More than anything, I work around emotions. My perfumes are an invitation to explore the most complex and mysterious of empires: the realm of the senses-Marc-Antoine Corticchiato
Every time I am at a trade show the best part of it is when I find a something completely new to me. That moment of discovery is where the magic is. At the most recent Elements Showcase that bit of serendipity occurred midway through the first day as I approached the Di Ser Eau de Parfums booth. What was there was a display of ten fragrances completely unknown to me and I’m guessing the rest of the attendees as well.
When I see the word “blue” in a perfumes title, very often I cringe. It is either some ubiquitous aquatic or a “nice clean” laundry fragrance. When I received Bellyflowers’ Blue Jasmine, for this review, its notes were very intriguing to me. Lotus, jasmine, more jasmine, vetiver, cypriol and sandalwood were all that was mentioned by the perfumer, but there was so much more.
I just got to try Mary Greenwell Plum. Mary Greenwell Plum was an exclusive release to the House of Fraser in the UK. It was released there in October of 2010. It was described as a “contemporary chypre”. It was the first fragrance by “Award winning makeup artist Mary Greenwell”. It was being composed by Francois Robert of Les Parfums de Rosine fame. It was unobtainable and most everyone that encountered it waxed rhapsodically about this is how it is done. Then in December of 2011 it became available in the US, and to me. Is it the second coming of chypre for the twenty-first century?
I think all artists like to look back at the past of their art form and find inspiration. Lately some of our finest indie perfumers have been doing that and creating modern vintage perfumes. Laurie Erickson of Sonoma Scent Studio steps up with her attempt to re-create a bygone past with a modern fragrance in Nostalgie.
There is that moment when a perfumer hits an inflection point and their creativity takes an exponential jump upward. In 2011, one perfumer I believe found herself on that upward trajectory is Charna Ethier of Providence Perfume Company. Thankfully she didn’t keep me waiting long as her first release of 2012, Hindu Honeysuckle, has been my companion for the last two days.
