New Perfume Review Goldfield & Banks Southern Bloom- Australian Flower Song

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Of the many new things that have happened in the 21st century for modern perfumery one of the most important is it has spread worldwide. Perfumers no longer must be from the historical centers of perfume. As independent perfumery has risen in prominence great perfume has come from seemingly all four corners of the globe. One of the beneficiaries of this has been the accessibility of Australian perfume brands. One reason is there is different botany to be harvested which eventually finds its way into perfume. It provides for some unique creativity of which Goldfield & Banks Southern Bloom exemplifies.

Dimitri Weber

Goldfield & Banks became widely available about a year ago as the first five releases arrived here in the US. Four of the five were focused on woody constructs while the other was an alternative aquatic which stood out among those first five. Owner-creative director Dimitri Weber wanted Goldfield & Banks to represent the special ingredients of Australia. In Southern Bloom he uses one of the ingredients which has been lightly used; boronia.

Francois Merle-Baudoin

Mr. Weber continues to collaborate with perfumer Francois Merle-Baudoin. For Southern Bloom they sourced a multi-faceted boronia absolute from the fields of Bruny Island. Every time I’ve encountered boronia in a perfume I’ve enjoyed the prismatic floral quality it imparts to fragrance. I imagine for a perfumer it is by turns fun and challenging to find the right balance of other ingredients to balance it out. Southern Bloom uses boronia to provide the heart of the most floral construct from Goldfield & Banks, yet.

The boronia is placed at the top with a green blackcurrant bud as its opening partner. This gives a vegetal green undertone to the boronia. That begins to be swept away as jasmine, iris, and ylang-ylang gather the boronia up in a floral embrace. Throughout the heart it shifts tones as the jasmine makes it more white flower-like, then the iris gives a powdery effect, before ylang-ylang adds in a sensuality. M. Merle-Baudoin finds that elusive balance in an effusive floral heart accord. A tropical touch of coconut sets the stage for a base accord of vetiver and sandalwood.

Southern Bloom has 10-12 hour longevity and average sillage.

Southern Bloom stands apart from the rest of the line because of its floral nature. It stands in solidarity with the others in the desire to show off the Australian ingredients beautifully.

Disclosure: this review is based on a sample I purchased.

–Mark Behnke

New Perfume Review Goldfield & Banks Pacific Rock Moss- Down Under Aquatic

Posted on by in Mark Behnke, New Perfume Reviews and tagged , , , .

Starting in the late 1980’s there was a consistent stream of new musical acts hailing from Australia which formed a musical invasion of sorts. I wouldn’t label any of them as trendsetters within music but by incorporating Australian influences into existing rock music templates there was a discernable difference. I had a feeling of déjà vu as I experienced the sample set from a new brand out of Australia, Goldfield & Banks. A debut set of five perfumes deliver an Australian vibe to recognizable fragrance types.

Dimitri Weber

Part of what owner-creative director Dimitri Weber achieves is to highlight some of the perfume ingredients which are common to Australia. One of the most obvious is Australian sandalwood which has come to be the best sustainable natural source since the Indian woods were overharvested. In White Sandalwood and Wood Infusion that ingredient forms the cornerstone around which both fragrances are built by perfumer Francois Merle-Baudoin. White Sandalwood is more “soli-wood” while Woof Infusion matches it up with oud and iris in a more expansive style. The other two entries also revolve around wood, Blue Cypress and Desert Rosewood. Blue Cypress has a refreshing lung-filling accord around the light woody ingredient. Desert Rosewood goes for a more classical Oriental base. All of them are nicely executed examples worth checking out to see if any of them offer something different to add to your collection. The one which I chose to spend some time with was Pacific Rock Moss.

Francois Merle-Baudoin

There has been an admirable shift in aquatic perfume to go away from the suite of ozonic-fresh notes overused in the sector. Perfumers are now taking up the challenge of capturing sun, sea, and sand using different notes. One aspect of the beach milieu which I have been noticing more is a use of wet green vegetal accords. They are meant to evoke the kelp or algae growing in and around the seashore. M. Merle-Baudoin uses this to evoke a tidal pool surrounded by moss-covered rocks at midday.

To let you know the sun is high in the sky M. Merle-Baudoin shines a sunbeam of lemon down right at the start. This is a focused citrus which diffuses over time as a couple of greener notes in sage and geranium pave the way for the mossy rock accord to come forward. This is the smell of clean damp greenery. There is the hint of a mineralic facet which creates the tidal pool geology. I am guessing there is just a smidge of geosmin or something like it underneath the wet moss. Cedar comes forward as the tide rushes in to wash away the tidal pool until it recedes again hours later.

Pacific Rock Moss has 8-10 hour longevity and average sillage.

This early collection from Mr. Weber is worth seeking out. He has a clear aesthetic from down under which works for all the releases. I just enjoyed it best when applied to an aquatic in Pacific Rock Moss.

Disclosure: this review is based on a sample set I purchased.

–Mark Behnke