aedes de venustas: 8 posts

Andy’s take on Iris Nazarena.

Some fragrances make me dream of faraway places, others awaken long forgotten memories. But Iris Nazarena, the second launch from New York-based fragrance boutique Aedes de Venustas, evokes various shades of the color grey (and no, I don’t mean the book by E. L. James). Grey is my favorite color, one that fascinates me in all its beautiful tonalities from light to dark. Likewise, there is nothing bleak or dull about Iris Nazarena, and as I smell through its layers of woods and incense-tinted iris, I’m taken by its complexity.

As it unfolds on skin, Iris Nazarena remains fairly linear, with the focus on iris throughout the entire development. As it wears on, the iris is subtly transformed by various accompaniments, incense being one of them. Perfumer Ralf Schwieger reportedly composed Iris Nazarena with Chanel No. 19 in mind as a point of contrast, attempting to create a fragrance that interpreted iris in a different manner.

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New York perfume boutique Aedes de Venustas is releasing another fragrance on June 1st, 2013, following the launch of Aedes de Venustas Signature EDP. Iris Nazarena was created in collaboration between co-owners Karl Bradl and Robert Gerstner and perfumer Ralf Schwieger (the creator of Frédéric Malle Lipstick Rose, Hermès Eau des Merveilles, Etat Libre d’Orange Fils de Dieu, and Atelier Cologne Orange Sanguine). The fragrance  is described as an incense layered iris, and it was inspired by the rare Iris Bismarckiana (also known as Iris Nazarena), which grows mainly in the mountains east of Nazareth.

“The suede-soft petals of the mystical muse are sketched in a subtle sfumato of brown, purple and white, brushed with powdery iridescence. The limpid ambrette, with its pear, rose and musk facets, sheds the tender light of dawn on the top notes. Rose adds a touch of floral sensuality, while the aromatic, resinous juniper berry introduces the incense theme. The cool, vivid green of star anise conjures the stylized stems and leaves of the flower. Patchouli and vetiver allude to its roots, driven into dark earth and rock. The sacred smoke rising from the altars weaves its mineral, leather-scented tendrils throughout the development with incense, clove and oud.”

Iris Nazarena Eau de Parfum will be available June 1st, 2013 at Aedes de Venustas, www.aedes.com and Barneys New York. 3.4oz/$245 Via press release

by Suzanna

Aedes de Venustas is the hip West Village fragrance boutique that since 1995 has been a Mecca for the connoisseur of niche perfumes.  The Aedes brand roster includes both the popular and the polarizing; there are scents that smell of flower stalls and scents that smell of olives and damp cobblestones.  The shop also carries bath and body products, home fragrance, and candles like the ultra-covetable Mizensir Sapin de Noël.

The boutique now has its own house fragrance, the eponymous Aedes de Venustas Signature eau de parfum authored by Bertrand Duchaufour, he of the upcoming L’Artisan Séville à l’aube and the nose behind the wildly creative Eau d’Italie Sienne l’Hiver and cult favorites Avignon and Kyoto for Comme des Garçons. Aedes de Venustas signature is Duchaufour’s second scent for the boutique; the first was released under the L’Artisan brand and has no relation to the new Signature scent.

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