THESE recent perfume launches transport Glass to all corners of the globe while encountering some fragrant expressions of rain, earth, air and fire
Maison Crivelli – Safran Secret
£220 for 50 ml EDP – Buy here
A visit to a saffron field enveloped in fog was the starting point for Safran Secret, the latest fragrance from the very popular French niche house, Maison Crivelli, and infused with more than its usual air of mystery.
Composed by up-and-coming French-Spanish perfumer Gaël Montero, now based in Dubai, the Maison has kept the ingredients under wraps as they would rather you experience the scent with no preconceptions. However, mysterious spicy accents of rich woods and saffron pervade. Safran Secret is potent – at a 30 per cent concentration.
Akro – Breathe
£160 for 100ml – Buy here
In 2022, master perfumer and the nose behind Mugler’s Angel, Olivier Cresp teamed up with his daughter Anaïs to found Akro, informed by Anaïs’ time living in Ladbroke Grove, west London. Since its inception, Akro has created some brilliant fragrances – always monosyllabically titled – that have become instant hits.
Akro began by celebrating “irresistible addictions” and Breathe is an “addiction to nature”, taking its lead from the tranquillity of outdoors and “capturing the essence of calmness and offering a peaceful escape”. In Breathe, Akro has created a distinctive and compelling aromatic scent with elegant hints of bergamot, lavender, water and musk.
Hermès – Terre d’Hermès Intense
£120 for 100ml – Buy here
The latest flanker from Hermès’ classic line, Terre d’Hermès Intense adds hypnotic facets of smoke, coffee beans and liquorice to its original wood-infused profile. Christine Nagel, Creative Director of Hermès Perfumes, says, “For this new chapter of Terre d’Hermès, I wanted to express a different facet of the earth: the raging heat of an underground fire rising forcefully to the surface.”
Terre d’Hermès Intense opens with fresh bergamot and black pepper; deep liquorice and rich coffee are at its heart, moored by the intoxicating aroma of burning wood and intense lava stone. This is an intriguing long-lasting fragrance, which hadn’t faded after a day on my test blotter.
The refillable glass and aluminium bottle is designed by Philippe Mouquet and evokes “the concentrated expression the power of inner fire” with its red-brownish lacquer.
La Collection Privée Christian Dior – Bois Talisman
£168 for 50ml EDP – Buy here
The latest for La Collection Privée Christian Dior, Bois Talisman arose from Dior’s Perfume Creation Director Francis Kurkdjian’s research into Christian Dior’s penchant for talismans. “I have always found Christian Dior’s superstitious nature deeply touching,” says Kurkdjian. “It speaks to me, as I share it in an atavistic way, but also because I have a ‘taste’ for it – rather like the harmless fun rituals I invent for myself to ward off bad luck.”
Bois Talisman explores both Dior’s and Kurkdjian’s superstitions: “The sugar cube tucked away in my pocket blended with the pieces of wood that Christian Dior continually touched in his. Sugar flowed towards an intense vanilla that reveals every one of its facets.”
Smooth and warming, Bois Talisman intertwines a sophisticated vanilla with cedarwood to create an assertive, and opulent, fragrance.
Givenchy La Collection Particulière Les Jardins – Désobéissant
£285 for 100ml EDP – Buy here
Givenchy’s exclusive La Collection Particulière line takes as its starting point the people founder Hubert de Givenchy encountered. He said to them, “You have your own style, personality. Accentuate them. And if you have a favourite perfume, cherish it. Because it’s a part of you.” This year, the house has introduced L’Enfant Terrible, Tapageur and Désobéissant.
These are spirited and energetic scents, combining and contrasting sharp citruses and spiritual woods, underpinned with a smoky black tea facet. My favourite, Désobéissant, fizzes with an outstandingly fresh citron vibe, enhanced by spicy cardamon essence that is juxtaposed by aromatic Scots pine and cedarwood as the base.
Amouage – Outlands
£355 for 100ml – Buy here
The celebrated Omani house, Amouage, has launched The Essences, a trio of highly concentrated – 30 per cent perfume oil – exquisitely crafted scents, a reverie on time that takes the art of perfumery to the next level. Each one has been aged for six months (macerated in oakwood barrels) to create a superb texture and contrast, adding to the richness of the composition.
Outlands is composed by leading nose Cécile Zarokian and explores the future, risk-taking and adventure. It opens with a burst of citrusy spice (sichuan pepper, lemon, cardamom, frankincense), followed by comforting rich and soft notes of patchouli, saffron, anise, geranium, coriander and wormwood, which are blended with addictive spice and amber accords.
This is a beautiful big fragrance.
Brunello Cucinelli – Ombra Lirica
£255 for 100ml EDP – Buy here
Super-luxe Italian fashion house Brunello Cucinelli entered the fine fragrance market last year with two perfectly considered lines. This year it has dropped the Incanti Poetici collection, six highly concentrated juices, each one interpreting poems to create an all-encompassing olfactory world. It is a good idea. A perfume is like a poem.
For the collection, master perfumer Alberto Morillas created Ombra Lirica (meaning, “lyrical shadow”), inspired by the 19th century sonnet A Zacinto by Ugo Foscolo, where he writes about his deep love of his home Zakynthos, now part of Greece. So far, so much literary history. What about what is in the bottle? Well, it blends earthy cedar and guaiac wood with spicy hints of nutmeg and cedarwood, with warm oud and a smoky incense smouldering in the background to create a very wearable scent.
Memo Paris – Portobello Road
£235 for 70ml EDP – Buy here
Founded in 2007 and taking its lead from “the art of travel”, each Memo Paris scent transports you to a new destination, and this year, it takes you for an olfactive wander down Portobello Road, the storied west London street. Sweet, airy and balmy, Portobello Road blends myrtle oil with a charming rose and a unique rain accord – you will want to smell it again and again – it’s ideal for the season.
Ormonde Jayne – Montabaco Aruba
£220 for 88ml EDP – Buy here
Part of beloved British fragrance house Ormonde Jayne’s Four Corners of the Earth range, Montabaco, launched in 2012, explored Latin America with soulful, seductive and dynamic leather, suede, wood and tobacco accents. This year, the house has added three limited edition flankers to the line.
My favourite is the radiant Aruba. Beginning with luscious tropical flowers – magnolia, jasmine, rose and violet – followed by a comforting centre of invigorating and sunny bergamot, orange absolute and grapefruit. This is underscored by intriguingly potent tobacco and leather, spiced by cardamom. Aruba is completed by the signature ingredient of sandalore.
Electimuss London – Moroccan Medjool
£200 for 100ml EDP – Buy here
Recently launched, the final chapter in decadent and daring niche fragrance house Electimuss London’s Explorer Collection is Moroccan Medjool, created by perfumer Marco Genovese. This luxuriant perfume is a golden, ambery confection inspired by soft and deeply sweet dates.
Citrus and floral, Moroccan Medjool has hints of citrus date, grapefruit, lemon and cardamom; a heart of ylang ylang, jasmine and date, and is rounded off with an amber-filled base of musky cashmere wood, ambergris, oak moss, vanilla and caramel.
A Moroccan delight.
by Caroline Simpson