Top summerfragrances 2014

Picture: One of the Small Towers on Frederiksborg Castle, 
ca 1834-35
Painting by Christen Köbke (1810-1848)
Wikipedia commons

The summer up here in the North was cold from late May and whole June. In July thankfully the warmth appeared and is still present in August with an intensive heat, a very warm, humid weather around 30 degree Celsius. This reflects the list of what I've liked in particular this summer ie very different styles.

Un Bateau pour Capri (Eau d'Italie): This dark, purple, velvety, aldehydic, fruity, flowery creation blooms wonderful  in the ot humid weather. My top find from my sample testing for the blog this summer.

Montecristo (Masque): During the cold first part, the spicy, dirty, animalic Montecristo was a comforting and warming choice. A very big fragrance in the old YSL Opium style. Also tried it when it was quite warm, 20-25 degree Celsius, and its sillage was tremendous and I got positive reactions (belive it or not :-)

Rosamunda (Laboratorio Olfattive) and Rose Anonyme (Atelier Cologne): Both refreshing fragrances in the cool, pink rose-patchouli-oud genre. Very close to each other where Rosamunda is a tad sweeter in its earlier stages and Rose Anonyme a bit woodier. When they have dried down on their scentstrips, I can't tell them apart. Both these fragrances smells much better when worn in the fresh sea-air of the archipelago compared with when worn in the city. Both fragrances shows more notes and another dept by the sea.

Mistral Patchouli (Atelier Cologne): A lighter, daytime, casual, herbal version of the discontinued Dior Midnight Poison. Almost the same, stripped down, dark, patchoulinote as in Midnight Poison. Fresh in a pleasant, non-laudery way. The grapefruit-anice-patchouli is suprinsingly a very good match.

Philosykos (Diptyque): This creamy, woody, fig is so refreshing and easy to wear. Was my staple during a vacation on Ibiza in June. Philosykos is the mediterranean for me, especially Greece of course, but it mixed suberb with the dry, pine infused Ibizian air.

Ciel (Amouage). I like the old Amouages best, the newer are not as "grand". Even if good fragrances, the newwr seems a bit anxious and flattened, afraid not to please an extended audience compared to some years ago. Ciel is a symphony of watery, white flowers which projects beautiful in warm and sunny weather. Easy to wear, a happy and elegant fragrance

Eau de Cologne d'Orange Verte (Hermès): A summerwardrobe staple, the most versatile of them all. Also the current formula is very good, more emphasis on the oranges than in the old (even better) mossy grounded one.

Horizon (Oriza L.Legrand): I love patch in the summer, the earthy, herbal smell is cool and refreshing. Even if Horizon is a patchouli grounded in honey and amber it developes surprisingly well in hot temparature. A beautiful, natural smelling tobbacco note is particularly present in warm tempratures.

Relique D'Amour (Oriza L.Legrand): A cold, light flowery, pine incense which performs excellent in hot and humid weather. It's refreshing and not as dark, bold and dense as for example the incensestandard Comme des Gracons Avignon which is too much for me in the summer.

Historiae - Orangerie du Roy

Picture: Louis XIV of France (1638-1715)
oil on canvas 1701 by Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659-1743)

Orangerie du Roy is an excellent orangeblossom dominated fragrances composed by Bertrand Duchaufour for the house of Historiae. This house creates fragrances inspired of the spirit of different eras of the french history.

Orangerie du Roy is inspired of the "Sun King" Louis XIV which adored the freshness of the orangeblossom. The King started a new era parfumevise directed to fresh, flowery perfumes, preferably orangeblossoms, after being overdosed with musk for many years.

Orange du Roy starts with a natural smelling, clean, orangeblossom, without musky or laudery details. The flower is contrasted by light, green herbal notes, somehow smooth and on the verge of soapy but the fragrance doesn't enter the soapy territory, just touches it. The orangeblossom is classic-fresh and recalls the scent of freshly pressed linen sheets in cool and shady room during a warm summerday in a luxury Mediterrian hotel. Even if Orange du Roy is linear or maybe circular in its structure it is not dull at all, it evokes images not just from Mediterrian hotels, I can also see the old Sun King in his warm whig, strolling in the gardens of Versailles a warm summerday. Orangerie du Roy is well balanced and made of fine ingredients of an impression number for a eaux styled fragrance. It's also reasonable priced ca EUR 25 for 15 ml/ ca EUR 49 for 50 ml.

Picture: Orangerie du Roy Edt
Photo: PR Historiae (c)

Orangerie du Roy is a real wristsniffer, perfect both for work and casual, especially during spring and summer. The longevity is very good for a an eaux styled edt, it lasts for more than a day.

I think those who sheer orangeblossoms as Prada Infusion Fleur d'Oranger and Hermès Cologne Orange Verte will also like Orangerie du Roy.

Rating: 4

Notes: Lemon, sweet orange, petit grain, basil, mint, bergamot, orangeblossom, ylang-ylang, honeysuckle, lavendel, thyme, mock orange, patchouli, vetiver, oakmoss, musk

Thanks to Fragrance & Art for the sample to test

Mona di Orio - Eau Absolue

Picture: Eau Absolue by Mona di Orio
Photo: PR Parfums Mona di Orio, all rights reserved  (c)

Eau Absolue is a fragrance blended from one of the perfumeformulas which the great perfumer Mona di Orio left behind. As I have understand, many of the formulas were finished or almost finished even if we of course couldn't know if Mona would have done further improvements if she had to live.Eau Absolue, which is said to be finished already before last year realease Les Nombres d'Or Rose Etoile de Hollande is inspired of the Mediterrian landscape and I think that the composition has captured that olfactory image perfectly well.

Eau de Absolue starts with an intriguing accord that reminds me of the bombastic opening barnyard accord of Homme de Grès but dimmed to a tenth in strength. This accord in Eau Absolue is also rounded and finetuned compared to the though and rough notes in the opening of Homme de Grès. In Eau Absolue soon a note that creates a texture close to smooth suede appears, this texture is also present in Mona di Orio Lux despite these two fragrances smells different. This suedenote tempers the herbal/spicy, citrus notes of the fragrance and seems to create more body and dept than in a regular cologne. Eau Absolue is a Edp version of a colognestyled fragrance. When Eau Absolue calms down, the pleasant barnyardaccord gives way to a balanced green slight herbal, fresh spicy accord where the note of bayleaf is in the center. The bayleaf is crisp and the fresh leathernote that bayleaves sometimes induce is clearly present and creates a wellbalanced contrast. This stage is like citrus and greenery are wrapped in smooth leather. In the basenotes the green, citrus and bayleaf-leathery impression remains, warmed up and deepened by musk and labdanum. In the base I also smell similarities with Mona di Orio Les Nombres d'Or Vétyver especially a certain pleasant tartness from that fragrance. The longer I wear Eau Absolue, the more of LNd'OV I smell.

Overall Eau Absolue is an elegant, casual fragrance which is also very appropriate for officewear. It's werable year around even if spring and summer comes first in mind. Longevity on my skin is about a day which is quite good when it comes to citrus/aromatic fragrances. Eau Absolue is less citrusy and more smooth, herbal green than most offerings in this genre. Despite this, this fine, wellcarfted, highquality fragrance somehow feels as I have smelled it before, probably because of the similarities to LNd'O Vétyver which I experience in the basenotes. This slightly affects the rating of the fragrance.

Those who likes Eau de Rochas, Eau de Sisley 3, Annick Goutal Eau d'Hadrien and Hermès Eau de Cologne Orange Verte will probably also appreciate Eau Absolue.

Rating: 4

Notes: Bergamot, clementine, petitgrain, citron, Litsea Cubeba, geranium, vetiver,
bay leaf, pink peppercorn, cedarwood, musk, cistus labdanum

Thanks to Parfums Mona di Orio for a sample to try.

Ramón Monegal – Entre Naranjos

Picture: Citrus aurantium, (bitter orange "Orange de Seville")

Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid.

Photo: A.Barra (cc), Wikimedia Commons,

some rights reserved

Now it’s time to going on posting my impressions from my journey of discovery of the Ramón Monegal fragrances. Of course I should have introduced the house and the line by now but as my overall impression from what I have sniffed from the house is very positive, I can’t stop myself from testing and forward my impressions of the fragrances. But the hard facts will follow later J.

Entre Naranjos, between the oranges (trees?), is a name that matching this uplifting orange scent perfectly. The formula seems straight forward but for the sake not at all simple as the ingredients seems to be of a good quality and as in the RM fragrances tested so far, also well blended without any rough or sharp edges (except the neutronbomb Dry Wood). Entre Naranjos have similarities with the classic Hermès Eau de Cologne Orange Verte but as EDCOV is more about the orangeflowers EN is almost all about the oranges, the fresh fruits themselves, directly picked from the tree, peeled and eaten in it’s shadow. Despite the initial similarities, the fragrances then take different directions: Where EDCOV:s citrus accented orangeflowers rests on a cool, bright, mossy base, EN:s fruity orange goes darker and more oriental-woody in style, resting on a light peppery (cedar?), woody amber base. The patchouli is very well blended with the other ingredients and it’s not recognizable as a singular note, but it’s adding some chilly eartyness to the blend.  All in all: EN stirkes me as a sort of contemporary interpretaion of the orange-cologne theme of the Hermès classic.

EN to me seems to be a good year around cologne, during the colder season as a vitamin boost and a reminder of the sunny summer. It’s perfect for casual daytimewear and will not offend anybody in the office enviroment. EN is unisex in style even if some passages of it is leaning slight to the masculine side. The sillage is close, the longevity is relativly short, not the 24h + that I have experienced from some other RM fragrances. On the other hand as  EN is leaning towards the cologne style one can’t expect more.

To summon it all up: Entre Naranjos is a versatile, casual, orange-woody fragrance, not groundbreaking but a good choice for a basic contemporary alternative in the citrus section of the fragrance wardrobe.

Rating: 3

Notes: Orange blossom, bitter orange, petit grain, neroli, amber, patchouli