Maison Francis Kurkdjian Cologne pour le Matin Fresh…ok, but exciting ?

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The French/Armenian perfumer Francis Kurkdjian made one cologne for the morning and one for the evening for his own perfume line Maison Francis Kurkdjian (MFK). This is a different approach to classic colognes which are mostly used in the morning to refresh but not very suited for evenings.

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Cologne pour le matin is one of my favorite cologne.  The image I get is the one above. At first you smell citrus notes, lemon and bergamot very shortly. Afterwards you smell cedar wood for hours, like scenting sharpened pencils. This reminded me of the perfume Autoportrait by Olfactive Studio. Giving a clean, fresh but warm feeling. 

Cologne pour le Matin is fresh but not very exciting. Much more stimulating is another evening scent from MFK: Absolue pour le Soir. Absolue pour le Soir, an animalic scent, reminding me of horse barns. Kurkdjian said he was inspired for Absolue pour le Soir by a photograph of Bianca Jagger lying on a leather couch during the eighties while wearing a little dress.

He got his inspiration for Cologne pour le Matin from the first lines from the book Bonjour Tristesse by the French writer Francoise Sagan. She describes being wakened by a sunbeam. Another inspiration was walking on the grass in the morning. I can imagine these two sources of inspiration but not a picture of Bianca Jagger. 

Cologne pour le Matin might be too clean or even a bit boring for some but I find it a refreshing scent during the morning or day. Different from classic Colognes like Muelhens 4711. Longevity of Cologne pour le Matin is excellent.

Official notes according to MFK website: bergamot from Calabria, lemon from Sicily, white thyme from Maroc, lavender, oranjeblossom from Tunis. According to the Fragantica website the notes are cotton and flax.

August 8, 2012

Updated: October 14, 2014

Photographs were made by me.

Origin of sample: my own

 

 

 

Hilde Soliani Conaffetto Candied Orange Blossom

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Hilde 1

Conaffetto is a fragrance made by the Italian Perfumer Hilde Soliani. It is part of her Profumo e questa in liberta series. This line is based on the Italian Haute Cuisine which is a great love of Hilde Soliani. Some of her perfumes (including Conaffetto) are almost edible. Conaffetto means with affection in Italian.  Hilde Soliani made this perfume for a dear friend who was getting married. Its ingredients are almonds, sugar and orange blossom, very appropriate for a wedding.

Orange blossom is used in wedding bouquets in certain countries and sugar coated almonds (Jordan Almonds) are given at weddings. Almonds sweetened with honey were first used in ancient Rome in weddings. The hard candy coating started in the 15th century. These candies are called Jordan Almonds in the US but confetti in Italy. The bitter almonds symbolize the bitterness of life and the sweet coating the sweetness of love.

I really like the idea of a perfume made for a very special occasion in one’s life. Luce (see my previous review) was for a child’s birth of a friend of Hilde Soliani and Conaffetto for a wedding. Luce could be used to scent birth cards and Conafetto could be used to scent wedding invitations.

 

What does it smell like ?

 

The scent starts with a bitter almond note in the top. Then it evolves into orange blossom with a slightly bitter edge. After this the orange blossom becomes  sweeter, reminding me of candied violets. Not their scent but the violet candies themselves. If orange blossoms could be candied they would scent like this. It is almost as if you can eat this orange blossom. The orange blossom, almonds and sugar are very well blended. Some mention on the Fragantica website they scent bitter almonds  I get  bitter almonds quite clearly in the beginning and a bitter note at the middle but to me it could be a bit of bitter orange mixed with bitter almonds. The orange blossom is a not indolic at all, but much more tamed, not yet fully blooming, like a woman in her early/mid twenties there is still some innocence about her. The drydown is like an orange blossom water almond cookie with all the ingredients very well blended together.

What does it do ?

Conaffetto brings a feeling of softness, ease and affection. Like getting a hug from a very dear loving friend. Light and soft with a touch a innocence. 

I really like this fragrance, together with Luce made by Hilde Soliani as well, they are my favorites. It is a different and original take on an orange blossom perfume. But I do not love it enough to buy a large 100 ml bottle. If smaller 15 or 30 ml bottles were sold, I would seriously consider buying a bottle.

Sillage: ***

Longevity: ***/****

Notes according to Luckyscent: orange blossom, sugar, almonds

Origin of sample: pr 

February 3, 2014

Pictures:

Picture 1: Rébé 1963 Harry Meerson Wedding Dress www.hprints.com

Picture 2: Rene Ruau for Marcella Alix www.hpprints.com,

Picture 3: Bas Balenciaga www.hpprints.com

Penhaligon’s Castile A scent of Azahar

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As this is my first blog about perfumes I was wondering what perfume to choose to write about. I wanted to write about a perfume I really like and from a fragrance house I really like as well. Penhaligon´s is such a house and British.

Penhaligon´s is a very old fragrance house which started with a shop in London in 1870. Their site is one of the best from a fragrance house I have come across. They give online advice on a perfume if you fill out a form online and sent it to them. Which I did and I will write about their advice next time.

About the eau de toilette Castile. I was drawn to this perfume because of its name. Castille, one of the now autonomous communities of Spain, say a kind of state within Spain. To me if you say Castille you say Spain in all its origins. And this appealed to me, being partly Spanish. So when I smelled the eau de toilette Castile I was really surprised to smell Spain, that is azahar. Azahar is the Spanish for orange blossom. You smell Castile by Penhaligon´s and it smells so lovely of orange blossom. But not only orange blossom, as I have smelled other neroli or fleur de oranger scents before. And I do not like most of them. Like Serge Lutens Fleurs d´oranger which I do not like either. Maybe it is the mixture of neroli, petit grain, and orange blossom in Castile. All scents of oranges. I do not know but it reminded me of my Spanish grandmothers home and all the lovely memories of wonderfull Christmas holidays came up. Whoever made this perfume must have had quite an idea of how Spain smells. I could not find any information about the perfumeur of Castile, unfortately. If Spain would be a smell, to me, it would be Castile by the English perfume house Penhaligon´s.

So would I recommend it? Yes I would if you like neroli, fleur de oranger or orange blossom and a summery smell into your house. Penhaligon´s sells scent library with 10 different samples on their site. The older scent library contains Castile as well. The scent library can also be bought via ebay from time to time as well.

Commentaries online were quite positive. American reactions commented on the scent as a grand old European hotel soap scent. In general it was commented that it is expensive and some say it is a soapy scent. In the Netherlands a bottle of 100 ml is 90 euro. But you can buy Castile quite regularly on the British ebay site for half or even a third of that price. You can order 5 different samples in the Netherlands at the webshop from Celeste in The Hague for 10 euro. On Penhaligon´s site you can see where their scents are sold throughout the world.

Castile is in the citrus group and on some sites it is considered a masculine smell. After shave and shaving cream is sold as well. But personally to me it is a more feminine scent and my boy friend agrees. He likes the scent as well.

Notes: neroli, petit grain, bergamot, orange blossom, rose, precious woods and musk

Longevity: quite good for a citrus eau de toilette

The eau de toilette was bought by myself. I do not have any links with Penhaligon´s, my comment is completely independent.

July 12, 2011

penhaligons

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