This has been the week of the local county fair here in Poodlesville. Ever since I was a young child I make sure to attend the local summer fair wherever I have lived. One reason is I love the rides. As I walk down the central aisle flanked by all sorts of thrill rides, called the midway, I am greeted by a sensory overload. There are screams of delight in every tone as the rides spin, flip, and swoop. The smells of the food stalls drifts across, bbq ribs, funnel cakes, cotton candy, and caramel apples. When you are standing in the midway you are at the crossroads of everything going on at the fair. Most of the time a perfume that I would describe in those terms would be overloaded to distraction. The recent release Thameen The Cora shows me there can be some speedy thrills in overload.
Basel Binjabr
Thameen is the perfume brand owned and creatively directed by Basel Binjabr. It was begun in London in 2013 and he has slowly been expanding into countries ever since. It only recently arrived in the US and I purchased a discovery set of samples to get a feel for the line. Mr. Binjabr has stated he did not want the collection to necessarily affect an Eastern influence. There is an impressive breadth across the entire collection but there was nothing that was standing out for me until I got to The Cora.
The Cora Sun-Drop
Each of the perfumes is named after a famous gemstone. The Cora is the short name for the largest yellow diamond known called more fully The Cora Sun-Drop. As you can see above in the right light it almost looks like a crystalline bit of sunlight. As I look at that I imagine a perfume full of sunny notes which usually means citrus. Mr. Binjabr looks at that and sees white flowers, lots and lots of them. The Cora stages itself through two distinct floral phases which do impart a bit of lightness but they also have some spin, flip, and swoop, too.
Jasmine is the keynote in the top accord. It is one of the cleaner versions of jasmine. The depth and spicy quality comes from a Bulgarian rose using its spicy core in place of the indoles. Magnolia and wisteria provide some different white floral tonality to the overall effect. The heart accord is muguet made greener by carnation and sweeter by benzoin and vanilla. A bit of nutmeg along with the carnation is what connects the two accords as we swoosh from the high of the expansive top into a deeper heart. The base takes us on a ninety-degree turn into a patchouli, amber and white musk finish.
The Cora has 8-10 hour longevity and average sillage.
The Cora keeps adding in more and more notes which should just become a cacophony but like standing on the midway it is instead a synthesis of white flowers spinning, flipping and swooshing around me in a fragrant thrill ride.
Disclosure; This review was based on a sample I purchased.
–Mark Behnke
