I watch my fair share of cooking shows. My favorites are the one where chefs are asked to work with a set list of ingredients to create a few different dishes. It is fascinating to watch them consider the flavor and texture of the ingredients in deciding which to accentuate for each dish. In the pair of perfumes from Maison Francis Kurkdjian; Gentle Fluidity Silver and Gentle Fluidity Gold the same concept is applied to perfume.
Francis Kurkdjian by nature is an adventurous perfumer. In his own brand is where he has pushed concepts which clearly excite him. For this pair of perfumes M. Kurkdjian wanted to make two different styles of perfume from the same ingredient list. The idea, reflected in the name, was to create a fluidity between the two compositions which make them gender-free. The ingredient list: juniper berry, nutmeg, coriander, musks, ambery woods, and vanilla was easy to imagine different perfumes could arise. The fun, like on my cooking shows, would be to see which ingredients became keynotes in which style of perfume.
Francis Kurkdjian
For Gentle Fluidity Silver the keynotes are the juniper berry, nutmeg, and ambery woods. This makes a fresh neo-fougere style of perfume. The first half of Silver is dominated by the juniper berry with its gin-like aroma uplifted with the nutmeg and coriander. Even though the nutmeg is using its sweetly spicy nature to do most of the work the green woodiness of coriander also adds a subtle harmony. Vanilla picks up the sweetness of the nutmeg while setting the ambery woods accord in the base. This is stolid woodiness as foundation for the freshness of the earlier ingredients.
Gentle Fluidity Gold takes for its keynotes; coriander, vanilla, and musks. This forms a gourmand-like vanilla style of fragrance. Coriander is an ingredient which can add a thread of green and a thread of nuttiness. As M. Kurkdjian pushes the concentration both of those aspects move forward. It leaves little room for the juniper berry and nutmeg to find much traction. The vanilla and musks arrive to coat the coriander. This makes for a delightful lightly spicy warm vanilla accord. The ambery woods provide even more warmth to what ends up being a vanilla comfort scent.
Gentle Fluidity Silver and Gentle Fluidity Gold have 10-12 hour longevity and average sillage.
Returning to my test kitchen analogy Silver seems like an appetizer of freshness while Gold is a rich vanilla dessert. The results of this are a bit mixed. I found the two perfumes to be nicely executed and enjoyable; especially playing within the rules of only these six ingredients. It is exciting to see the two very different styles M. Kurkdjian was able to create. The thing which kept running through my mind, which also runs through my mind on the cooking shows. These are good but could they have been great with the ability to add a few small choices from off the menu? The bottom line is as two courses from M. Kurkdjian’s Test Kitchen they are delectable.
Disclosure: this review is based on samples supplied by Maison Francis Kurkdjian.
–Mark Behnke
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