Top Notes 
Heart Notes 
Base Notes 
10/20/2020
Gold
541 Reviews
Translated
Show original
Gold
Top Review
34
Gotcha!
Advertising works. To understand this, you don't have to watch "Emily in Paris", a superficial Netflix series in which a young marketing specialist from Chicago roughs up a long-established advertising agency in Paris (interesting for perfume fans despite all the justified criticism, since the series is mainly about the marketing of perfume and fashion in times of influencers and "mass market culture")
Advertising always finds its victims, for example crazy bottle collectors like me.
In the case of Art Collection 2020, I was the perfect customer. Two weeks ago, a new edition of "Beauty Talk" was given to me at my trusted perfumery. There I read a small article, which is titled
"Art thing."
Quote: "Anyone who likes to enjoy with all their senses will enjoy the flacons from RUH ZADEH and Martine Micallef - each of the 1 to 2000 numbered flacons is a hand-painted unique specimen
That's enough. So, for me.
On the one hand, because Martine Micallef is famous for her fantastic, noble flacons (if I had switched on my mind at this point, I would have had to admit that Micallef is not necessarily known "per se" for her fragrances....), on the other hand, because one of the components of the name of the, let's say, protagonists mentioned here is in a very personal context to me.
To put it another way: Who wouldn't like to have an artistically designed perfume bottle with your own name or your sister's name on the packaging? whatever...( I don't want to say any more about that now - privacy, hihi).
The young artist Ruh (beautiful first name, means "soul") Zadeh comes from Azerbaijan, a country to which I am (well, why, of course, for family reasons) very attached.
On his Instagram account you can admire his quite impressive art. Somewhere there is also a photo of Ruh and Martine Micallef, who discovered the painter on one of her journeys. Well, then she must have been in Baku. But I could not find more details.
For those who don't know the history of Micallef, I would like to quote what a dear friend of mine wrote to me this morning in a PM here on Parfumo (Fleuri, I'll paraphrase it briefly): "A millionaire from the USA and a bottle producer from Grasse with a penchant for bling bling joined forces in 1996 to sell luxury fragrances in elaborate bottles to rich consumers in Arab countries
Basenotes" contains the most comprehensive list of all Micallef fragrances that have been released to date, 153 in number. Not all of these creations have ever received a review or comment. However, the general echo or reviews are not negative, but rather in the upper midfield, because after all, the perfumes are made in France, by one nose, namely Jean-Claude Astier, the "in-house perfumer". For some noble perfumeries (e.g. Bruckner in Munich or Osswald) special perfumes were made and distributed in "limited distribution". There are several extensive series, e.g. Secrets of Love with "Delice, Glamour, Gormet" etc. a baby collection ("Petite Fleur, Tendre Douceur"), the Mon Parfum Collection, the Seasons Collection, the Vanilla Collection, the Jewel Collection and probably for the Russian market the Sashka Collection... (and many more!).
None of the fragrances smell really bad, most of them are voluminous, opulent creations, high-quality ingredients such as real flower absolutes or extracts from Grasse seem to be used quite often.
The "Art Collection" began in 2011, was only continued until 2014 and has now been revived in 2020.
Now what did "Beauty Talk" say about the fragrance in the artistically designed bottle?
I won't keep it from you:
"...an enchanting creation of fresh aromas of bergamot and tangerine, which meet cashmeran, nutmeg and leather. A contrast that radiates harmony and creates a feeling of modernity and vitality when worn."
Sounds promising, right?
In the heat of the moment or even in anticipation, when the ordering finger already itched badly because I (you already know that) am a bottle freak and a name fetishist, I leave - yes, I overlooked THE little molecule that normally always triggers me (and negatively!) in the listing.
CASH-MER-AN.
Cashmeran. How could I have done that?
I'll skip boring "un-boxing" numbers now and get straight to the point:
The fragrance is LAHM. I don't mind "lame" He is indeed off to a great, fresh and very promising start. But then... but then.
Cashmeran takes over.
Some perfume influencer, who "unboxed" the fragrance in a very chic ambience and in addition blew rather unqualified comments from his noble apartment into the world, tells on YouTube that "Art Collection 2020" is a great alternative for all those who wanted something different from "Aventus". So it's a Creed variant. Just like that. For him "Art Collection" is everything: "It's woody, it's fresh, it's aromatic, it's sexy"... balahahabalaha - and above all it is nice and expensive!
Yatagan, to whom I sent a bottling so that he wouldn't be left alone with my unenthusiasm, only sees the fragrance as a repetitive 90s number. In any case, he is right in his assessment. I'm massively bothered by the cashmeran (as already mentioned) - and that makes the fragrance "very 2020" after all. Little Grasse/France and a lot of drugstore / Holzminden.
I am also annoyed that the product is marketed as "unisex" even though it simply smells like the average men's fragrance. I did not notice leather and nutmeg at all.
Only the top note speaks to me.
Yesterday, I checked the well-known work by Turin/Sanchez, Perfumes: The Guide, for this comment. Micallef is not mentioned. Neither in the first volume of 2008 nor in the second of 2018.
But I would like to conclude with a quote from Tania Sanchez (Perfumes: The Guide, 2008, p. 26/27):
"Fragrances for men are mostly identical crap Largely, they just fail the Guy Robert base criterion: a fragrance must smell good. They are also, for the most part, uniform copies of accepted forms, like varieties of suits, an array of different types of banal."
This criticism unfortunately applies to the Art Collection fragrance 2020. It is merely a variant of a sad, banal trend in perfumery to present the old "wine" (or "jus") over and over again in a new (here artfully designed) container.
Hopefully at least the young artist Ruh Zadeh from Baku will have something of it! Because otherwise my 245 Euros would have been very, very badly invested.
I'm a fucking victim, yo...
Advertising always finds its victims, for example crazy bottle collectors like me.
In the case of Art Collection 2020, I was the perfect customer. Two weeks ago, a new edition of "Beauty Talk" was given to me at my trusted perfumery. There I read a small article, which is titled
"Art thing."
Quote: "Anyone who likes to enjoy with all their senses will enjoy the flacons from RUH ZADEH and Martine Micallef - each of the 1 to 2000 numbered flacons is a hand-painted unique specimen
That's enough. So, for me.
On the one hand, because Martine Micallef is famous for her fantastic, noble flacons (if I had switched on my mind at this point, I would have had to admit that Micallef is not necessarily known "per se" for her fragrances....), on the other hand, because one of the components of the name of the, let's say, protagonists mentioned here is in a very personal context to me.
To put it another way: Who wouldn't like to have an artistically designed perfume bottle with your own name or your sister's name on the packaging? whatever...( I don't want to say any more about that now - privacy, hihi).
The young artist Ruh (beautiful first name, means "soul") Zadeh comes from Azerbaijan, a country to which I am (well, why, of course, for family reasons) very attached.
On his Instagram account you can admire his quite impressive art. Somewhere there is also a photo of Ruh and Martine Micallef, who discovered the painter on one of her journeys. Well, then she must have been in Baku. But I could not find more details.
For those who don't know the history of Micallef, I would like to quote what a dear friend of mine wrote to me this morning in a PM here on Parfumo (Fleuri, I'll paraphrase it briefly): "A millionaire from the USA and a bottle producer from Grasse with a penchant for bling bling joined forces in 1996 to sell luxury fragrances in elaborate bottles to rich consumers in Arab countries
Basenotes" contains the most comprehensive list of all Micallef fragrances that have been released to date, 153 in number. Not all of these creations have ever received a review or comment. However, the general echo or reviews are not negative, but rather in the upper midfield, because after all, the perfumes are made in France, by one nose, namely Jean-Claude Astier, the "in-house perfumer". For some noble perfumeries (e.g. Bruckner in Munich or Osswald) special perfumes were made and distributed in "limited distribution". There are several extensive series, e.g. Secrets of Love with "Delice, Glamour, Gormet" etc. a baby collection ("Petite Fleur, Tendre Douceur"), the Mon Parfum Collection, the Seasons Collection, the Vanilla Collection, the Jewel Collection and probably for the Russian market the Sashka Collection... (and many more!).
None of the fragrances smell really bad, most of them are voluminous, opulent creations, high-quality ingredients such as real flower absolutes or extracts from Grasse seem to be used quite often.
The "Art Collection" began in 2011, was only continued until 2014 and has now been revived in 2020.
Now what did "Beauty Talk" say about the fragrance in the artistically designed bottle?
I won't keep it from you:
"...an enchanting creation of fresh aromas of bergamot and tangerine, which meet cashmeran, nutmeg and leather. A contrast that radiates harmony and creates a feeling of modernity and vitality when worn."
Sounds promising, right?
In the heat of the moment or even in anticipation, when the ordering finger already itched badly because I (you already know that) am a bottle freak and a name fetishist, I leave - yes, I overlooked THE little molecule that normally always triggers me (and negatively!) in the listing.
CASH-MER-AN.
Cashmeran. How could I have done that?
I'll skip boring "un-boxing" numbers now and get straight to the point:
The fragrance is LAHM. I don't mind "lame" He is indeed off to a great, fresh and very promising start. But then... but then.
Cashmeran takes over.
Some perfume influencer, who "unboxed" the fragrance in a very chic ambience and in addition blew rather unqualified comments from his noble apartment into the world, tells on YouTube that "Art Collection 2020" is a great alternative for all those who wanted something different from "Aventus". So it's a Creed variant. Just like that. For him "Art Collection" is everything: "It's woody, it's fresh, it's aromatic, it's sexy"... balahahabalaha - and above all it is nice and expensive!
Yatagan, to whom I sent a bottling so that he wouldn't be left alone with my unenthusiasm, only sees the fragrance as a repetitive 90s number. In any case, he is right in his assessment. I'm massively bothered by the cashmeran (as already mentioned) - and that makes the fragrance "very 2020" after all. Little Grasse/France and a lot of drugstore / Holzminden.
I am also annoyed that the product is marketed as "unisex" even though it simply smells like the average men's fragrance. I did not notice leather and nutmeg at all.
Only the top note speaks to me.
Yesterday, I checked the well-known work by Turin/Sanchez, Perfumes: The Guide, for this comment. Micallef is not mentioned. Neither in the first volume of 2008 nor in the second of 2018.
But I would like to conclude with a quote from Tania Sanchez (Perfumes: The Guide, 2008, p. 26/27):
"Fragrances for men are mostly identical crap Largely, they just fail the Guy Robert base criterion: a fragrance must smell good. They are also, for the most part, uniform copies of accepted forms, like varieties of suits, an array of different types of banal."
This criticism unfortunately applies to the Art Collection fragrance 2020. It is merely a variant of a sad, banal trend in perfumery to present the old "wine" (or "jus") over and over again in a new (here artfully designed) container.
Hopefully at least the young artist Ruh Zadeh from Baku will have something of it! Because otherwise my 245 Euros would have been very, very badly invested.
I'm a fucking victim, yo...
26 Comments
