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02/17/2013
Apicius
222 Reviews
Apicius
Helpful Review
5
Don't Gawk So Romantically!
Look out cat lovers!
A keen sense of trends in perfumery is what Erik Kormann - the perfumer of Eau de Fröhliche #2 - shows us with his latest release: frankincense always arouses interest. It stands for certain romantic clichés: mystical fumes in medieval abbey churches, monk's cowls, Gregorian chants and so on... Also, its oriental origin assigns this resin to the Arab fragrance spectrum. Welcome to 1001 nights!
But frankincense has a lot more potential. Basically, it communicates something like thoroughness, sternness, or formalism. I smell sobriety and clarity in it, linked to a remarkable depth of the scent. Therefore, frankincense would be the scent of the profound thinker, the philosopher or the hermit in the desert. Its music would be Bach's Art of Fugue, and its colour steel blue.
No, frankincense precisely does not contain that opulence and baroqueness that is generally linked to the concept of the mysterious and heavy scents of the orient. Similar to lavender or some other herbal notes, frankincense can IMHO downsize an otherwise too opulent fragrance.
This is also why frankincense might be a good choice as a key note in modern, soberly objective perfumes: for urban people, for sports enthusiasts, for the unpretentious and the active – and not so much for the romantic type of person. Not many frankincense perfumes lead us along that path, but Eau de Fröhliche #2 does so.
Mint and Bergamotte in the head notes, combined with an aniseed-like note prevent any attempt of sultriness. The mint accord fits well to the frankincense: we may enjoy its freshness without getting the impression of a harmless summer eau. The floral heart notes are carried out quite discreetly. They enhance the interplay between mint and frankincense without turning the fragrance away from its lean and slim direction. Being only head notes, mint and bergamot fade away some time – but not without leaving a trace behind. Mr. Kormann knew how to transfer their vibes down to the base notes.
There, the frankincense is surrounded by a wooden frame. This nice woody accord is dry but not too tart. It has the capability to add something to the cool frankincense which may remind us at bodily warmth. And so, Eau de Fröhliche #2 scrapes past the trap of being too formal and impersonal.
The well informed visitor finds Mr. Kormann in his shop in the centre of Berlin, not too far away from the Berliner Ensemble theatre which was directed by the famous German dramatist Bertolt Brecht. Brecht invented the so called Verfremdungseffekt (alienation effect). By means of interrupting the stage play the audience was to be deterred from the usual uncritical identification with the acting figures. Instead, an attitude of critical distance was to be invoked. It is also a kind of alienation which makes perfumes like Eau de Fröhliche #2 so thrilling. The way of treating the frankincense here disturbs the traditional clichés and expectations about that note quite severely and ideally forces the wearer into critical examination of those expectations. So, with Brecht, I would like to advise the audience: “Don't gawk so romantically!”
Eau de Fröhliche #2, including samples, is available for international customers at First-In-Fragrance.
A keen sense of trends in perfumery is what Erik Kormann - the perfumer of Eau de Fröhliche #2 - shows us with his latest release: frankincense always arouses interest. It stands for certain romantic clichés: mystical fumes in medieval abbey churches, monk's cowls, Gregorian chants and so on... Also, its oriental origin assigns this resin to the Arab fragrance spectrum. Welcome to 1001 nights!
But frankincense has a lot more potential. Basically, it communicates something like thoroughness, sternness, or formalism. I smell sobriety and clarity in it, linked to a remarkable depth of the scent. Therefore, frankincense would be the scent of the profound thinker, the philosopher or the hermit in the desert. Its music would be Bach's Art of Fugue, and its colour steel blue.
No, frankincense precisely does not contain that opulence and baroqueness that is generally linked to the concept of the mysterious and heavy scents of the orient. Similar to lavender or some other herbal notes, frankincense can IMHO downsize an otherwise too opulent fragrance.
This is also why frankincense might be a good choice as a key note in modern, soberly objective perfumes: for urban people, for sports enthusiasts, for the unpretentious and the active – and not so much for the romantic type of person. Not many frankincense perfumes lead us along that path, but Eau de Fröhliche #2 does so.
Mint and Bergamotte in the head notes, combined with an aniseed-like note prevent any attempt of sultriness. The mint accord fits well to the frankincense: we may enjoy its freshness without getting the impression of a harmless summer eau. The floral heart notes are carried out quite discreetly. They enhance the interplay between mint and frankincense without turning the fragrance away from its lean and slim direction. Being only head notes, mint and bergamot fade away some time – but not without leaving a trace behind. Mr. Kormann knew how to transfer their vibes down to the base notes.
There, the frankincense is surrounded by a wooden frame. This nice woody accord is dry but not too tart. It has the capability to add something to the cool frankincense which may remind us at bodily warmth. And so, Eau de Fröhliche #2 scrapes past the trap of being too formal and impersonal.
The well informed visitor finds Mr. Kormann in his shop in the centre of Berlin, not too far away from the Berliner Ensemble theatre which was directed by the famous German dramatist Bertolt Brecht. Brecht invented the so called Verfremdungseffekt (alienation effect). By means of interrupting the stage play the audience was to be deterred from the usual uncritical identification with the acting figures. Instead, an attitude of critical distance was to be invoked. It is also a kind of alienation which makes perfumes like Eau de Fröhliche #2 so thrilling. The way of treating the frankincense here disturbs the traditional clichés and expectations about that note quite severely and ideally forces the wearer into critical examination of those expectations. So, with Brecht, I would like to advise the audience: “Don't gawk so romantically!”
Eau de Fröhliche #2, including samples, is available for international customers at First-In-Fragrance.
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