Cognoscenti No. 44 Fire and Rain courtesy of Dannielle
O flames that glowed! O hearts that yearned!
They were indeed too much akin,
The drift-wood fire without that burned,
The thoughts that burned and glowed within. –The Fire of Driftwood, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby – April Rain Song, Langston Hughes
Flames lick at the corners of burnt love letters and send a sudden smokey flare into the air that signals loss. But fire is the same force that warms memories of summer campfires, of winter marshmallow toasts, holiday bonfires, and the smell of fireworks. Rain, whose torrents can level cities, is, in its gentler visitations, the sugar-sweet smell of damp grass, of wet cement city streets, the heartbreakingly lovely scent of bedewed spring flowers. California-based artist and artisan perfumer Dannielle Sergent, (whose Cognoscenti brand was first introduced on Çafleurebon by the late Tama Blough), launches Cognoscenti No. 44 Fire and Rain as “a study in contrasts” that explores the evocative aspects of each element, both regenerative and destructive, ultimately focusing on its essential beauty.
Dannielle Sergent photo by Annabelle Breakey
Sergent explains that the “fragrance looks at both sides of each element through the filter of the California landscape. Memories of smoke-filled skies and mud slides at fire scarred hillsides are tempered by sunny skies, soft breezes filled with flowers and warm woods, and a proximity to a salty coast … In the 3 years since I started No. 44 the fragrance changed a lot. And so had the world around me. We’ve had raging fires and apocalyptic skies in California, mud slides and the isolation of the pandemic. With all of the drama unfolding, flowers, soft warm breezes and coastal walks were the things that restored me. All of these blended with the memories of the smoke-filled skies and the promise of rain formed the structure of the fragrance. A love letter to California.”
Cognoscenti No. 44 Fire and Rain is the brand’s 10th anniversary fragrance. It was originally conceived as a scent sketch for the 2018 Los Angeles Experimental Scent Fair. The resulting fragrance, Mud + Fire/Flame, became an unexpected favorite, which inspired Sergent to “really look at the ingredients and create a fully formed perfume with a similar concept.” Fire and Rain grew out of this exploration and became, in Sergent’s words, “a love letter to California. A milestone.”
First Image by Danielle and 2nd stock photo
Cognoscenti No. 44 Fire and Rain is a fascinating journey marked by distinct stages that introduces perceptible aspects of each element with tremendous precision. Rain manifests first, the individual notes that form its familiar smell in soft focus, bringing impression rather than recognition initially. Within a few minutes, it delivers an uncanny recreation of an early spring day, when drizzle patters in calm persistence on flowers just coming into bloom. Geosmin, the chemical compound responsible for the discernable odor of damp ground, dominates those early moments, carrying the remembrance of a thousand April rains. But, as the smell of condensation combines with flowery and fruity scents – I get a faraway gardenia and some droplets orange and grapefruit – smoke rises coldly, like a fire hurriedly extinguished.
top left: JMW Turner Falls of the Clyde, bottom left: Helen Frankenthaler Lighthouse Series XI and right National Geographic 1978 digitalized by Dannielle (mood board)
But then No. 44 Fire and Rain shifts again, and the entire fragrance begins to warm the way sun breaking through rain clouds feels when you turn your face to it. Saffron is a clever choice to elicit heat, while the distinctly woody, rooty smell of cypriol moves forward, parching the more watery odors of the fragrance. I usually think of cypriol as reminiscent of dry wood – the arid smell of our old attic. Its contrast with the showery near sweetness of the opening is the olfactory parallel to coming in after a downpour to a gentle fire in the grate. There a handful of salt in there now, saffron is becoming more noticeable as itself, and the perfume transports itself from vernal garden to the beach at Carmel.
An hour after applying it to my wrists, No. 44 Fire and Rain plays on my skin like concerto where key aspects of each element come out in distinctive movements. It takes a while for the floral section to blossom, but gradually the spicy buxomness of gardenia becomes more pronounced, accompanied by a soapy hint of neroli. Hedione, with its hairspray freshness, adds breeziness, and woody notes tumble in like driftwood. The base is resinous – slightly ambery – and earthy, with vetiver making a late debut, smelling of damp root and wet smoke.
Cognoscenti No. 44 Fire and Rain
Later in the day, walking through my neighbourhood, the streets and plants still wistful with rainfall, I am caught by a juxtaposition of far-off smoke, damp leaves that cling to my sandals, and wafts of watercolour flowers. It’s lovely, in the way a happy conclusion to a sad tale is. The sun smiles wanly at my confusion, then, as if noticing the fragrance, comes out and smiles.
Notes: Smoke (cypriol, hydro carbo resin, vetiver) rain (geosmin) California Coast (salt, grisalva) sunshine (pink grapefruit, blood orange and saffron) florals (neroli, gardenia, hedione, geraniol) and warm breezes (light woods, musks, resins).
Disclaimer: Samples of Cognoscenti No. 44 Fire and Rain kindly provided by the brand. My opinions, as always are my own.
Lauryn Beer, Senior Editor
Dannielle was Michelyn’s CaFleureBon Rising Star of 2012.
Cognoscenti Wild Child, reviewed by Ida Meister was a 2020 Art and Olfaction Finalist
Cognoscenti No. 44 Fire and Rain
Thanks to the generosity of Cognoscenti, we have a 50 ml bottle of Cognoscenti No. 44 Fire and Rain for one registered reader in the U.S. and a sample for a reader in the EU . You must register or your comment will not count. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what strikes you about Fire and Rain and where you live. Draw closes 7/15/2022.
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