Huitième Art - Manguier Metisse

Have had some nice and relaxing days with my family. My husband has been at home all week, but works today. Of course, why work on weekdays when you can work on New Years Eve? Yet, he´s home at 8 o´clock and we´ll have some really good food to eat.

The middle daughter returned to Markaryd on wednesday and on monday our youngest son turned 18 (18!!!!).

When it comes to perfumes December is quite a mess, it´s hard to find time to evaluate and analyse a scent for real in the middle of Christmas preparations. But during a big part of December I´ve been constantly attracted to a certain fragrance...

Pierre Guillaume (the creator of Parfumerie Generale) has recently launched a serie of 8 different fragrance that he calls Huitieme Art (the eight art). 2010 seem to be a year where perfume creation has taken a step closer to art, now different kinds of olfactory art is available, created by not only by different actors within perfume/beautyindustry, but by artist and/or perfumers in collaboration with artists. To even have to state that perfume IS art can seem to be a little needles for those of us allready in love with perfumes, but for the mayority of people perfumes are synonyme with mass market realeses and celebrity scents, and that kind od scents aren´t really art or are they?

But, if different actors within niche and indie perfumes takes there fragrances and says "This IS art" what happens? Regulations that forbids use of some key notes within perfumes as they are looked upon as commercial products would surely be treated in another way if they where art? I find it very interesting to think about art and perfumes even though I´m not fully have the right tools to make a "real" analysis.

Huitieme Art offers eight different fragrances; Ciel D'Airain, Ambre Ceruleen, Fareb, Aube Pashmina, Naiviris, Sucre D'Ebene, Vohina and the one I´m going to write about today, Manguier Metisse.

Usually I´m not a big fan of tropical fragrances, tropical fruits and sweet flowers can easily become too sweet and big on my skin. Because of that it´s always extra fun when I find a tropical scent that I like and Manguier Metisse is definitly one of those. If I had tried a month earlier it has probably become one of the 2010 top scents.

Manguier Metisse opens with the most juciy, fresh, natural sweet mango you can imagine. I have never before encountered such a genuin mango note in perfume. The scent is orange golden, bursting with fruit juice, that soft but still aromatic and spicy smell that ripe mango got and also the smallest elements of tartness and freshness. The mango note is very dominant at first, but after a few minutes I discover a soft, but still obvious floral note. Mango and flower is voven together, mixes, takes one´s turn, one part of golden ripe mango and one part fully flowering tropical flower. It´s like a really beautiful lei. Like sitting on the beach at the most beautiful tropcícal island with a ring of flowers around your neck and eating mango so good that it has to be grown in paradise.

Manguier Metisse smells like if I suddenly become a model in a Gaugain painting. This is the Tropics, golden skin, sunwarm sand, a jungle so lush it almost become a caricature, flowers so beautiful, so big and over the top that they´re almost surreal.

December has been a extremly cold and snowy month here in Nyköping, can you imagine any better scent tgo wrap yourself up with then Manguier Metisse? No, me neither.

After a while (30 min+) Manguier Metisse becomes a little less lush, rich and juicy. The mango dries in, leaving a scent like mango powder, even though it could be a bit hard to iamgine, it smells so gorgeous. The flowers become alittle papery, but at the same time also a little more mysterious, wild and intoxicating, I can almost smell something reminding of menthol or eucalyptus. This is softer, but also kind of sexy.

I can´t think of any big tropical scent that I like as much as Manguier Metisse. It´s a bliss to wear in cold winter, but still not so big it couldn´t be really good during summer as well. Longlasting and with nice, but not huge, sillage, Manguier Metisse is a must try for everyone caring for big florals, tropical scents, grown up fruity scents, but also if you still haven´t got any tropical fave, this might be it!

There isn´t anything wrong with the other seven scents in the line, even though I haven´t fallen for any of them as bad as for Manguier Metisse. Fareb could be the most interesting, but also the most demanding among them (at least to me). Aube Pashima is a must try for every lover of green scents (Pierre Guillaume is really gifted when it comes to green scents, he manage to make them sexy). Sucre D'Ebene is something to try for gourmand lovers. Yet, Ambra Ceruleen didn´t impressed me that mush, it become very buttery on me, too buttery if to be honest. Anyway, I´m sure everyone can find at least one favorite among the 8 fragrances. You can read more about Huitieme Art and also order a nice sample set here:

http://www.huitiemeartparfums.com/

Pic: bestindoortropicals

Parfumerie Generale - Bois Naufrage

Usually I am a quite well behaved and suggestible perfume nerd. If a scent is called "Black Afgano" I don´t hesitate to come along to the Afghan mountains and feel the smell of darkness, camfire and haschisch. If the name is Sienne l'Hiver I gladly wandering around in a wintery Sienna. If it is called Lipstick Rose all I can think of is red lipstick, red roses, red smiles and a happy spirit. But, that is also depending on the fact that the scent is actually fitting it´s name. But occationally the scent don´t manage to convince me about it´s name. Sometimes I find that another name would be more appropriate...


Parfumerie Generale´s new scent Bois Naufrage is one of those scents. As I understand Bois naufrage means something like Forest of shipwrecked wood or maybe wood from shipwrecked ships... Pierre Guillaume was inspired of the pic above, a photo by Lucien Clergue. The picture, the name and the notes (carobtree, seasalt and ambra) makes me expect something totally different then what I get...


What I get is: A cloud of milky flowers rise from my skin as soon as I put on some drops of Bois Naufrage, soon it changes into something very similar to Pina Colada, but kind of a light version. More milk, not as sweet, but still with pineapple and a large dash of rhum. Carobtree is also known as Egypt fig, and I guess that is what makes this scent smell so gorgeuos milky. Usually I´m not a big fan of fig in perfume, but now... even though it isn´t really a fig note, it is so extremly smoth, creamy and with suggestive notes of coconut and I like it a lot. The boozy note is from start almost as pronounced as the mily note, but fades must faster. Also to weak note of pineapple soon hides in the background and are followed by note of soft flowers.


The heart phase is quite linear and pretty much consists of that milky note together with some kind of shy floral boquet (impossible to tell which flowers). The scent of Pina Colada still lingering in the background, but very subdued. How this have anything at all to do with driftwood or shipwreckes I can´t say. I can´t detect any kind of woody notes in Bois Naufrage. But however, Bois Naufrage manage to, with it´s notes of tropical beach and gourmands, be a quite melancholic kind of scent. It´s the beach after a big party rather then the becah during a big party. The ffeling in Bois naufrage is abandoned, dreamy and subtle and that makes it stand out.


Towards the end, the scents is changing, the flowers and gourmand notes vanishes, but the milkyness stills lingers now in compnay with a harsh note, maybe it´s the wood even though I rather think it´s a soft, salty note. Longvity is OK, and so is the sillage.


I think of Bois Naufrage as quite an unique scent, i have never encountered a tropical punch, so subtle, dreamy and melancholic before. The milky note is also really nice, creamy and thick without being to sweet or sticky. I think Bois Naufrage would suit both men and women, and I also suspect it can smell really different on different persons. I think it´s worth to give it a try even though it don´t match it´s name (according to me).





Pic:
abow: Naked in Driftwood, Lucien Clergue
below:copyright-brian-brown