Every perfumista I know has, at one time or another, wanted their “own perfume” or has “osmagined” the perfect perfume. I was lucky enough to receive such a perfume (inspired by my suggestions and blended flawlessly by the perfumer Adam Gottschalk of Lord’s Jester) this past March, as a birthday gift. My bespoke perfume was named after one of my favorite stories in Greek mythology, Persephone.
Ben Gorham, the Founder and Creative Director of Byredo Parfums, envisioned his newest addition to the line as a true tribute to the Middle East, a part of the world he has visited frequently. I have never traveled to that part of the world, and might not in my lifetime, but if wearing Bullion takes me there, it’s a very fragrant place to visit.
I was intrigued enough to spend some time tracking down more of each of these two fragrances Black and White, which were released in 2011. While I was doing that I was also able to get samples of the two newest fragrances from Undergreen, Pink and Gold. These four fragrances promise a virtual color wheel of quality to come.
As I was sniffing Nuit Etoilee, I came to think about fragrance names. How they belong in different groups to attract different audiences, how the name has to keep what it promises, and sometimes even live up to the expectations that it invariably sets. So has van Gogh’s painting got anything to do with how Goutal’s Nuit Etoilee smells?
In Santal Majuscule the cocoa is that dusty powdery smell of fine desiccated sweet. It dusts the heart of sandalwood in Santal Majuscule and then the typical Oriental beats of a Serge Lutens perfume arrive on the back of a Turkish rose. This is just a perfectly balanced sandalwood perfume.
Australia has spawned many superb perfume Houses; a couple of years before the last millennium turned, two very visionary individuals (Dianna Burmas & Deon St. Mor) began MOR in a small shop in Melbourne. Their love of travel, art, fashion and food eventually resulted in their release of lines of aromatherapy products and fine fragrances. Their process of blending old time ingredients with modern technologies has promoted what they call “an awakening of the senses with an innovative twist” in the creation of each new product line.
