Today is the time to present the twenty-fourth installment to the Monday Quick Sniffs series.
Suffolk Lavender from Shay & Blue line is a really nice fragrance. In the opening it welcomes you with a very pretty lavender. It has both herbal and aromatic qualities. To say even more, there’s something decadently sweet in it. After 15 minutes the incense accord comes to play. It brings the dark, mysterious aura to the perfume, making this lavender smoky and a bit nocturnal. There’s also a nice balsamic vibe around the incense chord. Musc note brings something slightly animalic to the blend but mostly this accord has a fluffy and clean character, with just a hint of dirty molecules. The scent of melon is not pronounced intensively. It brings the feeling of freshnes to Suffolk Lavender and it doesn’t emanate the calone synthetic aroma. The accord of pine tree brings a pretty fougere quality to the composition. The specific aroma of pine needles blends very well with the scent of lavender. The pyramid of notes for this perfume says that there’s also a praline accord here. I didn’t smell any aroma of chocolate in particular but I did smell some sweetness in the drydown, which was probably this. Perfumer Julie Masse made a really nice perfume. Suffolk Lavender was launched in 2013 and it’s available in two sizes: 30ml and 100ml.
Chemise Blanche (English translation: white shirt) from Laurent Mazzone and his LM Parfums was launched last summer as a limited edition fragrance. It starts with a very clean and soapy musky aroma which brings to mind the way clothes smell after the laundry, when they get dry, hanging in the open air. After a few minutes some airy aldehydes are revealed, adding some sparkling sensation to the composition. There’s also a lot of iris which adds floral tones with quite a lot of powder. Some more substance appears later on when Chemise Blanche turns more balsamic. In this creation you will find benzoin, amber and tonka. The three of them introduce some soft and cuddly warmth that smells really nice but somehow it doesn’t suit a perfume that in my perception was meant for a carefree summer wear. The drydown unveils more aldehydic tones, as well as a lot of lily-of-the-valley molecules come forth. Here I got the association with a washing liquid, they are so often scented with something muguet-like. A little bit of mandarin orange or bergamot don’t really change my feelings about this perfume. There’s one more problem – it’s an extrait de parfum and this fragrance is hell weak. You can only smell it from the skin surface. Projection is minimal. At that price per 100ml bottle you can get 2-3 better scents.
Fatena from French niche perfume house SoOud is an interesting perfume of truly oriental character. It sets off as a balsamic duet of leather and oud, having a strong kick right from the start. The bold opening sharpens in the initial phase but then it becomes more well-mannered. Warm and spicy tones of benzoin combined with patchouli slowly evolve into lactonic sweetness of peach, covered with a sticky layer of delicious caramel accord. A bit gourmand-ish, yet very oriental. After 1,5 hours I could smell a little bit of muguet but it was quickly overpowered by labdanum, olibanum and pink pepper, which gave the smoky vibe to the composition. Saffron adds the lightness and volume to this part of development. After some time I could smell the fizzy ginger placed on some unidentified woody molecules. Many hours later some white flowers mingle in the background, with a musky base being smooth and creamy rather than wild and animalic. Elements of vanilla wrap the notes all together. This perfume has some edge, it projects nicely and longevity is not an issue. Fatena was introduced in 2013 and created by Stephane Humbert Lucas. It’s available as Eau Fine (EdP in 60ml bottle) or as Parfum Nectar (parfum in 30ml flacon).
Chemist in the Bottle 