Alright! We’ve been through the pure essences of citrus and exotic fruit. Some were natural and some were just artificial, chemical imitations of the real smell. The pattern of the previous workshop was to listen to the chemical and technology background of the note. This was all covered by Ania, who was introduced in May perfume workshop report. Then we tried the essence and after that it was followed by a couple of perfumes representing it.
This time everything was done in a similar manner. In total we tried 26 different perfumes. There were more prepared for sniffing but the basic number was 26. If someone didn’t have enough, they could give a try to some more after the official part of the workshop was over. I made this collage below for you, so that you can accompany me during this short travel through all the tested fragrances.
From the two bergamot perfumes we tried Jean Charles Brosseau Bergamote had too much melon to my taste while Cologne pour le Matin by Maison Francis Kurkdjian was a very subtle and pleasant scent that brought to my mind the association of fresh laundry. Clean, airy and fresh.
Atelier Cologne Mistral Patchouli was representing a grapefruit accord. It was much more patchouli than grapefruit to me. I reviewed it in January. 1828 inspired by Jules Verne was great! A tart grapefruit with a lovely note of pine tree. Histoires de Parfums is one of those brands I love almost for every single scent.
Trying some lemon perfumes was probably the most exciting part for me. I love lemon scents (mind my newest Acqua Decima!) so I was curious to see what Missala family prepared for us to try. Gosh, it was amazing! I was head over heels for Profvmvm Roma Acqua Viva! What a juicy and sparkling lemon it is! It has a blast of Annick Goutal Eau d’Hadrien but it lasts for 6 hours and more. Did you know that Profvmvm Roma put more than 40% of perfume oils into their perfume. Kafka recently fell in love with the brand! Another one that positively surprised me was Mediterraneo by Carthusia. Juicy and sour lemon with a beautiful vibe of green tea, eucalyptus and thyme. Very refreshing!
For lime we only tried Colette, another perfume from Histoires de Parfums range, named with a date of 1873. Once again I was really happy with the small, I liked everything in this fragrance. One of my favourites from this workshop.
I loved sampling Grand Neroli, an Atelier Cologne perfumes and also one of the earliest niche offerings I tried. I really like its pure, soapy neroli smell. I could bathe in it! Historiae Orangerie du Roy was a really good scent too. This brand is not much known and it deserves more appreciation. So far they released 5, mostly floral scents but they recently introduced a good rose-oud scent. On the contrary Atelier Cologne Orange Sanguine is one of the few scents in the line that I have mixed feelings about. On one hand I like the pure orange juice smell but on the other hand it often gets artificial and plasticky on my skin.
Honore’s Trip, a perfume from Honore des Pres wasn’t excellent but it left a generally positive impression. Nothing too fancy or complicated, easy to wear scent. It can definitely have a group of fans. For yuzu we samples Olfactive Studio Still Life – I tried it in the past. My opinion on it didn’t change. It’s just OK, nothing more. And I get very poor longevity from the entire line. Still it was nothing comparing to Parfum d’Empire Yuzu Fou. This one was disastrous. It smelled totally sweaty and dirty. Now I understand why there were so many comments about sweaty armpits.
Carla Fracci Colette and Rance Eugenie left me rather indifferent. I don’t like melon in my diet and I don’t like it in perfume. Both fragrances were quite watery with some powdery facets. Definitely possible to like and love, but not for me.
Number 16, Biehl pc01 was interesting. It has mango but it’s not straight-forward. Montale Mango Manga was very in-your-face. It was sweet and milky with a buttery texture of the fruit pulp. It was also really intensive to me as for a fruity perfume. Manguier Metisse was warm and with pronounced tropical aspect. I liked this offering from Huitieme Art Parfums.
I wasn’t impressed with banana fragrances. Penhaligon’s was powdery and it actually smelled of banana while Fleur de Liane had nothing to do with it. Considering my hard relationship with L’Artisan Parfumeur I will quickly forget about it.
Time for some coconut. Love Coco was lovely. Powdery, fleshy and full-bodied. Ombre Platine wasn’t really to my liking and for Batucada (another L’Artisan!) I even forgot to take any notes! That says it all! Last group of perfumes was representing peach.
One I remember well is SoOud Ouris. It was a very happy, milky perfume that smelled very similar to the peach cheesecake. Yummy! If you read my Quick Sniffs you already know my opinion that By Kilian Flower of Immortality smells like peach Nestea and that it’s not a compliment. Last one was M.Micallef Vanille Fleur – it was warm, sweet with a generous dose of caramel. Had not much to do with peach.
I’d like to say thank you to Missala family for organizing another perfume workshop and to Ania for teaching us some new things about the notes and perfumes. I spent a lovely time in Warsaw having fun with all the perfume enthusiasts. I’m sure we’ll meet again soon!