Scented Haven

        Chypre is a genre of perfume that spawned in the  Mediterraneans and holds a lot of stories from the past about the creation and evolution of perfumery. This one particular family of perfumes has inspired many a modern scents and for better or worse has changed much more than any other style of perfumery. Chypre De Coty, a creation that was designed by François Coty in 1917, gracefully holds the baton of being a yardstick to judge a chypre perfume, although Chypre perfumes were created even before Coty’s version of it. The reason for its importance can also be credited to the fact that it was the first Chypre to be produced for the masses. Most of us have zero clues as to what Chypre De Coty smelt like and we might not even get a chance to. Perfumers of the modern era thrive to make it like it was once made and the enthusiasts enjoy it in all of its forms. The history behind chypre is fascinating which gives an insight into how they came into existence and it mi

    Amouage Library Collection - Opus VII                                                                                                                                       

  Clive Christian – No.1 for Women. History:- An American living in the UK who started corset-making business in 1840 in London, William Sparks Thompson, a name that is not known to many but plays a vital role in perfume history. It was a time when corsets were worn by every woman, even though it would lead to breathlessness, owing to which sometimes his clients would faint due to the tightness of the corsets. His son, a chemist, created their first fragrant product by adding lavender to salt and placing it in a beautiful green bottle with a stopper and named it,  Crown Lavender Salt .  Its application would help revive the fainting ladies. After attaining huge success with their salts there was no stopping for the Thompsons,  the  family started making more scents and scented products and quickly became one of the most sought-after perfume houses.                              I n 1872, Queen Victoria of England gave her blessings to the house and allowed them to use the image

    Mona Di Orio - Vanille. The idea behind this perfume was Mona Di Orio’s imagination about a cargo ship carrying rum barrels, oranges, vanilla beans, ylang-ylang, cloves and sandalwood. When the name of the perfume is based on a single note we usually expect it to be the most prominent note in the fragrance but it isn’t the case with this perfume. It does not mean that the name is misleading or it does not have ample dosages of vanilla because it does and while vanilla is present throughout, it plays its role very silently until the dry down. Vanilla here is definitely the base, every other note pays its respect to vanilla stays a while and leaves when their part is done. It’s a very beautiful composition that shows both the dark and the comforting facets of vanilla. Notes :-   Top - Cloves, Rum , Bitter orange, Petitgrain. Middle - Guaiac Wood, Vetiver, Sandalwood, Ylang Ylang. Base - Madagascar Vanilla, Amber, Tonka Bean , Tolu Balsm, Leather, Musk. The perfume starts with a

  Mendittorosa  –  Archetipo . Archetipo  a word derived from Greeks which breaks down to ' Archein ', which means "original or old"; and 'Typos', which means "pattern, model or  type.  Archetipo  or Archetype in  English  is a pattern that already is a part of us since before we knew it or acknowledged it.  Swiss Psychiatrist and  Psychoanalyst,  who found Analytical Psychology Dr. Carl Gustav Jung, had a theory ' The Collective Unconscious', which states that all of our minds are interlinked like bee hive. This might not make sense yet, but then, we all share a common ancestor and with it  come  a set of ancient patterns and types, ways of understanding and knowing about the complex reality, these can all be termed as Archetypes, or in Italian ' Archetipo '.  The Archetypes exist in our mind before our  conscious   thought , and hence and have a powerful impact on our perception of an experience.   Best example, as a child or a new born

  Guerla in - Shalimar Eau De  Parfum . A perfume born out of a love story and loved since the day it was introduced. A timeless  classic,  benchmark oriental, a surprise to the nose and delight to the senses. In 1921, Master Perfumer Jacques Guerlain, the nose behind Shalimar created it while drawing inspiration from the famous love story of Shahjahan and Mumtaz naming it after the garden 'Shalimar'. It's neither an easy perfume nor a clean one, especially the opening of the perfume which is a little robust, uneasy and not pleasing but I've been told that it's better than the vintage versions, because the vintage versions are even  stronger .   The opening of  oranges, civet  and leather can be a bit off putting while  opoponax  adds a heavy dose of balsamic character. The initial 15 minutes to my nose were very challenging but what comes next is what the scent is glorified for  and for all the right reasons.   Once I got past the 15-20 minutes start, Iris came to

       Nightingale is perfume that comes across as simple and feels just as complicated. Hidden gems in regards to perfume are heard of but a hidden gem as a perfumer whom I can relate with is the creator of this fragrance, a Japanese perfumer -  Tomoo   Inaba . Nightingale is his first launch and such a beautiful scent it is. Every time I wore it I could picture the Geisha, from the movie ‘Memoirs of A Geisha’, face covered in white powder, red  lips,  wearing a Pink kimono, she’s  beautiful ,  she’s captivating and she can turn heads with a single look. Inspired by the Japanese Spring, where the Nightingale welcomes the new blooms with its songs and also associated with a silk Kimono; everything that has been said about it rings true. What you read about this perfume is exactly what you will experience. As a fragrance enthusiast  its  a blessing that the story and the fragrance relate to each other, one of the very few times when we can believe that the story came before the perfume.

Patchouli , also called Pogostemon Cablin.  Odour profile - Green, earthy, mossy, woody and sometimes medicinal. My nose has always been drawn this fragrance in particular and it always surprises me in all the forms I've smelt it. To a lot of us  PATCHOULI  is an  essential part of a perfume but to me it is also a perfume in itself. A whiff of it can alter my mood , with its sweet and herbaceous top it sets me in  different type of trance, the camphorous mid which is a bit herbal still brings a smile on my face ,loosens my body and puts it in a state of rest and still  and its woody, dry and earthy base makes me feel humble and grounded. Patchouli, an aromatic herb which grows about 1 meter tall and has leaves nearly 5 meters wide and native to Philippines is of extreme importance to the world  of perfumery. The essential oil of patchouli which is brownish in colour is extracted from its leaves. There is lot about Patchouli that we don't know yet or  we weren't keen on know