; todays’ fragrances no longer contain such a concentration of it because it costs 60 thousand euros per kg, and none could afford it in that marvellous concentration. The gentleness and delicacy of this perfume caused Lady in Black, one of my dear friends, with a monumental experience in perfumes, to shed tears of emotion. I felt lucky to be there with her because I know how it feels when a perfume causes you such emotions…
Madame De Nicolai then answered some questions, mainly focused on natural raw materials and the restrictions they’re now subjected to. I’d have kissed her in the forehead (Italian way of expressing joy): she basically said things we often say here, but she said them with the full weight of her experience, of her successful company, of her lineage (she is from Guerlain family). Her view is that protecting consumers’ health is essential, and to do this, clear guidelines are needed, but the legislation is now going too far: it seems that using scent may turn into a deadly fashion! Yet, no one has ever died of perfume, so far. So much so that after several decades in laboratories handling essential oils, she is still alive and kicking! ;-)) It’s impossible to protect anyone from anything, and perhaps it would be more sensible from us to devote more attention to what we bring to our tables and the quality of the air we breathe, just to begin with.


I wish to thank once again Patricia de Nicolai for letting us into this extraordinary journey across two centuries of scented art. And thank you also to Esxence organizers, who invited her to Italy. Learning the classics is essential to get an overall picture of modern perfumery. Widening the culture around fragrances, expanding the discussion to include also the classics, allows people to refine the taste, to learn differences and lineages and ultimately will lead to good results for everyone.

Commenti

Posta un commento

Post popolari in questo blog

Arancia La Spugnatura (Francois Demachy per Acqua di Parma, 2023)

-
Immagine
La spugnatura è una delle più antiche tecniche di estrazione meccanica delle essenze agrumarie ; si tratta di un metodo manuale che richiede maestria e precisione, e sono pochi, ormai, gli artigiani che sono in grado di farlo.  Per spugnare (o “sfumare”) un agrume, si divide il frutto a metà . Attraverso un apposito attrezzo -una via di mezzo tra un coltello ed un cucchiaio, denominato “cavatore”- l'artigiano scodella via la polpa da ognuna delle due metà, lasciando integra la buccia . Questa viene poi piegata e pressata sopra una spugna naturale, che raccoglierà tutta l'essenza contenuta negli otricoli. Quando sarà completamente imbibita di essenza, la spugna verrà poi strizzata all'interno di un recipiente di coccio, e l'olio essenziale così ottenuto verrà lasciato decantare.  Ogni artigiano riesce a spugnare circa un quintale e mezzo di frutti al giorno, da cui si ricavano poco meno di 500 gr di essenza .  Se le essenze agrumarie si estraessero ancora in questo mo...
KEEP READING THIS POST*LEGGI TUTTO IL POST

Perris Montecarlo new release: Vetiver Java by Gian Luca Perris (2021)

-
Immagine
Vetiver is duality made plant.  The visible part is a bright green shrub whose long and thin leaves point towards the sky. The invisible part is a huge taproot embracing Mother Earth with such an exceptional vigor, difficult to overcome.  Evidently, vetiver's essence, too, expresses the same duality -and Java vetiver even better than any other type. On the one hand, you smell the freshness, the clarity of a cold winter day, the “push” upwards , to touch Heavens. On the other hand, there's the woody-green, dry, earthy, warm, smoked facet, endowed with the primitive and unconscious elegance of wild creatures. You smell the powerful roots, the effort of freeing them from Mother Earth's embrace, to clean them, to dry them, to work them... the work of man, his desire to take possession of such an intense and intimate embrace, to feel wrapped in it.  Capturing both these polarities is not easy; the composer must be able to listen deeply to the rew materials, and build a visce...
KEEP READING THIS POST*LEGGI TUTTO IL POST

Fleurs de Rocaille (Caron, 1934)

-
Immagine
Ho ricevuto questa preziosa fialetta di Fleurs de Rocaille, il vintage originale, da Anna Maria qualche tempo fa e la ringrazio molto per avermi fatto conoscere questo piccolo tesoro di Ernest Daltroff. Fleurs de Rocaille significa più o meno “fiori di pietraia” o “fiori di un giardino roccioso”, ed in effetti pur essendo essenzialmente un profumo fiorito esprime essenzialità, minimalismo raffinato. Sembra fatto oggi da qualche naso innamorato della luce e del cristallo. Sul sito di Caron viene definito un fiorito aldeidato, ma non immaginatevi il N.5 di Chanel o White Linen di E. Lauder. Ha una sua delicata dolcezza impressionista, evanescente, che mi ha ricordato l’Eau d’Hiver di Ellena. Non per le note scelte, ma per l’intenzione, per la sospensione nel tempo e nello spazio. Non ho trovato la piramide; sento del garofano (sapete quei garofanini piccoli, color porpora?), della violetta, forse una rosa un po’ speziata, e sicuramente del muschio, ma rarefatto, non potente. Se avete ...
KEEP READING THIS POST*LEGGI TUTTO IL POST