Incense as perfume, naughty and very, very nice...

In the beautiful and varied pallets of perfumery, few perfumes are as beautiful and delicious, nor as suitable for this festive season, as the scent of incense. There's something delectably naughty about wearing a perfume which most of us associate with the sacred calm of churches. The notes of these perfumes chime at Christmas with the magic of the three kings; their gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh; they echo the rich aroma of sensors swung through the chill of a church on Christmas Eve and, like a photograph of the Madonna by Pierre et Gilles, incense perfumes seem to wink to both the wearer and those who savour the vapour trail they leave behind. This is perfume which is both naughty and nice.
     There are so many incense perfumes which I love but, for the purposes of this post, I have narrowed it down to just four. Though it pains me not to include the superb Avignon by Comme des Garcons I feared that I could never find words to do justice to that masterpiece.

So, without further ado, lets see which perfumes incense perfumes I have chosen....

     My first choice: Parfum Sacre is a feast of incense. Capturing the appropriate tone of smoky sweetness in notes of voluptuous myrrh, musk and cinnamon deepened by rich red rose.
     This is the perfume which hangs in the air when first Gautier's Father Romualdo first sets eyes on  Clarimond; the incense of the church hanging heavy in the air, suddenly tinged with the intense sensuality of her presence. Like Clarimond, this is a perfume which burns brighter than flame and dims the glow of candles, it's a dazzling perfume, an exquisite perfume.

Caron's Parfum Sacre
Photo: by Mauveink

Parfum Sacre is intense; but, if you yearn for an even more intense incense perfume then I highly recommend Armani Prive's Encens Satine. This is definitely an incense which balances like sensuous cut velvet between the chasuble and the drapery of a deep four poster bed. It's a rich blend of incense, woods, spices and amber and it feels so gorgeous. It seems to me to glide heavy as satin on the skin, to glow, and to caress. This perfume is a winter star, sharp and glittering in an ocean dark night and yet, still it retains a hint of the cool stone that surrounds it, encapsulates it and contains it like an embrace. On a literary level this is, without a doubt, Charles Baudelaire's grain of incense that fills a church in "Le Parfum"; inhaled slowly, greedily, drunk on the deliciousness of the perfume.

Encens Satin by Armani Prive
Photo by Mauveink.

If your love of incense has not yet been sated, and why should it be, then I will offer two more suggestions: Annick Goutals, Myrrhe Ardente and Ambre Fetiche. 

Myrrhe Ardente is a wonderfully rich perfume, rising from a base of beeswax which conjures the gorgeous warmth of expensive candles flickering against stone, casting rich pools of golden light around them. To me, this perfume is reminiscent of a carefully painted Icon; rich, bright paint spilling a mesmerising pallet of jewel bright colours heightened into celestial ecstasy by the luminosity of gold, pure, unchanging gold.  Here Myrrh takes the starring role, myrrh in the top notes and myrrh in the heart notes. A rich Myrrh, retaining it's slightly bitter edge but warmed and rounded by tonka bean and vetiver so that it's smoky qualities shine through. Personally, I love that that slight hint of bitterness which comes with Myrrh, it reminds me of that most mystical of Christmas Carols: "We Three Kings". In fact, I have always suspected that that carol was, in part, responsible for my obsession with perfume. I used to listen with rapt attention to those lines concerning the gifts of frankincense and myrrh as a child, utterly fascinated by lines such as; 

    "frankincense to offer have I;

     Incense owns a deity nigh"

As far as I was concerned, the Gold sounded deeply unimpressive by comparison.

    Yes, I would definitly describe Myrrhe Ardente as a mystical perfume, Ambre Fetiche, perhaps, even more so. For Ambre Fetiche is a perfume which builds on its seduction on bones of intense patchouli and leather spiked with geranium building to top notes heavy in incense. I love how deeply the  leather and amber dominate this perfume;  they give a deep, earthy, and utterly perfect quality to the perfume. If Ambre Fetiche is anything then it is liquid gold in a bottle, of the earth but rising above it; holding within it sunlight and firelight as perfectly encapsulated as a butterfly caught in amber, whose delicate lines evoke the light and warmth of a single day, a single season long gone but still glowing.  A perfume as eternal as the glimmer of light through stained glass or the glow of a fairy light reflected on the globe of a golden bauble, a perfect moment to be packed away and cherished and repeated again next year with fresh light, on a fresh tree falling on the same cherished bauble. 

Annick Goutal Myrrhe Ardente and Ambre Fetiche.
Photo by Mauveink.

Of course, if you really need a heavy dose of incense then I highly recommend the aforementioned Avignon. As perfumes go its just too perfect for words...

 

A scent of snow and pine...

Christmas may be receding into memory but the winter weather hasn't  left us yet, if anything it’s gotten colder out there so it is time, perhaps, for some scented indulgences to chime with the crispness of falling snow or warm us up with fire and spice we can wear close to our hearts.

I’ve picked out the six perfumes which most remind me of winter.

If you’re longing for the sharp crispness of snow brushing your face then I think La Fille de Berlin by Serge Lutens brilliantly captures that exquisite feeling.

Fille De Berlin is the most delicate snowflake of a perfume by which I do not mean that the perfume is light, although it is suitably subtle. No, I mean that from the first moment I smelt it, it reminded me of a winter’s day, two or three years ago when it began to snow whilst I was out shopping. Perfect crystal flakes danced down out of a sky suddenly radiant Madonna blue, flakes large enough that, when they settled on the dark sleeves of my coat, revealed each detail of their intricate crystalline structure without the need for a magnifying lens.

That is Fille de Berlin to me, delicate, intricate and the embodiment of snow. Its notes are simple and dazzlingly effective: rose and geranium layered over patchouli and honey. 

The other stand out snow perfume, in my opinion, has to be Floris’s Snow Rose which feels as if the frost has embraced a single bloom. Snow Rose starts off a little greener than Fille de Berlin and with vanilla rather than La Fille’s honey note providing the slight sweetness of winter air but with an equally crisp, fresh geranium note.

However, if you’ve seen too much of snow and it’s left you shivering you just might want to turn to a perfume that’s going to warm you up rather than bring in the weather then there are plenty of perfumes that fit the bill with their spicy warmth and smoky depths.

Annick Goutals Encens Flamboyant has all the sharp woodiness of an open fire conveyed in intense notes of incense alongside pepper, nutmeg and balsam fir. You can almost hear this perfume crackling invitingly as you curl up in your favourite chair. The pure perfume is stunning in its depth and longevity but the eau de parfume equals it for staying power and for sillage so that you can be sure that your blanket of winter warmth is following you wherever you go.

Equally reminiscent of winter to me is Coco by Chanel with its citrus and spice notes reminds me of the Christmas Pudding scene from Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, “In half a minute Mrs Cratchit entered: flushed, but smiling proudly: with the pudding, like a speckled cannon ball, so hard and firm, blazing in half-a-quartern of ingnited brandy, and bedight with Christmas holly stuck in the top.” One can’t help but envy the skill with which Dickens conjures, in a few lines, a pudding one can almost smell, almost taste on the tip of your tongue! It’s also a perfume reminiscent of the clove studded oranges which perennially adorn the pages of lifestyle magazines in December as well as our own Christmas tree this year. Not entirely surprising as clove and Mandarin orange are both notes in Coco’s composition. Coco is a perfume which just invites compliments whenever you wear it so you’d better be prepared for people to ask you what you’re wearing pretty often (the appreciation of others is no real hardship though, is it).

I’m going to be a little naughty now because my next winter perfume choice is something a little rare but very special. If you are lucky enough to find a bottle in ebay, at a flea market, in a vintage store, anywhere in fact, then treasure it.

My fifth, and possibly favourite, winter perfume is: Winter Delice by Guerlain.

Like Encens Flamboyant, Winter Delice is a strong and sensual balsamic perfume bursting with the warm embrace of pine tree branches and resin but snow has settled on this Winter landscape, it’s chill breath just creeping in with a note of vanilla (always so good at conjuring snow) and sugar. It’s such a rich perfume that it feels like it demands you acquire a sleigh and velvet cloak at once. Although I happen to think that you can get away with this perfume even when you are not all dresses up; in a jumper (sweater) and jeans you could use a few spray of Winter Delice to feign a sportive walk in the woods. Or wear it all dressed up and unleash your inner Snow Queen.   

Now, I have two last, very indulgent, winter perfume suggestion: if you’re hungering after the indulgent desserts and sweets of Christmas still but have a New Year resolution you’d like to keep then L’Artisan Perfumers Traversee du Bosphore should help to assuage the cravings of a sweet tooth. It’s notes of nougat, sugar, honey, pistachio, red apple and spices would make as beautiful an ice cream as they do a perfume! Also worth trying if you crave the sweetness of Christmas dessert with a hint of snow is Coudray's Vanille et Coco which smells exactly as it's name suggests and is very charming.

Well, those are my winter perfume choices, I hope you've seen something you like, Or at least something which feels like winter to you. 

I wish you all a warm and beautifully perfumed winter!        

The perfumed costume...

All Hallows eve is upon us.
Tread not at crossroads tonight but remember to leave out milk for the spirits (and the witches cats).  Scry your fortune in a looking glass but beware what the future may hold!
Remember too that the most important decision of Halloween is: what to wear.
I don’t mean costumes; although, feel free to indulge yourselves as much as you like in the revelry of masking and disguise.
Personally, I favour a costume of velvet and black lace for myself; Vampirella turned up to maximum, Morticia Adams and Angela Carter’s “The Lady of the House of Love” going all Miss Haversham in her wedding dress and sunglasses.
No, I digress, I mean perfumes. Those olfactory statements written in molecules that say so much about us, or about the character we’re acting out on any given day. Whatever your Halloween costumes is, it's just begging to be taken to new heights by the addition of the right perfumes. So, I thought I'd take a little look at a few of the options.
Today, my perfume poison of choice is an old favourite: Ambre Fétiche perfume by Annick Goutal. I’ve raved about this perfume often on Facebook but only because I love it so.

Ambre Fétiche is all the rich, sensual and dark scents of winter and antiquity. No one ever loved antiquity more than the immortal. In his notes for a stage version of Dracula reproduced in Christopher Frayling’s book, “Vampyres” Stoker suggests these creatures of the night can only be moved by artifacts which pre-date them whilst the gramophone and telephone leave them cold.
It's also an intensely seductive perfume with it's notes of incense, amber, benzoin and deep heart of leather and patchouli.  In pure perfume form it's a heavy veil of fragrance with (appropriately) impressive longevity.
If you want to amp up the intensity and the seduction then you could add a light spray of Demeter’s Musk over the top although I confess to finding their musk a little coy when it could be wicked. Then again, what could be more appropriate than than a spritz from a perfume house which shares it’s name with the very ship which bought Dracula to Whitby?
If you’re looking for a Vampiric perfume to finish off your costume then don’t forget too that The Clarimond Project (into whose archives I’ve only recently, and with great pleasure, begun to dip) has given us all sorts of olfactory evocations of that beautiful Vamps story.
As for that most famous of Transylvania Vampires, I have a feeling that the Count (especially Gary Oldman’s tormented, lovesick hero)  would probably wear Blood Concept O Cruel Incense with all it’s delicious connotations.
Of course Blood Concept might work for those hoping to emulate Mary Shelley’s Dr Frankenstein too although not if you’re taking inspiration from the Dr’s creation as I fancy Adam, with his refined taste in literature, would reach for a seriously refined and literary perfume. Perhaps De Profundis from Serge Lutens would appeal to Adam? If unsure, he could always split a bottle with Dorian Gray who I’m sure would lap it up.
But then, I can imagine Dorian that great lover of perfume experimenting with all manner of modern perfumes. Etat Libre d’Orange’s new release Attaquer la Soliel Marquise De Sade might have arrived on his dressing table as a gift from Lord Henry Wooton the one man in London who knows Dorian and his sins so well.  There may even be a few bottles of more innocent perfumes like Penhaligon’s Elizabethan Rose pushed to the back of that same dressing table, gifts from poor Basil Haywood whose tragedy was to see the best in Dorian. Do those bottles still prompt the odd tear to fall from painted eyes I wonder?
I'm afraid my attempts to scent Jekyll and Hyde have failed, they simply cannot, would not agree on a perfume or even a genre of perfume. But that's the danger of having two people share one body I suppose...
However, I can suggest one dark, intense perfume for every fiend and friend alike (especially those on a budget): Brocard's Queen of Spades Modern, it's licorice and Cherry and jet black juice are perfect and what a pretty bottle.

Well, I shall leave you now, for me and for many others, Halloween is but the prelude for something far more terrifying: NaNoWriMo. Yes, for only the second year I’ll be endeavouring to turn out the first draft of a novel in just 30 days…