In an attempt to lend their image a bit of rough, Jo Malone London have hired Tom Hardy as the face of their Cypress & Grapevine cologne (credited to Sophie Labbe). I did my best to endure its abrasive profile in a recent session of Love At First Scent episodes, which also included reviews of L’Artisan Parfumeur Il Etait Un Bois (Caroline Dumur) and the new Montblanc Collection quartet. Here are links to all the videos, followed by further thoughts on some of the scents: Jo Malone London Cypress & Grapevine review — L’Artisan Parfumeur Il Etait Un Bois review — Montblanc Collection (2024) review.
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Black Meisterstuck (Jordi Fernandez) 5:32
Vetiver Glacier (Nathalie Lorson) 10:42
Extreme Leather (Juliette Karaguezoglou) 16:34
Patchouli Ink (Fabrice Pellegrin) 20:50
What the Montblancs lack in originality, they more than make up for with elegance and, considering they’re positioned as a high-end range, relative affordability. (At the time of writing, a 125 ml bottle costs £125 in the UK, which is by no means dirt cheap, but is more reasonable than most other ‘exclusive’ releases.) The two I’d particularly recommend are Extreme Leather (iris and Tuscan-Leather-style suede conjuring an image of a weather-beaten face emerging from a trek amongst the dunes) and Patchouli Ink (which sees Pellegrin taking his cue from the fuzzy, scifi tannery notes of Le Labo Patchouli 24 and making them darker and more incense-y).
I hope the folks at L’Artisan Parfumeur allow sufficient time for Il Etait Un Bois to find some fans. At a time when most releases tend to operate at the louder end of the spectrum, it’s difficult for the whisperers to make themselves heard, but this particular example of the latter deserves more than a cursory appraisal. It isn’t easy in perfumery to make a creation appear simple and simultaneously render it compelling. Somehow, Caroline Dumur has achieved this balance here, using cedar, musks, vetiver and a more-ish buckwheat accord to forge a piece that shimmers in and out of view as it develops. I’d say the clue to understanding it lies not so much in the Bois but in the Il Etait (the French equivalent of ‘once upon a…’). Like a fable whose true meaning can be grasped only in the twilight between sleep and wakefulness, it is subtle, quiet and haunting.
Persolaise
[Reviews based on samples provided by the brands in 2024.]
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