BRAVE NEW SCENTS Natural Perfumers Internet Project FINALE: “Shades of Amber” by Leslie Robinson & Michelyn Camen

 

 

Since it is my first time participating in a Natural Guild's Project I was happy to see that I was paired with a newbie as well, One Seed perfumer Liz Cook from Australia. Liz Cook is debuting a new fragrance that will easily and beautifully take the wearer from later summer through winter and into spring. Sweet Water is a perfume which manages to capture the essence of that transitional period between summer and fall. The opening is strong: basil absolute, lime and Clementine predominate, but this is where the scent takes a bold new direction and mellows into a gorgeous symphony of jasmine, mimosa, mint, honey and sweet clover.

In my opinion it is the outstanding hay absolute and wild mint is what  gives it a real distinction. The amber resin and labdanum at the base of the scent provides the strong sillage and longevity  that helps to make Sweet Water perfume so original and ultimately so unforgettable. The shade of amber? I would say dark wheat colored honey.

'O brave new world!' Miranda was proclaiming the possibility of loveliness, the possibility of transforming even the nightmare into something fine and noble. 'O brave new world!' It was a challenge, a command."
– Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, Ch. 15


  

Natural perfumes are not for the faint of heart, (or pocketbook)  especially if it is composed of with ambergris and boronia, two of the most expensive  and precious  raw materials on the planet.  Ambergris, as most perfumitsas know, begins as an undigested  product of the sperm whale.It is vile, black and oily substance that floats  in the ocean, tossed and heated by the sun until it is bleached and fossilized into magnificance, (accordind to Master perfumer Maurice Roucel its undigsted calamari or squid that cause them to excrete the mess). Called ‘dragon’s spittle perfume’ by the ancient Chinese, ambergris has been prized since ancient times by cultures throughout the world. The ancient Egyptians burned it and applied it to their privates in order to enjoy its aphrodisiac qualities (allegedly standing  over a brazier as  it burned  guaranteed a night of  sexual pleasure).  

 

These days you are more likely to find synthetic, or natural watered-down versions of ambergris in perfume often called beach found ambergris. One very notable exception is the ambergris used in Elise Pearlstine of Bellyflower Perfumes’s , Ambre Alcheme.

The fragrance begins with  top notes of lime essence, green pepper and the anise-like tagetes (tagetes are intense) are briefly overwhelming, until the heart of the fragrance takes shape in the form of wild rose and jasmine. Elise uses an intensely beautiful, sweet South Asian jasmine that balances and deepens the scent and takes it to another level and expertly blends the florals with an indescribable sweet opulence of boronia. A richer, darker, earthier amber would be difficult to find. Longevity is about five hours which is probaly due to the base notes of Opoponax, two kinds of sandalwood, and  Elise's use of a tincture of ambergris.It is no wonder Elise mentioned her intent for Ambre Alcheme was to create a a brave new scent that was golden. She did. It is.

-Leslie Robinson, Contributor and Michelyn Camen, EIC

 "Bottle of mine, it’s you I’ve always wanted! Bottle of mine, why was I ever decanted? Skies are blue inside of you, The weather’s always fine; For There ain’t no Bottle in all the world Like that dear little Bottle of mine.”
– Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, Ch. 5

Michelyn Camen Editor in Chief Editor in Chief

We have finished reviewing all ten fragrances in the Brave New Scents project.  Thank you to the Natural Perfumer's Guild for  the opportunity for CafleureBon to participate in its third multi-blogger Internet Project

 Check out Neil's reviews of Hermes, Jessamine and New Dawn.

Check out Ida's reviews of Avalon, Enchant and Carmine

Check out Mark's reviews of Royal Lotus and Wild Rose

Check out  Michelyn's collaborative reviews of Sweet Water and Ambre Alcheme

Any comment left on any of the reviews will be eligible to win one of five fragrances. We have 15mL flacons of Hermes by Adam Gottschalk, Jessamine by Charna Ethier, Royal Lotus by Anya McCoy, Enchant Parfum by JoAnne Bassett, New Dawn 5ml By Rohanna Goodwin Smith, 1/2 ounce wild rose by Jane Cate and Ambre Alcheme by Elise Pearlstine. The draw will take place on October 7, 2011 EST

 

 

Adam Gottshalk of Lord Jester

Ambrosia Jones of Perfume by Nature

Anya McCoy of Anya's Garden

Charna Ethier of Providence Perfume

Christi Meshell of Matriarch

Elise Pearlstine of Belly Flowers

Jane Cate of Wing and a Prayer Perfume

JoAnne Bassett of JoAnne Bassett Perfumes

Liz Cook of One Seed Company

Rohanna Goodwin Smith of A Scent Natural Perfumes

Participating Bloggers are:

Cafleurebon

All I Am – a redhead

Feminine Things

The Perfume Critic

Perfume Shrine

.

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30 comments

  • Great reviews! I heart Amber. It is one of the best raw materials obtained by animals without any harm to them.

  • Another outstanding review! I truly appreciate the fact that you are focusing on natural perfumers as well as the niche companies. Although they can be a bit pricey at times natural perfumes often contain unusual ingredients provided to us by nature and that makes these fragrances all the more special 🙂

  • “That transitional period between summer and fall”~ for this to be captured in Sweet Water is amazing, I must try this! Ambre Alcheme, the golden fragrance, sounds equally gorgeous as well. Thanks to everyone for being a part of this project, I’ve really enjoyed reading all of the wonderfully creative reviews! Can’t wait to try the scents.

  • Ambre Alcheme sounds beautiful. Indeed all the perfumers in this project seem to have created some outstanding sounding perfumes.

  • chayaruchama says:

    I thought that these scents were truly unusual and brilliant !
    How fortunate we are, to have the opportunity to sniff them all….

    Thank you, MC and Leslie.

  • I am so excited about the rise of natural perfumers and the huge role they have in showcasing genuine ambergris along with other rare essences. I’ve been curious about ambergris for such a long time, and Ambre Alcheme sounds absolutely divine.

  • Thanks to Anya McCoy and NPG perfumers for a third year.The creativity and work the perfumers put into their fragrances is greatly appreciated. Ida, Mark and Neil did an amazing job handling 8 of the 10 fragrances. Its always a pleasure to do these multi blog initiatives and to get everyone’s take (including our own team’s).

  • Kudos to all whom were a part of this. Natural perfumers seek to tincture those elements that are so difficult to obtain, but are have such an impact on the sense of smell. Anya and board did an excellent job in choosing such a project.

  • Wonderful review, Amber is one of my favorite notes in fragrances. cozy for cooler weather, this time of year.

  • Amber oh Amber. Taunts me so much. I love it most times but it can be a major headache induccers for me. I miss out on alot of winter frags that way. I am not yet able to say this about natural ambers. This article has encouraged me to try them. 🙂

  • Another wonderful use for Amber. Those drydown scent of Labdanum and Ambergris make for a great combination along with hay abs. and others. Can’t wait to find some of this perfume to sample.

  • Thanks for these great reviews! Not only do I feel like I know these scents thoroughly now (even more than from actually smelling them) – I learned so much. Thank you, Leslie and Michelyn! 🙂

  • For those responding to duty Free. I am going to put the dialogue in context. Brave New World had an intricate plot , but in the book every Citizen was part of the Community, where you were programmed what to do, see,think,hear and smell. A citizen had no concept of what reality was. John Savage hence the name Savage Garden(royal lotus and wild rose) helped the protaganist to de program and understand (REALITY of the senses), before it was wiped from his brain; his search was for his parents(labeled renegades) who dissapeared when he was a child.

    Neil’s afterword
    Thanks, friends! I was fortunate enough to get my samples before my first trip to the falls, so I made sure to take them with me. I really enjoyed them – smelling truly natural fragrances as I took in the sights, and thought about this project and the future of perfumery.

    Hermes reminded me of my father and his academic friends when I was a child. His best friend lived in an old house cluttered with desks, bookshelves, and overflowing with journals and books. All of these guys smoked pipes. The smell just took me back to that moment. I would hesitate to call the scent masculine, because that would be so limiting and unworthy as an adjective. So I would say that it’s comforting in a way that men really enjoy, but also any woman who feels the romance of the library, the fireplace, or old furnishings. I thoroughly enjoyed it. There is a complexity and a character that synthetic perfumery simply can’t touch – the difference between old tweed and nylon. It’s like the H.G. Wells’ time machine, on the rug by the fireplace.

    Jessamine is truly an exemplary natural floral – I feel lucky to have been picked to sniff it. It has just the right balance between simplicity and complexity that is needed to capture that moment when you sniff a real flower and are pleasantly surprised by what you had hoped to smell becoming reality. It has very romantic feel – I could just imagine the movie with the hero and heroine on the porch and the cicadas in the background. The combination of components yields something greater than the sum of the parts – what really smells like a single flower, but in profusion. And – importantly – a real flower. This would smell wonderful on any woman. OK – it smells great on a guy – I’m wearing it right now. But on a woman….. Yes! I also like that it holds its scent very nicely. It starts out great and never falls of the track. I think that Jessamine is – in many ways – what all the modern fruity florals would be if they could be put through some magic “naturalizer”. I highly recommend it to anybody who enjoys that genre but is disappointed by perceptions of synthetic notes. Jessamine not only doesn’t have synthetic notes – there aren’t even any out-of-tune natural notes (which is pretty hard to do). Gotta say bravo on that.

    New Dawn – I have to agree with Rohanna when she says it’s grounded in ancient traditions. It’s just classically good. Yet there are also some new tricks. I like the way that the floral opening and heart are peppered with fresh green notes that lift it up, rather then earthy green notes that are more often present in natural florals. I thought that really fit the name. They gave it a cool feeling that I just enjoyed thoroughly. But that slightly peppery freshness segues gently into the warmth of the base, and particularly the tobacco and sandalwood notes – I just loved it when those became apparent. I’m actually a fan of Aussie sandalwood because of its spicier character, and I think it makes New Dawn a particularly nice floral for guys, who are already gonna love this for the jasmine. (Full disclosure – my wife disagrees – she thinks New Dawn and Jessamine are very feminine – ahh – what does she know?

    Overall, I’m very impressed by all the scents in this project. They seem like they’re horning in on territory that synthetic scents used to dominate. I’m not sure whether to attribute it to the better palette of naturals now available, or the growth of natural perfumery as a school and a discipline. It may be both. No matter what, there is something that seems to be escaping mainstream perfumery of late, and I’ve gotta say I’m finding it here.

    I’m going to review some of the other scents in the project – I think they may help me figure out what’s bugging me here. Some of them are just disturbingly good.

    Anyway, thanks again for your nice comments, people. It was truly a pleasure letting these scents inspire me!

    -Neil

  • A great inspirational series of reviews. All the fragrances sound very interesting indeed, however, I can’t deny that the thought of “richer, darker, earthier” golden ambers AND real ambergris just made me lemming so very bad:-)
    Thanks to everyone who made this series and cross-blogger event possible. Great Stuff!

  • Sweet Water sounds really nice. I love all its notes, so I have to like it, I’m sure.

    I enjoyed the visuals in this article a lot. Those pictures are beautiful.

    Thanks on this project and draw!

  • oh, ambre alcheme sounds right up my alley.

    i LOVE real ambergris.

    i have — and cherish — some white, golden and brown real ambergris oil in small quantities — and this is like nothing else i’ve ever smelled.
    they are even distinct each from the other.

    and bellyflower is just such a great name — it’s what you want to say to your beloved child, yes?

  • Two more stunning natural perfumes are born! I can’t wait to try them both.

    Wonderful reviews!! 😀

  • Great series of reviews! I want to try them all.

    Sweet Water is such a great name for a perfume, and it sounds like I would really like it.

    Good work, everyone!

  • Amber is wonderful if well done. The picture with a woman and ship is very impressive. Thanky ou for wonderful article!

  • It’s been a whirlwind of reviews! Sweet Water sounds lovely with one of my favorite notes, hay and who can say no to real ambergris in Ambre Alcheme?

  • Wonderful reviews. Both Sweet Water and Amber Alcheme sound lovely. I am excited to try both.

  • An amber and an ambergris in one post! Both sound wonderful, from two really great perfumers. I have tried both their lines and am always astounded at the talent I find among the natural perfumers!

  • Oh wow, Elise’s “Ambre Alcheme” has got me totally salivating. I adore amber perfumes, it’s probably my fave note overall. Excellent name for a fume too ! … The use of “green pepper” in the top notes is most intriguing, I cannot picture it at all in an amber perfume. Can’t wait to sniff how it all works out.
    Please enter me into the draw ! (Thank you !)

  • Ambre Alcheme sounds absolutly decadent and lovely. A few gorgeous scents mixed into a beautiful perfume of Amber indulgence, I think so far this one has got me the most interested. Sounds beautiful. Here to keeping my fingers crossed. Thank you for the reviews.

  • Boronia has to be one of my favorites! And adding the deductive ambergris…..heaven! I have really loved reading all the reviews and I know that whatever happens with the drawings; I will be experiencing these treasures!

  • Liz Cook your Sweet Waters sounds divine, congratulations to you from down under! Wild Mint and Hay, the thought is driving me crazy, how damn gorgeous! I do hope I get to try this one day.bravo.

  • Ambre Alcheme seems fascinating. I really hope it conveys the feeling of that painting. For me amberrgris has always been about the autumnal sea