Masque Milano Lost Alice: Whimsical Fun & Comfort

Masque Milano‘s Lost Alice is a lovely, fun, whimsical olfactory escape and comfort scent for a pandemic world where most of these things are in short supply.

Richard Emil Miller, “Woman Reading in A Garden.”

Creatively inspired, original in notes and ideas, and (mostly) successfully achieved, it is one of those fragrances that epitomizes, in my opinion, what niche is supposed to be, the reason why we seek it out over more easily accessible fragrance brands, the reason why we’re willing to pay more money, and the reason why we expect so much more from other brands that claim to be “niche” only to offer the most tired, downtrodden, generic retreads of stale ideas instead. When I write scathingly about the latest rehash of tobacco, vanilla, and amber (or worse still, Ambroxan), when I lament about Serge Lutens’ loss of original ideas and pioneering spirit, it is fragrances like many of those from Masque Milano that come to mind as alternatives where the brand is genuinely making a constant, years-long effort to put something new, interesting, or creative out there. Like Lost Alice.

Continue reading

Parfum Satori Hana Hiraku, Satori, Iris Homme & Wasabon

Satori Osawa. Photo via the Satori website.

Today, I wanted to take you into the world of Japanese niche perfumery. Parfum Satori is a brand that has been around since 2000, but it only recently arrived in America and Europe.

Parfum Satori was founded by Satori Osawa, and she is also the nose behind the fragrances. According to her profile on the brand’s website, she is a member of La Société Française de la Parfumerie, and has a background in scent going back to 1988. Her goal is to make fragrances that are representative of Japanese culture, and thereby “oriental” in a very different sense of the word than it is typically used. Fragrantica lists 19 fragrances for the brand. I’ve only tried four, all eau de parfums in the Premium Black and White Collections: the eponymous Satori, Hana Hiraku, Iris Homme, and Wasabon. I’ll take a look at each one in turn.

Parfum Satori, Black Collection. Photo source: Parfum Satori website.

Hana Hiraku. Source: Satori website.

Continue reading