New Perfume Review Frassai Introduction and Tian Di (Part 1)- A Jeweler’s Eye

It is common for fashion designers to branch out into perfume. It happens so frequently it seems lacking if a big fashion house doesn’t have a perfume or two with their name on it. Jewelry designers are less likely to add fragrance to their portfolio. Yet many of the lines which have jewelers as their creative director also have an innate understanding of providing settings for all their ingredients to sparkle within.

Natalia Outeda

When I was contacted by Natalia Outeda the founder and creative director of Frassai I was happy to hear she was a jewelry designer as well as a perfume designer. Based in Buenos Aires and New York Sra. Outeda she also had a background in fine fragrance which made this a real fusion of her experience. She chose three of the best perfumers in the business; Olivier Gilltoin, Yann Vasnier, and Rodrigo Flores-Roux to compose her debut collection of three perfumes Tian Di, Blondine, and Verano Porteno. I liked all three enough to want to write about them over the next two days. I’ll start with Tian Di and finish tomorrow with the other two.

Olivier Gillotin

Tian Di was a collaboration between Sra Outeda and M, Gillotin meant to evoke a contemporary Oriental. To stretch the jewelry analogy, it was like re-setting a vintage piece in a modern way. M. Gillotin would produce an Oriental with less heaviness and more kinetic energy than the form usually provides.

That starts with a fascinating accord around ginger and peach. Both are so frequently used it is difficult to find life in the pairing, yet M. Gillotin does. It happens because the ginger can act as a wave upon which the peach floats on top of. When it crashes what arises from the spray is a compelling heart accord of orris and incense. Here M. Gillotin uses both ingredients as the central gemstones of different “colors”. The orris has a deep amethyst hue while the incense is onyx. It shades things dark but more dusky than full night. Sandalwood provides the platinum setting for these jewels to nestle in. When all put together it is recognizably Oriental but given a fresh new setting.

Tian Di has 10-12 hour longevity and average sillage.

It might just be confirmation bias, but Tian Di does feel like the jeweler’s eye of Sra. Outeda was asking for M. Gillotin to place each ingredient just so. In Tian Di it results in a jewel of a perfume.

Disclosure: This review is based on samples provided by Frassai

–Mark Behnke