AFTELIER COGNAC: In a 2005 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, natural perfumer Mandy Aftel let it slip that the jasmine/licorice combo is a particular favorite of hers for the unexpected ways in which the two essences combine with, contrast against, and support one another. From what I can tell, this combo is at the heart of her hedonistically rich Cognac fragrance.
Add some blood orange essence (which she used wonderfully in her dark chocolate Cacao fragrance), a bit of ginger for that sharp spiky scent you get when you bury your nose in a snifter full of Remy Martin Louis XIII, an olive absolute that imbues the fragrance with the toasted aroma of French oak casks, and voila! The full-on Cognac experience is complete -- warm, smoothly biting and brimming with natural sugars.
Aftelier Cognac can easily be worn by both men and women, and it has that mellow, relaxing feel of drinking a glass of high-quality, caramelized brew while siting in a huge, overstuffed leather chair by a fire. The most overt of the sugars burn off after an hour or so and you're then left with the skin-musk of an indolic jasmine laced with anise and ginger.
A pleasure to wear, and it has a decent lifespan for an all-natural fragrance.
SHALINI PARFUM: Shalini (created for designer Shalini Kumar by master perfumer Maurice Roucel) got a bad rap when it was first released, as it was available only in a decidedly striking, yet ridiculously expensive, Lalique crystal bottle that rocketed the price of the perfume into the stratosphere and resulted in far too many reviews ending with the phrase, "not worth the price."
Ms. Kumar seems to have learned from this mistake, and now has a much more plain, albeit still crystal, bottle on offer for a fraction of the price of the original Lalique version. Yes, it's still expensive, but you're paying for the juice instead of the bottle this time, and the juice is definitely worth it.
First applied to the skin, Shalini's sharp tuberose cuts through the air like a knife, but it's quickly captured and subdued by a white floral and neroli oil mix (neroli is the essence from the blossoms of the bitter orange tree) that softens the tuberose edge, resulting in a delicate, buttery scent that hovers close to the skin. As time passes, the white floral creaminess literally melts into a cashmere-soft tango of musk and sandalwood that I had not at all expected, and found thoroughly enjoyable.
If I were asked to recommend just one perfume for a woman to purchase, it would be this one. Frankly, it's so beautiful with its rich, rounded tuberose and warm, golden base, I'm half-tempted to recommend it for men, as well -- the florals are skillfully blended to create a presence that's compelling rather than overpowering, and there's a terrific shadowy quality at the base that counterbalances any overt sparkle at the top.
Indulging in more masculine imagery, I'd say the piece as a whole glides down the road like a Bentley, crammed under the hood with power and precision but way past any need to prove it. If your idea of a good time is hanging out in a parking lot and revving your engines all night, then Giorgio has a bottle with your name written all over it. Shalini, however, is all about the grown-ups.
In fact, the one thing that might be at all disconcerting about a man wearing Shalini is the crowd of women that would form around him, demanding to know what the h**l it is he's wearing that smells so f***ing fantastic.
***Note: skip the nine hundred dollar Lalique crystal bottle (unless you really have your heart set on it) and go for the 10ml size, instead. Two hundred dollars is still an awful lot to pay for less than half an ounce of perfume, but a little bit of Shalini is all you need.
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