If you ever spend time with an artist one of the first things you will learn is colors cannot be simply described as one word. In my house if I say “blue”. Mrs. C looks at me with the unspoken question, “what kind of blue?” She is incapable of seeing the colors in the world in the reductionist way her scientist husband does. Which has taught me that there are more colors to be seen then red, green, blue and all the combinations those three can produce. When I hear one of my favorite independent perfumers is interpreting the color brown I am intrigued. Maria McElroy is the perfumer and her latest release is Aroma M Geisha Marron Eau de Parfum.
Geisha Marron was released a perfume oil a year or so ago, but Ms. McElroy has been re-interpreting those oils as eau de parfums. It is something which has been worth the effort because once transferred to the more expansive form there is a wider canvas on display. When I was wearing this version of Geisha Marron I was reminded of those dehydrated sponges that expand to three or four times their size in water. Geisha Marron EdP has that effect as everything within seems livelier because of the additional space.
Maria McElroy
Ms. McElroy has always seen Geisha Marron as a perfume of the autumn. Capturing the moment when the color of the leaves has turned to brown. It is only then that the natural shading of brown in nature can be seen. Geisha Marron is a perfume of shades which draw you in.
Ms. McElroy opens with the brilliance of a cloudless autumnal afternoon with the sun sparkling in the sky. A citrus triptych of mandarin, grapefruit, and bergamot provide the bright backdrop. Ms. McElroy mentions the smell of roasting chestnuts as a smell of the fall. I was expecting something with a gourmand bent. Instead she works with chestnut blossom; a different kind of white flower. This is a very subtle floral ingredient carrying some of the bombastic qualities of other white flowers but instead of indolic contrasts there is the hint of the chestnut it will mature into. This goes excellently with the Japanese magnolia, with which it is paired, as that carries a woody undercurrent which blends with the subtle nuttiness within the chestnut blossom. Muguet comes forward over time to tilt the heart accord in a more classically floral direction. The base accord is a lilting leather infused with musk which softly envelops the heart notes.
Geisha Marron has 8-10 hour longevity and average sillage.
So, you might think this doesn’t sound very brown to which I would reply that is the point. If I wanted to describe Geisha Marron in different browns I would call the top accord “Amber”, the middle accord “Tan”, and the base accord “Kobicha”. It isn’t that it is just one shade it is many which answers the real question; Geisha Marron is a fantastic floral perfume for the autumn.
Disclosure: This review is based on a sample provided by Aroma M.
–Mark Behnke
