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Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Humiecki & Graef Askew, Eau Radieuse, Geste and Multiple Rouge

By Tom

I hope all of you had a wonderful July 4th!

My July 4th weekend meant wandering around window shopping. Partly because a generous friend gave me a very nice gift card to Neiman's to celebrate my 87th birthday. Sniffing around Neimans Friday didn't make me want to purchase; frankly there wasn't anything there that I could say "I have nothing like this". Saturday was spent at Le Labo, basically chatting with Heather about various stuff. Not much else was open on 3rd street on the 4th so they weren't busy. I did get to smell tiny samples of the Tokyo and London exclusives (I hadn't before) and they are lovely, and grrrr inducing that you can't get them without going there.

Sunday I stopped into ScentBar and tried the new Humieckis- this is the company that did Skarb, which sadly went nowhere on me. I've long ago learned that it's not all about me, and sometimes that which went nowhere can become a favorite later on.

Askew initially made me think of Gendarme SKY, in that it's extremely clean. Unlike SKY, this is an extremely cold scent; the singing cold of a late spring cold snap. I'm not from Florida, but I know that when a sudden cold front comes in, orange growers will water the plants. The layer of frozen water will actually insulate the fruit temporarily keeping them from being damaged. This is what this makes me think of: buds and bergamot and mint flash-frozen and protected by a layer of brittle ice, and oddly glove leather. In any kind of heat I can imagine this to be the new go-to scent: the only way it could be more refreshing would be if it came with copper tubing and freon.

Eau Radieuse has an opening that's the most true lemon I think I've ever smelled: oil, pith, pulp and peel. Within minutes, it almost completely disappears. Later some of the lemon is there, with a whiff of fattiness that must be banana peel. How 'bout them Dodgers?

Geste starts with candied violets, which Fran Liebowitz refers to as "the NECCO wafers of the overbred". Well, I like candied violets, especially when laced with the "did she or didn't she" musk as in this. The violets become less confectionery as the scent progresses when something they call "fir resin" starts to assert itself. It stays very close to the skin and I think as lovely as it would be on a woman, on a man it would really sing. In that Daniel Craig as James Bond way; you didn't think from the spec sheet you'd like it at all, but when it walked out of the surf, oh my!

At first, Multiple Rouge seems like false advertising. I'm smelling Multiple Vert: I get cilantro, grass and lily of the valley. Then I start to get something fruity, but not any fruit that I can identify as of this Earth. Since what I get is something along the lines of Tobaccomelon and leatherberries I am fine with this. If you looked at the ingredient list you would want to have the insulin on hand; on me this is desert dry and delicious: Vulcan Fruit Salad.

For those of you who wonder what I actually got with my gift certificate, I got a proper wallet. No more just jamming my cash into my pockets and cards jammed into a filled to bursting ID case built for two cards. Now although I hate to type it, I think I need a murse.

All of these are $220 for 100ML at LuckyScent.

Perfumer: Christophe Laudamiel.

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17 Comments:

Blogger Flora said...

Very clever summation of all of these scents - I might want to try Askew on one of those really hot days. And Geste - just the thought of Daniel Craig in the surf would surely entice me! :-)

Too bad they are all so expensive, especially the lemon that disappears - at these prices I want some 12-hour skank at the Bal a Versailles level, at least.

And oh - you don't look a DAY over 85... :-D

1:33 AM EDT  
Blogger carmencanada /Grain de Musc said...

I reviewed these a few months ago and remember quite liking Geste. To me, Askew was a deconstruction of a Jean-Claude Ellena, Déclaration-type scent. And I did call Multiple Rouge a fruit salad gone radioactive with aldehydes, so we're on the same page...

I think Laudamiel had a lot of fun with these, really got in an experimental mode, but I'll be content with my sample set. How often does a woman want to smell of radioactive fruit, anyway?

1:37 AM EDT  
Blogger Mals86 said...

Vulcan fruit salad! Thanks for that phrase, you've made my day.

9:02 AM EDT  
Blogger elle said...

Tobaccomelon and leatherberries! From your mouth to trend picking perfumers' ears! If they must do fruit, this most certainly would be the way to go. I got samples of Geste and MR. Liked both, but the thought of parting w/ $220 for one of them makes my eyes glaze over. Won't be happening. Haven't tried the Radieuse, but it sounds like it's pure heaven for a few seconds at least. Glad I haven't sampled it because I'd be in deep mourning over that lack of lasting power.

10:33 AM EDT  
Blogger tmp00 said...

D-

That's the drawback for me. I didn't harp on it because these days everything that isn't Aqua Velva seems to be that price

12:18 PM EDT  
Blogger tmp00 said...

C-

For some reason I missed reading your review of these and in a way I'm glad; mine pales by comparison and I don't think I would have published had I

12:34 PM EDT  
Blogger tmp00 said...

Mals86-

Thanks!

12:35 PM EDT  
Blogger tmp00 said...

elle-

The price gets me too. I think I am at the place where I don't need to spend that much on another bottle of anything, at least until I have used up what I have or sold it on eBay

12:36 PM EDT  
Anonymous lady jane grey said...

Oh my, LeLabo's London special (poivre) is amazing, isn't it ?! My friend felt in love with it, while I was buying a bottle of Oud with my name on it...

5:02 PM EDT  
Anonymous edwardian said...

Happy Birthday, Tom.
Today was NOT my birthday, but I bought me a present: (for 130,00 Euros) 90 ml. of Rose Poivrèe by the different company which I absolutely love. And a Ralph Lauren candle (R.L. Penthouse) that smells better than any R.L. scent on the market now.

5:28 PM EDT  
Blogger tmp00 said...

jane-

that poive is really wonderful.

7:02 PM EDT  
Blogger tmp00 said...

edwardian-

I am fully behind the buying of presents even when it's not one's birthday!

7:03 PM EDT  
Blogger Tammy said...

I most assuredly need a bottle of late cold spring snap for an un-birthday present! Love your reviews!

9:20 PM EDT  
Blogger Tammy said...

And I meant to add, happy belated birthday!

9:20 PM EDT  
Blogger tmp00 said...

Tammy- Thanks on both counts!

11:29 PM EDT  
Blogger krnszn said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

10:23 AM EDT  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tobaccomelon and leatherberries: Vulcan Fruit Salad. Genius :) - Emma

11:46 AM EDT  

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