Daim Blond by Serge Lutens

 Daim Blond is a "haute concentration" eau de parfum, and perfect for these extended cool Spring days and even cooler evenings.  I have long been fascinated by the concept of scented leather, and the scent of leather itself, especially that of the perfumed leather gloves that are so identified with the history of French perfume as it began in the city of Grasse, and the use of personal perfume as we know it in the Western world.  This is the subtle modern version of that idea.

This is about a delicate leather, soft and brushed and similar in its clean musk to the skin it envelops.  The brightness of the opening notes have an almost distanced sense of space that contains an apricot/heliotrope/iris sweetness  which on me quickly gives way to the tone of true suede. Or more accurately, what my ideal  of what a soft delicate pale suede would smell and feel like, made into a perfect pair of gloves that reach softly up the arm to a three quarter length.  The suede accord owes much to the cardamon and musk notes.

This is a far lighter and softer form of the Serge Lutens style I am more used to from my experience of Chergui, and Fille en Aiguilles, but still very much in that genre of an abstract composition that winds up resembling or recalling a real physical experience. Eventually, after the sense of suede dies down, there is simply a warm sense of (highly decorative) intimacy, of skin on skin.

Christopher Sheldrake is legendary in his ability to conjure the forces of pure luxe in the form of a scent.  This is a suede that enhances the sense of skin,  creating a velvet softness that makes it difficult to differentiate between the scent,  the skin and the impression of the a very fine suede embellishing it.

I have almost depleted my sample, which I received at a Sniffapalooza event last year, and would say this one is worth saving up for, at $140 for 50 ml.

Image above, by Bert Stern, Marilyn wearing such luxurious gloves in the early 60s, from We Heart Vintage, a site about fashion photography from the 20s to the 70s.

Spring: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back, Avignon and Florals from EnVoyage

Recently I began to develop a strong craving for Avignon, the super-churchy incense EdT from Comme le Garcons by Bertrand Duchcaufour. This is one of those perfumes that if you are in the least susceptible to the high ritualistic style of old cathedrals, you will be sunk the instant you try it. 

Since it’s been very cool in the evenings and there have been frequent dark and rainy days this Spring, it’s not been untoward at all to put on this sonorous, deep fragrance. It amazingly and accurately recalls the lingering scent of smoke, frankincense and myrrh that has seeped into every crevice of a vast cathedral interior, condensing on cool stone, penetrating the fabrics and even seeping into the wood in such an interior space. 

The notes list as Roman chamomile, for the dryness, cistus oil, also dry and herbaceous, elemi, which is a strong resin, incense, vanilla, patchouli, the dry but woody transition into intimate darkness, palisander, a Brazilian rosewood, and ambrette seeds for the amplification of musk. I think the patchouli and ambrette have much to do with the strength of character in this fragrance. So too the incense of course, but I think the softness and space is probably an effect of the vanilla and musk. This is one fragrance you must be careful not to use too much, or even too often, or you might overwhelm yourself and others and get so you can’t take it any more. Until that point comes though, it is a swooning type of beauty experience. It’s what I would imagine outer space would smell like, if it had an atmosphere that could carry a perfume.

I find it pairs perfectly with florals, too, especially those with very green elements and white flowers. Lilies are made for this atmosphere. I think of the many holidays cathedrals are decorated with huge masses of highly scented flowers, such as for Easter, and weddings. The contrast between the two types of perfume enhances the qualities of each.

So I say, try Avignon at the throat, and Nectars des Iles and/or Vents Ardents by EnVoyage Perfumes at each wrist if you get the chance. These florals are soft, but tenacious and strong enough to register against the likes of Avignon. Of course, very judiciously applied, or you will be fainting on the couch from overdoing it. More is not necessarily better in this case, but just enough is transcendent. Putting both together is a richly layered but perfect combination, like coffee or dark chocolate and whipped cream. The sweetness against the bitterness heightens and reveals the inner nature of each.

Nectar des Iles is gardenia, frangipani, and tiare, creamy and sultry, with a good longevity, placing a citric note at the back of the throat that informs the greener, lusher floral at the foreground. It is refreshing, like taking a sweet scented bath in soft rain water, and the tropical florals are reminiscent of lilies and other strong Spring flowers, such as hyacinth and narcissus, without their most cloying aspects.

Vents Ardents is a mid-toned fragrance, like a transitional step between the two above, with wood and rum and vanilla and citrus, but again shows off high-keyed notes that contrast well against the depth of Avignon or any other deep and dark background. 

I have worn each of them alone also, and find that they are definitely noticeable but not over-imposing as they develop on skin, even in a public space such as at the movie theater.  

Each of them alone are true beauties in their own right, but I find them to be incredibly good for layering if you apply with an consciousness of the humidity and heat level of the atmosphere. Cooler weather can carry these as on a breeze but once the heat and humidity rise together it is important not to go too far or they could get dangerously close to being truly intoxicating.   Once that happens, you will be able to  think of nothing and do nothing but exist helplessly in the midst of fragrance like some kind of drowsy bee.


Avignon by Comme les Garcons is at Aedes de Venustas and Luckyscent and elsewhere; 
EnVoyage Perfumes by Shelly Waddington is a niche perfume available online, and is completely handmade;

The Asphodel Lily and Magnolia Grandiflora above are cut-paper collages/mosaics by the 18th century Mary Delany; as shown in a book by the poet Mary Peacock. 
This remarkable botanical artist brought out the beauty of the bright plants and flowers against deep black backgrounds; see the NYT book review for a link to an excerpt.

Hard Core Perfume, Swank, Feminine and Sophisticated: MDCI, Annick Goutal & Hermes for Spring

I feel like I've been traveling in the land of alternative perfume for a long time, so I took a Spring break in the oasis of luxury that is very much about perfume alone, rather than a mood piece or an aromatic haiku of poetic allusion.  This is a pause deep inside the land of haute-European perfumery. 

I have my core favorite perfumers of this type.  Among them are Bertrand Duchaufour, Camille Goutal and Isabel Doyen for Annick Goutal and Jean-Claude Ellena.

I ventured into obtaining samples of a few Spring perfumes that piqued my interest following  early reviews on the classic perfume review sites,  and not surprisingly the descriptions that interested me most were those from the aforesaid perfumers.    Even in blind testing I find those perfumers are among those that consistently come up with perfumes that attract me most. 

As these are all released for the Spring season, I find myself in a world of green notes, with some gourmand elements and quiet, faint soft breaths of chypre in the background.

For me this kind of perfume is like opening a gift box of exquisite candies that are both traditional and so beautifully made as to expand the parameters of taste within a conventional form, that is, pretty rising to moments of true beauty, with the freshness of Spring generously included.

MDCI La Belle Helene EDP for me is like an archetypal experience of perfume; what I think of when I  think of the word "perfume".  An Audrey Hepburn type of perfume; something a glamorous and elegant beauty would wear in the months of April and May in Paris, on a daily basis. 

It immediately presents itself as a flattering and engaging green sweetness, accompanied by the tang of pepper and anise, developing into an almost caramelized floral that hints at depths.  Based on a dessert of ripe fragrant pear, it is teased up and heightened with a narcotic form of osmanthus; damp, green, with a light coating of anise flavored honey and a tap of pepper bracing the feminine energy. 

People say it is an outgrowth of the L'Artisan Traversee du Bosphore composition by Duchaufour, who seems to work in chapters, moving in a series from one olfactory theme and obsession to the next. I see the direct connection, but for me this one is far more to my taste, because the gourmand aspect is not overwhelmingly the foreground theme.  Here the green is predominant, and upholds the highly decorative floral essence as a ravishing body-conscious ornament.

This makes it hyper-feminine and very connected to the season of Spring because the green element is so integral and so reminiscent of the early leaves that appear while it is still cool. A classically beautiful  experience of Spring perfume, and what I think of as very French in style.

Le Mimosa EDT from Annick Goutal, is a melting, melon apricot-floral on a background of soft green.  There is a watery element similar to blue lotus, and also the feel of a fresh cut flower brought indoors. An informal, gentle almost iridescent variegated type of beauty, and delicate in a way that invites you closer in for more. 

The notes are listed as bergamot, anise, mimosa, iris, sandalwood, white musk, and peach. I find no recognizable anise but I think the peach and sandalwood are imparting that dreamy happy quality and anise may be in the background behind them, aiding in that olfactory quality of youthfulness. 

I see it has been compared to their Petite Cherie, a very very young fragrance, but to me this one not nearly so young, though it has some elements that are the same.  It is not so young as to be wearable only by those under 30, as I would say for Petite Cherie.  It reminds me a little of certain aspects of Un Matin d'Orage, a great favorite of mine, but without that development on the skin of twists and turns arriving at an unexpected floral finish.  Le Mimosa is very consistent and stable.  It makes me think of an easy sunny Spring weekend afternoon,  and I can see surrounding myself with this fragrance to heighten a sense of well being and ease, without overwhelming anyone near me.  It is in limited edition, which implies that it is available for this fugitive Spring season only.

The Hermes Garden EDT series has been a great pleasure for me to follow as it continues to unfold.  My favorites so far has been the Un Jardin en Mediterranee, exactly what it sounds like, and this last newest one, Un Jardin Sur le Toit, inspired by the pocket rooftop gardens of Paris. 

Immediately the green is mixed with earth, mixed with cedar chip mulch, and I get the leaves of last year raked into the ground beneath the aromatic green that is toughened by the winds and sun of exposure. Plants in the city must be tough to survive, but being so they provide an even greater immediate sense of oxygen, freshness,  peace and calm, surrounded as they are by traffic, noise and exhaust.  Even though there is a sheerness and transparency to the EDT strength, it breathes of tenacious beautiful things, and precious space. 

There is an almost cypress sense of strength to the green, and there are apples and pears but not cut or bitten into.  They seem still closed and complete in their skins on the tree branches, being warmed by sun.   The notes are listed as apple, pear, rose, green grass, basil, magnolia and compost, but again, for me while the fresh and quick citrus opens at the beginning, and the sweetness of fruit on a tree, it is immediately followed by the strength of the green (basil and grass) rooted in the rich damp earth.

This one is most definitely wearable by men and well as women, and would make either one emanate a subtle sense of beneficial natural elements colonizing pockets of air and light around themselves.

The above images are from online sites selling the perfumes. MDCI, at Luckyscent, as an EDP is madly expensive, $240 -$375 depending on the packaging;  the other two are in the $115-$80 range depending on size, at Neiman Marcus and other fine perfume counters.

May Day Muguet: DSH Perfumes, Masculine and Feminine

In celebration of the first of May, Dawn Spencer Hurwitz has made two special limited edition muguet perfumes entirely with botanical accords, in both masculine and feminine versions.   This is quite a feat, since lily of the valley does not lend itself to being distilled into a perfume by its own essence, and has for a long time been identified with man-made chemical approximations that are hyper-realistic and strong.

Scent Hive's longing and request to DSH for a fully natural lily of the valley fragrance resulted in these two rounder, gentler, natural fragrance versions of a floral that has many sentimental associations.  DSH  pulled off a virtuoso performance blending botanical accords to achieve these two versions, both renditions true to the heart and soul of  lily of the valley.

This quintessentially Spring fragrance quietly evokes the sweetness, the shyness, the dark earth and the warm early Spring sun on a flower that hides itself among its own tall green leaves close to the ground.  I love seeing  it  escaped from old gardens, thick clumps of it near crumbling iron fences and edging up around the base of late Victorian brownstone steps in Brooklyn. There is a vitality and irrepressible strength there.  It is a scent and a flower that stylistically keeps in tight association with the 19th Century, with young French girls, with May celebrations of Spring, and with an undiluted femininity of the old school. 

Breaking through the feminine associations, DSH brought this sense of May floral joy into the male sphere by the use of transparency, weighted by deeper elements that tone down the high scent pitch to a spare elegance.

Wearing both, I have one on one arm and one on the other.  The overtly feminine Muguet de Mai begins with a true, identifiable lily of the valley, supported by a green atmosphere expanding out under warmth that recalls the sun on your face after a long winter without.  It is softly gentle and holds close to the skin with an ornamental deliciousness that keeps your wrist close to your nose, aiming to capture this subtle experience as fully as possible.  As it dries down, the rose, orris, honey beeswax and resins blended together come up from behind in a way that identifies closely with the skin's warmth.  This is a very precious substance, but it would be ultimately luxurious to bathe your arms in this perfume so that you are fully enclosed in its complex yet gentle beauty for a time.  Being provided with a generous sample I have done that on one arm this morning, and find the sweetness toned with a honey thickened resinous aroma that engages with body heat to cast an intimate relaxing halo of soft beauty around me.

The notes list for both of these perfumes is long and can be fully reviewed at the DSH Notebook site.

The masculine Muguet Cologne is a true reference to lily of the valley,  but it arises in  immediate proximity together with damp earthiness and fresh green, and a subtle citric edge.  It has a  bracing sheer energy, partly from the cologne dilution and partly from the accords skillfully built around a stylized, abstracted, contemporary version of this traditional symbol of Spring.  It would be gorgeous on a man, but also beautiful worn by a woman in an context that requires more active energy, such as at work or even for exercising. 

Please visit the other sites for further personal takes and thoughts on these two perfumes -- at
the natural perfume lover and instigator of this project: Scent Hive; the inimitable Ida at CaFleureBon; the deeply scholarly Perfume Shrine; the sophisticate Gaia at  The Non-Blonde; and to get insight on the  perfumer's creative process, the Notebooks of DSH.

There are only nine antique presentation flacons of Muguet de Mai perfume,  at $125;  a good size sample at $22.  All available at the DSH website (follow the links) and varying sizes of the Muguet Cologne from a sample vial for $5.25 to 10 ml $45 and 1 ounce at $98.