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02/18/2020
Profumo
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Profumo
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It must be the cardamom...
Yeah, I love cardamom in food. In the coffee I enjoyed it for the first time in Israel - it tasted great!
But as a fragrance? Cardamom has always been more of a taste than a smell to me. But when I smell my tin of cardamom capsules, I realize: oh yes, cardamom not only tastes wonderful, it also smells fantastic! And when I then look at the scents I love, there are disproportionately many that contain cardamom: 'Pour Monsieur' by Chanel, 'Déclaration', 'Chypre Shot', 'Timbuktu', 'Dzongkha' and, and, and, and...
Yes, and also this one: 'Galaad'.
Delphine Thierry has created a beautiful, dry-spicy oriental with a chypre tendency, which fortunately gets by without the often heavy tonka/vanilla sweetness, does not carry an exuberant bouquet of flowers in its arms and also lets the usual Hesperides hang on the tree.
'Akkad', also by Delphine Thierry, offers the typical oriental additions: with a lot of vanilla and above all amber, and probably for this reason finds more admirers.
But as nice as 'Akkad' is, I like 'Galaad' better. It's probably cardamom, but I'm sure it's more than that.
Interestingly, 'Galaad' reminds me again and again of Chanel's 'Pour Monsieur', the fresh and citric chypre scent that defines the chypre genre to this day, along with 'Mitsouko'. There are no fresh, citric notes in 'Galaad', but it's the spicy heart (the cardamom!) and the latent bitter-moossy chypre base that makes me think of the Chanel fragrance. The chypre facet of 'Galaad' is rather reserved, accentuating only the oriental character. The spice, on the other hand, is full-bodied - the heart of 'Pour Monsieur' varies, almost to the strength of EdP. Various balsams grind the sharp-edged corners of the herbaceous aromas, round the fragrance and make it appear softer. The interplay of the dry-spicy chords and the subtle sweetness of the balms is, I think, very well balanced and characterizes the entire fragrance In the base, slightly resinous and smoky facets and some inky oakmoss are added, along with a touch of oud. Luckily, however, really only a touch, because I must confess I am a little oud-tired...
A customer of mine recently remarked that my scent would remind him of a noble spicy soap, and yes, I have been sharing this association ever since. A cream soap, however, because 'Galaad' has something creamy rather than something bitingly alkaline. But what surprised me was that the customer apparently still perceived my scent sufficiently clearly, while I had thought it had evaporated for hours. Galaad' is one of those fragrances that one might mistakenly think of as volatile. However, the fragrance has good persistence, with moderate projection. In contrast to 'Akkad', however, the adaptation of stimuli apparently starts earlier: while 'Akkad' keeps the nose occupied for a longer time, 'Galaad' seems to disappear quite quickly. This is deceptive, as I said, just like Chanel's 'Pour Monsieur'.
Galaad' has a pleasantly restrained presence, not a second loud, which is bound to disappoint people with a preference for roomy fragrances. Not me, I like it
In an interview Gilles Thévenin, the owner of the Lubin company, was once asked about his favourites: "I wore Guerlain perfumes from the age of 15, and then Armani pour Homme until I joined Guerlain. I have been wearing Lubin Vetiver since 2007 and these days I often wear Galaad, which I like very much."
I can well understand that choice. As much as I like 'Korrigan', 'Idole' and 'Akkad', from the 'Talismania' series, 'Galaad' is by far the most user-friendly, i.e.: the least exposed and therefore most wearable fragrance - a stylish companion in the style of old gentleman classics such as 'Eau Sauvage', 'Habit Rouge' or the now repeatedly mentioned 'Pour Monsieur' by Chanel.
But if you are looking for a heavy oriental firecracker à la 'Opium', don't bother with 'Galaad'. But a finely woven, distinguished, rather masculine oriental he always gives off.
And then there's this great bottle!
But as a fragrance? Cardamom has always been more of a taste than a smell to me. But when I smell my tin of cardamom capsules, I realize: oh yes, cardamom not only tastes wonderful, it also smells fantastic! And when I then look at the scents I love, there are disproportionately many that contain cardamom: 'Pour Monsieur' by Chanel, 'Déclaration', 'Chypre Shot', 'Timbuktu', 'Dzongkha' and, and, and, and...
Yes, and also this one: 'Galaad'.
Delphine Thierry has created a beautiful, dry-spicy oriental with a chypre tendency, which fortunately gets by without the often heavy tonka/vanilla sweetness, does not carry an exuberant bouquet of flowers in its arms and also lets the usual Hesperides hang on the tree.
'Akkad', also by Delphine Thierry, offers the typical oriental additions: with a lot of vanilla and above all amber, and probably for this reason finds more admirers.
But as nice as 'Akkad' is, I like 'Galaad' better. It's probably cardamom, but I'm sure it's more than that.
Interestingly, 'Galaad' reminds me again and again of Chanel's 'Pour Monsieur', the fresh and citric chypre scent that defines the chypre genre to this day, along with 'Mitsouko'. There are no fresh, citric notes in 'Galaad', but it's the spicy heart (the cardamom!) and the latent bitter-moossy chypre base that makes me think of the Chanel fragrance. The chypre facet of 'Galaad' is rather reserved, accentuating only the oriental character. The spice, on the other hand, is full-bodied - the heart of 'Pour Monsieur' varies, almost to the strength of EdP. Various balsams grind the sharp-edged corners of the herbaceous aromas, round the fragrance and make it appear softer. The interplay of the dry-spicy chords and the subtle sweetness of the balms is, I think, very well balanced and characterizes the entire fragrance In the base, slightly resinous and smoky facets and some inky oakmoss are added, along with a touch of oud. Luckily, however, really only a touch, because I must confess I am a little oud-tired...
A customer of mine recently remarked that my scent would remind him of a noble spicy soap, and yes, I have been sharing this association ever since. A cream soap, however, because 'Galaad' has something creamy rather than something bitingly alkaline. But what surprised me was that the customer apparently still perceived my scent sufficiently clearly, while I had thought it had evaporated for hours. Galaad' is one of those fragrances that one might mistakenly think of as volatile. However, the fragrance has good persistence, with moderate projection. In contrast to 'Akkad', however, the adaptation of stimuli apparently starts earlier: while 'Akkad' keeps the nose occupied for a longer time, 'Galaad' seems to disappear quite quickly. This is deceptive, as I said, just like Chanel's 'Pour Monsieur'.
Galaad' has a pleasantly restrained presence, not a second loud, which is bound to disappoint people with a preference for roomy fragrances. Not me, I like it
In an interview Gilles Thévenin, the owner of the Lubin company, was once asked about his favourites: "I wore Guerlain perfumes from the age of 15, and then Armani pour Homme until I joined Guerlain. I have been wearing Lubin Vetiver since 2007 and these days I often wear Galaad, which I like very much."
I can well understand that choice. As much as I like 'Korrigan', 'Idole' and 'Akkad', from the 'Talismania' series, 'Galaad' is by far the most user-friendly, i.e.: the least exposed and therefore most wearable fragrance - a stylish companion in the style of old gentleman classics such as 'Eau Sauvage', 'Habit Rouge' or the now repeatedly mentioned 'Pour Monsieur' by Chanel.
But if you are looking for a heavy oriental firecracker à la 'Opium', don't bother with 'Galaad'. But a finely woven, distinguished, rather masculine oriental he always gives off.
And then there's this great bottle!
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