Damir as a young boy (his fragrant awakening is Neela Vermeire Creations Trayee)

Many ages ago, flowers attracted me with their colors and odors, so my nose searched nearby meadows, my own, and neighbors’ gardens. Born in the year of Guerlain Chamade, most of my childhood I spent surrounded by many famous perfumes in their pre-IFRA formulations. Edmond Roudnitska’s Diorella was a contemporary fragrance less than ten years old at the end of the seventies. Just as nowadays, I have lived in Croatia, then part of the former state of Yugoslavia, a socialist country of somewhat opened type in the seventies and eighties. An average person had a passport and went to shops in Trieste, Italy, or Graz, Austria. Those were the places where we bought many products for basic life or clothes of modern design. Although some of those things were available here, they were cheaper abroad. Husbands usually returned from some business trip with perfume for their wives, and in those times, daughters secretly wore their mother’s new perfume. Thus, alongside Diorella, I remember Rochas Madame and Femme, L’air du Temps, Chanel no. 19, and Cristalle as perfumes present in my primary school.

Damir’s Collection of Vintage Perfumes

However, most people wore fragrances produced by domestic companies, original or under license, which included Revlon, Lentheric, Yardley, Juvena, and some others. Our firms that made them were pharmaceutical companies, and Croatian oakmoss was a grand ingredient in some of them, and the world’s perfumers used it, too. Chypre by factory Pliva-Neva, one of the regular domestic fragrances, is one of the best chypre scents ever.  The most evocative for me is Yardley’s Chique, a memory of a lovely girl, and male fragrance Chaz, which I even spent a full bottle.  The collection of male sport colognes Walter Wolf was very popular, and I  drained a bottle of a woody Formula 2. At the epoch which didn’t care about the protection of animals, natural musk was a regular ingredient of perfumes. Originally French, later German, house Nerval had the entire line based on musk, and among a few male fragrances, I liked Musk Men Pur. Almost full, my second bottle is still in my collection because my fragrant matters have turned in a different direction. When we were at the end of primary school, boys went mad about Brut, which was not a new fragrance at all. Not Brut itself, but its omnipresence on every step made it for my no.1 nightmare of the fragrant world. During one of the trips abroad, I found a little perfumery that opened to me the whole new world. It was the first time I felt that I freely choose among hitherto unseen. Theretofore, I took the best from actually a little bit offered.

After a long time and after a kind of dazed overload, I came across  Yves St. Laurent Kouros, which was almost a new fragrance, less than three years old. The  House of Yves Saint Laurent was still in its Charles of the Ritz era. Well, that was a legendary moment. Inner and outer smiles stated: “They will be sick of this. ” I bought it. Later, after a lunch break, I came back to the same perfumery and continued to explore. Yes, it was the big moment when I felt the original, unruly passion for the first time, and bought another one, my first, big fragrant love that still lasts, Azzaro.  Time of secondary school (1984 -1988) was a period of exploring various fragrances. I evidenced the appearance of Armani Eau Pour Homme, Eau Sauvage Extreme, Fahrenheit, Cool Water, and many others. On the other hand, I’ve been tending towards scents that weren’t that popular at the time, so I took my first bottle of Guerlain Habit Rouge. Nearly twenty years later, the same perfume signified my wedding day. It’s hard to summarize the ’90s, but many lovely memories belong to Insense, Basala, The Dreamer, Voyageur, Jaipur Homme and Bvlgari Black. The two latter might be a reason to call Annick Menardo for my first fragrant hero. I still wear them both. The late ’90s was the first time I tried some of the “niche” perfumes. They were just not for me, so I have never turned back to those particular fragrances. I was still more impressed with the designer houses including  Dior and Yves St. Laurent… M7, Rive Gauche, Memoire D’homme, and Dior Homme in the first years of this century. Simultaneously, I became interested in exploring fragrances in depth and started to search the Internet, read books, and then  blogs.

No one would think it today, but I wasn’t fascinated by social media at first. Finally, I found that Facebook might be a  good source of all things fragrant, so I opened my profile in late 2012. It’s crucial because it symbolizes the beginning of my enthusiasm for American Artisans, natural perfumers, and small niche perfume houses.

Neela Vermeire Courtesy of Neela

One of the names I saw frequently was Neela Vermeire Creations. I read some articles on Neela Vermeire and her collection, also stories around her perfumes revived subjects I explored and learned  about many years ago.

November 9, 2013 First appearance of Neela Vermeire in Croatia, in Croatian magazine Diva article by Damir Gašljević

Primarily, the story of Trayee, which connects various themes from ancient Indian tradition and philosophy. Bertrand Duchaufour was not a new perfumer to me, and I remember that I was happy when I noticed Neela’s and his collaboration because I already liked at least four of his perfumes. Then one of Neela Vermeire’s generous giveaways happened, I was among the winners. Samples of Neela VermeireTrayee, Mohur, and Bombay Bling arrived in the beautiful, small bag, which I still treasure. Following Neela’s tales of India, her birthplace chronologically, I started with Neela Vermeire Creations Trayee. The initial experience of its beauty made me impatient, so I gave quick sniffs to Mohur and Bombay Bling, which I adore. At that point, I continued my fascination with Trayee, and it still lasts.

Damir’s collection of Neela Vermiere Perfumes

My seven years with Neela Vermeire Trayee reminds me of understanding the time and cosmic events as a spiral, which enables slight changes and progress in the universe.  Like Neela Vermeire CreationsTrayee, wearing it many times I’ve found tiny differences in the diffusion of the perfume’s ingredients. And this makes me happy, at the same time suggesting to me the origin and philosophical principles of Neela’s story. I could never say about Trayee that it is all about woody or spicy or green or floral or incense facets. Its almost a chameleon. I don’t remember that I have ever read more than a dozen articles on some other perfume which ingredients are described more diversely than Trayee’s notes. Cardamom, jasmine, and Mysore sandalwood are some of the materials that I love, they have always been among my favorite ingredients in perfumery, and are just magnificent and of the highest quality in Neela Vermeire Trayee.

Trayee is like the most profound, mysterious music, with a myriad of exotic and new, but a little bit different with each performance. Its materials,  like musical instruments, alternately giving each other a leading place, unafraid of being overshadowed by the beauty of the others.  The harmony of the whole composition is wondrous. The fact is for me that I can’t predict  the next Trayee performance, but I am, based on all previous wearings, confident that it will be time and again brilliant; for this the reason why I call it a modern masterpiece. Indeed, music based on Trayee exists, and it is the art of Marie-Anouch Sarkissian, and Parfum & Musique. Neela Vermeire is well known as a lover of music and art in general, which is reflected in the excellent and original Neela Vermeire Creations pages on Facebook, and Instagram.

 2005 – Damir and his beautiful wife

Neela Vermeire Creations astonishing perfumes ultimately brought me something in a niche sphere that has captured my heart.  In the meantime, when the award winning Ashoka was introduced, it has become the precious perfume of my wife, so her  perfumes are  very much present in our house.  Were Neela Vermeire perfumes what I expected? They were much more because no one prepared me for such a flow of high-quality materials. Although I would read many praises about ingredients, it is different when you get the picture on your own. I remain faithful to these exquisite perfumes, being happy whenever Neela Vermeire announces a new creation. Besides, in the context of the present state of niche, Neela Vermeire Creations stands as a house that reminds us of what is niche supposed to be and what it was only a few years ago.

The question that remains unanswered is, would my  Fragrant Awakening be another Neela Vermiere Creations perfume if I, instead of Trayee, firstly had smelled Mohur? I think so. Her work with Bertrand Duchaufor is astounding.

Top notes: blue ginger from Madagascar, elemi oil, cinnamon bark, ganja effects, blackcurrant absolute, basil,  Heart notes: Sambac jasmine absolute, Egyptian jasmine absolute, cardamom absolute, clove, saffron, sandalwood, Base notes: Javanese vetiver, Haitian vetiver, incense, Mysore sandalwood oil, patchouli, myrrh, vanilla, cedar, amber notes, oudh palao from Laos, oakmoss

DISCLOSURE: Opinions are my own, and based on my personal fragrant way. No perfumes have been provided for this story. Photos show pieces from my personal collection, unless otherwise noted

Damir Gašljević is a longtime CaFleurebon Reader and champion of quality fragrance, photo 2019

-Damir Gašljević, CaFleureBon Reader and CafleureBon Most Valuable Perfume person (MVP) of 2016

Follow us on Instagram @cafleurebon @dgambas and @neelavermeirecreations

Trayee art from Neela

Thanks to the generosity of Neela Vermeire, we have a 60 ml bottle of Neela Vermeire Creations Trayee for one lucky reader in the USA, EU and Canada. The draw is for registered readers only, so be sure to register if you have not done so. To be eligible please let us know what you thought of Damir’s Fragrant Awakening. What is your favorite in her collection? Draw closes 10/31/2019

This is our Privacy and Draw Rules Policy

We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like ÇaFleureBon and use our Site feed…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume