1.) MAISON FRANCIS KURKDJIAN APOM POUR HOMME: I tested this directly after my two week stint with L’Eau Serge Lutens, and the similarities were striking. Both sparkle, both are “fresh” in a bright, sunny and clean kind of way, with APOM Pour Homme even exhibiting a bit of that sweetened anise note that I detected in the Lutens L’Eau, though there’s no anise listed as part of the notes.
Somewhat sweet and a touch floral (though not in a notedly feminine fashion), with a dry cedar wood over a sheer ambered base, APOM Pour Homme feels to me like a classic men’s aftershave-splash reincarnated as haute perfumery. The best of both worlds.
And where L’Eau Serge Lutens is subtle almost to the point of self-effacement, APOM (short for “A Piece of Me”) Pour Homme has no reservations about projecting its carefree mood. Not to say that APOM Pour Homme is a loudmouth powerhouse — it’s not — but if I’d tried the fourteen-spray test that I used with L’Eau, I’d have needed to distribute some gas masks. It is, however, tenacious, and was still noticeably present on my skin ten hours after application.
The official notes are orange blossom, amber and cedar wood, but in this case, a notes list is just the tip of the iceberg — it’s mostly all the unlisted ingredients (with the tongue-twisting chemistry class names) that are doing the heavy lifting.
Octavian Coifan at 1000Fragrances writes: “APOM Pour Homme shows similar notes to Gaultier 2, but in a much lighter version (less sweet, more airy anisic with a fresh lily of the valley) and with a delicacy that suggests a warm golden skin melting in the sun like the most delicious honey oriental pastry served under an orange flower tree. The woods are burning and this sensation of a delicate smoke wraps the drydown of the perfume.”
Apparently, orange flower is a specialty of Master Perfumer Kurkdjian. Lucky us. Video clip below of Francis Kurkdjian discussing the ideas behind the creation of his Maison Francis Kurkdjian line of fragrances and functional scents:
Note: From what I understand, a “Master” of perfumery is said to be an ISIPCA accredited perfumer who has been working professionally for 25 years or longer — which means there are always just a limited number of perfumery Masters at any given time; the title “Master Perfumer” has become diluted of late, with many perfumers categorized as “Master” in an honorary way by consumers who are unaware of the professional hierarchy.
2.) VAN CLEEF & ARPELS BOIS D’IRIS: After reading so much about the Van Cleef & Arpels series, I figured it was time that I dipped my toe into the pool. Bois d’Iris seemed the likeliest candidate, and as I don’t think I have a single Iris fragrance in my collection, it was also kind of a dare: “Impress me, you . . . you Iris!”
It did.
The Bois d’Iris notes list is simple enough: sweet notes, frankincense, iris, driftwood, vetiver, ambergris, labdanum, myrrh and vanilla. The cool sheen of the iris root is nicely balanced by the woods, resins and ambered musks, and I found Bois d’Iris to be essentially chic, especially when you consider that it’s being pushed as a unisex scent.
Easily wearable by both men and women (it walks the line of woods, resin and sugar that doesn’t skew too far in either gender direction), it exhibits excellent throw, longevity and fashionable cool.
Bois d’Iris was composed by Symrise perfumer Emilie Copperman, who’s much more recent on the scene than Francis Kurkdjian, so while Bois d’Iris is undeniably beautiful, I’d be more likely to purchase a bottle of APOM Pour Homme simply because Kurkdjian’s talent elevates his work beyond the merely beautiful (if beauty can ever be considered mere) and launches it well into the striking category.
I’m sure I’ll hear some disagreement over that last point, and maybe I’m too willing to extend consideration for the years of experience accrued, but placed side by side, the accomplishment of APOM Pour Homme — its deceptively sheer nature, the creative marriage of a sun-sweetened orange blossom with dry cedar, the blending of high-end perfumery with traditional gentlemen’s grooming — outshines the more simplistic luxury brand feel of the Van Cleef & Arpels.
3.) SONOMA SCENT STUDIO INCENSE PURE: I’m still wrapping my brain around Incense Pure, a recently updated version of Ms. Erickson’s Encens Tranquille. Erickson’s been sourcing new raw materials (such as the labdanum and oakmoss incorporated into Incense Pure), and has consequently tweaked her softer, sweeter Encens Tranquille into a sparse, dry desert of a scent that recalls smoke permeated Bedouin tents more than Catholic church rituals or New Age meditation centers.
Labdanum is the only “incense” that’s animalic in nature (historically, the sticky labdanum resin was scraped from the hair of goats and sheep that had grazed on the cistus shrubs) despite being a vegetal resin, and it was popularly used as a substitute for ambergris once the use of ambergris fell out of favor, so there’s a definite muskiness to Incense Pure that pushes it in a direction that’s unusual for a bottle of fragrance with the word “Incense” on the label.
Listed scent notes are: frankincense extract, labdanum absolute, cistus, sandalwood, myrrh, patchouli, natural oakmoss, angelica root, orris, vanilla absolute and elemi. As with her 2009 release Tabac Aurea, I get a distinctly fleshy tone to the first half of Incense Pure that recalls the sweet/sour tango of natural ambergris, but it’s the second half of Incense Pure that hits the target for me, with a parched sandalwood prominently featured in the warm and subtle sweetness at the base (a base that lasts, and lasts, and lasts).
Note: My experience of the sweet/sour fleshy note in Tabac Aurea was not the common experience, and I’m assuming that my response to Incense Pure is similarly anomalous.
Erickson herself wrote on her blog that keeping Incense Pure high in natural extracts and absolutes was a definite priority, and this decision makes Incense Pure a potent, heavily layered scent that’s of an entirely different style than the near-transparent wizardry of Kurkdjian and the polished luxury of Copperman.
I purchased two extra 15ml bottles of Incense Pure, and once I’ve lived with its left-of-center take on incense for a few more weeks, I’ll be hosting a giveaway so that readers can hopefully wind their own paths to the heart of Erickson’s defiantly indie approach to the incense genre.
4.) SOIVOHLE’ STUDIO SONORAN LEATHER: Like Laurie Erickson, Liz Zorn is an independent perfumer working out of her own home studio, but in the American midwest of Ohio rather than sunny southern California. Both produce unique, highly individualistic work that’s unlike anything you’ll find on a drugstore or department store shelf, and I always enjoy dabbling in their ever expanding and revising portfolios.
Sonoran Leather is a recent discovery from perfumer Zorn’s product list (it was released as part of her “Studio Collection” in 2009), and like the Sonoma Scent Studio Incense Pure, it’s dry and warm with a definite musky heart, but ditching the multitude of incense extracts and spiced up with clove, cinnamon and tobacco notes, instead.
Ms. Zorn describes her Sonoran Leather as, “A leather scent with all the intensity of the hot desert sun. It is both warm and dry, incorporating spice notes of cinnamon and clove with a backdrop of tobacco, jasmine and rose set against a deep animalic musk” — and unlike much of the PR copy issued from commercial fragrance companies, Zorn’s own assessment of her work is honest and dead-on accurate.
The first several hours of Sonoran Leather are a punchy blend of spices (the BF guessed nutmeg after sniffing several times at the air around me) that gradually wind down into a dry, dusty blend of dusky tobacco and musks softened by oh so subtle injections of jasmine, rose and vanilla. The florals exist mostly on the periphery of the piece, serving to sand down any rough edges rather than feature prominently, so if you’re not a rose or jasmine fan, don’t worry — you’ll barely know they’re there.
Longevity is good (though not as good as Incense Pure), and there’s certainly sillage as opposed to it wearing close to the body. Again, I need to spend more time with Sonoran Leather to grasp its full nature, but I’m happy to say that I’m already anticipating the journey.
What about the rest of you? Any thoughts on the fragrances above, and what fragrances are you testing/wearing lately that you think we should hear about?
