Perfume Review: Parfumerie Generale Ligne Chapitre II. Part 1.

Having been favorably impressed by the first eight Parfumerie Generale scents, I was excited to learn about their new collection. I am happy to report that the seven new scents are just as wonderful. They are sumptuous, smoothly-blended, interesting and supremely wearable. Aomassai. I have noted in my review of the first Parfumerie Generale collection, that I loved the fact that most scent seemed to have a “twist”, a little unexpected something that made them fascinating and unique (for example, a sweetly gourmand Musc Maori had a surprisingly animalic quality that I found captivating). Aomassai’s twist is in the very beginning. Parfumerie Generale describes the scent as Oriental Woody Bitter, inspired by Southern Africa and the art of Baoule tribe…after reading this, the delicious, edible caramel-like top notes came to me as a shock. Before I could catch my breath, however, the luscious sweet dessert was gone and the promised wood accord started to unfold. Apparently Wengue (Wenge) wood is the core of this scent, a note I am familiar with from Karan’s Wenge and Black Cashmere, but to me the wood in Aomassai smells more like pine. Not pine needles; there is nothing redolent of a Christmas tree here, but of pine bark and of the pungent, thick and wonderful pine balsam. Add to that a hint of incense, subtle hints of bitter orange and even subtler traces of that gloriously gourmand beginning, and you can understand why I was immediately smitten with Aomassai. Full bottle worthy? Absolutely and urgently! Brulure de Rose. I must admit that straightforward rose scents do not excite me. My mind is capable of appreciating a beautiful soliflore, but my nose is bored. For me to fall in love with and to wear a rose scent, it has to have additional and just as prominent notes (that is the reason why I adore most scents in Les Parfums de Rosine line). Brulure de Rose is a wonderful example of how a rose scent must be executed to suit my taste. This is an opulent, darkly-sweet fragrance, in which the rose appears as if surrounded by fragrant, smoky fumes of a fire made of aromatic wood and amber, of sugar, vanilla and spice. In a way, the scent makes me think of Turkish Delight with its honeyed, rosy smokiness …however Brulure de Rose is less sweet, more smoky and dark than Lutens’s Rahat Loukoum or the powdery-saccharine Keiko Mecheri’s version of the delicacy. Full bottle worthy? Definitely! Harmatan Noir. Inspired by the Sahara, this is a dry, dry, dry and spicy mint tea scent. Complex and rich, it starts with the woody note that has a slight incense undertone and is accompanied by stunningly austere patchouli. The aromatic, pitch-black tea accord becomes apparent in a short while; it has a smoky aspect somewhat reminiscent of Lapsang Souchong, but is actually darker and smokier than Lapsang. This is the kind of tea that is brewed for hours, till it is darker than the Sahara night…it does have a very perceptible mint note, but, to my delight, the mint-ness is not overwhelming, it does not take over the scent as is so often the case with many mint tea fragrances. Full bottle worthy? Certainly! Tomorrow, the other four scent in the second Parfumerie Generale collection. As for the question of where to find these fragrances, they are available on Parfumerie Generale site. Unlike the first eight scents, these are not sold in individual 7ml “micro-flacons”, but it is possible to buy them as a set of 7ml bottles, for €60.00. The full size bottles retail for €75.00-€135.00 depending on the scent and the size. The line is also available at The Perfume Shoppe in Canada, they do ship to the US. * The images are from parfumerie-generale.com.