Yatagan

Uncomment fragrances No. 164

I became aware of Angela Flanders' wonderful scent through Neil Chapman's great book "Perfume - In search of your signature scent" from 2019. The work is a treasure trove for perfume lovers and offers similarly good suggestions as the biting reviews by Luca Turin, but strikes a more conciliatory tone. The title is a bold lie, because Chapman recommends nothing less than a single signature scent, but rather indulges in the abundance of the fragrance world. The compilation is sheer endless and almost encyclopedic.
Of the four fragrances listed by "late perfumer" Angela Flanders, as Chapman affectionately calls the old lady who recently died of old age, two are particularly recommended: the exquisite Earl Grey (a bergamot and patchouli scent; the classic teen note is completely absent in British quirkiness). and as a symbol of English eccentricity, "Precious One".
If you look at the above-mentioned ingredients, then you are led here, by the way, similar light-footed on the flippancy as with Earl Grey - and yet it all has its right: While Earl Grey contains no tea note, but the obligatory for the tea of the same name bergamot note and a hint of patchouli evokes the memory of a wood-paneled English club, where you could take just that drink in style, also strikes Precious One subtle in minor tones. Tuberose blooms here in an appropriately distinguished and orderly manner as in a British greenhouse, the cat purrs but of course doesn't mark, the oakmoss comes from the gentle hills of Cotswold and not from the Alps and jasmine was simply forgotten right away - or dosed so discreetly that it doesn't really want to be noticed. Then there is the vetiver, which is somehow typically British, because it comes from the former colonies - or let's say politically correct from the Commonwealth -, but it seems to be responsible only for the somewhat tart note that underlies everything. It doesn't really make itself felt that way, either.
For all these reasons, though, I'm finally making a plea for this fragrance not to be categorized as a women's fragrance, maybe not even as a typical unisex fragrance, but rather as a fragrance for snobs (would be worth its own category). For those very reasons, I like it.

Uncommented fragrances No. 162

Very rarely are there lavender scents that are interpreted rather darkly. Mostly lavender stands for a bright, fresh, herbaceous and tart accent (e.g. in Caldey Lavender, Lavande Précieuse, Cotswold Lavender). Occasionally sweet tones (vanilla, amber) are added (e.g. in Pour Un Homme de Caron, Brilliantly British, Lavande d'Hiver) or, in combination with tonka bean, coumarin provides the characteristic fougère note (e.g. in Lehmann Fougère, Fougère Royale). Combinations with floral tones (e.g. in Felt Eau de Lavande: Rose) are also not uncommon, or the composition becomes much more complex (Jicky, Mouchoir de Monsieur).
With the dark lavender scents I can only spontaneously think of Phoenix Botanicals Lavender Noir, a very rare scent that has hardly been noticed here so far. Now, from my point of view, another scent is added: Scotch Lavander. The amber and resinous tones (benzoin) are so distinct that even in the heart note they flutter and darken the lavender. It is noticeable that the lavender itself retains its freshness, but is primed with a resinous base until drydown. Despite the tonka bean, I don't think we can speak of a fougere scent here, even though this association may come to mind after a while.
I like the fragrance, I find it original because it breaks new ground, yet I prefer the lighter lavender tone myself.

If you are interested in the complete range of lavender fragrances on the German market, you can use this link to my collection "Lavender":

https://www.parfumo.de/Benutzer/Yatagan/Sammlung/1915

Uncommented fragrances No. 162

I am not a particular fan of the Replay brand, nor is Terre d'Hermès one of my biggest favourites, but I like it. I'm also not a friend of Dupes, but usually orientate myself on the original. In this case I will make an exception.

Indeed, the red dragon of Replay unmistakably spits Terre d'Hermès fire, which is not a mere cheap copy, even if the parallels are striking (pink pepper, black pepper, grapefruit, rose geranium, light woods/cedar, patchouli, vetiver), but represents a darker version, characterised by the spicy, earthy, smoky and warm notes of cardamom. This makes Red Dragon a darker relative of the great model, Terre d'Hermès, but still generates so much individuality on skin and sometimes on textiles that one cannot simply speak of an unimaginative fragrance twin.

An important argument in favour of the Replay fragrance is its price, which is on a drugstore level, but is by no means more synthetic and/or less complex than TdH. For fans of the aforementioned a real alternative or an addition to the collection.

Uncommented fragrances No. 161

You could make it easy with this fragrance and refer to the strong parallels to the legendary Pour Un Homme de Caron (my Signature Scent). In both cases, lavender dominates, especially in the opening, but also in the further course of the fragrance, in both fragrances there is a moderately powdery musk note, and moreover, there is a sweet note in the base, because neither fragrance has a real heart, a sweet note that was indicated here with salty caramel. You could also say fudge. And there we are at the typical British scent: Lavender. In Great Britain there are large lavender farms in some regions that cultivate the herb. And there is fudge: everywhere. The parallels to the fabulously french caron are striking, but the salty caramel note makes the new Penhaligon's in Drydwon different. I still like my Caron more, because I find the vanilla note with a little touch of amber in the base of the Caron more elegant, because that's how they are, the French, always a bit more elegant than the rest of the world, but I have to say that Penhaligon's Brilliantly British was worth 9 points to me. How close fabulously french and brilliantly British are to each other and whether the small difference is worth a double purchase is best decided after an intensive comparison test. And you should like Fudge.

Uncommented fragrances No. 160

How do you deal with these times olfactorically? While in the case of the corona pandemic a light at the end of the tunnel is shining, others are warning of further possible pandemics and of the ultimate dystopia: a large-scale outbreak of multi-resistant germs. Our lifestyle of out-of-control consumption, especially of food, seems to have come to an end.

If every time gets the scents it deserves, which one might suspect, ELDO in the recent past could be prototypical of the postmodern olfactory commentary on the present: Charogne, Jasmine et Cigarette, La Fin du Monde (literally), Sécretion Magnifique (for many the worst fragrance to date), Vierges et Toreros - and now Exit the King.

You can think what you like about these approaches, many of them are unwearable, unacceptable, but they have always been innovative and ahead of their time, perhaps still are, even if the useless emerged, sometimes even repulsive - or in the meantime just as often mediocre, straightforwardly uninspired.

None of this can be blamed on Exit the King, at best that he is a little too innovative, too artificial, too post-postmodern. One could have bet that in the medium term ELDO would also participate in the search for the neo-chypre, the reorientation of a fragrance direction that seemed to be dying because natural oak moss was no longer to be used - and thus substitutes became necessary, which more or less succeeded, or which made the search for other known ingredients as an alternative to oak moss necessary (such as patchouli, high doses of musk).

Exit the King is now this neo-chypre in the newer tradition of Masques Kintsugi, Heeleys Chypre 21 or Ex Nihilos French Affair. While most of these newcomers couldn't convince me, I already found French Affair very successful and after a long time of being a stranger I was able to get along very well with the fragrance. So also with Exit the King, where I recommend patience and multiple tests.

First of all, it is noticeable that bergamot (or comparable / hesperidian) is missing in the top note, but thus a typical component of chypre fragrances, including the newer ones, forms a blank space. But here - at last - aldehydes are found again to fill this empty space. Lovers* of classic fragrances can rejoice. Long missed, this standard substance of most older women's fragrances (up to the 80s) was rarely used, so that in this intensive dosage it seems almost avant-garde.

Then follow - in a classic way - in the context of well-known chypre texture jasmine and rose. This heart note forms the backbone of many chypres. Postmodern perfumery hasn't come up with any new ideas in this area yet.

In the base there is patchouli and a moss substitute, which, quite ELDO-typical, looks very artificial, synthetic, artificial, which does not bother me in any way, almost fits the overall picture of a postmodern fragrance.

Characteristic for Exit the King, in my opinion, is above all the use of aldehydes instead of hesperidia and the basic synthetic vibrations that round off the fragrance in a good sense.

Welcome to the dystopia!