Colorized Woodcut from 1700's

 I had the honor of collaborating with JK DeLapp of Rising Phoenix Perfumery on his new perfume, P'eau Sud, which is  based on a centuries-old recipe for Peau D’Espagne.  Peau D’Espagne was used to scent pieces of leather  that one would keep in their paper drawer of their writing desk in the 1700s. These sachets would last anywhere from 3-5 years, depending on how they were stored.  They inspired Peau d'Espagne perfumes that would become popular at the turn of the century. Mr. DeLapp used this concept as a starting place to create P’eau Sud, which captures the scent of skin instead of leather and added American touches to both the top and the heart notes as a nod to his home state of Georgia.

Southern Plantation by Walter Bollendonk

I opened and dabbed on P’eau Sud, without even a cursory sniff from the flacon.  What emanated from my skin was fascinating. Warm soft citruses and woody green notes of French lavender with delightful herbal accents at the top were pleasing and elegant. Bergamot and lemon lend the sunshine of a warm Georgia day. Lemon basil, substituted for the lemon verbena of the original, grows in abundance in the American south so it was used for a fresher herbal, yet still citric, effect and is much warmer than verbena would have been.

Davana and Jasmine Flowers

The recipe called for neroli, rose and clove in the heart. JK kept the neroli, for its soft musky floral aroma, and instead made use of jasmine and davana (also indigenous to GA) for the heavier rose. The result is a very fruity heady deep floral accord that vaguely resembles magnolia, only it’s dark and sultry. It maintains its good manners while letting its playful whimsical charms peek out occasionally. Clove adds an arid spiced aura alongside nutmeg, complementing the flowers and the opening without occluding them.

The glorious chorus of Peru balsam in lieu of the original tolu, a custom blend of five sandalwood essential oils, birch tar, ambrette and tonka bean are smoothed and cooled with orris butter absolute. The deeper animalic base notes of civet, castoreum and grains of musk give this exceptional longevity and a haunting trail that is sensual with definite sexual subtext without being dirty, brazen or vulgar. This is the epitome of a skin scent and each and every wearing has been slightly different but always a pleasure. Sillage: close to average. Longevity: excellent.

Notes: Bergamot, lemon, lemon basil, French wild lavender, neroli, juhi jasmine, davana, clove, nutmeg, balsam of Peru, campfire smoke, a custom blend of 5 sandalwood essential oils, tonka bean, ambrette, birch, orris and vintage musks.

Disclosure: Review based on a bottle sent to me by Rising Phoenix Perfumery. P'eau Sud is a very limited-edition fragrance available on the Rising Phoenix website.

John Reasinger, Senior Editor and Natural Perfumes Editor

Earliest Peau d'Espagne Perfume was Roget et Gallet 1889 (Photo JK DeLapp)

Thanks to Rising Phoenix Perfumery our readers have a very special chance to experience the beauty of vintage musk in a contemporary natural perfume. We have two bottles of P'Eau de Sud to give away to two USA readers.  Only 19 bottles were created,  and this perfume has a 22 percent concentration of pure perfume, so this is a real treat. To be eligible please leave a comment about what appeals to you about this fragrance or what is your favorite sexy skin scent perfume , and that you live in the US. Draw will end at February 12, 2014. To read JK DeLapp's inspiration, click here

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.