Papillon Perfumery Anubis: Leathered Darkness, Smoky Gods

"Ancient Egypt" by Wiccka. Source: DeviantArt.

“Ancient Egypt” by Wiccka. Source: DeviantArt.

Anubis rose from the darkness to survey his kingdom. The Underworld was a vortex of blackness from the incense in the air and the monstrous lava waterfall that cascaded a torrent of sticky, smoking, balsamic resins into the thick, turgid brown rivers of musky, leathered castoreum below. Anubis, God of the Dead, was himself made of these same things: his black body was smoking leather, tobacco’d resins, and incense turned as hard as obsidian, then covered with the musky, animalic sharpness of castoreum oil.

Anubis. Source: statueforum.com

Anubis. Source: statueforum.com

Yet, there was also colour in this dark kingdom of spirits, subtle though it may be at times. The river banks were made from darkened cloves, then covered with pink lotus blossoms that smelled like dark green oakmoss. The path to Anubis’ throne was strewn with blood-red rose petals and sweet white jasmine, though the incense had rendered them dry and darkened. Creeping decay tinged their edges brown, as did the earthiness of pink lotus blossom absolute. Tiny flickers of yellow and orange came from fireflies made of citrus, which darted in the air by Anubis’ throne where Bast lounged almost naked. Continue reading

Parfum d’Empire Corsica Furiosa

Corsica. Photo: http://photo.speedresa.com/ via ailleurs.com

Corsica. Photo: http://photo.speedresa.com/ via ailleurs.com

Corsica Furiosa is the latest fragrance from Parfum d’Empire, the always refined, interesting French niche brand founded and run by Marc-Antoine Corticchiato. It is an eau de parfum that seeks to capture the essence of Mr. Corticchiato’s native home, Corsica, and one that I was extremely excited to try.

I was in Corsica about 5 years ago, and went around the island, but my friends and I stayed mostly at a place called Domaine de Murtoli. It is a large 2,500 hectare estate with luxury villas near Figari, Corsica, which has everything from private beaches and forests, to shrub-covered “maquis” (small mountains), a farm, horse-back riding, and more. I very much enjoyed the island’s wild, untamed nature, whether it was Corsica’s mountainous plains of herbaceous greenness with a floral touch, its dusty paths, its pristine (slightly rocky) beaches, and its sunny warmth. From fragrant immortelle growing on high cliff-tops over azure waters, to an ancient wood that the Druids would have loved, beachside lunches of oursin (sea urchin) and langoustine (small lobsters) that had been caught just hours before, and a superlative restaurant located in a series of large, prehistoric caves inside a mountain, Corsica was a magical experience for me. Continue reading

Charenton Macerations Christopher Street

Source: trimfabric.com

Source: trimfabric.com

Lime margaritas and leather in a perfume cocktail inspired by the history of a famous New York City street. Classicism done with a modern twist, and with the goal of subverting gender rules. Those are just two aspects of Christopher Street, a citrusy leather chypre from Charenton Macerations. Another way of describing it would be to call it a clear labour of love, as evidenced by every single one of the many details on the company’s website, from its lengthy examination of the famous street whose history and vibrancy inspired the scent, to its creator’s hard work in trying to replicate just one of the numerous elements in the fragrance. After all, how many people spend two years profiling the smell of people’s skin on a particular street, using “a modified hairdryer motor and a GC-MS fiber”?! Yet, that is precisely what Douglas Bender of Charenton Macerations did. As someone with slightly obsessive, perfectionistic tendencies myself, colour me thoroughly impressed by his efforts.

Douglas Bender & Ralf Schweiger. Source: Charenton Macerations website.

Douglas Bender & Ralf Schweiger. Source: Charenton Macerations website.

Christopher Street. Photo: Charenton Macerations.

Christopher Street. Photo: Charenton Macerations.

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Piotr Czarnecki Sensei & She ♥ Sensei

Photo by Daniel Fox. Source: petapixel.com . http://petapixel.com/2013/05/25/photographer-captures-abstract-photos-showing-lava-up-close/

Photo by Daniel Fox. Source: petapixel.com . http://petapixel.com/2013/05/25/photographer-captures-abstract-photos-showing-lava-up-close/

Imagine for a moment that the mighty Nile were a river called Sensei. It would begin with a small trickle of boozy rum that flows into three parallel streams made of stewed fruits, dark tobacco, and coffee. The small streams run past large banks of cinnamon and incense, sweeping up their essence as they all merge into a massive river of sticky balsamic resins which quickly flows out to the sea. There, they dissolve and vanish in waters made up solely of cinnamon amber. That is the essence and development of Sensei.

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