EnVoyage Perfumes Carmel de Ville: Olfactive Landscapes Of The Monterey Peninsula

One of the more interesting things about the 8th Art is when an artist chooses fragrance to create an olfactory profile of a specific place. Certainly one of the most successful examples of this kind of artistry are the first two fragrances in Hermes “Un Jardin” series; Un Jardin en Mediterranee and Un Jardin sur Le Nil. For both of those fragrances the perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena spent time in the Meditteranean and near The Nile and let his nose become the way we would experience his impressions of those locales. I am reminded of this by perfumer Shelley Waddington and her Carmel By The Sea Series for her Envoyage Perfumes label. For the four fragrances in this series; Debut de Carmel, Poete de Carmel, Carmel Boehme, and Carmel de Ville Ms. Waddington takes one on a olfactive tour of this town on the Monterey Peninsula in California.

Debut de Carmel is that morning walk full of green floral beauty courtesy of violet, rose and sweet pea.

Poete de Carmel takes you along the cliffs with the ocean crashing as a base of amber, moss and vetiver give the feel of the surf roaring below.

Carmel Boehme feels like twilight as the heart of white flowers over a base of incense, amber, and sandalwood carries the magic of the in-between times.

Finally at the end of the day you need to sit down and enjoy a little dessert at the Inn you’re staying in, and that brings me to Carmel de Ville.

Ms. Waddington says that she was inspired by the Cypress Inn in Carmel. The Cypress Inn is famous for having Doris Day as one of the owners. Carmel de Ville has the bright quality that Doris Day brought to her romantic comedies with Rock Hudson. Like those movies that lightness can sometimes be taken as something which carries less weight to it. I think that quality is something difficult to achieve and, in both Ms. Day’s and Ms. Waddington’s work, I find it refreshing .

Carmel de Ville starts with a fruit accord that carries with it a hint of sweetness. The dominant note is a bitter orange aspect over the sweet mélange of juicy fruit. The heart of Carmel de Ville is a floral festival of indigenous plants from Carmel. Orange blossom, lily, jasmine, narcissus, heliotrope are the notes I can pick out. They are kept light and lively and they feel as if they are in a beautiful centerpiece on a table. What is in front of me on the table is a fresh crème brulee. This is where Carmel de Ville takes an unexpected turn from fruity floral to gourmand. A lightly vanillic and caramel accord comes to the foreground and stays. There is even a hint of the crispy, flamed hard sugar shell atop the vanilla and caramel. The last half of the development of Carmel de Ville is all gourmand on my skin.

Carmel de Ville has excellent longevity and average sillage.

Ms. Waddington has made a lovely fragrance that like the best of Doris Day’s romantic comedies has a sense of fun and an unexpected depth.

Disclosure: This review was based on a sample provided by EnVoyage Perfumes.

Art from the Monterey Museum of Art website

-Mark Behnke, Managing Editor

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49 comments

  • Congratulations Shelley!  Just reading this wonderful review made me feel like I had just spent the weekend in Carmel.  Hmmm, perfume as vacation destination . . . I love it!

  • Taking time to create an olfactory profile of a spesific place is far from the main stream fragrances' motives, which take the market surveys as the starting point. Even this concept alone is enough to explain the artistic approach of Envoyage Perfumes and the nose behind the brand, Shelley Waddington, which remind us of the glorious days of "perfumery as an art".
    i was also lucky enough to sample some of the perfumes mentioned in this article and my initial feeling was a shock which made me think "could something like this marvel be possible to create?", followed by the secondary feeling of a selfish question asked to my own self  "if it was possible -and in this case it was obvious-, why couldnt i do something like this?".
    While trying hard to replace my primitive jealousy with a positive envy, i thank both the creative nose Shelley Waddington of Envoyage Perfumes and the reviewer Mr. Mark Behnke for bringing these liquid and fragrant artistic pieces in our olfactory agendas -especially in these days at which glamourously packed crappy juices are invading the shelves and counters.

  • i am so pleased for Shelley.  i have known her since we were teens and shelley has always worked very hard at whatever she did.  i am sure that anything she does, she will do very well and put her all into.  I am so happy that she has found a passion – it's a wonderful thing.

  • JoanElaine says:

    The concept behind these scents grabs my attention, and the scents sound divine. I have never been to Carmal, and until I can travel there, I am more than willing to experience the place through Ms. Waddington's perfumes.
    Thanks you for bringing this perfumer and her work to my attention!

  • The scents sound gorgeous!   Bringing the beauty of this place into an olfactory experience is an amazing work. of pure ART.  Thank yoiu Shelley for standing out with your expertise and dedication to the  world of perfumery!
    Best,
    Ragna

  • Congratulations, Shelley!  I am always so pleased to hear when a truly talented person is recognized!  I know how much you enjoy your "scents" and how very hard you work at it.  Good job!

  • What a lovely review! Congratulations to Shelley for creating these olfactory masterpieces. I am now hungry for creme brulee . . . and just about anything to do with Carmel.

  • What a beautiful review! I look forward to enjoying your perfumes and experiencing your art, Shelley!  They sound so yummy and it's wonderful that they invoke a place and it's richness. Thank you!

    Laurie
    Velvet & Sweet Pea's Purrfumery

  • Mark and Michelyn, It's an incredible honor  to be included in such company.  The degree to which you understood and conveyed the  artistic concept of this series is uncanny and much appreciated.

  • Shelley, your creativity comes through beautifully in this wonderful article by Mark/pictures by Michelyn!! I cannot wait to sample all of these when I visit!! I love Carmel and you have captured it's spirit with your sensitivity and talent. Bravo!!

  • Brava!! Dear Shelley .. it is so wonderful to read such a lovely review of your work.!!!  Your perfumes are a reflection of your inner soul and creativity .!! You truly make the scented world we are in a magical place.!! Roe

  • Congratulations Shelley! It all sounds wonderful and I'd just love to have chance to smell your perfumes!

  • Congratulations, Shelly! The Carmel perfumes sound wonderful. You live in a beautiful part of the world and I'm sure the scents reflect that. 

  • I have had the delight of  experiencing one of Shelley's Carmel fragrances & was  immediately out in the Salt Marsh with sea birds wheeling over head.  Having had the fortune of discovering Shelley's art for myself, I consider her to be one of those tucked away jewels that everyone must discover.

  • …and this is exactly why we love Shelley's perfumes. They embody so much more than just a beautiful combination of fragrances and truly reflect magic places, various moods and special times of the day. Thank you for giving us these unique gifts through your collection of perfumes!

  • Hello Shelly, I'm so very happy for you. Well done. A truly wonderful review. I feel I can smell your perfumes just by reading the words.
    many blessings, joey

  • It is gratifying to see recognition of a fine perfume artist. I especially enjoyed your review's metaphor about Doris Day and lightness. Wonderful!

  • Shelley, I'm so happy for you getting your babies out into the world…. and with such a nice send-off, too!
    You deserve every bit of it. May everyone find your fragrances as lovely as we do!

    Michael Storer

  • Congratulations on the creation of a beautiful collection of perfumes!  You're knowledge, artistry and enthusiasm for perfumery is an inspiration for me. 

  • Shelley how wonderful!  They all sound lovely and would love to try some sometime.

  • Congrats Shelley! I'd love to smell these someday! They sound lovely, and I've not tried one of your creations yet!

  • Thank you all for these most touching comments.  Salim has designed the beautiful new EnVoyage website featuring these creations THAT WILL LAUNCH VERY SOON

  • Shelley
    What can I say that has not already been said. I am truly tickled for you.
    Betty

  • OMG Shelley, I’m soooo happy for you! You deserve all the words of praise cos people, this is one talented perfumer!!! I feel blessed for ‘knowing’ you! xoxo

  • My husband and I have strolled the streets and sands of beautiful Carmel everytime we travel to the Monterey Jazz Festival in September. I have always found it a magical haven and can hardly wait to experience your interpretation as essence. You deserve the recogition for your dedication and obvious talent.  Congratulations, Shelley

  • What a beautiful review!  I feel like I'm currently in California at the moment, and I hope it lasts as long as the perfumes =)
    It's nice to see natural perfumers being appreciated for considering people as people, and not just a nameless, faceless, number, whose only worth is when they purchase something.
    Congratulations to Shelley!  As they say, anything is life worth doing, is hard work, and it's nice to see it pays off!
     
    All the best to your launch!

  • Shelley, this is a wonderful review for your wonderful perfumes. Congratulations.
    Mark's description aptly protrays the olfactory journey taken by the sniffer down through the levels of scent to the crashing sea below.  Carmet is definately a place we want to visit.
    I know this is just the beginning of your worldwide recognition as an artistic perfumer and you deserve it. 
    Warmly, Lyn Ayre

  • I had the privilege to smell some of Shelley's work and their perfumes are exceptionally nice. Her perfumes are like "liquid pictures"!. She does have the amazing talent of telling a story or make images with scent. Thanks for bringing this wonderful review. Congratulations Shelley!

  • Marcia Miller says:

    Shelley
    Congratulations!  What a delicious sensual review!  Way to go girl!  Love, Marcia

  • What a wonderful writeup, Shelley…   It's been years since I visited Carmel, and this review brought it back.  I *must* have a smidge of Poete de Carmel…I want that memory revived and refreshed.  What a gift , to be able to aromatically create places that you love!

  • as DH, i guess i am the spoiled 1.  i thank all friends that i know and those i have not met yet., for your acknowledgment of  my wife.  i am spoiled because i live and share Shelley's creations from start 2 finish.  i am blessed.  She is a true scent artist!

  • Cindy Enlow says:

    Shelley:  Thank you for opening up my eyes (and nose) to this new art form: evoking a historical, cultural or environmental 'scent' of a place or time.  Intuitive and intelligent!  Way to go!  Cindy

  • Joel Smolanoff says:

    Bravo Shelley! A very impressive review that should I hope take you to the next level of creativity. I must visit Carmel one of these days and experience first hand the absolute magic expressed in Carmel de Ville.  

  • Congratulations Shelley!  You deserve to be on top of the world!  Oh how wonder it is to read about your creations through the heart of someone else.

  • Hi Shelley, Congratulations on that review !
    reading it brings back memories of the trip to Carmel and of course it makes me want to smell your creations! I like your concept of capturing the atmosphere of a specific place into a flacon very much

  • Carlos Powell says:

    Shelley is a sweetheart, and her perfumes are TDF! Thanks for pointing me towards this review, of another I’m sure I will love.

  • Sounds gorgeous! EnVoyage Perfumes are very appealing to me. Thanks for this review.

  • Dearest Shelley,
    I was smelling carmel in the air while reading this review and this time it wasnt the hot carmel sauce that my three year old just dropped on me either:) I sense the warmth and I imagine that when mixed with the natural salts and secretions from our skin it becomes magical! Its excellent to read about a scent that captures a moment in time in a place its the ultimate achievement imho. Because thats hat fragrence accomplishes for us as the wear-er it takes us to a place in time and sends us back there if only for a moment.
    May much success be bestowed upon you. What a great read:)

  • Living very close to Carmel, I find myself down there regularly and truly appreciate the wonderful smells that pick up at dusk when the breeze comes off the ocean. It would be fun to sample the scents while standing in the places that inspired them. I’m very glad to know they exist.

  • ElizabethN says:

    I live in the SF Bay Area, but I really love Carmel and the Monterey bay area. SO pretty and wild. I’d love to sample your scents and see how you interpret the area in a perfume.

  • I won this draw and it was wonderful I love shelleys scents. But my favorite was the Ivy sample she sent me. It was goegeous I loved it so much. She had cut Green Ivy from her garden and offered to send some to anyone who thought they would love it. Not for sale or profit at all but for herself to give the satisfaction to someone else. It was me and it was memorable:)