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Greysolon
Helpful Review
6
The comforts of a wool sweater in a bottle
One of my favorite possessions is a beautiful Dale of Norway sweater which I received as a gift from my wife many years ago. It’s a traditional Norwegian design with a very tight woolen knit and is meant primarily for outdoor use. But when it feels chilly and drafty indoors there's nothing else like it for comfort. It’s about 20 years old, has a few moth eaten spots, there are loose strands of yarn knotted together on the inside to keep it from unraveling and I avoid sending it to the dry cleaners in hopes of keeping it intact just a little longer. I bet most people have just such a sweater and when you need warmth and comfort nothing can take its place.
That sense of comfort comes, in part, from the smell of the wool itself. As a fiber, wool yarn seems unique because it retains some of its natural smell. Also, because it’s not typically worn directly next to the skin, a wool sweater takes on scent characteristics of the owner’s life without its scent becoming, well, that of the owner.
The first time I wore Baladin my mind immediately jumped to the image of my wool sweater. Baladin radiates the feeling, warmth and smell of wool, especially a coarse, tight knit weave. Baladin also made me think of Chanel Sycomore although not because they smell alike. Rather, both give me the feeling of wearing a textile as much as wearing a fragrance. While they both share an earthy coarseness from vetiver, Sycomore has the feel and heft of linen thread woven into open, airy cloth, whereas Baladin has the sturdiness of tightly purled knit. My impression is that Baladin derives its sturdiness from the use of dry herb and spice notes as opposed to Sycomore’s airiness which comes from evergreens and aldehydes.
What isn’t so evident is Baladin’s leather note. It’s there, but it’s very light and fulfills the role in this image of my wool sweater as its human/animal note. It also adds a very slight, suede-like sweetness to a fragrance that might otherwise come across as rather austere.
Baladin has been, by far, the most successful Parfums de Nicolaï fragrance I’ve tried. It still wears a bit on the light side but radiates a nice, warm, wool-like aura that has acceptable longevity.
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