I have a problem with chilly notes in perfume, I can’t tell you why, it is, like it is. For me a perfume is something very sensual and even a well-done Cologne can be sensual, in a way. I am a woman and I want to feel like a woman. Maybe for a man, but my boyfriend didn’t seem to be very impressed of L’Eau Froide although he is mad about incense scents.

L’Eau Froide gives me the same effect I’ve already had with Craft by Andrea Maack, M/Mink by Byredo and the whole Blood Concept line. Chilly metallic notes make me feel sick.

To give you a short impression of what’s inside the bottle nevertheless: L’Eau Froide is a variation on a theme. While L’Eau was a burst of Ambroxan and smelled very clean and synthetic, L’Eau Froide is L’Eau plus incense and an aquatic accord. Crisp with a mint note and yes, maybe comparable to smoking a menthol cigarette outside in the snow. It’s chilly, but for me it isn’t inherently consistent. The mixture of incense with aquatic notes is really strange.

I am not a cold-blooded creature, that’s for sure. And I prefer the warm, woody, spicy or sunny incense scents like Ouarzazate by Comme des Garçons or Louanges Profanes by Parfumerie Générale.

L’Eau Froide will be on sale world-wide in March. At the Palais Royal in Paris it is already available.

Please tell me if you disagree! How do you like chilly scents? And on which occasion do you wear them?

Category: unisex

Perfumer: Christopher Sheldrake

Year: 2011

Notes: lavender, aquatic accord, musk, vetiver, mint, Somalian incense

www.sergelutens.com

Photo: Nirrimi Hakanson

The deed is done. The tenth and last perfume of the L’Oeuvre Noire By Kilian, Sweet Redemption – The End, is standing in front of me. I love neroli and this is why I think it is – next to Beyond Love – the most beautiful scent of the whole collection. There is no better mood enhancer than neroli and therefore it fits perfectly to grey autumn days. The End is wonderfully soft and remarkable at the same time. Its longevity is brilliant! Last night I put it on, just a little bit, today my office smells of this wonderful sweetness. The orange blossom blends perfectly with the balsamic notes, especially with my favorite ingredient opoponax. If the end is so sweet, one must not have fear. But I would like to let the master himself tell us about his final oeuvre…

With Sweet Redemption – The End you have completed your first perfume collection. How do you feel?
I feel great! A little bit nostalgic of course, but this perfume is the right closure for L’Oeuvre Noire. Now I have to surprise everyone with a collection that has to be different yet keeping the spirit of the brand. I have gone through so many names and designs already – some days it feels like an impossible mission!

For this scent you have been inspired by the poetry of Charles Baudelaire and the lyrics of Jim Morrison. What is the common theme, how did you explain the plot of this perfume to Calice Becker?
I told Calice that this scent had to sum up in a way the entire collection! I told her I wanted to express, literally, the “Redemption” facet of the name. This is why we used the balsamic notes, these notes that exist since for thousands of years, notes that human beings used to burn as an offering to the Gods, incense, myrrh, opoponax, benzoin, but with a sweetness to it. I reminded her of the book Faust written by Goethe and the fact that the devil ALWAYS lures with sugar, never with stingers! And this why we used the vanilla.

The collection describes all the steps in a relationship, from the beginning until the end. Why did you choose a rather light formula for the finale, why is the end a Sweet Redemption?
I don’t think it is a light formula. I think it is a formula where we actually have used essential oils with a lot of character (such as incense and myrrh), essential oils that are rarely used today (such as opoponax), but we managed to intertwine them in an orange blossom accord that allows this comfort that you describe as “light formula”.

What will be the next step? An epilogue?
Not an Epilogue!!! Rather a return to the origins of temptation!

For L’Oeuvre Noire you have been working with two female perfumers – Calice Becker and Sidonie Lancesseur. If you ever choose a male perfumer, who could this be? Whose work do you admire?
So many… Alberto Morillas, Jacques Cavallier, Pierre Bourdon…

You told journalist Michelyn Camen a secret: you drive alone in Paris for hours, after midnight. What makes these hours so special for you?
I just love the city of Paris and at night, you have no traffic so you almost have it for yourself! Almost a selfish guilty pleasure!

Night, darkness and the color black seem to be a recurrent theme in your work. Do you have a dark soul?
I don’t think so. For me it’s about the sexiness attached to the darkness, the elegance attached to the black and the fact that at night all boundaries fell! Everything becomes so much more exciting!

What would a secret visitor hear if he observed you working? (i.e. soliloquies, music, which kind of music)
Oh no… he would witness silence in my office and energy when around my team!

What’s the name of your alter ego?
You tell me!

(maybe Vicomte de Valmont, Liaisons Dangereuses, editor’s note)

Last thought before you fall asleep at the end of the day?
When I fall asleep, usually late, I have no more thoughts about work… as I only turn off the light after people in my NY office have ended their day. But once the light is off, I just think about my partner who lives in NYC…

www.bykilian.com

Some of my friends told me that I am reviewing too much female perfumes – but hello, they are mostly unisex as the niche perfume houses refuse this kind of categorization. Here is something exclusively for the guys! But I tell you in advance, this scent is very smooth and could also be used by a woman. So hide your bottles guys!

I like dark, woody incense scents on men, that’s no secret. This is why Carbone is my taste. Before you read more I have to say, that I would recommend this scent for men with darker skin, maybe particularly the olive type of skin, Carbone needs a stronger base, something Mediterranean – so this is nothing for a pale Englishman. I imagine French men in summer, Alain Delon in the famous movie The Swimmingpool (1969) – or some exotic country. The perfume has indeed something that could be very successful in the Arabian world. A saleswoman told me recently that some perfume houses make 50 per cent of their profit in the Arabian world. Imagine!

The opening of Carbone smells like a sweet cocktail of wood, pepper and some green notes – but very reserved green notes, Carbone is nearly a gourmand scent. It has nothing typical for a men’s scent with fresh elements like bergamot or so. What you get is a huge, lush, sweet, dark fig mixed with resins, vanilla and incense. When the scent develops on your skin it gets a buttery smell, like you might know it from Ouris by SoOud. It is kind of sweet for a men’s scent, but all men I have asked how they like it, were taken by Carbone. So if you love fig scents and are looking for something deeper, mysterious try this one. Fig with butter and incense is very sexy and perfect for a night out. Get ready to seduce. By the way, Carbone has a great longevity! This one stays until breakfast.

Carbone is nominated in the category Men’s Exclusive Fragrance at the Perfume Award Duftstars by the German Fragrance Foundation. On May 27 we will know if Carbone is a winner. For me it has already won!

Category: men

Perfumer: Nathalie Lorson (Firmenich)

Art Direction: Christophe Decarnin

Year: 2010

Notes: elemi, musk, benzoin, bourbon pepper, ivy, violet leaf, vetiver, incense, black fig

Do you want to smell like a sophisticated hippie? I want to! Maybe we should also buy one of these big brim hats, that you will see everywhere this summer. They fit perfectly to the new Heeley perfume Hippie Rose. Great name by the way, it deconstructs the old school idea of rose perfumes. Hippie Rose is a cool dude, a flower child, rock’n’roll.

I met James Heeley in Düsseldorf at the Global Art of Perfumery and I am happy to be one of the first ones who is allowed to smell his new perfume. Last year he told me, that it is difficult to create a rose perfume that doesn’t smell just like rose water, soap or too old school. Now he will launch the wonderful Hippie Rose, which was inspired by India, the hippie movement, Jim Morrison and the beautiful actress Daria Halprin from the 70ies movie Zabriskie Point by Antonioni. The movie takes place in the beautiful sundrenched landscape of the Death Valley and there is a lot of dusk, a beautiful, suntanned girl with long, long hair and huge light blue eyes in a short olive dress – and a beautiful boy of course.

In Heeley’s words Hippie Rose is “The rising sun of a new, carefree day. A warm wind filtering through the Californian desert. The perfumed air of a Himalayan temple. Waves of long, shining hair flicker over dust and sand and soft, tanned skin. Freedom is not far. Against the rose coloured sky of dusk, we dream of love and peace and better days…“

Hippie Rose has nothing in common with heavy patchouli hippie scents. Tart green moss and bergamot in the opening reveal a fresh, masculine twist and on the other side the perfume feels transparent like the light blue eyes of Daria. The balance of rose and patchouli is wonderful. Of course there is patchouli, but it is built on the idea of freedom, peace and love, it’s just the idea of the hippie era. Heeley managed to make it light and uplifting. The green notes dominate and the sugary elements of rose are contrasted by warm patchouli. To say that it is sweet would be an offense. No, it is mild and flowery with a touch of incense but not overpowering. Did you expect something else from James Heeley who would never annoy anyone with a perfume? I just wanted to mention this. Welcome to the summer of love!

Hippie Rose will not tempt you to smoke weed, but be sure to wear some flowers in your hair. Peace to James Heeley for creating such an amazing rose scent!

One of my favorite songs by The Doors…click here

Category: unisex, but James said – and I agree – that it is more feminine

Perfumer: James Heeley

Year: 2011

Notes: bergamot, green moss, Bulgarian rose, patchouli, incense, Haitian vetiver, amber, musk

www.jamesheeley.com

Geisha Noire is a very intoxicating, mysterious, dark and powdery amber scent with a vintage oriental touch. Somebody said that it smells like a vintage Shalimar. I don’t own a vintage Shalimar so I can’t tell you. But Geisha Noire is less animalic than the latest version of Shalimar. That’s for sure.

The note of burnt rubber in the opening is absolutely divine. I tested the perfume oil and the scent stays close to the skin, nothing is overpowering. Geisha Noire settles down to a deep, warm, amber base underlined with spices, vanilla and incense. Nothing for daytime, it makes me think of the quirky movie Secretary with James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhaal in the gloomy atmosphere of Mr. Grey’s law office. Everything is about looks, gestures and obsession. And that’s what Geisha Noire feels like. If you want to confuse your colleagues…wear it in the office. But don’t blame it on me.

Category: unisex

Year: 2000

Perfumer: Maria McElroy

Notes: black amber, sandalwood, tonka bean, vanilla, incense

www.aromam.com