Posted by Robin
on
14 June 2007
I love deep wood fragrances, the deeper the better. I’m trying to think of a fragrance with too much wood for my taste, and probably one exists but offhand I can’t think of what it would be. You can pile on the cedar or the redwoods or the sandalwood: bring it on, I’m happy. Few woods are deeper and richer than agarwood (aka aloeswood, and sometimes called oudh). Agarwood is now threatened in the wild due to overharvesting, and scarcity and high prices mean that much of the “oudh” used in incense and perfumery today is synthetic or adulterated to one degree or another.
The French niche line Montale specializes in oudh perfumes, and their Aoud Roses Petals is a favorite of mine. Aoud Roses Petals is a study in contrasts — a light, dewy rose brightens deeper wood notes of agarwood, teak and cedar. It is rich and spicy but not at all overwhelming, and the later dry down is beautifully soft and enveloping.
Black Aoud also features rose and oudh, but the notes are handled quite differently here. As with many agarwood perfumes, a bitter medicinal haze (rather like medicated bandages) seems to float over the top notes; here, the medicinal notes are joined by heavy leather. Unless you adore leather, and the more of it the better, you may find that the first 10 minutes are rather hard to take. The blend softens considerably as the opening notes dissipate and are joined by sandalwood and rose. In keeping with the general noir atmosphere, the rose here is a dark, murky rose, nothing at all like the fresh, rosewater-ish rose of Aoud Roses Petals…
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Posted by Kevin
on
27 October 2006
Before I became a bony, arrogant, and selfish teenage snob, I was a shy, chubby bookworm with a crew cut, thick glasses, and a sense of modesty that bordered on the nutty — I wouldn’t even let bare ankles show between pants and shoes.
My prepubescent self was inhibited and stubborn, but also kinder than the “Teen-to-Come” — I would actually do things to please others. My father loved fishing and wanted me to love it too, so I humored him and always said “yes” when he asked me to go on fishing trips. I didn’t like handling the smelly crabmeat bait or seeing and hearing fish struggle after being caught, or getting seasick as monstrous swells would almost capsize the boat, but I enjoyed the fragrant sea breezes, the warm sun, the boat rides, navigating around old buoys and isolated lighthouses, seeing the herons, hawks and ducks that flew near us.
Today, I live far from those fishing grounds and the only boats I ride are ferries, but when I smell Montale’s Blue Amber fragrance I am reminded of those childhood fishing trips by an olfactory jolt…
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Posted by Robin
on
12 December 2005
The weather here today is cold and grey and dreary. We still have a few inches left of last week's snow, and there are light flurries swirling outside my window as I type. It is the kind of day when you reach for a comfort fragrance, and so I am wearing two vanilla scents: Vanille Tonka by Parfums de Nicolaï, and Vanille Absolu by Montale.
Vanille Tonka was released in 1997, and has notes of tangerine, lime, cinnamon, Mexican vanilla, tonka bean and frankincense. It starts with dry citrus, very heavy on the lime. The citrus notes fade into a cinnamon sugar accord; the vanilla and tonka bean intensify over the next hour, and are joined by smoky swirls of frankincense…
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Posted by Robin
on
7 July 2005
I have posted about gardenia perfumes before (see Kai, Jo Malone Vintage Gardenia, and a few more gardenia fragrances). Here are a few more that I tried recently:
Dawn Spencer Hurwitz Pink Gardenia: In the Beaux Arts line, with notes of bergamot, gardenia, tuberose, ambergris and musk. It starts very light, with a touch of bergamot. The gardenia note comes on next, but stays very soft and low, then fades into a tuberose blend with a warm musky dry down. Much softer than all the white flowers might lead you to assume, and nicely done, although I prefer her Nouveau Gardenia…
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Posted by Robin
on
6 July 2005
I have tried quite a few Montale fragrances since I posted about Patchouli Leaves back in March, but have learned nothing more about the house or its history, so can only repeat what I said then: Montale is a Paris-based perfumer with two lines: an oudh line based on the precious oudh (or agar) wood frequently used in Middle Eastern fragrances, and a regular perfume line. Today I am wearing Aoud Roses Petals, which features notes of oudh, teak, and rose.
Roses Petals starts with a delicate and soft rosewater, which is almost instantly buried under a haze of oudh. The first blast of oudh is often described as medicinal, and that is probably accurate although I don’t find it unpleasant exactly. Certainly it is pungent…
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