What do these perfumes have in common with the new photo series ‘Foulard’ by Martin Klimas?

Hermès: Santal Massoïa
Santal Massoïa, the tenth perfume of the Hermessence line, is a wonderful sandalwood scent. Perfect for a stroll through the fall foliage and typically Jean-Claude Ellena: transparent, light, woody, warm. Do you get the minty fig note in the opening? I love this one because it lacks the animalic side of sandalwood. For all those who don’t know, Massoïa is wood, to be precise a milky-smelling wood like sandalwood.

Byredo: Seven Veils
Salome’s dance of the seven veils. Whatever. Wondering where you have smelled this before? Well, do you remember Sun Moon Stars by Karl Lagerfeld? When the carrot from the Seven Veils’ head note is gone, the smell is very close to Lagerfeld’s highly successful perfume from the 1990ies. I like it, it smells less synthetic, but I wouldn’t wear it, because I wore Sun Moon Stars years ago.

Olfactive Studio: Chambre Noire
If you are looking for a really great leather scent, check out this one. A really gorgeous composition with plum, leather, vanilla, musk and oriental notes. Dark, woodsy, powdery with a whiff of rose. Intense but within your aura. A winter favorite created by Dorothée Piot, who also composed Amouage’s Memoir Women – together with Daniel Mauriel. Big love!

Olfactive Studio: Still Life
Nothing special. Unobtrusive, nice citrus daytime companion – but they have to work on the concentration urgently.

Olfactive Studio: Autoportrait
This one reminds me too much of Carbone de Balmain created by the same perfumer, Nathalie Lorson. Nothing new, just a variation on a theme.

Have you sniffed something really smashing this month? What do you highly recommend to check out. Waiting for interesting hints!

How did they get the horse into the bottle? No joke, sometimes I can smell this horse barn note also in Kelly Calèche by Hermès. It is something about the leather that produces this effect I think. Highly subjective, of course.

Santal 33 was inspired by the American myth of the Marlboro Man, sitting by the fireside, leaning on a worn leather saddle, lighting a cigarette, “an icon so powerful that every man wanted to be him and every woman wanted to have him“. Sounds good so far. I would add “a horse in the background“.

Santal 33 opens up clean and woody with sandalwood, cedar, cardamom and ambrox. It smells rather fresh, a little bit like camphor, masculine.

At the next step the scent is getting warmer, softer, you get iris, which smells like having been extended with carrot seeds and this aspect reminds me of Iris de Nuit by Heeley. A soft and in a way feminine combination sweetened with violet. The base is dominated by leather, rather suede, soft and brown. But in combination with the musk it turns into something animalic and that’s what evokes this association of a warm horse. This is not too crazy, because I have asked a friend of mine who horse rides regularly and she just said “absolutely!“ So, just to be safe.

But in the end Santal 33 turns out to be an intense leather scent with loads of sweet musk and sandalwood. I find it too strong and the next morning after I had used it, it even annoyed me. Due to a high concentration of essential oils the scent has a huge longevity.

I would recommend this perfume to men, or did you ever hear about a Marlboro Woman? Howdy?

Category: unisex

Perfumer: Frank Voelkl

Year: 2011

Notes: cardamom, iris, violet, ambrox, sandalwood, cedar, papyrus, leather, musk, amber

www.lelabofragrances.com

Close to my apartment is a beautiful store for oriental stuff. The owners also sell small oriental perfumes, that smell really strange – completely different to what we usually call oriental. Based mainly on spices, these scents smell exactly like a bazaar, in all its facets. I once bought one, I think its name was Kerim or so, and gave it to a friend of mine. It was a very strong clove scent.

Marrakech by Aesop reminds me of one of those authentic oriental perfumes. The little brown bottle with the black label has to be used as a splash, the ingredients are 100 per cent natural. I like the idea having a bottle of this in my bag to escape from my everyday life, like a short trip to the Medina.

First of all I smell bergamot and cardamom with its menthol-like flavor – very refreshing. Kind of a tiger balm effect, but with a completely different scent. Rose and clove mixed with sandalwood and earthy patchouli bring you down, ground you. In the background you can feel the uplifting energy of neroli.  This scent is spicy, smoky, fresh and warm at the same time, grounding and uplifting, full of energy and at the same time very peaceful. Magic!

Sometimes I just put some splashes of Marrakech into the palms of my hands and inhale. Then I am far, far away… and very relaxed. You can always find it on my desktop for a little break during my stressful days of work. I put it on – silence, calm, peace. It’s like switching off everything around. Kind of a spiritual thing.

The scent is nothing I would wear to impress someone, I wear it just for myself. And I feel happy.

Category: unisex

Year: 2005

Notes: neroli, bergamot, Rose Otto, jasmine, cardamom, clove, sandalwood, patchouli

www.aesop.com

Memories are part of our life. The perfume Jeux de peau (‘Skin games’) reflects a childhood memory of Serge Lutens: his “golden point“ on his way back from school, to the bakery, which is allegorized by the golden color of the perfume. It was little Serge’s daily duty to buy bread for the family and entering the bakery was always a magic moment with all the delicious smells that came out of the bakehouse. Jeux de peau is a tribute to this recollection.

I’ve waited impatiently for this new release because I had heard that it would be about buttered toast. My favorite food as a child was buttered toast. I did not need anything else, warm toast, butter and a little bit of salt. I was really addicted to this taste. But, Jeux de peau is more about pastry with an oriental undertone than about bread. So, if there is no more bread: Let them eat cake!

In the opening you will find a cereal accord that some of you might already know from Lann-Ael by Lostmarch. Buttered cookies with a slightly salty note. There is also a hidden flower which I could not figure out at first: it’s osmanthus, a yellow-golden flower that is known for it’s smell of dried fruits. And indeed you get dried apricots, blended with licorice, spices and sandalwood. Which kind of spices did Serge Lutens use? To me it smells like cardamom, slightly ethereal, and pepper. And there is a tiny little bit of coconut hidden in the pastry. To include coconut without producing something cheesy, that’s high art. Yosh has managed it with Ginger Ciao and of course Tom Ford with Black Orchid. The woody notes bring some grounding into the scent and I think that also men are going to love it. Women are going to love it on men, definitely.

Jeux de peau is a warm gourmand scent that turns you into a state of well-being. Absolutely wearable with a good staying power.

Category: unisex

Perfumer: Christopher Sheldrake

Year: 2010

Notes: cereals, butter, vanilla, osmanthus, licorice, spices, dried apricots, sandalwood, coconut

www.sergelutens.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