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Notes12/06/2020
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5
Vétiver détourné
When I was sitting on one of these special metal chairs, the half chair, half abstracted lounge chair in front of the fountain in the Palais Royal in spring 2007, smelling like plotters on my handshake, I wondered: where is the vetiver - I didn't pay much attention to the scent any further, the vetiver note seemed simply too obscure to me. I had spent the year before with 'systematic' vetiver tests - my favourites so far, the usual suspects: Route Du Vétiver, Goutal's Vetiver Eau de Toilette, Etro but also Sycomore Eau de Toilette and Vétiver Extraordinaire - all with a very clear and direct vetiver note.
A few years later I wanted to know it again, because in the meantime some of these have been discontinued or formulated (Sycomore EDT -> EDP, Goutal Vetiver EDT -> EDC, Maitre into the 120 ml dilemma...) and the 00's seemed to me to be the "golden era", in which - perhaps starting from Vétiver Extraordinaire, which took up the hardcore releases of the 80s such as Route de Vétiver or Goutal's Vetiver - this profoundly classic ingredient was renegotiated; Vétiver Oriental was released extensively in 2002, its unique feature is that vetiver is hidden most of the time and constantly swings in and out of perception. Probably the best (and only?) indirect vetiver perfume. Almost as if all the other components were covered with a semi-transparent vetiver film, which allows for sufficient osmotic exchange but ultimately forms an oscillating vetiver filter that can never quite be grasped. Took me a while to understand it that way but once this happens, it's vetiver through and through.
The fragrance is also an interesting Luten's publication from a time when SL was increasingly focusing on softer individual components; Chêne or Borneo 1834 is in a certain proximity to Vétiver Oriental, the patchouli-cocoa & greens combination was heralded a few years later in L'Instant pour Homme EDP and Coromandel EDT, and it's not entirely without predecessors: every now and then I have to think of Maitre's Santal Noble.
Vétiver Oriental works best in cold seasons, and perhaps the balance, vetiver vs. rest, is a bit more balanced even on fabric. So far I haven't noticed any significant differences (except for the colour) between my Palais Royal Logo 50 ml bottle and the current version.
A few years later I wanted to know it again, because in the meantime some of these have been discontinued or formulated (Sycomore EDT -> EDP, Goutal Vetiver EDT -> EDC, Maitre into the 120 ml dilemma...) and the 00's seemed to me to be the "golden era", in which - perhaps starting from Vétiver Extraordinaire, which took up the hardcore releases of the 80s such as Route de Vétiver or Goutal's Vetiver - this profoundly classic ingredient was renegotiated; Vétiver Oriental was released extensively in 2002, its unique feature is that vetiver is hidden most of the time and constantly swings in and out of perception. Probably the best (and only?) indirect vetiver perfume. Almost as if all the other components were covered with a semi-transparent vetiver film, which allows for sufficient osmotic exchange but ultimately forms an oscillating vetiver filter that can never quite be grasped. Took me a while to understand it that way but once this happens, it's vetiver through and through.
The fragrance is also an interesting Luten's publication from a time when SL was increasingly focusing on softer individual components; Chêne or Borneo 1834 is in a certain proximity to Vétiver Oriental, the patchouli-cocoa & greens combination was heralded a few years later in L'Instant pour Homme EDP and Coromandel EDT, and it's not entirely without predecessors: every now and then I have to think of Maitre's Santal Noble.
Vétiver Oriental works best in cold seasons, and perhaps the balance, vetiver vs. rest, is a bit more balanced even on fabric. So far I haven't noticed any significant differences (except for the colour) between my Palais Royal Logo 50 ml bottle and the current version.
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