The times are few where my chemistry geek side and my perfume geek side overlap. One of the places has been the existence of the Mane Jungle Essence technology. In a nutshell extremely cold mixtures of liquefied gases, called supercritical fluids, are used to extract a natural substrate at its source. As the fluid warms it reverts to gas and leaves behind the oil with no solvent residue within. Used correctly this should result in cleaner extractions. It is also portable and so can be used right where the plant is growing. I reviewed the first experiment in using this technology which was called Mane Yu. I came away impressed with the technology but felt this first attempt didn’t truly take advantage of it. The Jungle Essence extracts did have a liveliness to them but they didn’t add up to a completely memorable experience for me.

Since then I’ve been looking at the note lists of perfumes looking for the JE attached to the notes to see how this technology would be more broadly applied. When I received the new Etat Libre d’Orange Dangerous Complicity the note list led off with three notes containing the JE initials and I thought this would be a good chance to see this in action. When reading the press materials for Dangerous Complicity I saw that this was a perfume meant to evoke couples who were drawn together but when together they were volatile and dangerous. Think Liz and Dick, Sid and Nancy, Bogart and Bacall, Bonnie and Clyde, or Antony and Cleopatra as examples. This is what happens when passion breeds danger it goes supercritical.

Perfumer Violaine Collas of Mane had access to the Jungle Essence library to choose from and the three notes she chose were rum, ginger, and coconut. These create a pure exotic boozy quality that is recognizable in its shape but with much more clarity and somehow more light in quality, this is especially true of the rum JE. The central note of Dangerous Complicity is osmanthus in all of its gender balancing leather and apricot character. Dangerous Complicity captures all of the turmoil and excitement of a relationship under pressure.

The three Jungle Essence notes at the top of Dangerous Complicity show the process off to great effect. It starts with the rum JE. This note is reminiscent of warming a snifter of five-star rum in my hands and catching whiffs of the rum escaping over the lip. It is full of air and it imparts an ethereal quality to a note that often hangs like a thundercloud over a perfume. Ginger JE smells like a high-performance version of ginger and it roars across the opening moments of Dangerous Complicity like a Formula One racer. Coconut JE adds a bit of exoticism and this smells like a freshly cracked coconut still dewy with the remnants of the milk. The three together get this off to a very nice beginning. The osmanthus takes over in the heart and it is joined by jasmine and ylang-ylang to create the sweet heady floral middle phase. This is where Dangerous Complicity could tilt too much to the floral but Mme Collas accentuates the leathery fruity quality of the osmanthus and that keeps the jasmine and ylang-ylang under control. The base transitions to sandalwood hitched to patchouli and cashmere woods.

Dangerous Complicity has all-day longevity and average sillage.

Mme Collas has shown me that the Jungle Essence technique can create notes which allow for her to create different, yet familiar, combinations within a fragrance. Unlike my experience with Mane Yu this time Dangerous Complicity feels like it comes together very nicely to create an olfactory statement. While I don’t think it is as volatile a coupling as the couples that inspired it there is a pairing of the old and the new and in that there is always a bit of heat to be found.

Disclosure: This review was based on a press ample provided by Etat Libre d’Orange PR.

Thanks to Etat Libre d’Orange we have a 10mL mini of Dangerous Complicity to giveaway. To be eligible leave comment naming your favorite supercritical (tempestuous) couple. We will draw one winner on August 12, 2012 via random.org.

We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.

-Mark Behnke, Managing Editor

Editor’s note: For a review of the other new Etat Libre d’Orange The Afternoon of a Faun check out my colleague Tama Blough’s review at this link.