Histoires de Parfums Tubereuse 3 Animale

Posted on February 14, 2015 by Kafkaesque

“Luna Surface” by Adrian on Flickr. (Direct website link embedded within.)

A shape-shifting, smoky floral leather with resinous darkness and honeyed sweetness lies at the heart of Tubereuse 3 Animale, a most unusual, unconventional take on the flower from Histoires de Parfums. Instead of icy floralcy, the flowers are restrained and blanketed by a dense haze of honeyed immortelle which slowly turns them into a shimmering mirage before swallowing them up entirely in sweet smokiness that verges on the sulfurous at times. The whole thing lies on a thick river of resinous leather, dark tobacco, dry hay, and prunes with an almost molasses-like richness and flecks of chocolate. This is not your regular tuberose, and it’s certainly not your mother’s Fracas. No, this is a different beast entirely — a dark, wholly unisex, sometimes challenging, often sexy fragrance that some consider to be one of the great gems in the Histoires de Parfums line and many love with great abandon. I think it bears a definite kinship to 1740 (Marquis de Sade), its sibling in the Histoires de Parfums’ line, and is a “tuberose” that might surprise you.

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Histoires de Parfums 1740 (Marquis de Sade)

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Kafkaesque

1740 was the birth year of the Marquis de Sade, a man linked to such infamy that his very name became a byword for the most heinous acts of licentiousness and cruelty. 1740 is also the name of a fragrance created by Histoires de Parfums, a French niche perfume house founded in 2000 by Gérald Ghislain, that seeks to encapsulate the essence of historical figures in olfactory form.

Source: telegraph.co.uk

At first glance, the choice to immortalize the Marquis de Sade in scent might seem to be an odd one. After all, his actions often amounted to an extreme form of sadism, and there is debate as to whether all the women involved actually consented. Many were prostitutes which would seem to negate much free will in the matter (even if others loved him to the every end). Plus, the ideas expressed in de Sade’s books are rather unpalatable, taking matters outside the arena of “Fifty Shades of Grey” erotica. (Not that I’ve read the latter, as I’ve heard the writing is atrocious.)

“The Marquis de Sade’s Personal Devils,” 1912, unknown artist. Source: calicultural.net

However, there is a new school of thought regarding the infamous Marquis which puts him in the context of the aristos’ behavior of the time, as well as the precarious political situation of the Ancien Regime. In The Marquis de Sade: A New Biography, Donald Thomas explains that the Marquis shared the sexual proclivities of many “grand seigneurs,” such that there was even a law going back to 1319 providing fines for various levels of sexual misconduct. His acts were nothing new, particularly at the highest levels, like the notorious Regent, the Duc d’Orleans, who ran the country for an infant Louis XV. Sade’s difficulties came not from unorthodox behavior, but from having that behavior made public in the press at a time when the Ancien Regime was teetering on political revolution. So, he was made a convenient scapegoat, one designed to draw attention from many similar acts happening at Versailles. Whether he deserve the full extent of his subsequent infamy is the subject of debate, but Donald Thomas’ book is one that I highly recommend for anyone who is interested in the matter.

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Papillon’s Liz Moores – Part II: Perfume Production, Logistics & The EU

Posted on February 5, 2015 by Kafkaesque

Yesterday, I posted Part I of an interview with Liz Moores of Papillon Perfumery that covered the methodology of making a fragrance, the process that a self-taught perfumer undergoes to learn about notes and perfume composition, and the various aspects of working with both natural and aromachemical materials. In Part II, we will focus on the technical and logistical side of having a small, independent perfume house, from obtaining the quantity of supplies required for large-scale production, to the steps necessary to launch a new fragrance, the impact of EU perfume regulations, and more.

Source: bhc.edu

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Papillon’s Liz Moores – Part I: Learning, Creating & The Perfume Process

Posted on February 4, 2015 by Kafkaesque

How do perfumers actually make their fragrances? How did they learn the methodology, process, and chemistry-related aspects of perfume creation, particularly if they are self-taught? How do they feel about various materials? Are some trickier to use than others, and is there a difference in the process of handling naturals versus aromachemicals? What are some of the logistics involved in wide-scale production and starting a perfume house, as well as taking a finalised product and releasing it?

Liz Moores of Papillon Perfumery. Source: Liz Moores.

Those are some of the questions that I asked Liz Moores of Papillon Perfumery. It is in the first in a series of interviews that I hope to post over the next few weeks, as the various perfumers’ schedules permit. Several of the interviews have sections that intentionally cover the same subject-matter, focusing on the process of learning notes and creating fragrances, as well as each perfumer’s methodology. Many of the perfumers are self-taught, so I think seeing differences in how they answer the same or similar questions will be revealing. We all start some place, even perfumers who have received acclaim for their creations or who are the best in their particular field. So, I’m interested in their educational journey, but I’m also curious about other things, like the precise logistics that are entailed in launching a fragrance, particularly for those perfumers who are subject to the rather exhausting list of EU regulations. We all know about the oakmoss issue, but what are some of the more unexpected side-effects or obstacles that a perfumer may have encountered?

Liz Moores.

Liz Moores answers all those questions and more. If you’re unfamiliar with the name, she is the founder and nose of Papillon, a British artisanal brand that launched last year to great acclaim with three debut fragrances. I fell hard for Anubis, an incredibly complex fragrance with so many facets that summarizing it as a “smoky, leathered, ambered oriental” simply doesn’t do it full justice. I thought Anubis was the second best new release of 2014, but its siblings, Angélique and Tobacco Rose, were very well done as well.

Her answers to my interview questions are truly revelatory, in my opinion. I mean it quite sincerely and honestly when I say that my jaw was almost on the ground as I read her wonderfully detailed, thorough, straight-forward but incredibly informative explanations that are unlike anything I’ve encountered thus far in showing not only how someone learns about perfume creation, but how the process works. She also, and very generously, shares an astonishing amount of information on such rarely discussed technical matters as: “Mods” (basically, the industry term for the modification stages a perfume undergoes in the development process); the impact of aromachemicals in the balance of notes; EU compliance procedures, MSDS sheets, and the unexpected obstacles that EU regulations sometimes create; how a perfumer who is just starting out obtains supplies for large-scale production; and the logistics of how a small perfume house functions.

I was utterly riveted, and I think you will be, too. So here is Part I of what will be a two-part interview. Part II will focus on the more logistical side of producing and releasing a new fragrance, as well as further discussing the impact of EU regulations. I’ll update this post with the relevant link at that time.

Photo: Liz Moores & Papillon Perfumery.

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