New Perfume Review Kierin NYC Rose Ink- Midnight at the Tattoo Parlor

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

Because Mrs. C is a tattooed person, I’ve spent my share of time in tattoo parlors. They are some of my favorite places to be in the hours just after midnight. In that time it is often when someone has finally screwed up the courage to get their first. We were in NYC one night because a famous artist from out West had come to visit. It was a few hours after midnight when a young woman walked in. She was by herself and she told the owner of the shop she would like to get a rose on her shoulder. He gave her the book to settle on a design. As she looked, she was asking questions. She didn’t see anything she really liked when the visiting artist quickly knocked out a freestyle rose on paper. She had been listening to the young woman and seemingly knew exactly what she wanted. The owner took the design and an hour later the woman had her first tattoo. When I received Kierin NYC Rose Ink it brought me back to that night.

Mona Maine de Biran

I received the debut four brands from Kierin NYC a little over a year ago. I was impressed with the quality of the collection. Creative director-owner Mona Maine de Biran has decided that the brand should keep it simple. Counting on well-done fragrances to find an audience. Ms. Maine de Biran is taking an interesting tack to engaging that audience. She is heavily using social media to get the word out about her brand. It includes reaching out to reviewers to also do their part. I am happy to do it because the brand has been making good perfume.

Jerome Epinette

Rose Ink like all the fragrances in the collection take a location in NYC as a starting point. Here it says, “Tattoo Parlor, East Village New York” The only thing I would add to that is “after midnight”. Perfumer Jerome Epinette finds the vibe I remember of that milieu.

The source of the named floral is the Damask version. This is the spicy sturdier rose. This isn’t that debutante rose dressed in pink. This is a rose dressed in a biker jacket. To add the hint of that M. Epinette uses saffron as a leather substitute. It creates the scent of leather which lingers on skin after you’ve taken the jacket off. The other keynote is blackcurrant bud. This is an ingredient which requires a steady hand. M. Epinette adds it in to give a hint of the greensoap used to wash the hands and skin to be tattooed. It also adds a subtle metallic shine to the rose. As if it isn’t in a vase but in the tip of the tattoo needle to be transferred onto skin. Cedar provides a clean woody finish.

Rose Ink has 10-12 hour longevity and average sillage.

Rose Ink should be a great choice as the weather gets cooler. This is a rose with presence just in case you want to check out a tattoo parlor after midnight.

Disclosure: This review is based on a bottle provided by Kierin NYC.

–Mark Behnke

Editor’s Note: Because I am part of that outreach effort I spoke of Kierin NYC has provided a code you can use to get 10% off any purchase on the website. The code is: COLOGNOISSEUR10.

New Perfume Review Kierin NYC Santal Sky and Sunday Brunch- Simply NYC

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

Over the last two years I have been impressed with the number of new brands who seem to have the motto “keep it simple, keep it good”. Current market trends seem to match this. The list of brands doing this has kept expanding because there is an audience. I can add one more to that list; Kierin NYC.

Mona Maine de Biran

Kierin NYC was founded last year by husband and wife Mona and Didier Maine de Biran. They wanted their brand to capture the vitality of living in New York City. They mention a fondness for the street art of the city but that doesn’t make it through to the perfume. The bottles on the other hand are decorated with that street art. What they do get from the perfume are solid simple constructs. They collaborate with perfumer Mathieu Nardin who has had a touch with this style of perfume making especially recently.

Mathieu Nardin

I like all four of the debut collection but as usual there were two which I liked most; Santal Sky and Sunday Brunch.

Santal Sky was inspired by an afternoon in Central Park as you walk through the incongruity of this greenspace in the middle of the metropolis.  M. Nardin interprets this with a keynote of sandalwood which he cleverly surrounds with three supporting notes to bring the most out of it. The first ingredient is saffron which provides a hazy glow to the sandalwood. Cardamom breezes across the combination like a wind from the trees. The final ingredient is a green vetiver tuned more to its grassier facets. If you enjoy sandalwood focused perfumes this is one you should try.

Sunday Brunch is the one of the debut collection which most closely reminded me of my days in NYC. I spent a lot of Sunday afternoons recovering from the night before at a table with mimosas and Earl Grey tea to help. M. Nardin finds that mixture of citrus and tea to still be the same. It opens with a sparkling citrus accord that mimics the effervescence of the champagne underneath. The Earl Grey tea accord matches ideally with that. Then a lovely lilting jasmine wends its way through the beverage collection tying it all together. Sunday Brunch is going to be a great summer perfume even if it isn’t Sunday.

Santal Sky and Sunday Brunch had 8-10 hour longevity and average sillage.

The Maine de Birans have done an excellent job at defining their brand with this debut collection. If you are also looking for simple and good Kierin NYC should be on your list of new perfume to try.

Disclosure: This review is based on samples provided by Kierin NYC.

–Mark Behnke