Angel, Angel, Down We Go: Profumum Arso and Battito d'Ali

By Tom Profumum is a line that the reviewers here at PST seem to have issues with. Looking back at the reviews on here, there seems to be a these of "we like them, but.." having mostly to do with the price. Two new ones have popped up at ScentBar/Luckscent so I stopped in for a sample. I can't say that I am moved. Arso I immediately liked. Leather, incense and smoke; what's not to love? It's just that I can think of three scents I already have that are treading the same ground. Is it really worth $65 more than Annick Goutals very similar Encense Flamboyant? Not when I have a bottle of the AG at home. Battito d'Ali apparently means "the beating of wings" and is meant to evoke a feeling or peace and protection. As far as I can tell it does so by lifting whole its opening from Lostmarc'H Laan-Ael and adding in a bit of cocao. If Lann-Ael is Apple Jacks, then Battito d'Ali is Count Chockula. Nice, but not at 3 times the price of Lann-Ael. Now, you, dear reader are going to have to take this with a grain of salt. These are of course my opinions, and are perhaps colored by the fact that A) I practically live at ScentBar so every new thing they get I'm there to try and B) I'm cheap. I may be at the point in my sniffage that I don't need to have the latest and newest simply because it's the latest or newest. These days it has to knock my socks off to get my money, and while both of these are perfectly nice, at $240 for 100ML my socks are still firmly attached to my feet. At Luckyscent, where I cadged the samples. (10 points to anyone who's seen the movie the title of this review references)

You Can Stand Under My Amber-ella

This has been a rainy summer. At times, it felt that "all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened". And having a large vessel built just in case seemed like not a bad idea. I've noticed that of all scents, amber ones seem to flourish in humid and wet weather. For whatever reason, they smell better to me and on me when it rains, and, of course, there are few notes more comforting than the balmy, sweet, slightly powdery amber. I started my perfume obsession with amber-mania, over-ambered myself, and haven't touched an amber "soliflore" or a scent with a pronounced amber accord for a couple of years. It was the great deluge of summer 2009 that revived my affection for the note. Having gone through a number of old amber favorites (for example, the sublime Anne Pliska) and having discovered some new amber fragrances, I narrowed my choice of ambers that I would bring with me on the ark to the following three: Keiko Mecheri's new Crystal d'Ambre. I will say straightaway that I don't think it would satisfy a hardcore amber fanatic, somebody who loves, for instance, the formidable Ambre Precieux by Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier. Crystal d'Ambre is much tamer, a softer, somewhat more transparent take on the note (I suppose, thus the "crystal" in the name). Alongside the title ingredient, the almost chocolaty benzoin and vanilla are very apparent on my skin, as is the suede-like, very vaguely animalic accord. Everything is delicately rounded and refined; this is an amber that speaks in hushed tones, an elegant, infintely wearable and comforting creation. (Keikomecheri.com, $115.00 for 75ml) Fiore d'Ambra by Profumum left me underwhelmed in the past. This year, its piquant, honeyed warmth hit the spot. I don't know, if it really contains opium, but I do smell some spice along the lines of cloves, maybe even some cinnamon, and a certain floral piquancy that one finds in carnations. It is simultaneously less proper-perfumey and dressed-up than Crystal d'Ambre and much more sensual. The Mecheri is for rainy evenings out, the Profumum - for seductive nights in. One of my favorite characteristics of Fiori d'Ambra is the tarry, slightly burnt drydown; I find that smoky almost-leatheriness very appealing. (Luckyscent, $240.00 for 100ml) Speaking of smoke, Neil Morris's Burnt Amber is a Guy Fawkes night in a bottle. Amber here is enveloped in the fumes of smoldering oak and oud, spiced up by pepper and sweetened by an addition of plum. Plum is always a plus, in my book. The plummy tarriness of the scent reminds me slightly of Marquis de Sade by Histoires de Parfums, only less leathery, more ambery. Having said that, Burnt Amber offers a unique take on the accord, and lovers of smoke and male readers should make a note of this perfume. Burnt Amber would definitely go with me on the ark, and I would insist on sharing it with my Noah. (Neilmorrisfragrances.com, $70.00 for 30ml) Are there any scents that you enjoy more in wet and humid weather? What amber favorites would you want to save in the Deluge?

Profumum Volo AZ 686: Perfume Review

Named for the Alitalia flight from Rome to Caracas, Volo AZ 686 blends "the scent from coconut palms and flowers of thousand colors, the swings of a hammock and a cocktail in my hand" (from profumum.com). In other words, les vacances in a bottle. Scents about summer vacations are many. Gardenia perfumes are not. Especially not those that offer such a multifaceted interpretation of the aroma. The composition starts with coconut and vanilla, about which we are warned by the list of notes, and I suppose they are necessary in both the gardenia and "exotic journey" perfume. They do serve nicely as a cuddly cushion to soften the impact of what comes next. And next comes something strikingly mentholated, a note chilly and sharp, in a manner that I find very appealing. Think Tubereuse Criminelle. To enhance the edgy effect, the flowers here have a distinctly rubbery quality, a characteristic that is simultaneously urban and organic-mineral. Volo AZ 686 takes its time to get to this final rubbery gardenia accord on the skin, it unfolds slowly, making sure all layers of the blend are noticed. Because of the menthol and the rubber, this is probably a perfume that either really works with one's chemistry or clashes with it dramatically. Because of the subversive, dark and resolutely non-girly side of the scent (the side that dominates the mix, unlike the brief coconut-vanilla cliché in the top notes), men could and should wear this gardenia. Available at luckyscent, $240.00 for 100ml.

In Search of Comfort: Profumum Olibanum

I have always found it fascinating that a person who is essentially a non-believer would find the scent of incense comforting. But I do. It gives me a feeling of peacefulness that comes from detachment. The melancholy sort of comfort that I once already described using one of my favorite passages from The Master and Margarita: “Gods, my gods! How sad the earth is at eventide! How mysterious are the mists over the swamps. Anyone who has wandered in these mists, who has suffered a great deal before death, or flown above the earth, bearing a burden beyond his strength knows this. Someone who is exhausted knows this. And without regret he forsakes the mists of the earth, its swamps and rivers, and sinks into the arms of death with a light heart, knowing that death alone…” I used Bulgakov's words to describe Passage d'Enfer, which, for me, is the scent of the welcome end, of "peace" that The Master was granted in the book. Olibanum starts with the same sort of pensive, sad and somber feel: the incense is very strong in the top notes...this is an Italian scent, but to me it smells of a Russian Orthodox church, a church that is almost dark, with only a few candles flickering beneath sorrowful icons...and then, as other notes become more apparent, the soft, nutty myrrh and the velvety, sweet sandalwood, it is as if the church becomes gradually illuminated...The sunny orange blossom is unexpected and joyful, poignantly bright and hopeful ray of light amidst the world-weary darkness...bride's fleurs d'orange, perhaps... Rich, deep, incredibly comforting, at once melancholy and hopeful, Olibanum is a must have for troublesome times. Available at Luckyscent, $240.00 for 100ml. The image, of a ceiling in The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood (Khram Spasa na Krovi), St. Petersburg, is from sacred-destinations.com.