1 Swallow Doesn’t Make a Summer, Two from Dusita

First of all I owe you an apology for being quiet for so long – at the end of April I got sick and had a lot of covid symptoms like fever and coughing. I got tested and the result was negative, meaning I simply caught a more nasty spring cold. I’m still coughing a bit but overally I feel fine. Other than that I suffered from lack of inspiration and deficiency of new samples to test and possibly review.

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The idea of “my brand” or “not my brand” is not new in the perfume world but I believe that for me it was Undina that introduced this term to my fragrance dictionary. I have a list of “my brands” in my head and for these brands I’m always eagerly anticipating the news about upcoming fragrances or events they organize. Parfums Dusita, despite being a young niche brand (only 5 years old now) quickly gained a worldwide recognition. Currently rocking 12 perfume I also became a fan of Pissara Umavijani compositions. There are small exceptions and today I’ll talk about those.

Le Pavillon d’Or is not my kind of perfume and probably that’s why I haven’t smelled it earlier than over a year after its premiere, which took place in 2019. The composition starts with a sweet & green honeysuckle note – a nice, vegetal scent with hints of honey and hay. After a moment an aromatic mint joins, making the fragrance fresher but far from the toothpaste territory. The scent it gives off is more dry, herbaceous. Orris root adds a touch of earthiness that gradually evolves into more rooty & buttery facets typically associated with iris in perfumery. Heart of Le Pavillon d’Or offers a bounty of green notes. Boronia – flowers native to Australia, offer a fragrance that is slightly honeyed but also feels dusty and aged. Thyme adds a herbal impression that seamlessly transitions into fig leaf accord. You know me and how little of a fan of fig I am when it comes to my perfume. Here this leaf feels dusty too, with undertone of tree sap and something milky underneath. Heliotrope makes the fragrance feel smoother thanks to the creamy floral nuances it adds to this Dusita creation. Hints of frankincense are noticeable just like wisps of smoke floating lazily in the air. The drydown is a woody blend of oak wood – an accord created by Pissara herself. To my nose it really smells like some wooden barrels. Additionally sandalwood intensifies the perception of the woody notes in the base. Like all Dusita perfumes, Le Pavillon d’Or is a very pretty composition. It just doesn’t speak to me like her other perfumes do.

Cavatina is the most recent Dusita creation that joined the brand’s portfolio at the end of this April. As explained by Pissara during Instagram live launch event, the perfume is heavily inspired by vintage Diorissimo. The perfume opens with a very fresh & clean manner. Muted, citrusy scent of bergamot blends with some sparkling fizziness that smells like aldehydes, although they aren’t mentioned among official top notes (but they are in the heart). Slightly woody scent of litsea cubeba (a kind of aromatic shrub) marries with the scent of petitgrain, paving the way for the biggest star of Cavatina. Lily of the valley in Cavatina smells uber-realistic which is not an easy feat knowing that muguet cannot be naturally extracted at an efficient level. Pissara combined a number of other materials to create her own LOTV accord which smells like an open field full of tiny, white, bell-shaped flowers. Heart of this perfume is what makes it bloom – literally. Innocent smell of tea rose plays with tuberose & jasmine for a grand white floral experience. Cavatina is gentle but has a carnal side as well. Ylang-ylang adds an element of solar creaminess to the blend. In the base heliotrope gives off an aroma that sits between creamy tonka and smooth florals. Ambrette and cypress introduce a bit of greenness. Everything is topped with elegant vanilla that feels slightly oriental and a bit gourmand, it compliments the lily of the valley heart beautifully. I’m sure many people will find Cavatina special but it’s a very specific perfume that will find a niche in the niche. Not everyone will love it given that white florals are polarizing among fragrance lovers.

As they say – you can’t love them all. I don’t think there’s anything to be ashamed of if the brand you love and support releases a perfume that doesn’t fit your taste. Afterall perfume is very subjective and things like that are bound to happen on regular basis. You’ll love one perfume more, the other one less. But that doesn’t change the fact that I love Dusita for creativity & ingenuity in raw material use, but most of all for Pissara who is one of the warmest & the friendliest people in the industry. If you tried Le Pavillon d’Or or Cavatina, do let me know how much you liked them.

Monday Quick Sniffs, part 62

It’s been a while since I last wrote about something from Laboratorio Olfattivo. I quite liked their earlier releases but what came later didn’t interest me as much & the number of new fragrances added went up quite fast. But I never fully gave up on the brand, that’s why I got me a decant of Mandarino. Laboratio Olfattivo is one of those brands that keep Jean-Claude Ellena busy after his retirement from Hermes and this perfume is also composed by him. Mandarino is a very simplicist creation, very much in line with the style of J-C.E. At first there’s a burst of Italian mandarin – a very juicy and realistic interpretation that makes my mouth water. Mandarin notes often turn flat after a while but this one stays round and firm. Maybe it’s because that right underneath this lovely juiciness there’s also this powdery, almost talc-y albedo facet that is additionally followed by the aromatic orange-colored peel. It’s a whole fruit. Once this part calms down the flavor changes. Enter blackcurrant note. In Mandarino it has a very tart character – more like actual buds rather than a jammy fruit. You can almost smell the acidic quality of these delicious black orbs. Mandarine and currant notes are quite linear here but they last for a good amount of time. When the perfume dries down it becomes lighter, softer and pleasantly musky. It’s a simple fragrance but it does the trick. Had I discovered it before the summer, I’d have worn it.

I rarely reach for gourmand fragrances at my own will so you have to blame my NST swap partner, Karina, for adding a sample of Cafe Cabanel by Teo Cabanel as a freebie in a package she sent me. In other circumstances I wouldn’t have been searching for this one. The perfume opens with a warm and slightly caramelized smell of freshly roasted coffee beans that are being ground a moment later – resulting in giving off a slightly powdery aroma. There’s a bit of cinnamon going on in this composition but while it adds a little bit of spicy tinge, Cafe Cabanel becomes sweeter and sweeter. Over time it develops that densely sugary scent of condensed milk – this bring back childhood memories as I used to buy it in tubes and eat it like regular sweets. This gourmand accord is enhanced by a smooth buttery note and an almost edible heliotrope. In the drydown there’s a lot of balsamic tonka that fuses with gooey and sticky concoction of caramel & vanilla. There’s a hint of sandalwood in this composition but it can be easily unnoticed due to all the sweetness that is oozing from this perfume. I can understand why some people like i; But not me. However after a couple of hours when the sweetness is not so drastic, the drydown reminds be of balsams from MFK Grand Soir.

Speaking of Maison Francis Kurkdjian, I was curious about their newly released L’Homme a la Rose a masculine response to their A la Rose perfume for women from 2013. For some reason MFK still stubbornly divides their offerings by gender but ok, let them have it their way. Personally I love roses, that’s why I was interested how the brand will approach the subject of a flower that is still considered dominantly feminine in Western perfumery. L’Homme a la Rose begins with a muted and slightly bitter note of grapefruit. It feels crisp and tad powdery, like a just ironed shirt. I guess that’s what makes if feel more manly. There seems to be the faintest sweaty undertone to the grapefruit but it’s gone in a blink under a damask rose. This rose smells green and fresh, the scent of flower stems is especially pronounced on my skin. I also pick that specific note of the flowershop spray they use on bouquets. Later on the rose blooms more rich (now it’s Rosa centifolia) yet the perfume maintains its elegant suit & tie vibe. Airy herbaceous tones of sage are well-aligned with the idea of this fragrance L’Homme a la Rose turns lightly woody and gains an ambery touch with a bit of labdanum to add some weight to the base. Overally it’s too light in my opinion.