With the end of autumn and the advent of winter in the Western hemisphere, it seemed like a fitting time to cover seasonal fragrances from the American niche brand, Dasein. It is an artisanal perfume house founded by Samantha (or “Sam”) Rader in Los Angeles in 2014. According to her biography, she is “a self-taught mixed-media perfumer,” and all her fragrances are unisex, vegan eau de parfums that she hand-blends in small batches. There are four releases thus far, each named after a different season of the year. Today, I’ll take a brief look at Autumn and Winter.
Category Archives: Aromatic Fragrances
Parfum d’Empire Tabac Tabou Extrait de Parfum
Perfume names carry weight. They bear certain promises, or hint at things to come. “Tabac Tabou” is a name that portends a hedonistic, sensual, or illicit exploration of tobacco. That last part turned out not to be the case for me. In fact, judging by what appeared on my skin, I wouldn’t consider Parfum d’Empire‘s latest fragrance to be any sort of tobacco soliflore whatsoever. Now, hay and narcissus…. that’s a different matter.
Oriza L. Legrand Cuir de l’Aigle Russe (Cuir Impèriale)
The Russian imperial coat of arms and eagle. Source: Wikipedia.
1892 was a year of empires, part of The Golden Age when aristocrats flourished and opulence was the order of the day. It was also the year when Oriza L. Legrand released a leather fragrance designed to appeal to its imperial Russian clients. A few weeks ago, the modern Oriza re-released the scent which it called Cuir de l’Aigle Russe. The name translates to “Leather of the Russian Eagle,” and the fragrance is based on the 1892 original formula with only a few tweaks to conform to modern perfume regulations.
The scent is quite different from what I had expected. To the extent that there is leather, it is the Spanish leather or Peau d’Espagne of Catherine de Medici, not the tarry, smoky birch leather of the Russian cossacks. And the first three hours were something else entirely.
Amouage Sunshine Man
Imagine yourself immersed in a field of lavender that stretches out for miles like an aromatic, herbal, and medicinal sea of purple. A nearby citrus orchard adds a neon Pop Art explosion of colour from saccharine-coated fruits that strongly resemble pink Pez candy. The landscape is dotted by green clumps of herbs that smell like thyme and rosemary, and lies at the base of snow-tipped Alpine mountains blanketed with juniper trees hanging heavy with ripe berries. Their strong scent is redolent of gin and, later on, a fiery, green eau de vie liqueur. A brisk, chilly wind takes their scent, mingles it with the pink, powdery, candied Pez, and casts it like a thick blanket over the fields of purple.
Source: ifunny.co
A short distance away, something dark and brooding makes its way forward, a rushing river made thick and heavy with treacly, smoky licorice. It slashes through the lavender like a knife, oozing blackness amidst the neon colours. The wound is eventually healed by silky vanilla crème anglaise that rises from the base to act as a bridge and mediator, bringing the two parts together in a swirl of aromatics, smoke, and cream, before ending up as simple sweetness smudged with smoke. This is the story of Sunshine Man, the newest fragrance from Amouage.