Over the years since 2013 besides consistently excellent perfume there is another thing Masque Milano has become known for. Creative Directors Alessandro Brun and Riccardo Tedeschi have worked with many of the most talented young perfumers in the business. In many cases their work for Masque Milano is part of their earliest work. Sigs. Brun and Tedeschi have an undeniable eye for talent. The list of perfumers who have collaborated with them is a roster of young talents at the beginning of their careers. I think the results have been so good because these young artists are given an unusual opportunity to free their imaginations early in their career. They are just beginning to delve into their potential. One of the first of these returns for Masque Milano Le Donne di Masque Petra.
Riccardo Tedeschi (l.) and Alessandro Brun
That perfumer is Cecile Zarokian. In 2013 when she did Tango for the first of the Opera collection, I had only known her for one previous release, the spectacular metallic rose of Majda Bekkali Mon Nom est Rouge. I had already thought of her as something special. Tango would reinforce that with a sultry summer night in Buenos Aires doing the dance of love. This was one of the perfumes, when I tried it, help erase the memory of the earlier versions of Dolceaqua and Petra. I had a hard time reconciling the boldness from these perfumes in contrast to the blandness of the first two. For this reinterpretation of Petra Mme Zarokian pushes the envelope in a genre I think she is beginning to make her own.
Cecile Zarokian
Based on the press release I think the brief for Le Donne di Masque Petra is the 1976 song by Al Stewart “Year of the Cat”. The accompanying description is just the first verse of the song. Mme Zarokian has been making some of the most interesting gourmands in the last few years. She seemingly has an affinity for the style while looking to evolve it. In Le Donne di Masque Petra she does it again with an unusual pastry accord at the heart.
Before we get there, she uses baie rose at a concentration where both its fruity and herbal facets are prominent. Some sparkle comes through citrus. The gourmand accord Mme Zarokian is attempting is of an Arabic dessert called luqaimat. I’ve never tasted it, but it looks like a more refined version of the carnival staple fried dough. This is what Mme Zarokian creates; a sweet doughy accord infused with fruits and florals. It is another in her recent string of successful experiments as it carries a lighter quality then my description of fried dough might imply. It turns towards a resinous base of incense and patchouli wrapped in a subtle leather.
Le Donne di Masque Petra has 12-14 hour longevity and average sillage.
As it was with Tango Mme Zarokian is given the chance to free her imagination on Le Donne di Masque Petra. It results in another expansion of what a gourmand perfume can aspire to. That is thanks to Sigs. Brun and Tedeschi who know to trust in the precociousness of the young artist. It is a major reason why their brand is one of the best in the world.
Disclosure: this review is based on a sample I purchased.
–Mark Behnke
