l’artisan parfumeur: 47 posts

by Suzanna

Some of the most intriguing fragrances are meant to evoke environment and emotion, time and place. This is why the newest L’Artisan Parfumeur fragrance, Séville à l’aube, caught my attention. Perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour created Séville à l’aube as a celebration of journalist and perfume blogger Denyse Beaulieu’s remembrance of romance and seduction past. The idea stemmed from a story Beaulieu told the perfumer about an erotic event that transpired during a long-ago Holy Week (this turns up in the scent as an abstraction) and about the smells and associations of that time and place (more literal). Beaulieu describes her experience in the creation of this fragrance in her book The Perfume Lover. Duchaufour documents Beaulieu’s story as an “orange blossom Oriental” in which the sweet and honeyed white flower appears meaty and succulent and the dry resins of the base curl upwards in the manner of incense.

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

A complex raw material such as the root of an iris plant can be a perfume in itself. Although iris as a perfumery note is liable to be classified as floral, the scent of orris butter, as the thick, creamy essence is called, is closer to that of green vegetables, wet roots and damp soil. L’Artisan Parfumeur first released Iris Pallida as a limited edition in 2007, and this year, the fragrance has once again been relaunched. Composed around a fine grade of orris butter, it is meant to pay a tribute to the beauty of this raw material.

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

Vanilla, rum, tobacco, woods… Was Bertrand Duchaufour trying to follow in the footsteps of Molinard Habanita with his Havana Vanille created for L’Artisan Parfumeur. If so, the references are vague at best, and Havana Vanille (recently renamed Vanille Absolument to avoid a trademark infringement) is a composition that toys with the fantasy of an oriental bazaar much more than with the decadent glamor of Havana.

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

The striking feature of L’Artisan Parfumeur Timbuktu, a dry composition of woods, vetiver and incense, is its incredible radiance. The fragrance has a marvelous soaring quality, from the top notes of pepper and citrus to the earthy drydown of patchouli and musk. It is as if the dark, dense notes are interspersed with fresh, effervescent layers, resulting in a fragrance that combines the rich warmth of cognac with the shimmery brightness of champagne.

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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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