Quick Sniffs: The Different Company Sublime Balkiss, Divine L'Homme de Coeur, Armani Prive Pierre de Lune, Guerlain Sous le Vent

THE DIFFERENT COMPANY SUBLIME BALKISS: this is my first run-in with The Different Company, a niche Parisian fragrance company founded in 2000 by Thierry de Baschmakoff and Jean Claude Ellena (before he was tapped to be in-house perfumer for Hermes -- his daughter, Céline Ellena, now fills his shoes as head perfumer for the brand).

Sublime Balkiss, the latest offering from TDC, is said to have been inspired by Balkiss (aka Bilqis), the Queen of Sheba -- a powerful figure noted in both Judaic and Islamic historical/religious texts. In Hebrew lore, Balkiss "heard of the great wisdom of King Solomon of Israel and journeyed there with gifts of spices, gold, precious stones, and beautiful wood and to test him with questions", so I assume that the fragrance named after her is an attempt at referencing the woods, precious metals and spices mentioned above. In that respect, it fails miserably, and seems a poorly matched subject for a minimalist perfumer like Celine Ellena.

Sublime Balkiss is presented as a modern chypre, yet without including any of those pesky chypre ingredients. I mean, if a chypre is a fragrance formula comprised of oakmoss, ambergris/labdanum and citrus/bergamot, how can a perfume that doesn't include oakmoss or ambergris/labdanum call itself a chypre? It sounds like a cynical marketing ploy to get people to talk about an otherwise unremarkable aquatic floral: "I know! We'll say it's a modern chypre, except for, you know, not being anything remotely resembling an actual chypre! They'll eat it up!"

Listed notes for Sublime Balkiss include: bergamot, violet, black and purple berries, blueberry, blackberry, blackcurrant, lily of the valley, rose, lilac and two kinds of patchouli, but it mostly smells like rose and violet water with a seriously weak patchouli bringing up the rear. The iconic stature of an ancient and powerful ruling figure is ill-served with such a wispy, boneless scent.

DIVINE L'HOMME DE COEUR: I'm not a big fan of iris fragrances, but L'Homme de Coeur manages to sneak past my iris-resistant radar and impress me anyway.

What starts off as a rather uninspired green floral warms up to a richer, earthier second act due to the vetiver, ambergris and deer tongue (deer tongue?! -- oh, okay, it's a type of grass!) mixed into the forumula. The iris keeps things a bit light, cool and silvery, even when the ambergris decides to make its move, which creates a pleasurable tight-rope act through most of its life span.

Don't be fooled by the "L'Homme" in its name -- for a man, it's a polite enough fragrance without any missteps, but i think it would exhibit a more dramatic, gender-bending flair should it be found trailing in a woman's wake.

ARMANI PRIVE PIERRE DE LUNE: thank god for Armani Prive, as I had completely lost all interest in Armani fragrances until the Prive line was introduced.

I still can't shut-up about the minimalist stun-gun of Bois d'Encens, and though Cuir Amethyst is far too black-tie for my personal taste, it's yet an accomplished concoction. Now there's Pierre de Lune, a woody iris-floral so well-balanced that you have to wonder just when the plates are going to fall crashing to the ground. Fortunately, they never do.

Arguably the most subtly attractive and even-keeled fragrance of the Prive line, but it speaks so softly you might be left wishing for a dinner date you didn't have to strain so hard to hear. You can get around its shy reticence by applying more than you would ordinarily, though at $185.00 for 50ml, the necessity of extra application might induce cardiac arrest in a good swathe of the consumer population. If you're purchasing Armani Prive in the first place, however, you're most likely not the sort to be bothered by a higher cost per usage ratio.

Exceptional and warm, it's suggested that Pierre de Lune is an olfactory homage to Arnold Schönberg's 1912 atonal musical composition Pierrot Lunaire, an examination of the paradox inherent in human existence (love and crime, sex and death, hero and fool); as such, it can be worn with confidence by both men and women (is that a paradox or just an opinion?). I prefer it to Divine L'Homme de Coeur, though that's not in any way a diss on the attractively dusty finish of L'Homme de Coeur.

GUERLAIN SOUS LE VENT: there's something about the rather staid image of Guerlain that makes me want to rebel -- spray paint its iron gates, throw rocks through its stained glass windows, toilet paper the ancient hardwood trees that line its stately drive. I confess this doesn't help me when I approach any of its fragrances for a sniff, but I was resolute in quieting my inner 14 year old this time around so that I could give Souls le Vent the dispassionate attention any fragrance testing requires. I'm glad I did.

What starts off as sharply green and herbal mellows out into a sweet and laid-back chypre that, unlike The Different Company's Sublime Balkiss, is an honest to god chypre with no tricks or PR ploys up its sleeve. With an opening of citrus and herbs, then a quick transition into dry florals such as carnation and iris (hey! iris again!), the base of the fragrance is the real kicker -- woodsy, and with some light, amberish vanilla (it is Guerlain, after all). It's like stumbling across a sugar-cookie house in the middle of a green, leafy forest and the witch answers the door in a cloud of patchouli.

I'll admit to a knee-jerk (and not very positive) reaction to vanilla in fragrances, but Sous le Vent doesn't yank my annoyance chain in the least. In fact, it smells welcoming and casual, and I can only imagine that anyone within nose-shot is going to turn your way and smile without really knowing why.

How do they rate? -- #1) Armani Prive Pierre de Lune for its technical brilliance; #2) Guerlain Sous le Vent, because it's just so gosh-darn pleasant to smell. Ask me on another day and I'd probably place this one in first; #3) Divine L'Homme de Coeur, though I'd rather Pierre de Lune or Sous le Vent; and #4) The Different Company Sublime Balkiss, which I didn't like at all and would chuck into the nearest trash bin if given half a chance.