L’Artisan Parfumeur Noir Exquis

Posted on October 6, 2015 by Kafkaesque

Source: seb.fr

A visit to a French patisserie that turns into a smoky, woody oriental vanilla — that’s the gist of Noir Exquis, the latest fragrance from Bertrand Duchaufour and L’Artisan Parfumeur. Large dollops of whipped pastry cream are squirted atop dark vanilla that is layered with candied chestnuts (marrons glacés), smokiness, and a profoundly tobacco-like note, all above a smoky sandalwood base. It’s actually quite nice at times (and less sweet than you might think), but it’s a fragrance that requires a little patience and some augmented quantities in order to see the traits that lie beyond an initial Tobacco Vanille vibe.

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Guerlain Habit Rouge Dress Code

Posted on September 25, 2015 by Kafkaesque

How do you pay tribute to a legend? In the case of a fragrance like Guerlain’s Habit Rouge, the question also becomes how one celebrates a masterpiece without simply creating something that hews so closely to the original as to feel dated and shallow. It’s a difficult task, one which Thierry Wasser resolved in the case of Habit Rouge Dress Code by cleverly opting to create a completely separate fragrance that gives only the faintest nod to parts of the original, while also including modern elements consistent with the current Guerlain aesthetic.

The result is a bit of a mixed bag, in my opinion. There are parts of Habit Rouge Dress Code that are very appealing, especially from a distance, and other parts that I’m not so fond of, particularly up close. That said, I think this is one of the better Guerlain releases in recent years, maybe even the best as compared to the last few, and it will be popular on its own merits, irrespective of the original. It also has the virtue of feeling significantly more unisex and less overtly masculine than Habit Rouge, so I think it may appeal to women as well.

Source: Vanityfair.com (Photo lightly cropped by me horizontally.)

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Tauerville Incense Flash

Posted on September 20, 2015 by Kafkaesque

Photo by Ryane Brook on Flickr. (Direct website link embedded within.)

Close your eyes and imagine a ghost town in the Old West. It lies at the base of rocky mountains dotted with pine trees and as dusty as the Hindu Kush. The desert looms just beyond. From it, a dry wind blows large, desiccated tumbleweeds that roll past the old, abandoned wood buildings and the crumbling adobe huts. The sky is dark with smoke from a wild-fire that licks the mountain trees, making them shed pine needles and a sweet, aromatic sap. A sweet, musky, ambered warmth hovers in the air, vying against the dust and desert dryness. In the center of town, a man dressed in cracked black leather leans against the ruins of the old church whose wood still bears strong traces of the incense that once filled the air, traces which continue to weave their way around the town, the desert, the baked red earth beneath his feet, the smoke from the camp fire he just lit, and the leather on his back. This is the town and world of Andy Tauer’s Incense Flash.

“”Bodie Ghost Town” by Ben Pacificar via discardstudies.com

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Roja Dove Neroli & Lilac Extraits

Posted on September 18, 2015 by Kafkaesque

Summer may be drawing to a close in many parts of the world, but Roja Dove has two Extraits that seem well suited to any time of the year. Each one is a pure parfum and soliflore, a fragrance highlighting one central note. In this case, it is Neroli and Lilac, respectively. Both are lovely fragrances, though not without their flaws. I thought I’d take a look at each one in turn.

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