Karine Vinchon-Spehner: 3 posts

I love Amouage, a unique perfume house that has created some of the best fragrances in the niche category. Amouage Gold is not just a grand parfum, it’s one of the best perfume symphonies.  The Jubilation duet blends wistful loveliness with edgy glamour. Wearing both Lyric perfumes, I finally grasp how it is that ‘bold and dramatic’ can also be ‘elegant and suave.’  Homage Attar transforms the lavish Middle Eastern oud and rose idea into a wearable but nevertheless sumptuous variation. Interlude, on the other hand, leaves me cold.

The fragrance opens with a sharp green, leafy note that smells at once like paint thinner and lawn clippings. It’s a bold move to overdose a fragrance with this rough and raspy note, and for a while it keeps my interest. After all, the diesel fumes that crown the top of Serge Lutens Tubéreuse Criminelle are similarly hard on the nose, but it feels like a natural part of the tuberose in the composition. Here, the green notes layered over the woods and incense feel jarring.

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Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

Like tuberose, incense, oud, jasmine and leather, vetiver is a note with amazing possibilities. It can assume a variety of forms, from gossamer and sheer to dense and rich. This woody material derived from the roots of  vetiver grass has such a range of nuances–licorice, grapefruit, earth, peanut shells—that it can function as the perfect chameleon. Coeur de Vétiver Sacré from L’Artisan straddles the airy and smoldering spectra by pairing vetiver with leathery birch tar and candied fruit notes. It uses vetiver to anchor the smoky and the gourmand in a woody oriental composition that is quite interesting, even if it ultimately strikes me as too tame.

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Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

L’Artisan Parfumeur’s entry into the blossoming organic skincare market has resulted in Jatamansi, a line of body products based on the healing extract of the Himalayan nard plant. L’Eau de Jatamansi is a scented body mist, which is a part of the Jatamansi line. Opening up on a crisp brightness that alternates between the verdancy of fresh grass and the peppery warmth of sun parched herbs, L’Eau de Jatamansi never loses its subtle aura. …

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