1000 Flowers Reglisse Noire-Olfactory Black Jujubes

 

There is that moment when you hear the music from a new band or read a book by a new author that you believe you’re looking at the beginning of a beautiful future for the artist. When it comes to perfume that experience comes along less frequently. Although the current climate which has become so fertile for artisanal perfumers like Dawn Spencer Hurwitz, Neil Morris, and Liz Zorn allows for this to happen more frequently. That was why on day two of Sniffapalooza’s Spring Fling 2010 I was looking forward to the emerging perfumers lunch where a number of artisanal perfumers would show us their latest creations. Of all of the talented perfumers who presented, there was only one fragrance which really hit me in that sweet spot that told me that I might have a new artisanal perfumer to keep a close eye on.

That perfumer is Jessica Buchanan and her perfume label is called 1000 Flowers and the fragrance which has me so intrigued is Reglisse Noire.

Natural Perfumer Jessica Buchanan (Photo Courtesy of Jessica Buchanan)

Ms. Buchanan is Canadian by birth but after her stint in France at the Grasse Institute of Perfumery you get the feeling the passport of her heart has a French citizen stamp on it these days. Prior to going to Grasse to study she was a clinical aromatherapist and had extensively studied essential oils as part of that avocation and it seems as if that familiarity with these ingredients adds a depth to her style of perfume making. After her internships at the two Grasse perfume houses of Robertet and Mane she has now begun her own perfume line 1000 Flowers.  Her vision for 1000 Flowers is in her own words, “Exploring the creation of perfume based on the ideals of…..beauty in balance”. Her approach as is common with many of the current crop of artisanal perfumers is to use primarily botanical and organic raw materials from green sources. This is an admirable goal of any perfumer but sometimes the use of these ingredients can lead to fleeting short-lived fragrances that sometimes come off as nothing more than glorified air freshener. It takes an artist of Ms. Buchanan’s experience and training to coax the best out of these ingredients and make them much more than the sum of their parts. In her first fragrance, Reglisse Noire, Ms. Buchanan has done this in spectacular fashion.

I love the smell of black licorice and while I was the kid who pulled the black jujubes out of the box because I didn’t like the flavor the smell of good black licorice has always contained a rich herbal quality to it that hasn’t been captured, to my satisfaction, in a fragrance. Reglisse Noire, which means Black Licorice, is the fragrance which finally gets that deep licorice accord I’ve been looking for. There have been some good licorice fragrances like Caron Eau de Reglisse, Lolita Lempicka au Masculin and Hermes Hermessence Brin de Reglisse but while all of them have prominent licorice aspects none of them go as deep as Reglisse Noire does on my skin. Consequently Reglisse Noire is much more pleasing to me as a fragrance.

Reglisse Noire opens on an exquisite mix of white pepper, ozone and shiso. It is that ozone note that adds a quirky edge to the opening and the pepper and shiso give the proper herbal footing for the descent into the black the heart will bring. The heart of Reglisse Noire is licorice in both of its familiar fragrance forms of star anise and licorice itself. The anise is the light opening as the rest of the licorice comes forward and intensifies the accord. The other two notes in the heart really make Reglisse Noire come alive the freshness of ginger in the early development makes the star anise sparkle. It is the addition of a cocoa note that takes the licorice accord and adds a real depth to it that I have never experienced in a licorice fragrance before. The licorice stays firmly on top of things as a warm musk softens things a bit and allows Reglisse Noire to slowly fade to black.

Reglisse Noire has excellent longevity and average sillage.

If you are the kind of perfumista that picks out the black jujubes of fragrance and excludes them from your wardrobe then Reglisse Noire is not going to be for you. On the other hand if you are a fan of the licorice accord and have always wanted a fragrance which was unafraid to explore the depth of this accord and find the potential in it then you definitely need to add the black jujube of Reglisse Noire to your fragrance wardrobe.

Disclosure: This review was based on samples acquired at Sniffapalooza Spring Fling supplied by 1000 Flowers.

– Mark Behnke, Managing Editor

UPDATE: Reglisse Noire is now available at Indie Scents.

Editor's Note: Sorry I missed you Jessica, a bien tot! We look forward to your next perfume

http://www.1000flowers.ca/

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6 comments

  • What a wonderful review of Jessica's perfume! I remember before she went off to Grasse, and followed her blog during her schooling there, and to see her burst upon the perfumista scene at Sniffa with such a debut is fabulous. All this occurring in about three short years, too. Congratulations Jessica.

  • Jessica September Buchanan says:

    Thank you for such a warm review!  It was a pleasure to meet you Mark (chatting as we did at the Jo Malone corner in Bergdorf's), and I'm sorry that I missed meeting you, Michelyn.
    I would like to comment however on your reference to Reglisse as an 'all-natural' perfume.  I am a 'naturalist' by nature- I am one of those people who is quite sensitive to 'synthetic fragrances'' and as much as I can appreciate the craft in the structure of mainstream perfumes- I am unable to wear many of them. I am not a fan of things that smell 'synthetic'.   However, I studied modern perfumery in Grasse which introduced me to the world of aroma molecules.  And this rather changed my life.  So, subsequently, when I created Reglisse, I worked with organic essential oils of course;  but in addition, I chose several man-made molecules for their ability to give me an effect that was not achievable by using naturals alone.  I was painting a fragrance that would give the effect of natural, but utilizing molecules that were, mostly 'nature identical', and to me, FELT natural- that I could experience comfortably- but were completely man-made.  Especially, for example- helional– which I used to accent those ozonic top notes you noticed.  This material was created in New York by IFF and is a material I love, despite the fact that it does not exist in nature. I also used the synthetic, biodegradable, & nature identical musk called Exaltolide, without which, the lasting power of this fragrance would not have been possible.
    My goal is to demonstrate that 'man-made' or 'synthetic' perfumery materials, carefully chosen, can provide a beautiful experience even to those who are sensitive.  My inspiration in this principle is the Guerlain family- to quote Jean-Paul Guerlain (from Michael Edwards' Perfume Legends)- "At Guerlain we never substitute synthetics for natural materials. We use them only to amplify the intensity of the natural notes, and to add an original note that cannot be found in nature." 
    I am happy however, that Reglisse gave the impression of being all-natural fragrance- indicating that my goal was met.  Thank you again and fragrant regards to you!  xo

     

  • Very interesting review!  I love the idea of a licorice fragrance.  I am a black licorice fanatic.  Congratulations Jessica.  Thank you Mark and Michelyn for this review.

  • I just purchased this perfume.  I haven't worn perfume in over 10 years so I really wanted something special and this is it.  It's a lovely scent and the packages is very lovely also.

  • There is something so sensual and erotic about the smell of black licorice that I had to order this perfume after reading the descriptions on 2 websites.
    My beautiful atomizer bottle of REGLISSE NOIRE  arrived today…OMG!!! IT IS SENSATIONAL!
    I have not been in "as love" with a fragrance since COCO by Chanel.
    I can't stop picking up my arm to sniff myself! Totally wonderful and worth every bit of the $100 that I paid for it. By the way, this is the most costly perfume I have ever purchased.
    The packaging was unique and also the bottle.
    I am spraying it on my sheets tonight before I go to bed to sleep sensually all night.
    Please let the creator Jessica know how much I love her new creation….it is fantastic!
    ~m~