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03/03/2020
Eisbaer
8 Reviews
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Eisbaer
10
What a sight to see - are you there to guide me?
I started very early to long for the time when I was still a child. This already happened at the age of twelve to thirteen years and this happened in melancholy, because I did not get along at all with the world after the turn of the millennium when I was growing up. Today, as a boring office worker of about 30 years, I manage with a spark of less melancholy to remember those days. Meanwhile, I have no problem with being transfigured at times. Admittedly, the 90s were already far removed from much of what the previous generations knew. But even today I still like to correct various prejudices in conversations: We have still experienced the internet free time. With us the reunion was still fresh. We grew up with records and tapes, as did our older siblings and our parents. We operated telephones with dials and wrote the letters of thanks (for the ten marks for the birthday) by hand to the relatives. We cried when Mufasa died and let people close to us comfort us. We were home
I have only been consciously involved with fragrances and the world of perfume since 2014. At that time I was in the middle of my studies on my way to becoming a state-approved librarian. Until then (if at all) I had only been familiar with the most famous standard fragrances, I decided to get to know the world of niche fragrances myself and had a number of bottlings made, sometimes at random (I was actually superficially looking for the beauty of the bottles). A whole new world opened up to me. Niche fragrances have never replaced my collection of standard fragrances, but they have become an excellent addition to it. Among the bottlings was also David Jourquin's "Cuir Mandarine". And even if I have meanwhile tried my hand at the world of fragrances a little more intensively: So far, no other fragrance has succeeded in transporting me back to my childhood in such a formative way as "Cuir Mandarine" does. This fragrance has been my signature scent every Christmas since 2014. Only for this time, as I could not afford a bottle as a student and had a bottling made every year. Now that the year 2020 is upon us, my dream has come true. David Jourquin's "Cuir Mandarine" from the Opera Collection will finally accompany me on my way as a bottle.
I put a spray of "Cuir Mandarine" on my skin, take a deep breath and close my eyes. I see myself again as a little boy on a snowy December evening sitting at a desk with my brothers and sisters and my cousins in dimmed light, drawing pictures with crayons, while loved ones around me talk and laugh with each other and give me a feeling of security. The event is accompanied by contemplative music. In a quiet corner of the room in the immediate vicinity of the fireplace someone smokes a pipe. My favourite aunt, sitting next to me, wears a sweet lavender scent that envelops me comfortably. Peeled tangerines are on the table and the old family home, built beyond the 1930s, pleasantly ensnares all residents with gentle wooden smells. The front door opens and my uncle, who had just cleared snow outside, enters the room and takes off his leather coat. I put the pen down, my picture is finished. I'm home
I open my eyes and find myself back in the present. A momentary feeling of sadness overcomes me. The charming houses of our small town are gradually being demolished and replaced by sterile new buildings. My favourite aunt is now divorced. People are annoyed by contemplative music at Christmas. The December days are now rainy and grey. But: I realize that I have found a fragrance that makes me think of my happy childhood days and that will accompany me from now on into the future. Today it is me who smokes a pipe and wears a leather jacket. Today it is me, whose task it is to give security to other people. And who knows: maybe one day it will be me who will be allowed to keep his own children company and be there for them on a snowy December day while they paint and do handicrafts together. And I'll be wearing cuir tangerine. And I'm gonna realize I'm home
If "Cuir Mandarin" were music:
"The Last Unicorn" by America
"Everyday" by Phil Collins
"I Just Can't Stop Loving You" by Siedah Garrett and Michael Jackson
I have only been consciously involved with fragrances and the world of perfume since 2014. At that time I was in the middle of my studies on my way to becoming a state-approved librarian. Until then (if at all) I had only been familiar with the most famous standard fragrances, I decided to get to know the world of niche fragrances myself and had a number of bottlings made, sometimes at random (I was actually superficially looking for the beauty of the bottles). A whole new world opened up to me. Niche fragrances have never replaced my collection of standard fragrances, but they have become an excellent addition to it. Among the bottlings was also David Jourquin's "Cuir Mandarine". And even if I have meanwhile tried my hand at the world of fragrances a little more intensively: So far, no other fragrance has succeeded in transporting me back to my childhood in such a formative way as "Cuir Mandarine" does. This fragrance has been my signature scent every Christmas since 2014. Only for this time, as I could not afford a bottle as a student and had a bottling made every year. Now that the year 2020 is upon us, my dream has come true. David Jourquin's "Cuir Mandarine" from the Opera Collection will finally accompany me on my way as a bottle.
I put a spray of "Cuir Mandarine" on my skin, take a deep breath and close my eyes. I see myself again as a little boy on a snowy December evening sitting at a desk with my brothers and sisters and my cousins in dimmed light, drawing pictures with crayons, while loved ones around me talk and laugh with each other and give me a feeling of security. The event is accompanied by contemplative music. In a quiet corner of the room in the immediate vicinity of the fireplace someone smokes a pipe. My favourite aunt, sitting next to me, wears a sweet lavender scent that envelops me comfortably. Peeled tangerines are on the table and the old family home, built beyond the 1930s, pleasantly ensnares all residents with gentle wooden smells. The front door opens and my uncle, who had just cleared snow outside, enters the room and takes off his leather coat. I put the pen down, my picture is finished. I'm home
I open my eyes and find myself back in the present. A momentary feeling of sadness overcomes me. The charming houses of our small town are gradually being demolished and replaced by sterile new buildings. My favourite aunt is now divorced. People are annoyed by contemplative music at Christmas. The December days are now rainy and grey. But: I realize that I have found a fragrance that makes me think of my happy childhood days and that will accompany me from now on into the future. Today it is me who smokes a pipe and wears a leather jacket. Today it is me, whose task it is to give security to other people. And who knows: maybe one day it will be me who will be allowed to keep his own children company and be there for them on a snowy December day while they paint and do handicrafts together. And I'll be wearing cuir tangerine. And I'm gonna realize I'm home
If "Cuir Mandarin" were music:
"The Last Unicorn" by America
"Everyday" by Phil Collins
"I Just Can't Stop Loving You" by Siedah Garrett and Michael Jackson
5 Comments
02/27/2015
ColinM
516 Reviews
ColinM
2
Cheap barbershop
Cuir Mandarin opens with a bitter, herbal patchouli paired with something silky-dusty and slightly sweet (I thought of some synthetic, “cashmerish” wood, but it must be rather ambroxan as it’s more ambery than woody), then cloves, a citric note, and something metallic, pungent, slightly dirty, a bit salty-sweaty, and overall not really that pleasant to smell on yourself. I get the lavender (just a barbershop soapy feel) and the tobacco note, which will emerge better after some 30/40 minutes, and it’s a really conventional, a bit unsubstantial synthetic tobacco note with that sweetness you find in many (way) cheaper tobacco scents. Nothing “cuir” really, except for the cloves perhaps, but it does indeed remind me of several ‘90s fougères – the cheaper ones; I get the attempt to look “dignified” and refined, but honestly this smells all... too low-mainstream quality to succeed. On the drydown Cuir Mandarin becomes basically a tobacco-lavender “barbershop” scent with herbs, dusty patchouli and spices on amber. Something like a sort of cheaper, thinner, more boring Guerlain’s Héritage. Pathetic price.
5/10
5/10
