Tresor

Eyes closed, you inhale tendrils of exquisite intoxicant smoke that pulsate forth from scared incense embers as if carried by coiling zephyrs from the wings of earthbound seraphim. The ocean is near, breaking as liquid crystal on the rocky seashore; a fulminant reprieve of salt from the arms of the mercurial sea and into the atmosphere, ebullient and dancing in lambent sunbeams. Taken within the wanton embrace of an impetuous lover you exchange glances and then breath, the mesmeric redolence of leather and libidinous desert spice rise and enrapture leaving you breathless and gleaming in florid afterglow. Scorching sunlight drenches the landscape in fury and phantasms of fire, coaxing the essence of aureate woods into the air as spirits gracefully ascending from corporeus into infinity. An olfactory manifestation of precious rifts in time, the moments between moments; a symphonious celebration of the beauty captured within the hollows.

Finally giving Army of Lovers from LM Parfums a proper go and….wow. Oozing with animalic honeylust and bound in black leather. Crimson velvet petals luxuriating in their deluge of precious essences, adorned with aureate radiance of warm desert spice enraptured beneath emerald aurora. Exquisite filth as the arms which catch and cradle the glimmering petals as they fall. I've fallen.

Of all the fragrant pleasures one can experience I think that my favourite is easily a perfumed bath. Adding a bit of precious elixir to the bath water is something I remember my grandmother doing and something I have carried into my own life as I’ve grown into an adult. As time has passed and I have delved deeper and deeper into fragrance I have also become very fond of experimenting with compositions which are a bit more avant grade and seeing how they behave when added to bath water and infuse their essence into the atmosphere that surrounds me. I’ve been going through a bit of a green kick and in the search for something a bit more vegetal I happened upon my vial of Dune Road from MiN New York and thought I would give it and also compare this method of wearing the fragrance with that of applying it straight from the atomizer. Well, the results are in and I am pleased to say that Dune Road is a winner! The opening of Dune Road when applied via atomizer is to my nose an incredibly fascinating menagerie of cucumbers, freshly cut grass and a proper whoosh of ozone which serves to create a rather exhilarating incipience to say the least. In the bath this freshness lends the most interesting quality to the airspace, what I can only describe as smelling of a galactic hypermodern day spa where Barbarella would venture to rid herself from the stresses of saving the planet. As you can imagine, this sequence makes me deliriously happy. Flickering holograms of flowers present when applied directly to skin seem to give a delicate sensation of silken petals to the rising steam. The verdancy of vetiver remains and the exquisite "sel de vetiver” quality that persists into the dry down when applied the skin becomes an impression of a warm Mediterranean sea breeze. I am so smitten with this experience and if it were not such an incredible luxury I would do it all the time. It’s so strange and exceptionally beautiful how things develop in the warmth of the water and the fascinating olfactory textures that arise from experiencing a fragrance in an entirely different way. I feel so grateful to have taken this new journey with a fragrance I already had a great deal of love and respect for and getting to see it in an entirely new light, that to me is one of the greatest pleasures on this remarkable journey in fragrance.

In my part of the world we are blanketed (blanketed is being *very* kind) in an obscene amount of snow. I have been yearning for any bit of warmth I can possibly latch onto, be it the assuaging embrace of a favourite sweater, something a bit more abstract like the aureate hues of a Klimt panting or the sensation of being enveloped by the vapours of a precious fragrant elixir. A notion of comfort within the glacial sting of a frigid Canadian winter. I decided to have a shuffle through my samples and happened upon a vial of Barrel. As I sprayed it on my skin I was met with an intoxicating menagerie of what to my nose smells of dark rum and oak delicately underscored with a rustic accord of soil and peat. It feels familiar but like a memory which you cannot decipher, uncertain if it were from a dream or from reality. Tuberose and orange blossom which were initially obscured by an unctuous, boozy haze then emerge and serve as an incredibly beautiful juxtaposition to the rigid masculinity of the opening. Wisps of soft smoke dance about their velvet white petals until they recede and make way for a sublimely comforting base of vetiver who’s blades have been steeped in luxuriant vanilla. There is a distinct earthiness which remains and keeps the dry down from registering as confectionary, drawing forth the most raw and primal facets of a note who’s usual role is the infusion of a luscious dessert. I think it’s safe to say that I am a fan because I’ve managed to drain my sample completely dry today, reliving the exquisite incipience over and over again. Top marks for Barrel, an unconventional injection of incandescence into a rather blustery winter's day.

Today I decided to shuffle through my collection in search of orange blossoms, I began to crave their springtime redolence as I continued to watch the mercury drop and ice crystallize outside my window. As I was digging I came across my vial of Long Board, a fragrance which I had enjoyed but one that didn’t speak to me initially as it’s not the type of fragrance I usually gravitate towards. The one thing I had remembered, though, was that there was an incredibly beautiful note of orange blossom. I sprayed some to my arm and went on with my day. About an hour later I could detect the most exquisite aroma, lo and behold it was me! radiating from my arms were the most exquisite wafts of stunningly lactonic coconut along with a velvety bouquet of immaculate white flowers. I find this bit so interesting because as full and beautiful as the tuberose, jasmine and orange blossoms are they seem to maintain a gossamer levity that allows a radiant accord of a salty seaside to permeate the airspace. It’s a juxtaposition I’ve not had the pleasure of experiencing in perfumery before. As it dries down there is a particular warmth that strikes me, it is sweet but not saccharine or artificial. It’s simply comforting and reminiscent of being swathed in luxuriant cashmere. I could not be happier to have given this fragrance another try, it has proven once again that some of the loveliest fragrances have a bit of a courtship before one can truly appreciate what beauty they possess. Top marks for Long Board, summertime ambrosia.