I have been waiting for years to have creative director Celine Verleure and perfumer Dominique Ropion work together again. The three latest releases for Mme Verleure’s brand Olfactive Studio is that reunion. Yesterday I reviewed Violet Shot. Today I am going to cover Rose Shot and Iris Shot.
Celine Verleure
As always, the perfumes are based on a photographic brief. This time by Roberto Greco. For Rose Shot in the photo below you see a dewy rose. M. Ropion delivers a perfume of depth around this classic floral subject.
Rose Shot (photo: Roberto Greco)
The core is a rich Turkish rose. In the beginning baie rose and elemi create that freshness the drops of dew in the photo portend. Things shift with a set of creamy lactones adding to things. There is a moment when this forms an accord of the finest French milled rose soap. That transitions to something slightly woody. The light woods have an unusual focal effect. As they come forward it seems to intensify the rose. A bit of velvety moss adds the foundation.
Rose Shot has 14-16 hour longevity and moderate sillage in extrait strength.
Dominique Ropion
Iris Shot is my favorite of the three new Sepia Collection releases. I am always drawn into a great creative take on iris. This two deliver that creative synergy I expected for this one. What makes iris an interesting perfume ingredient is it is so malleable in relation to the other ingredients. A perfumer can push and pull to realize myriad subtle shadings. Iris Shot is full of them.
Iris Shot (photo: Roberto Greco)
It begins with the powdery iris being caught up in a whirlwind of aldehydes and cardamom. That might sound vintage-like but it is the opposite. This has a clean contemporary architecture which turns the powdery part into a livelier version of itself. As we move to the heart the doughy rooty part of iris is used to make a fantastic faux-gourmand accord. Using carrot seed and almond a floral croissant is cooked up. Over the final stages the dryness of Ambroxan is leavened with vetiver to create a less stentorian woody accord than if the Amboxan was on its own.
Iris Shot has 14-16 hour longevity and moderate sillage and is also in extrait strength.
My wait was worth it. All three of these perfumes display the creativity I expected from this Dynamic Duo.
Disclosure: This review is based on samples supplied by Olfactive Studio.
If you look at almost any piece of writing on this site it should be obvious the esteem I hold creative directors in. I think the rare ones among them are as important as the perfumer. For some brands I would say it the predominant artistic vision. Once the names of the creative directors and perfumers began to become known I searched to find out what I could find out about my favorites. It took me a long time, but I figured out the creative team behind Kenzo Jungle L’Elephant. Celine Verleure and perfumer Dominique Ropion.
Celine Verleure
Since 2011 Mme Verleure has overseen her own brand of perfume Olfactive Studio. It has become one of my favorite lines of fragrance. Her creative direction using a photograph as brief has been shown through each successive release to be outstanding. From the first perfume I kept thinking she would collaborate with M. Ropion early on. Then it seemed like it wasn’t going to happen. Mme Verleure came to visit our local perfumery and she brought with her the next three releases in her Sepia Collection. When she told me M. Ropion was the perfumer for all of them I finally got my wish.
Dominique Ropion
There is an ease of creativity between these two artists. It shows in all three of the new perfumes. I am going to spend today and tomorrow reviewing all three. I begin with Violet Shot.
Violet Shot (photo: Roberto Greco)
As I mentioned each perfume is accompanied by photograph. For these three Roberto Greco took still lifes of each of the florals featured. For violet there is the bloom, but the leaf is equally prominent in the frame. M. Ropion creates something green and then floral.
That green is the scent of fresh cut grass. Perfumers have the tools to create a photorealistic version. This the path M. Ropion takes to begin. Some baie rose is used in a small quantity to further deepen the grass through its herb-like nature. A swoosh of citrus also rides across the smell of the greensward. The violet comes next and it is tilted towards the greenness of the leaf. Over some time the floral peeks out as it seems as if it sits on a leather panel. This is an exceptionally light leather which gives way to patchouli and vanilla creating a sweet earthy foundation.
Violet Shot has 12-14 hour longevity and moderate sillage because it is at extrait strength.
Violet Shot reminds me of those times you run into an old friend you haven’t seen in years. Yet when you find yourself together it is as if no time has passed. For Mme Verleure and M. Ropion Violet Shot seems like their creativity works on the same principle.
Disclosure: this review is based on a sample provided by Olfactive Studio.
When the restrictions on oakmoss absolute were announced a few years ago I thought to myself that was the end of the chypre. It has turned out to be as inaccurate a prediction as I could have made. What the loss of full spectrum oakmoss has done is to give a few perfumers the challenge of making a modern chypre without the oakmoss. They have some help because there is a version of oakmoss where the problematic component, atranol, has been greatly reduced. This low-atranol version caries much of the mossy softness of oakmoss. The only thing I find lacking is the bite. Of course it is that bite which defines a good chypre to me. Which means if you’re going to make a modern chypre for my tastes you need to find a way of restoring that. If there is one perfumer who has excelled at this, it is Bertrand Duchaufour. His collaboration with creative director Celine Verleure adds another chypre to his portfolio with Olfactive Studio Chypre Shot.
Celine Verleure
Chypre Shot is part of the three fragrance Sepia Collection which was released at the end of the winter this year. Having a collection of three perfumes all at once is a departure for Olfactive Studio. It is even more difficult when all three are good. Chypre Shot captures everything that is great about M. Duchaufour’s examination of creating modern chypres.
Bertrand Duchaufour
Chypre Shot opens with a strong cardamom gust flanked by the golden aura of saffron. It leads to a fascinating interlude of black tea, coffee, and peony. This is like floating a fresh floral on top of a cup of half tea half coffee. The coffee begins to provide some of the bite I want with an oily bitterness. The real purveyor of that comes as the oakmoss arrives. Black pepper infuses itself throughout the low-atranol oakmoss. It sets up the last part of the chypre accord, patchouli, to come forward and complete the effect. Some amber warms things up in the late going but it is that modern chypre accord which holds the focus for most of the time.
Chypre Shot has 12-14 hour longevity and moderate sillage. All the Sepia Collection releases are extrait strength making them closer wearing.
One of the reasons Chypre Shot delights me so is M. Duchaufour continues to show he will not be limited by ingredient restrictions. He has continued to lead the way in making sure chypres remain a vital perfume style, no matter what.
Disclosure: This review is based on a sample provided by Olfactive Studio.
I am a long-time admirer of Celine Verleure. Her days as Creative Director at Kenzo perfumes produced fragrances that were trendsetters. Ever since she started her own brand, Olfactive Studio, in 2011 she has reaffirmed my belief that she is one of the elite Creative Directors in all of perfumery. She has practiced a particularly interesting form of artistic direction with Olfactive Studio. Instead of a brief for the perfumer consisting of words; she has chosen a photograph. It has resulted in one of the top niche perfume collections.
Celine Verleure
At the end of last year she tried something a little bit different in overseeing the three perfume Sepia Collection. She worked with the same photographer and the same perfumer. It has been one of the things which has made the brand so vibrant that it has been a different photographer and mostly a different perfumer. For the Sepia Collection she chose the photos of Martin Hill who along with his wife, Philippa Jones, create natural temporary sculptures out of the geography and what is available nearby. His photographs are all that preserves the work.
Bertrand Duchaufour
Perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour is one of the most prolific independent perfumers we have. That amount of output naturally has its ups and downs. If there has been any pattern to his better perfumes, I would posit that a strong artistic vision from the brand which doesn’t compromise is the best barometer for success. In 2017’s Woody Mood Mme Verleure showed she could bring out the best in M. Duchaufour.
Photo by Martin Hill
I will eventually review all three Sepia Collection perfumes but as usual there was one which needed to be worn first, Leather Shot. If you look at Mr. Hill’s picture, above, used as the brief you will be surprised at what you find in the bottle. Leather Shot is a spicy iris leather construct.
It is the spice and iris where Leather Shot opens. This is the high quality rooty iris with its carrot-like earthiness ascendant. M. Duchaufour uses a high-low combination of spices as cardamom cools things down while cumin heats things up. This is a compelling opening which swirls with complexity. It requires an equally intricate leather accord to stand up to it. One of the things I have lauded M. Duchaufour for is the flexibility of his building block accords. His leather accord might be his most adaptive. In Leather Shot he lets the animalic roughness come from the cumin. The actual leather accord has a supple refinement while the cumin provides the bite. It settles down into a desiccated woody accord.
Leather Shot has 14-16 hour longevity and moderate sillage.
All the Sepia Collection releases are extrait strength. In the case of Leather Shot the more constricted expansiveness is a plus. This is better for it being so concentrated. This arrived just at the right time as winter turned to spring. The cool mornings felt just right for Leather Shot.
Disclosure: This review is based on a sample provided by Olfactive Studio.
There are people in perfume who I want to see work together. It arises from the same impulse to see your favorite actors or other artists combine their talents into something you hope will be special. One of my favorite examples was when two of my favorite horror authors, Peter Straub and Stephen King, co-wrote “The Talisman”. It was a story which accentuated what both authors did in a memorable way. It was a case of two of the most popular genre authors combining into a kind of super duo. The latest release from Olfactive Studio, Flash Back in New York, brings together two of my favorite creatives in perfumery; Celine Verleure and Jerome Epinette.
Celine Verleure
Mme Verleure has been one of the best creative directors from the moment she launched Olfactive Studio in September of 2011. Her process of using a photograph as a brief for the perfumer she collaborates with has proven time and again to produce excellent perfumes. One reason is by using a visual instead of a written brief it accesses different ideas of what a new perfume might smell like.
Jerome Epinette
M. Epinette has become the man who can launch a brand. He has helped to define the aesthetic for no less than four brands. That they can be distinct yet different speaks to his skill. Yet, in its way once that aesthetic is defined it can keep you hemmed in by what you created. M. Epinette isn’t going to cut loose with something dramatically different he is going to find the edges of the frame he created and subtly push against it. The opportunity given to M. Epinette, by Mme Verleure, is to not have that frame to push against but a freedom to explore a theme.
Flash Back in New York photo by Vivienne Gucwa
That theme comes from a photo by New York-based photographer Vivienne Gucwa. I have followed Ms. Gucwa through her Instagram feed “travelinglens” and her website “New York Through the Lens”. If you look through her photos online, you will be unsurprised to find she just released a book called “New York in the Snow” which is a frequent topic of her photography. Mme Verleure chose one which captured New York in a blizzard.
The perfume which comes from this is a set of contrasts mirroring the view of the snow falling while warm inside. M. Epinette uses each phase to develop this effect in three parts.
Flash Back in New York opens on a pungent mixture of cumin and clary sage. I imagine if you are not a fan of these ingredients this will not be an ideal start. Hang in there because M. Epinette uses a couple of the linen musks to provide a cleaner contrast to the less clean cumin and sage. It works beautifully especially as saffron rounds it off after a few minutes more. The heart moves towards the floral as violet and jasmine provide that. The top accord begins to combine with a leather accord to set up the contrast of animalic and floral. The remains of the cumin evoke a bit of a sweaty leather jacket just after you’ve taken it off. Birch smoke swirls off the leather in lazy ascending spirals. A green accord first of papyrus but later joined by vetiver increases in intensity. As the saffron did in the top accord tonka bean provides the finishing touch to the base accord.
Flash Back in New York has 14-16 hour longevity and average sillage.
While all the snow themed imagery is liable to induce PTSD rather than a flashback to my New York City readers that isn’t what the perfume is really about. It is a study in contrasts where at the crossroads the artists find beauty. That is what Flash Back in New York is all about.
Disclosure: This review is based on a bottle provided by Olfactive Studio.
I have jokingly referred to perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour as the “High Priest of Resins” for the number of amazing perfumes he has made with that as the keynote. It coincided with my initial deep dive into niche perfumes as it seemed like he was producing one new riff on incense-based perfumes after the other. That I have an entire shelf of these perfumes plus that they are some of my all-time favorites is indicative of the quality. M. Duchaufour has proven to be much more than a one-trick perfumer with another shelf containing his non-resinous perfumes which also contain many I adore. It still doesn’t mean I don’t want him to don his robes and take up his censer to create something new. Olfactive Studio Woody Mood heralds that return.
Redwood Alien by Roger Steffens (1973)
Olfactive Studio is the brand owned and creatively directed by Celine Verleure. The creative process is triggered from a photograph as opposed to something written. It has been one of the most successful at marrying the visual with the olfactory. For Woody Mood the brief comes from photographer Roger Steffens 1973 composition called “Redwood Alien”. It is a striking picture of refracted light through the redwood trees. Before I knew the title, it felt like an outdoors version of the poster for “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. The creative team would use this visual as the starting point for creating a soaring perfume in a cathedral of sequoias.
Bertrand Duchaufour
The top accord is a lovely introduction of clary sage, ginger, and saffron. Taken together the saffron smooths out some of the spikier aspects of either herb. This is a highly refined opening from ingredients used in less refined ways more typically. The sequoia wood then rises upward. Instead of just allowing the wood to be the only thing M. Duchaufour makes two quirky choices. First a precise amount of spikenard adds a veil of smoke. This is exactly the right amount not obtrusive but in the distance. In the same vein black tea and styrax form a rubber accord. It is again off in the distance but as a way of keeping the middle part of the development from being all about the wood I found both to be charming in their oddity. The censer begins to swing as the incense rises in resinous waves. M. Duchaufour brings out a refined leather accord as underpinning. All of this comes together over a base of earthy patchouli.
Woody Mood has 12-14 hour longevity and average sillage.
If you are a longtime fan of M. Duchaufour’s resinous creations Woody Mood is a must try. I think it finds its own space on his prodigious incense spectrum all its own. If you wonder about my “High Priest of Resins” sobriquet try Woody Mood. If you like it there is a whole world of discovery ahead. I know there will be another bottle on my shelf dedicated to M. Duchaufour’s resinous perfumes.
Disclosure: This review is based on a press sample provided by Olfactive Studio.
A perfume brand has to know when to take risks and when to please their audience. Creative director/owner of Olfactive StudioCeline Verleure has tread this fine line very well over the five years of its existence. After a 2015 which saw the more adventurous side of things with Panorama and Selfie; 2016 is going back to the more comforting side of things. The earlier release this year Still Life in Rio was related to one of the original releases Still Life. The latest release is called Close Up.
Photo: Suren Manvelyan
Those familiar with the brand know that Mme Verleure chooses a photographic brief to give to her chosen perfumer. I knew Close Up was going to be interesting because she chose a picture by Suren Manvelyan. It comes from a series of photos of the human eye in extreme close up called “Your Beautiful Eyes” In this case it is of an iris floating in blackness. It is a blue eye with orange/red flecks like solar flares puncturing the serenity of the blue. It looks like it could be a galaxy being swallowed by a black hole but it is that which we use to see.
Annick Menardo
The perfumer Mme Verleure asked to interpret this is Annick Menardo. Mme Menardo usually spends most of her time in the mainstream perfume sector. The beautiful thing about her work is on the rare occasions she ventures into the niche space with a creative director who appreciates her style she has had a fantastic track record. Mme Verleure is one of those creative directors who allows enough space for her perfumers to excel. For Close Up Mme Menrado was allowed to shine.
Celine Verleure
One of the first things they must have agreed on was that this was not going to be some transparent opaque composition. It was going to carry the intensity of Mr. Manvelyan’s photograph with a host of bold notes. After a year of so much lightness it was a treat to have something which wasn’t afraid to swagger a bit.
Close Up struts its stuff from the very first moments. Mme Menardo combines green coffee with a cherry liqueur note. It is like getting a single blend coffee flavored with cherry syrup. It may sound weird but it goes together unusually well. This transitions into a cherry flavored tobacco while the coffee grabs ahold of the patchouli in the heart. These four ingredients form the part of Close Up which lasts the longest. It has great intensity to it as it wears throughout the day. Once Close Up moves on Mme Menardo has one more surprise as a suite of animalic musks provide the final flare. The musks are ameliorated with a bit of tonka and cedar.
Close Up has 24 hr longevity and average sillage.
My most-worn Olfactive Studio fragrance has been Lumiere Blanche it is probably my favorite fall fragrance I own. The testament to that is my bottle is almost empty. I was expecting to go pick up a replacement before the weather turned cooler. After having worn Close Up I am not so worried about that anymore as I think it might just nudge Lumiere Blanche off of its perch. If you are looking for a new fall fragrance you can’t go wrong with embracing Mme Menardo’s vision of Mr. Manvelyan’s eye.
Disclosure: This review was based on a press sample supplied by Olfactive Studio.
Olfactive Studio had one of the best creative years in its short existence in 2015. Creative Director and owner Celine Verleure took chances which worked with Panorama and Selfie. I wondered what 2016 would bring. The first part of that answer comes in the new release Still Life in Rio.
Celine Verleure
Still Life in Rio is sort of a sequel/flanker to one of the original three Olfactive Studio releases, Still Life. The same perfumer Dora Baghriche is back to compose this ninth release for the brand. Bu using Mme Baghriche again Mme Verleure allows for a sense of evolution to be displayed as you move from Still Life to Still Life in Rio.
Photo by Flavio Veloso
Another hall mark of the brand is the use of a photograph as the brief for the perfume. For Still Life in Rio she uses the photo above by Brazilian photographer Flavio Veloso. The picture is taken from one of the viewing platforms around the large statue of Christ atop Corcovado looking towards the other symbolic mountain of Rio, Sugarloaf. Sr. Veloso captures a moment in time where the golden sunlight is captured in the remaining fog of the night. That burnished radiance in the photo is evident throughout the development of Still Life in Rio.
Dora Baghriche
Still Life in Rio begins with a nod back to the original. Mme Bachriche again uses yuzu mixed with black pepper and pink pepper. The final ingredient is a hot pepper. In Still Life it was Szechuan Pepper. Still Life in Rio uses Jamaican Hot Pepper. There is a difference where the Szechuan pepper simmers with heat; the Jamaican version adds an acidic contrast to the citric nature of the yuzu. I like the new version of the opening it is much more lively with the addition of the Jamaican pepper. Ginger emphasizes the new pizazz. The movement into the heart is rum and coconut water. If you have ever visited Rio there are whole coconuts which are opened and poured over ice beachside. In Still Life in Rio Mme Baghriche uses it as a way to lighten up the rum while softening it a bit. Copaiba matched with a soft white leather accord impart more of that misty golden quality seen in the photographic inspiration. The copaiba balsam along with the leather accord is such a deeply satisfying conclusion I always let out a sigh when the last of it faded away.
Still Life in Rio has 12-14 hour longevity and average sillage.
I liked the nods back to Mme Baghriche’s Still Life throughout Still Life in Rio. It reminds me how assured Mme Verleure has come to know her audience and its willingness to follow in new directions. Still Life in Rio is a golden riff on the past while promising more of the same for the future.
Disclosure: This review was based on a bottle provided by Olfactive Studio.
In a year when I smelled almost 700 new perfumes it is easy to focus on some of the problems which affect the perfume industry. What is nice about this time of year is it allows me to focus on what is outstanding within perfumery. These next four winners are what keep me coming back for more.
Perfume of the Year: Naomi Goodsir Iris Cendre– There is one thing about finding a great perfume for the first time at one of the big expos; it stands out head and shoulders above all that surround it. When I arrived at this fall’s Pitti Fragranze in Florence my very first stop was to see Australian born milliner Naomi Goodsir and her partner in perfume Renaud Coutaudier. I look forward to connecting with this brand because these two have an uncompromising attention to detail in each of their releases. In three years they have only released four perfumes. Every single one of them is among the best for their particular year. I knew there was going to be a transcendent entry sooner than later. On that September day in Florence Iris Cendre turned out to be that fragrance.
For Iris Cendre Mme Goodsir and M. Coutaudier returned to the perfumer they worked with on their first two releases, Julien Rasquinet. Together they created a shimmering green iris which had a sly callback to their earlier collaboration Bois D’Ascese in the base. Iris Cendre is a success on every level I can name. Choosing a Perfume of the Year has never been easier.
Perfumer of the Year: Christophe Laudamiel– This category was the toughest it has ever been for me. There was so much laudable work by many perfumers this year I ended up looking for intangibles to elevate my eventual choice, Christophe Laudamiel. The perfume reasons were the three 2015 releases he composed; Raymond Matts Pashay, Raymond Matts Tulile, and Strangelove NYC meltmyheart. I mentioned in my overview yesterday that there were more unabashedly synthetic perfumes released this year. In the past I have used M. Laudamiel’s work for brands like Humiecki & Graef or Nest as what can be accomplished with a primarily synthetic palette. The three perfumes he worked on for 2015 are even better examples especially the Raymond Matts Pashay. Strangelove NYC meltmyheart shows how he can take a perfectly executed central accord of chocolate, oud, and orris accompanied by a set of synthetics which impart a transparency to create something supernatural.
The intangible that lifted him over the others listed below is his tireless work for The Academy of Perfumery & Aromatics. In that capacity he developed a fantastic children’s introductory set to fragrance. By using different ingredients and tying them to their geographic location and their smells it is an ingenious way of introducing the concept of scent, in an educational way, to the next generation.
A great year of perfume combined with an important ambassadorial role makes Christophe Laudamiel my Perfumer of the Year.
Runner-Ups: Mandy Aftel, Cristiano Canali, Jean-Claude Ellena, Bruno Fazzolari, Rodrigo Flores-Roux, Dawn Spencer Hurwitz, Pierre Negrin, and Geza Schoen.
Creative Director of the Year: Celine Verleure of Olfactive Studio– Of the many things I say over and over it is how disappointed I am when a brand plays it safe. While I press for a brand to take risks their bottom line is at stake to please my desire. Any Creative Director who takes too many risks will probably not succeed. My choice for Creative Director of the Year is Celine Verleure of Olfactive Studio who fearlessly released two very different perfumes in 2015, Panorama and Selfie.
Mme Verleure has always been interested in pushing the envelope as a Creative Director and that started with her work on the Kenzo Jungle collection from 1996-1998 which were not hewing to current trends at that time. When she started Olfactive Studio in 2011 she still made memorable riffs on recognizable templates but the early releases were about building an audience. In 2015 she challenged that audience with the fierce greenness of Panorama including a wasabi accord. Followed up by Selfie which took a fractured top accord of contrasting notes and coalesced it around a maple syrup heart. It is a fascinating bit of olfactory architecture I enjoy every time I wear it. These are perfumes which invite scrutiny and that is something I can only say about the very best releases in a year.
For her sense of adventure, I name Celine Verleure my Creative Director of the Year.
Runner-Ups: Karl Bradl (Aedes de Venustas and Nomenclature), Sylvie Ganter-Cervasel and Christophe Cervasel (Atelier Cologne), Madalina Stoica-Blanchard and Julien Blanchard (Jul et Mad), Christopher Chong (Amouage), and Marina Sersale and Sebastian Alvarez Murena (Eau D’Italie, ALTAIA).
Brand of the Year: Atelier Cologne– Atelier Cologne has been on an ever expanding trajectory since their founding in 2010. This year represented their most ambitious to date as they released eight new fragrances and an extrait version of one of the bestsellers. Owners and Creative Directors Sylvie Ganter-Cervasel and Christophe Cervasel have always impressed me with their clear vision for their brand. By releasing a four fragrance Collection Azur at the beginning of the year meant to be an introduction to the world of Cologne Absolue which was released to various Sephora for that reason. It was followed by four releases spread out through the year that continued the evolution of this style of perfume. Saphir Oud, Pomelo Paradis, Jasmine Angelique, and Musc Imperial displayed the versatility that can be elicited from this concept.
Atelier Cologne is also the genial ambassador to niche for many who don’t live in large cities. I have lost count how many times I have told those who live in these areas to go to their local Sephora and try the Atelier Cologne that are there. I almost invariably get a return e-mail relating to me how they bought one after smelling the difference. I always talk about wanting niche brands to reach out to consumers beyond the big cities. Atelier Cologne has done this with great success.
For those reasons Atelier Cologne is my Brand of the Year.
Runner-Ups: Aftelier Perfumes, DSH Perfumes, Hermes, Jo Malone, and Olfactive Studio.
Part 1 was my broad overview of the year.
Part 3 tomorrow I will reveal my top 25 new perfumes of 2015.
As I head to New York City for Comic-Con there is something I am very much not looking forward to; dodging the obstacle course of selfie sticks. In the last year the habit of taking your own picture with your smartphone, called a selfie, has exploded. Previously it was smaller in scale now the narcissistic desire to take a picture of one’s self anywhere they happen to be is out of control. Like many things it is something which will get much worse before it gets better. With that preface about what the grumpy curmudgeon who writes this blog thinks you probably have some idea of where my mind was at when I heard the newest release from one of my favorite brands, Olfactive Studio, was called Selfie.
Celine Verleure
Ever since its inception in 2011 I have been a huge fan of owner and creative director Celine Verleure’s method of using a striking photograph as the brief for her perfumer to design a fragrance. It has been so successful with me that no matter which one of Olfactive Studio releases I wear I see that picture in my mind’s eye when I spray it on. So what was the photographic inspiration for Selfie going to be? The answer is instead of a photograph on the label there is a reflective surface which you can see yourself in. Mme Verleure is exploring the commonality between taking a picture of yourself and wearing perfume. Are not both of these ways of drawing attention to yourself? Or are they ways of sharing an experience in a larger virtual community? Not sure any of these have simple answers, or answers at all but for the first time an Olfactive Studio perfume is sort of unmoored from the visual and attached to the philosophical.
Thomas Fontaine
The perfumer she is collaborating with, Thomas Fontaine, has been so diligently involved in resurrecting heritage brands that he perhaps relished an opportunity to give us a perfume selfie of himself. I think that is one of the advantages of working with Mme Verleure that there are no preconceived notions of what an Olfactive Studio perfume smells like. It has led to one of the more diverse brands currently on the market. Selfie continues that.
Selfie opens with a right on the edge of chaotic mix of notes. Ginger and anise first make their presence known then angelica, incense, and elemi all try to crowd into the frame. There are moments early on that it seems like there are too many notes in this selfie. It takes a little while for them to all find the right spot so the entire group can be captured and appreciated. Once it comes together it does make me break into a smile but the very early moments are fragmented. The heart has no such problems as M. Fontaine uses a maple syrup accord as a sticky matrix for three diverse notes to blend in to. Cinnamon, lily and cabreuva wood are the choices. The cinnamon adds a bit of zippiness. The lily adds a bit of green floralcy. The cabreuva reminds me of the smell of Brazil nuts sort of woody and sort of nutty. All trapped in the maple syrup accord, which adds a significant sweetness, this comes together like a bunch of disparate friends meeting up after years apart but feeling like they have never been apart. The final phase of Selfie is a portrait of two accords; suede leather and chypre accord. When I saw this mentioned I was concerned this would be a return to the frenetic early moments. Instead this is a partnership of equals which forms a leathery chypre foundation. After everything which has come before ending on a base of strong accords is the best partnership of all.
Selfie has 12-14 hour longevity and average sillage.
As I’ve worn Selfie over the past few days I will admit I am not narcissistic enough to see a picture of me when I wear it. What it does bring to mind is a perfume with a strong sense of self which almost asks those around to “look at me!” In the final reckoning maybe Mme Verleure has it correct as taking a selfie and wearing Selfie are both acts meant to draw attention. In which case I’ll take my attention getting in perfume form, happily.
Disclosure; this review was based on a sample provided by Olfactive Studio at Pitti Fragranze 2015.
Celine Verleure
Rose Shot (photo: Roberto Greco)
Dominique Ropion
Iris Shot (photo: Roberto Greco)
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