Chanel Coromandel

As some of you may know, I am working my way through the Chanel Exclusifs samples I recently received. Today I am wearing Coromandel, a fragrance that is apparently inspired by the Coromandel Laquer screens that Coco Chanel had in one of her Paris apartments. I've read differing views, but it seems like Coromandel was created by Jacque Polge with some input by Christopher Sheldrake. The theme of Coromandel, certainly to my nose, is patchouli and amber, with a smidgen of incense, and I could be wrong here, but just a hint of lily and tobacco. The reason I say this is, about half an hour in, I notice an accord that bears more than a passing resemblance to Versace Dreamer, albeit toned down dramatically. I could be speaking total rot here, but to my nose, that is what I smell. I think if I were to introduce a friend to patchouli, this is the perfume I would get him or her to try first. Coromandel is a wonderfully well executed patchouli fragrance, but it is not overbearing, which patchouli can be sometimes, and I think this frightens some people off it as a note. I actually like patchouli, but then, some of my staples are fragrances like Mazzolari Lui and Intrigant Patchouli by Parfumerie General, both of which are in my opinion hard-core patch fests.  What I love about Coromandel is that has that inimitable Chanel feel of understated luxuriance. The patchouli is most definitely there, and it smells like proper patchouli, unlike some of the dross that is churned out these days in the name of patch. But, and this is a big but, the patchouli in Coromandel smells polished and refined, like if you were to attribute an alcoholic term to perfume, this is triple-distilled and then aged in mellow casks. When I say polished, I find the patchouli, in combination with the amber, takes on an almost woody, waxed-and-polished feel. Some people have compared Coromandel to Borneo 1834 by Lutens, and I can see where they are coming from, although I think Borneo carries a much edgier feel with its camphor and coco notes, and overall, it has a far greater oriental feel to it. But perhaps there is no coincidence in this comparison when one considers that Sheldrake has worked with both Lutens and Chanel.

When all is said and done, I find Coromandel to be a compelling fragrance. I wouldn't say that it is uber original, but it is incredibly well-crafted, and like I said earlier, it carries that Chanel hallmark of understated elegance and chic, which is a hard thing to pull off with such a dominant note as patchouli is. So far, the Exclusifs impress me, although more will be revealed as I move on to some of the others. As with Bois des Iles, I can't recommend Coromandel highly enough. 

Chanel Bois des Iles

I recently ordered a number of the Chanel Les Exclusifs from The Perfumed Court and I'm looking forward to trying them all. The reason I tried Bois des Iles first is because I read somewhere that it bears similarities to Egoiste, which I own. The notes for Bois des Iles are Aldehydes, coriander, bergamot, neroli, peach, jasmine, rose, lily of the valley, ylang-ylang, iris, vetiver, sandalwood, benzoin, vanilla and musk. I must admit, the aldehydes (which I know Chanel is famous for) completely escape me. Having said that, I am dabbing from a vial, not spraying, so perhaps that is why. I also don't detect much citrus at all, and a lot of the florals are very subdued on me. I think the most prominent are rose, ylang and iris, which combine wonderfully with the sandalwood, vanilla and benzoin to create a creamy, slightly zingy accord early on, reminiscent of ginger, or gingerbread. I must admit, Bois des Iles does indeed share some similarities with Egoiste, but I think the ginger and citrus, and even the rose, come to think of it, are quite a lot more toned down. Bois des Iles strikes me as incredibly poised and sophisticated. Although quite sweet in a way, I find it relatively dry and woody, and Chanel do iris very well too. Bois des Iles dries down to a splendidly warm, cozy, comforting vanilla, sandalwood and iris combination. Egoiste on the other hand, although very good, is a touch courser to my nose, not quite as well-bred. What I find quite interesting is that Egoiste, although marketed to men, is quite frankly perfectly unisex, and Bois des Iles, I suspect, is a 'feminine' fragrance, yet also perfectly unisex, despite all those floral notes. Like a lot of the Chanels, Bois des Iles makes a statement of good breeding. It is not subdued by any means, and lasts well on my skin, yet it has minimal sillage and definitely does not shout its presence. I think it is truly a gorgeous perfume and I would love to smell it on both men and women. Although I love my bottle of Egoiste, I must admit that in my opinion, Bois des Iles is the superior perfume, and if I had tested a sample of each before owning either, I would have gone for Bois des Iles. This one comes highly recommended - I love it!

Sonoma Scent Studio

I mentioned in a post not that long ago that I had finally ordered some samples from Sonoma Scent Studio. Well, they finally arrived and I am now excitedly trying them out. This post is more a general description of my initial impressions of the line and if I do any detailed reviews, these will be published later. Firstly, I want to emphasise how lovely it is that a niche, indie line can be so reasonably priced, and secondly, how refreshing it is that you can buy Laurie Erickson's perfumes in a number of different sizes. I have purchased only small samples, but one is also able to purchase 5ml, 17ml and 34ml sizes, which makes absolute sense and I wish more perfumers would do this. I can only speak for myself, but I am far more inclined to buy say two or three 5ml or 17ml bottles than I am 200ml or 300ml vats that I could bathe in.

Anyway, on to the fragrances. I purchased samples of Wood Violet, Tabac Aurea, Sienna Musk, Incense Pure, Fireside Intense, Winter Woods and Ambre Noir. I haven't tried them all yet, but so far, my initial impressions are as follows:

Wood Violet - I am pleasantly surprised by this one as usually I am not a huge fan of the violet note. Even in this case, I am not convinced this is full bottle worthy for me, but the violet is cleverly balanced with Himalayan Cedar, so although the violet does dominate in the first half of development, the cedar is well present in the latter half and it makes a nice partner with the violet. There is plum in here as well, which at this early stage is not that noticeable to me, but I have not experienced this note much, so perhaps I am not quite attuned to it yet,

Tabac Aurea - funnily enough, this was the one I thought would be a huge winner for me, and it turns out that I am luke warm about it. It is nice, but it smells like a dead ringer for Histoire de Parfums 1740, aka Marquis de Sade. This is all about leather, patchouli and tobacco, but I find the tobacco quite light. Although not listed, I can almost swear that I detect an immortelle note in here; either that, or the combination of notes eerily creates the impression of immortelle. Either way, this smells very similar to me to 1740. As I said, I don't mind this, and in fact I don't mind 1740, but it doesn't blow me away.

Sienna Musk - again, this one leaves me luke warm. I usually like musk, but this particular style of sweetish musk, combined with the cinnamon note, does not do much for me. I know Sienna Musk has a lot of fans and I will give it another chance, but it is not really me. It reminds me a bit of the musk sweets I used to get in lucky packets when I was a small boy, slightly sweet, slightly talcy, even a bit powdery.

Incense Pure - of the four I've tried so far, this is the clear winner. If you like incense, this will not disappoint. This has got to be possibly the most linear fragrance I have ever tried, but don't let this deter you. The incense here is clear, effervescent almost and literally sings on my skin in the opening. It isn't particularly churchy or gothic and there is almost a resiny herbalness to it, like the smell of rosemary and pine combined, but in a very classy manner. The incense is there from start to finish and a gorgeous incense it is. In a way, Incense Pure is quite sheer and transparent even, but not really light. It's hard to describe, but the name Pure really does it justice. It is pure and unadulterated incense.

Once I've tried the others, I will post my initial thoughts on them too. So far, I do admire what I have tried. Some of them might not quite be me, but I can't fault Sonoma Scent Studio for being innovative and releasing some interesting product.

Summer = Citrus

I should just say that generally speaking I am not a huge fan of the citrus fragrance family. I very often love a citrus opening, then it fades fast, leaving me smelling faint woods and musk at best. Some citrus fragrances are excellent - take Eau Savage for example - and have stood the test of time, but there are others that seem to just clog up the shelves at many department stores, all like each other and very often called  sports fragrances. I recently received samples of Acqua Di Parma Colonia and Aramis  Cool Blend. Cool Blend is meant to appeal to a young, new generation of Aramis lovers, and I understand is mean to be a fresh chypre. To me it opens with a strong blast of bergamot and that is pretty much all I smell initially. I'm sure there is more in there, but nothing that stands out. There is a spicy piquancy in the heart, which I thought might be cardamom, but from the notes it seems it is actually white pepper and cinnamon. I did detect a rosiness, but now I think this might be the cinnamon note. The dry down is meant to have a creamy suede, golden amber and sandalwood accord, but I honestly don't detect the suede or sandalwood. I thought  I was smelling musk and amber. I'm not sure why it is classed as a fresh chypre - it doesn't smell anything like a chypre to me, fresh or otherwise, and I fail to see how amber, suede and sandalwood could combine to be a chypre? To me Cool Blend seems quite similar to Bulgari Pour Homme, perhaps not exactly in structure, but it has a similar vibe. It is quite mainstream, but to its credit it manages to avoid a lot of the generic cliches out there in men's perfumery, at least I think so. It smells decent, without any wow factor, and if Aramis are trying to connect to a new generation of men, these guys could do a lot worse than wear Cool Blend.

Colonia was created in 1916 and has notes of Italian and Sicilian citrus fruits, lavender, verbena and vetiver. I'm not sure if there is a difference between Italian and Sicilian fruit, but in any event it opens bright and citrusy, with a smell more of the citrus leaves than the fruit or blossoms, luckily (for me). There is quite a lemonyness to it, which I think must be the verbena, which is very realistic. To me it smells a lot like fresh lemon zest. Once the citrus fades a bit, there is more of a floral aspect. Although not listed, I thought I detected a lovely rose and jasmine combo, quite elegant and restrained, and not too floral for a man to wear. I also thought the herbal note smelled a lot like rosemary, but again, I see lavender listed, so perhaps I am confused. In any event, the heart is a lovely mix of rose, jasmine, herbs, perfectly blended. It smells classy and understated. The dry down seems mossy to me, but that might be lavender and vetiver combining. I think overall Colonia smells expensive, with very good quality ingredients. Although released in 1916, it doesn't come across as old fashioned and dated, at least not to me. Being a cologne, it isn't particularly long-lasting and is fairly subtle and restrained, but I think it is lovely and would certainly recommend it.

So would I buy Cool Blend or Colonia? Well, I think I would definitely go for Colonia. It smells more natural and of better-quality ingredients to me, and although not as long-lasting as Cool Blend, it does more for me while it lasts. I know I am not the new generation, but give me 1916 over 2010 any day, at least in this case.

Etat Libre D'Orange - Fat Electrician

The picture to the left is not the one used for the Fat Electrician marketing, but as I'm in a silly mood, bum cracks it is. Speaking of silly, perhaps I'm just a grouch, but I do find a lot of the ELDO marketing a bit silly, bearing very little relation to the fragrances themselves. Having said that though, how many perfume ad campaigns actually do? 

Fat Electrician is primarily a vetiver fragrance, one which evolves on a more oriental theme, with a nuttier, rather than grassy or earthy opening. It brings to mind Luten's Vetiver Oriental and Hermes Vetiver Tonka. The heart is still a fairly nutty, slightly sweet vetiver. As it dries down a smokiness creeps in, which might be a combination of opoponax and myrrh, but  I don't really know. At the end of the day I feel slightly disappointed with Fat Electrician. It has received a lot of favourable reviews but I just thought it would be a lot edgier and possibly might bring something new to the vetiver genre. To my nose it comes across as slightly gentlemanly, a bit staid and stodgy really. It's not that it isn't a good fragrance, it is, but I was expecting more, given ELDO's reputation for innovation and I kept waiting for the twist, or weirdness, which didn't come. Perhaps this says more about my warped expectations rather than ELDO's skill, as this is a good quality vetiver fragrance, but I still think I'll stick with some of my other tried-and-tested vetivers.

Guerlain - house of cards?

I find it quite difficult to write about anything Guerlain. So much has been written before, that for me, a bare novice, to add my tuppence worth seems almost sacrilegious. I mean, what could I possibly add that hasn't been said already? Then again, perfume is an art, and like any art, it garners both praise and criticism, from novice and expert alike, and so therefore I will comment accordingly. I was looking through some of my perfume notes the other day, which I am rapidly accumulating as I become more serious (I use this term loosely) about analysing and thinking about the perfumes I try, and I was surprised to discover that not only have I not reviewed a Guerlain perfume, I have not even tried one in at least three months. I then looked at some of my search engine histories and noticed that literally every day I have viewed some article or blog that has a Guerlain topic. So why this anomaly? Surely if I read so much about this venerable house, I would have at least sampled one of their extensive range within a 3-month period? Well, thinking about it, I have come to the conclusion that despite the sheer weight of presence of Guerlain, its products are not quite as widely available as one would think. Ok, like anything, if you really search for it, you will find it, but to take me as an example: I live in Tunbridge Wells, an affluent west-Kent town, only 50 miles or so from London, but there is only one outlet for Guerlain, Hoopers department store. In London you will find the standard Guerlain range carried in most decent department stores, but (and please correct me if I am wrong, as I don't visit London very often anymore) the more exclusive and hard-to-find ones, for example the L'Art et la Matiere, are exclusive to Paris. I've also found that it is incredibly difficult to obtain samples of Guerlain. Most SA's locally and in London will happily dish out armfuls of the latest fruity floral but try asking for a Guerlain sample and see what happens. Nada, at least in my experience. 

I suppose this adds to the aura of exclusivity, but having said that, there seems to have been a push in recent years to "dumb-down" the brand, or at the very least, increase its distribution, but only among new releases. To give you an example, Boots is Britain's most successful chain of chemists, and carries a good range of mainstream and designer brands. They never carried Guerlain, but do carry Insolence and Homme. Is this Guerlain's strategy of trying to introduce the brand to younger consumers?

One thing I've wondered about for a long time is why some of the more famous Houses don't utilise the web better for marketing and distribution? Can they not see the huge potential? I suppose it is no coincidence that true niche and indie operations such as Andy Tauer, Neil Morris, Sonoma Scent Studio, Dawn Spencer Hurwitz, etc have such good websites and excellent sampling programmes and customer service. They have had to utilise the internet to the hilt in order to gain new business. In my opinion, smaller bottle sizes are the way to go, particularly if you are trying to gain loyalty from perfumistas, as we generally don't want 200 ml of juice to last us for the next five years. We want to try lots and often. I wonder how much more successful the Chanel Exclusifs would be for example, if in addition to offering such ludicrous-sized bottles, they also allowed you to purchase a sample coffret of the entire range, or say 5 or 15 ml bottles? I'm sure they would move more product in the long run and ml for ml, they would still be making the same, if not better, margins. In the same vein, it would be fantastic if one could order Guerlain samples from their website, for the entire range, in every concentration and vintage. Yes, I know this is perhaps expecting a bit too much, but why not?

Anyway, moving on, I am not doing a full review of any Guerlain perfumes today, but I am wearing Homme on one wrist and L'Instant on the other. L'Instant receives a lot of praise on Basenotes and I must admit, in my opinion this is justified. I think it is a wonderful fragrance and a great example of how Guerlain could bridge the gap between the old and the new. This fragrance is bang up to date in terms of execution, texture and structure, yet there is something about it that is undeniably"Guerlain". It has it all. I think I might slightly prefer the intense version, but both the EDT and EDP versions are well worth trying. When I first tried Homme a couple of years ago I was not impressed. It felt weak, incoherent and I couldn't get my head around it. Having tried it a few times now, I am eating my words, as it is actually not that bad. I don't think it is stunning or that original, but there is far worse out there in mainstream men's perfumery. I think my issue with Homme was more about longevity. It didn't last at all and my skin just ate it up. However, trying it now, it seems to have far greater presence - perhaps its a skin chemistry or hormonal thing, who knows. 

At the time of writing this, I have ordered some L'art et la Matiere samples (and some of the Chanel Exclusifs) from The Perfumed Court, so I will finally get a chance to try some more of the less readily-available of these lines and I am looking forward to finding out what they are like.

The Different Company - Sel de Vetiver

Following my recent bog on vetiver, I thought I would follow it up with a review of Sel de Vetiver, by the Different Company, one of my favourite, yet eclectic vetiver fragrances. The listed notes are grapefruit, cardamom, geranium, lovage, Haitian vetiver, patchouli, iris and ylang-ylang. This note list is quite unusual, at least to me. I haven't seen lovage, geranium, iris and ylang-ylang listed together before and on paper it doesn't sound particularly appealing, but Sel de Vetiver is both an unusual and beautiful fragrance. It opens quite sweet, with a bit of grapefruit and a somewhat mineral accord. The vetiver is noticeable immediately and strikes me as more rooty than grassy, but it is fairly sheer and fresh. It does conjure up the feel of being near the ocean, like driving along a shoreline with a salt-laden breeze in your face. Or perhaps I'm just being fanciful. Sel de Vetiver was created by Celine Elena, the daughter of Jean-Claude, and it shows, using a similar sheer/minimalist style, with the use of grapefruit and vetiver in particular. Although released at almost the same time as Terre de Hermes, Sel de Vetiver is quite different in many ways and I actually prefer it, despite owning a bottle of Terre. Although fairly sheer, Sel de Vetiver is by no means a light scent and it lasts well on the skin.

The heart is particularly beautiful to me - it shimmers almost, the salty vetiver and citrus tang combining beautifully with a clean cedar and patchouli accord. It strikes me as incredibly refreshing and original, without slipping into that dreaded ozone-marine territory. In fact, smelling this, I wish that Sel de Vetiver could have been released a decade earlier to set the benchmark for what a marine fragrance should smell like. The vetiver is tempered by a floral sweetness which I thought smelled quite rosy, but I'm guessing its actually the ylang, geramium and iris in combination. Whatever it is, it combines so well with the vetiver that I find I am compelled to sniff my wrist almost constantly, which can appear a little weird, I'm sure, to my office colleagues! The dry down  maintains that juxtaposition of salty/sweet, vetiver root/mineral that is fascinating. I find it quite hard to describe exactly how this smells on the skin. To me it feels almost literally how a cooling ocean breeze would smell at dusk, as the heat of the day dissipates, the air thick with ozone and the promise of a fragrant night to come. Yes, I know that might read as a bit over-the-top, but that is how Sel de Vetiver makes me feel, which surely is a good thing.

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