Notes: Iris Pallidia from Italy, Jasmine Grandiflorum from India, Rose absolute from Bulgaria, Lemon from Italy, Tuberose from India, Cassia from Sri Lanka, Sandalwood
Dusty dry roots of the Italian iris flower turn into white powder with a very light fresh citrus lemon. Petals of jasmine and rose show a beautiful bouquet of delicate white transparent flowers with dry powder, the root of the iris never leaving during its wear.
Berlin based perfumer Tanja Bochnig uses the best natural raw materials she can find thus taking 2 years to create Irisistible.
When I first tried Irisistible I was immensely touched as it brought a feeling of divine connection and hope that everything is in order just the way it is. In these restless times bringing such a immensely important feeling of hope can be very reassuring. It has certainly helped and is still aiding me!
Irisistible in short: hopeful and reassuring
Have you tried Irisistible? Or another fragrance from April Aromatics?
You can read my earlier reviews of April Aromatics perfumes Jasmina, Ray of Light and Liquid Dreams by clicking on the links.
We are four perfume bloggers based in France, Holland, England and Wales who post on a different joint subject every couple of months. This time we have chosen Mainstream perfumes. You will find links to the other blogs at the end of the post. We hope you have fun reading our different choices and adding your own selection in the comments!
The Yves Rocher Secrets d’Essences Collection
As some of you already know, I love the Yves Rocher Secrets d’Essences Collection so I chose a couple of fragrances from this product line for mini reviews: Accord Chic, Tendre Jasmin and Vanille Noir. I reviewed Rose Oud earlier this year (see link at the end) and I plan on writing about Neroli soon.
The Secrets d’Essences Collection focuses on raw materials in perfumery like vanilla (2010), jasmine (2008), neroli (2013), iris (2007) and rose (2006). The Collection launched in 2005 with Voile d’Ambre.
I have all fragrances from this line as they can be found regularly on Marktplaats (Dutch eBay) for a decent price. Small 5 ml bottles can be bought at Yves Rocher for sampling. Recently they had 3 bottles on sale for 5 euro. Personally I find most of the scents fairly linear but very well made for a decent price and excellent to layer with, except for the intriguing dark Rose Oud.
Tendre Jasmin
Perfumer: Jacques Cavallier(Issey Miyake L’Eau d’Issey and Jean Paul Gaultier Classique)
After starting with rather annoying synthetic aromachemicals, Tendre Jasmin continues as a clean floral bouquet with a bit of a green fresh touch. There is nothing edgy about this scent, no animals or índoles but a beautiful light jasmine fragrance.
Layer with: Accord Chic
Tendre Jasmin in a few words: happy, careless like a butterfly, light, virginal floral, pristine Jasmine
Accord Chic
Perfumers: Olivier Cresp (also known for creating Thierry Mugler Angel) and Marie Salamagne
Notes: pink pepper, elemi, iris, benzoin and frankincense
Starting with a spicy note of activating pink pepper and elemi with a sweet balsamic undertone probably from the benzoin, this fragrance changes quickly into a slightly dusty, sweeter and smoother scent. The frankincense adds a greener and slightly damp note to the whole fragrance. After a few hours what remains is a smooth scent which reminds me of liquorice. Longevity is excellent after 7 hours I can still smell a trace.
The image I get, when I smell Accord Chic, is from a well dressed elegant lady in a thin black wool sweater and long white wide wool pants. Looking closer you can see these are luxurious designer clothes. The name Chic in the perfume is very fitting but I find Accord horrendous as a perfume name. If this scent was sold by a niche perfume house this fragrance could easily become a bestseller. This fragrance is well worth a try.
Layer with: Tendre Jasmin to enhance the floral heart or with Vanille Noir to link the benzoin in Accord Chic with the vanilla in the Vanille Noir to create a warmer fragrance.
Accord Chic in a few words: casual elegance and chic, refined, introverted, calm, intriguing
This slightly dry vanilla seems to go directly to the base with sweet powder, liquid caramel and comforting woody notes. After a few hours what remains on the skin is a warm woody anisic skin scent. I find Vanilla Noir to be quite linear and not very interesting in the beginning but it turns into a fabulous warm comforting fragrance after a few hours. It is an excellent fragrance to layer with Guerlain Shalimar or Byredo Gypsy Water Eau de Cologne to enhance the vanilla in both.
Vanille Noir in a few words: warm, smooth, feels like a protective thin black soft wool blanket, comforting skin scent, not a gourmand vanilla
Layer with: Voile d’Ambre and Accord Chic, it probably works well with Neroli to create a fresh top note as well.
Bottom line: Tendre Jasmin, Accord Chic and Vanille Noir are all well worth a try, I find Accord Chic the most intriguing and Vanilla Noir the one I grew to like most.
Read my review of Annick Menardo’s dark rose creation for Yves Rocher Secrets d’Essences and favorite from this collection here: Rose Oud
A few weeks ago I meet Japanese perfumer Satori Osawa at the niche perfume shop The Perfume Lounge in Amsterdam. The Perfume Lounge is the only store which sells Parfum Satori in Europe (except a pop-up store in Paris) at this moment.
Satori Osawa was born in Tokyo and opened her perfume salon Parfum Satori in 2000. She studied Japanese culture intensively. Its tea ceremony called Sado. The incense ceremony named Kodo. The Japanese art of flower arranging known as Kado and Japanese dance. Japanese culture is the base from which she works. I had the impression Satori had a clear mission to explain her fragrances and Japanese culture to people coming from other cultures. Part of our talk was in explaining aspects of Japanese culture to me which I found very interesting. Satori explained the idea behind her five fragrances as well: Wasanbon, Sakura, Satori, Iris Homme and Hana Hiraku.
Wasanbon
Wasanbon is a special refined Japanese sugar. The Wasanbon sweets are called Rakugan. They are hand made in several stages. The Wasanbon sugar has a less sweet, more creamy and buttery taste than ordinary refined sugar. Rakugan are used for the Japanese Matcha (green tea) tea ceremony as part of the tea ritual. First you take a small piece of Rakugan in your mounth afterwards you take a sip of Japanese Matcha tea. In this way combining two kinds of flavours, sweet and bitter.
Satori explaned she created Wasanbon Eau de Parfum as a not too loud dry gourmand fragrance. A scent for adults unlike other very sweet bombs which can be found nowadays. This fragrance is meant to be gentle, happy, innocent and sophisticated. Satori uses this fragrance on moments she wants to take care of herself. To me personally Wasanbon Eau de Parfum is a pink light fluffy scent. Wasanbon is not too sweet, quite delicate and girly.
Sakura means cherry blossom. Contrary to what one would think the cherry blossom in itself is not a blossom which smells fruity. Sakura eau de parfum is supposed to bring a feeling of happiness, delightfulness and innocence. The joyful feeling of spring arriving after winter. Cherry blossoms filling the air with their pink petals all at once, creating a beautiful pink carpet when they fall on the ground. Satura eau de parfum contains incense, spice and sandalwood. It wears very close to the skin. I really like this scent and could fully wear it.
Satori is the best seller in the Tokyo perfume salon. This fragrance is based on the Japanese ceremony of incense, Kado. In this scent the 5 Japanese elements of taste are combined, spicy, bitter, sweet, sour and salty. Kyara is known to have these 5 tastes. Satori eau de parfum was formulated based on the image of it. Kyara is a not very dominant precious agarwood and more refined than the oud we are used to in Western perfumery. Cinnamon and clove are used for the spicy notes, cocoa for the bitter, vanilla adding sweetness, oakmoss, cypress and bitter orange for its sour and saltyness.
I find Satori to be the most outspoken one of all her fragrances. Some compared it to the original Shiseido Serge Lutens Feminite du Bois. Not being an expert on vintage Feminite du Bois I am curious how these two compare to each other. From all fragrances I like this one best together with Sakura. It is a very refined, warm cozy scent. If Satori eau de parfum had a colour it would be the autumnal colours of dark red and brown leaves of a tree like Indian Summer colours of leaves. The texture which comes to mind is very thin but warming wool.
The iris flower is only used in Japan for decoration and not in fragrances. It is used to decorate kimono’s, paintings and in haiku poems and very much part of Japanese culture. Iris Homme starts with a sparkling citrus note of lemon and bergamot to change to a dryer powdery heart with iris and finish with a woody amber/sandalwood base. Although not mentioned in the official notes it has galbanum and elemi as well. Iris Homme wears quite close to the skin. I find it quite a refined scent for men to wear.
Hana Hiraku is the latest release of Satori. It means blooming flower and was made as a Magnolia scent. The fragrance has an interesting combination of sweet melon, creamy jasmine and salty german blue camomille. The blue camomille was added to add a miso and soy sauce note. The Japanese magnolia tree (Magnolia Obovate) smells like melon, creamy and at some stage even carnal. The carnal note was added by tuberose absolute. Hana Hiraku is meant to portray the emotion of a new beginning after wintertime.
Hanu Hiraku was the most challenging fragrance for me as I am not too fond of melon as an accord. It struck me as very odd in the beginning and not as refined as the other Satori perfumes. But after learning the explanation of the fragrance of the Magnolia Obovate tree I understand why the pronounced melon accord was added. The flowers of the magnolia tree I know near our Dutch garden smell more like soap which is very different I imagine from the Magnolia Obovate.
Most of these Eau de Parfums are very subtle and quite exquisite fragrances. I would not wear all of them but I could certainly wear Sakura during Spring and Satori with colder weather in Wintertime. You have to take a quiet meditative moment to fully appreciate these fragrances and let them sink in to value them. Before buying a bottle, I would recommend to sample them at ease at home as these fragrances need their time and attention to be valued. Samples can be bought online at The Perfume Lounge in Amsterdam.
I would like to thank Satori Osawa and The Perfume Lounge for the opportunity for this interview.
Disclosure: all photographs were made by Esperessence, the samples which were used for this article, were a gift from The Perfume Lounge I did not get any compensation to write this article. More information can be found on: The Perfume Lounge and Parfum Satori.
