Frederic Malle Vetiver Extraordinaire

My sample vial was labeled “Vetiver Extraordinaire Dominique Ropion” — so at first I didn’t realize that I was spraying on a sample of a Frederic Malle fragrance until I remembered that Frederic Malle is the only fragrance line that features the names of the actual perfumers on the label. But when you come right down to it, why don’t all the fragrance lines do that?

The way that designer labels sell perfumes now is like Sony or Warner Brothers trying to sell a pop album with only their corporate logos emblazoned across the cover: “WARNER BROS RECORDS — 4 Minutes (to Save the World)” really doesn’t offer much insight into what the music might actually sound like, and I wonder if this is why consumers are so confused when it comes to the modern marketplace. Very few fragrance lines employ just one head perfumer, so we have a revolving door of perfumers with their own styles behind a flood of new releases under every major fashion label in the world, and it becomes impossible to know whether we’ll actually like the new Dior, Armani, YSL, or Gucci fragrance when the actual talent behind its creation is hidden behind what equates to a corporate curtain.

I mean, how much nicer would it be if, as a consumer, the name of the perfumer was featured on every perfume bottle? That would change the way we shop for fragrances entirely. Stores could cross reference the names with what’s currently in production from that particular perfumer, and sales representatives would say: “Oh, you like Dior J’Adore? That’s one of Calice Becker’s pieces, so you might like to take a sniff at Cuir de Lancome, Secret Obsession and Beyond Paradise, too!” At which point they’d start pulling items off of shelves neatly grouped according to perfumer instead of perfume house.

My god, that would be so much easier for everyone involved . . . so of course it will never happen.

Dominique Ropion, the name behind Vetiver Extraordinaire, is an extraordinarily prolific perfumer, responsible either singly or collaboratively for over 40 fragrances and counting, with numerous mainstream hits to his credit, such as Burberry The Beat, Thierry Mugler Alien, Givenchy Very Irresistible, Calvin Klein Euphoria and Vivienne Westwood Anglomania. He’s also the perfumer for two other Frederic Malle releases, Une Fleur de Cassie and Carnal Flowers.

Erin over at Now Smell This proclaims two of Ropion’s fragrances, Wet and Une Fleur de Cassie, as strikingly original yet nearly unwearable in public due to their feral, bodily fluid qualities. Vetiver Extraordinaire is, thankfully, neither feral nor unwearable, though it does exhibit a dark, loamy earthiness that might be difficult to handle if you’re in the mood for a mist of sweet, floral splendor to start your days.

Vetiver Extraordinaire is said to contain one of the highest concentrations of vetiver essence on the market (25%), accessorized with musks, woods and moss, so you have to be a bit of a fanboy for the inky, damp smell of vetiver root if V.E. is going to get your groove on. Opening with citrus, ground peppercorns and an ozonic tone that evokes the cool bite of a deeply shadowed forest, once the lighter, spicier tones burn off, the fragrance reverts to form and wears like a slice of genuine earth, sprinkled with wood chips and served up on a bone china plate.

While this isn’t what I look for when I reach for my own fragrance bottle to kick off the day, it strikes me as an obviously heartfelt rendition of vetiver root on the part of Ropion, and I can admire the quality of the construction even as I’m taking a pass on including it on my shelf.

ADDITION:

I also tested a sample of Claus Porto Musgo Real Água-de-Colónia No. 2 Oak Moss, but it really didn’t merit much more reaction than: “Hmmmm, fresh and . . . mossy.”