Nu_Be sent me their “elements” sample collection, eight fragrances going from Hydrogen to Curium. In order to do them justice as compositions, I’m going to have to ignore the complete disconnect between the element and the fragrance. This, incidentally, was not inevitable: carbon, oxygen and sulfur at the very least could have been far closer to the idea that a fragrance chemist might form of their influence on odor character. Oddly, the two […]
One of the many wonderful things about the Web is the fact that you can set up a perfumery in a heavenly small hill village in Italy’s Teramo province and expect, all being well, to become known all over the world and thrive. Angela Ciampagna’s collection is beautifully presented and comprises nine fragrances. My two favorites are Liquo and Nox: Liquo: I always think of liquorice as vetiver’s friendly sibling, and it is an […]
I had not heard of Coolife, and probably a good thing too, because the naff name and the glib patter on their first fragrance “It harnesses the power of scent […] to unite lovers in an irrational and convulsive attraction” would have put me in a grim mood. As it was, I smelled them first and read them later, which turns out to be generally a good idea. The Parfums are straightforwardly numbered from Premier to Quatrième. The first […]
My Latin is sparse and rusty, but still good enough to know that stringing two nominatives together, as in Aqua Sextius*, will not get you into Oxford. But Guerlain (Aqua Allegoria) gets away with it, so why not? The fragrance, composed by Cécile Zarokian, is a technical marvel. I’ll wager that every oil house has analysed this one to death and told its perfumers to copy it. It belongs to that very small […]
The Camparino bar was open today, and I ordered a Lavorato Secco: 1 part Cent’erbe liqueur, made by Zucca exclusively for the bar, 1 part Campari, 1 part Rabarbaro Zucca, a spritz of seltzer and a slice of orange. A large, impatient, ravenously hungry guy next to me was eating crisps by the fistful under the disapproving eye of the barman. The kind lady at the till (pay first, drink later) explained that faithful customers […]
Last November, with a lot of help and a foreword from Tania Sanchez, I published a collection of monthly columns I had written (in English) for the magazine NZZ Folio in Zurich over a 10-year period. They were initially about perfumes and smells, and later branched out to other things. Self-publishing was overall a very satisfying experience. The Kindle version can of course be read on any machine with the app, […]
If I may digress from perfume for a moment, while passing a watch repair shop today I was struck by the fact that very few objects out there are simultaneously as sad and as fascinating as the Atmos Clock. Sad, because its neoclassical fifties look reminds one of grand municipal buildings in glamor-free places like Brussels. Sad because the very slow motion of the torsion pendulum (2 swings every minute) suggests […]
At times I regret my resolve to only say good things or nothing about niche houses, because some of the sample collections I got were really egregious. Contrary to expectations, the main problem with niche perfumery is not lack of skill, but all-out cynicism. There seem to be plenty of slick new outfits out there, typically well-funded and based in fashion-conscious places, that decided that an arty look, pretentious patter, affable, skinny […]
Allegedly a national holiday, but the shopping must go on. Photo taken at the entrance of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, with my back to the old Bar Zucca, now renamed Camparino, where they serve the only cocktail that improves on a Negroni, the Lavorato Secco. I seem to remember it involved Rabarbaro Zucca, Cordial Campari and a mysterious herb liqueur only found there. Niche liqueur! I felt I needed one […]
One of the joys of reviewing niche fragrances is encountering brands that have recently appeared and/or I have never heard of, which means I have exactly zero expectations. Anatole Lebreton sent me small sprays of his four fragrances, with a nice letter and a leaflet more suggestive of a yoga retreat than a niche perfumery firm, a million miles away from the luxury-goods ambiance of most of the industry. I smelled all […]
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