SUMMARY: Reviews and free samples of House of Matriarch’s Carmine and Perfume by Nature’s Avalon.
This is the second in a series of reviews for the Natural Perfumers Guild’s “Brave New Scents Project”, an attempt to showcase aromatics introduced after the year 2000 as used by international natural perfumers. Inspired by Huxley’s novel, Brave New World, Guild president Anya McCoy has put together a luxurious menu of aromas* for bloggers** to test and write about.
First, a caveat. I don’t do naturals. Why? I find them to often be murky, straightforward, lacking in longevity and too much akin to the essential oils we all play with at health foods stores and when making potpourri or massage oil blends…(what do you mean you’ve never made your own potpourri?). My aesthethic lies in the glorious blends of Guerlain, Creed and the like. In short, there is a certain ick factor that too often turns me off.
I know, I know…so why am I participating? Well, a few reasons: I was curious to explore the new aromatics Anya wrote to me about; I’ve been acquaintances with a number of these perfumers but had yet to actually experience their creativity; I have tremendous respect for handmade goods and their artisans; and finally, I AM an aromaholic afterall…so I thought it would be good for someone who is a self-proclaimed naturals-hater to take a second sniff in an attempt to better appreciate a little-known part of the world of scent. So with that out of the way, let’s get started!
Oh, one more thing…learn about your chance to win samples of either of these perfumes, FREE, at the bottom of this post.
Carmine Perfume by House of Matriarch
About the scent: From the House of Matriarch website, “House of Matriarch’s contribution to the Brave New Scents project for the Natural Perfumers Guild, this luscious new perfume features aromatics that are too scarce and cost prohibitive for use in mass produced fragrances. Guild perfumers were given a limited palette of “new on the scene” natural ingredients from which to design a Brave New Scent. Carmine features our house made tinctures which appear towards the end of the drydown. We really enjoyed taking part in this project and we look forward to designing other guild exhibition scents in the future. Notes includeHiba Wood, Kewra, Tagetes, Black Pepper, Michelia Alba, Michelia Champaca, Davana, Vetiver, Tonka, Copal, Bruizinho, Tobacco, Chai Masala, Celestial Amber, Africa Stone, Sandalwood, Oakmoss.”
My thoughts: Wow and double wow. My hands-down favorite of the ten samples sent to me for the Brave New Scent project, Carmine is also the scent that has demanded the most attention from me; that means I’ve actually been wearing it! I’ve worn it to bed, after the sauna, to the classroom…in fact, I keep it in my briefcase! This admission of use is likely the biggest compliment I can bestow considering how rarely I purchase let alone use natural perfumes.
Though the opening begged to be given a few minutes for all the notes to arrange themselves, once they did the magic of Carmine began. Interestingly, this one shares an aesthetic with some of the perfume oils I regularly test from the Middle East, a very different style than either the typical natural perfumes or mass-market fragrances. This might be due to the sweetness of the overall composition, actually quite a surprise considering that long list of notes. I keep smelling violets, orange blossoms, mangoes, light musks and sweet tea with honey. But, why?
Could it be the Michelia Alba? Fredrik Liljeblad writes, “Michelias are a family of sub-tropical bushes or small trees related to magnolias that produce relatively small but powerfully fragrant flowers. The unique perfume, pungent and fruity, has been likened it to a range of fruits: bananas, pears, apples-even mangoes! The base for “the world’s most expensive perfume,” Joy, is the essential oil extracted from Michelia alba, commonly known as the “white jade magnolia” or “white champaca”-more on this confusing terminology later on.”
Could it be the Michelia Champaca? Gardino Nursery, loctaed just down the street from my mom’s home in Delray Beach, Florida writes, “Michelia is related to Magnolias but the flowers are not as big and pretty. They are just as heavily scented though. This Michelia is used to make “Joy” perfume. Michelias grow fast to provide shade. Trimming will be needed to keep it under control. It blooms heavy in the spring, you can trim it if necessary after the flowers are gone.“
Hmmm, I can’t say that I’m a huge fan of Joy (I have huge respect but just don’t want to wear it), so don’t let these comparisons fool you. Carmine is not Joy. But Carmine is joyous. Going back to my Middle Eastern aesthetic comment, when I wear Carmine I also think of incense. Not the smoky, church kind, but the Gonesh Classic Collection kind…maybe No. 4, Perfumes of Orchards & Vines? It possesses that same silky, sweet tree and plant resin vibe. As an avid user of Gonesh products, this association could be one reason for the love. In a way, wearing Carmine is kind of like wearing a Gonesh incense stick. To me, that is a very, very good thing!
Christi’s response: For this project, I wanted to highlight our house made tinctures, drawing particular attention to some of the lesser known resinous incenses. I greatly enjoy creating tinctures from anything that will succumb to the dissolving action of ethanol. These ”aromatic spirits” provide the backdrops for my compositions, the foundation upon which the dry down plays out. It’s the juxtaposition of the floral notes against the Copals and Chai Masala in the base which creates that sweet “middle eastern” accord that you were noticing. The accord of Michelia Champaca and Davana brings in the fruity aspect which I tempered from becoming too cloying with an equal measure of Tagetes.
Avalon Perfume by Perfume by Nature
About the scent: Australian perfumer Ambrosia Jones writes, “A magical perfume full of sweet apples, waiting for harvest in the sacred groves of Avalon…the soft earthiness of hay drying in the fields on a late summer’s eve…and as the sun goes down, the scent of incense arises and you can almost her chanting as the magic begins to grow around you…”
My thoughts: Did someone say apples? Initially I was worried about this one, having experienced other micro-perfumeries’ ill-fated apple-themed compositions. Too often the fruit of Eden turns a scent into a synthetic and sweet Bath and Body Works lotion…nothing that I would either want to smell like or want others to smell on me. Ambrosia, however, more than hits the target with a subtle and clean-feeling aroma that sparkles like cider and never becomes cloying.
I suppose I should mention that three long-time favorite perfumes for me are Red Delicious for Men (click to read my TPC review) by DKNY, Brandy by Patricia Namm and Le Dandy pour Homme by Parfums d’Orsay, all based around sweet apple notes. Avalon easily compares to all three and never once smelled like a typical natural perfume (see disclaimer above). I was shocked to find that out of ten samples for the Brave New scents project, this was the only one that smelled like a standard, mass-market perfume. I’m not sure if that’s a compliment to the perfumer or not, but what it meant for me is that I would absolutely wear this without any hesitation. In fact, as soon as I finish writing this review I will likely send off a beggar’s email pleading for more!
The scent is completely linear and never developed on my skin until about 90 minutes into the wearing – it dried down exactly as it opened with glimmers of cinnamon and sandalwood but with one exception. As the sweetness of the apple dissipated, lo and behold, frankincense! Where did that come from? Just when I thought the aroma couldn’t get any better, it did! How incredible for a sweet fruit scent to morph into an incense scent.
The overall feeling of Avalon – at least at first – is more akin to a wine than a perfume and I wonder about drinking this…so delicious is Avalon. Longevity and sillage were both better than average although I only used a single spray from the sample vial. With autumn turning northern hemisphere forests into colorful sprays of confetti, it’s the perfect time for a little spiced apple cider and a hint of winter smoke. Happily, I’l wear mine rather than drink it.
Ambrosia’s response: Working with natural ingredients is far more complicated than working with synthetics. With synthetics you get to play with individual scent building blocks, and it is easier to control the final scent by useing exactly what accents and elements you wish to have every step of the way. Whereas with naturals, each ingredient, essential oil or absolute you use is actually a multidimensional perfume created by mother nature specificaly for the plant it comes from. And combining a number of different oils becomes closer to playing an advanced form of multidimensional scent chess. Each ingredient adds top, mid and base notes to the perfume, which may or may not enhance or clash terribly with each other. And it can be incredibly frustrating when you for instance want to have the musky base notes of a particular Oud in your blend, only to find that the barely perceptible top notes bite terribly with the elegant ylang ylang sweetness you are useing as the core of the perfume…(Don’t get me started on Oud, boy it’s a difficult player!). I tried and ditched so many different versions of Avalon before I found the exact ingredients that would actually work together to give me the effects I was looking for….Glad to hear it seems to have been worth it in the end!
The Bottom Line
Today’s reviews are all about “when naturals mimic other genres.” Whereas Carmine reminded me of a Gonesh incense stick or a Middle Eastern perfume oil, Avalon was all about warmed apple cider and reminded me of more mainstream perfume compositions like DKNY and D’Orsay. Whereas my previous reviews for this project focused on interpretations of jasmine, and both met my expectations as natural perfumes, today’s reviews focused on more foody/fruity notes and defied my expectations of what naturals smell like – both Avalon and Carmine continued to decrease my bias for mainstream synthetics.
FREE PERFUME: Leave a comment below about your interest in or experience with natural perfumes for your chance to sample Carmine or Avalon. Check out Part 1 in this series HERE.
*The perfumers are: Anya McCoy of Anya’s Garden Perfumes (Project Coordinator & Natural Perfumers Guild President); Adam Gottschalk of Lord’s Jester; Ambrosia Jones of Perfume By Nature; Charna Ethier of Providence Perfume Company; Christi Meshell of House of Matriarch; Elise Pearlstine of Belly Flowers Botanical Perfumes; Jane Cate of A Wing and a Prayer Perfumes; JoAnne Bassett; Liz Cook of One Seed; Rohanna Goodwin Smith of Ascent Natural Perfumes
**Please note: This is a collaborative event; please visit the Web sites of the other participating writers to read their impressions of all ten perfumes beginning 10/1/2011: All I Am – a redhead; Ça Fleure Bon (Several writers on this site will review all ten perfumes among them); Feminine Things; The Perfume Critic; Perfume Shrine
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Like you, Marlen, I am not a huge fan of naturals, precisely for the reasons you’ve outlilned. I loved Ambrosia’s honest description of her experience working with naturals as a creation of harmonious chords rather than an assemblage of building blocks. (I know she didn’t employ the musical metaphor, but that’s the impression she conveyed, and it resonated with me.) I have had an opportunity to try a few naturals lately, and I’m still getting too much linearity for my taste. However, your description of Carmine, along with that arresting list of notes, has piqued my curiosity. I’d absolutely love to try Carmine, but I can’t blame you if you refuse to part with even a drop!
I’m a budding perfumista and so my experience with natural fragrances is sadly limited! I’m trying to learn more about them, of course, since this is where the perfume world seems to be heading back to. My experiences have all been with essential oils and little experiments with rubbing them onto my skin.
I was really looking forward to your reviews in this project since when I had read your name amongst the participating bloggers. For me natural perfumes are like potion to my skin whereas mainstream ones give me style. I would like to choose Carmine particularly for chai masala, davana, black pepper and Africa stone.
I have to admit, I’m new to naturals. However, oils … there’s something about them that always seems to produce a “your skin, only better” quality on me. I don’t know enough about the chemistry to know if this is real or imagined.
I’ve enjoyed the naturals I’ve tried, but I do find that they have less structure than those perfumes which use artificials and naturals. Certainly doesn’t stop me from trying any that interest me though!
Great reviews. I love how you managed to see perfumes from all angles.
Marlen: You never cease to amaze me with your writing ability, and to make me laugh! (Yes I HAVE made my own potpourri, thank you very much!) As you know I am (perhaps) Adam Gottschalk’s BIGGEST fan. I love all things perfumed; and believe there is a place for everything (synthetic, hybrid, naturals, niche, etc…). I was blessed enough to get samples of LJ Hermes EDP and agree that it (too) needs a few minutes to “sort itself out” but when it does…it is perfume as Nature intended it. Thank you for the insight into a couple of the other natural perfumers and their creations for Brave New Scents. Carmine sounds wonderful…as my very favorite (mass marketed) incense is Gonesh #6 (Ancient Times) so if Carmine is ANYTHING like #4…I would love to try it! Thanks for the chance to win something new (and natural) and keep on writing!!
Hi Marlen
I’m unfamiliar with Christi Meshell’s work, I must investigate her other creations!
I’m a huge fan of Ambrosia’s ‘My Gardenia’. Fresh – almost pristine -green floral with no cloying awfulness, just the piercing beauty of a bunch of freshly picked gardenias. It’s a gorgeous fragrance, perfect for the summer in particular.
I think you might enjoy the experience as you did with Avalon.
Wow, both have some really interesting notes. The Chai Masala really intrigues me. Thanks for the great reviews, there are definitely some real winners in the Brave New World project!
great reviews. this really helped me and my sister to select the best scent for our mom who receives very little but deserves the best. we are going to forward our research and reviews to my Dad to purchase her a nice set this weekend.
thank you.
wow! thx all for your input, ideas and experiences! I hoped my admission of disdain for naturals wouldn’t get me in trouble, so nice to be embraced for my open-minded honesty, and even nicer to have been so thoroughly wowed by these perfumers’ creations
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Great reviews. I am new to this beautiful world of perfumery and am curious about the great divide between natural vs synthetic. I am learning. I am glad you wrote your disclaimer, it helped me understand your perspective.
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