Perfumes of the Land and Sea
Part Two
By Dr. John King
Dr John King continues his personal Scent Trek in search of perfumes that remind him of home and abroad.
In my first article, I introduced you to my home territory near the Malvern Hills in central England. Malvern was hitherto famous for its water, drunk by the Queen. Now following my article, people may hopefully be aware that it has a fragrant ecology too.
Not a very spectacular one, I admit. From the perfumer’s point of view Malvern remains a rarefied place, characterised mainly by fresh air, stunning views, and the faintest hint of gorse and broom. You might also find some damp mosses if you are lucky and there’s certainly plenty of grass.
But now it’s time for us to really get down to earth. In this issue I’m going to look at the fragrant joys of ploughed fields. Unsurprisingly, we are in the territory of men’s fragrances here – or, with due respect to Nathan Branch 1, those ostensibly intended for men.
Treasures of the Land
Land, by Lacoste
“The promise of fulfilment for lovers of distant horizons and the subtle perfumes of mountain and moorland, woodland and green hillsides.” I quote from the beautifully written pack leaflet.
It’s more than a promise, too. This fragrance really does deliver the goods. It lives up to its name, giving a convincing impression of the ploughed earth.
The topnote is transparently citrus and green, with a touch of galbanum. (I confess to adding a little more galbanum extract, I love this so much). Underneath is a dry, rich and somewhat vegetable character recalling a large wooden barn stacked with dusty potatoes, carrots and celery. The presentation, in muted greens and browns with a large tractor tyre imprint on the bottle, is absolutely right.
Land was created in 1991, a top quality and most original product firmly aimed at the man who lives by his own rules. “It is suggestive rather of the private enjoyment of the connoisseur than the display of public acceptability”, as the pack so elegantly puts it. Land is very definitely a masculine fragrance too, possibly the last preserve of the independent male after his girlfriends have appropriated most of his other fragrances.
I can’t imagine any lady wishing to smell of ploughed fields, so he is fairly safe with this one.
Like all the best things in life, the fragrance is long discontinued, but bottles still turn up on ebay (avoid the miniatures, which may not always be genuine).
Patchouli by Lorenzo Villoresi
Finally, a fragrance to remind me of my visit to Italy. The Sniffapalooza expedition to Florence last year was a memorable event. And what more memorable place than the penthouse studio of Lorenzo Villoresi, with its panoramic view of the city, its antique furniture and rows of old fashioned dropper bottles?
For anyone over the age of 50, patchouli oil has a powerful resonance. It was the emblem of the hippy movement in the 1960’s, of flower power, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, not to mention Woodstock. The oil was sold in boutiques under names like Spiritual Sky, its earthy aroma pervaded the bars of my youth. Patchouli is earthy in a different way from both Land and Skarb, with a sweet rootiness and a musty quality which the Villoresi version captures very well.
To make his fragrance, Mr. Villoresi told us, he had blended several patchouli oils in perfect harmony. He handed some smelling strips round. It seemed to me that his dimly lit studio was the perfect place to smell this dark coloured essence with its odour of old wood, old furniture. Perfumers say that adding patchouli to a fragrance is equivalent to transposing the key from major to minor, such is its sombre quality.
And it seemed to me also that Mr. Villoresi was a good person to compose this patchouli perfume, for the guy struck me as a serious and weighty character, a man with a certain gravitas. Faced with the Sniffapalooza invasion of his private atalier, he had reacted with restrained dignity and showed commendable patience.
I am aware of course that Luca Turin, who is a respected scientist as well as a perfume critic, harbours grave doubts about Villoresi’s work. But Turin is not always right. Nobody is always right, because as Tim Girvin 2 said, “Lorenzo’s magic making is all mystery and wonder”. It would be a sad day if the art of composition were reduced to chemical formulas. As long as some mystery remains, perfumery will retain its fascination. The dark side of perfumery does have its attractions, after all.
References
1. Nathan Branch, How men can Learn to Stop Worrying and Love the Unisex Fragrance
Sniffapaloozamagazine Fifi nomination. http://www.sniffapaloozamagazine.com/SNIFFAPALOOZAMAGAZINEFIFITOPFIVENOMINATIONS.html
2. Tim Girvin, Lorenzo Villoresi:
A History of Fragrance Creativity, Sniffapalooza in Florence, Italy
Coming Next Issue; October 10th
Part 3 Perfumes of the Land and Sea
and a review of Gravel
All photos supplies by John King except Land advertisement
Skarb
Following a roughly similar track but readily available and actively promoted is Skarb (meaning treasure), by Humiecki and Graaf. Like Land, it displays a culinary, savoury aspect, due partly to the herb lovage which is common to both fragrances. Smell Skarb and you are standing in a health foods store, surrounded by organic produce, canisters of barley and brown sugar close at hand. But there is also a curious watery-metallic aspect, very like Secretions Magnifiques (Etat Libre d’Orange). The drydown is of the pungent amber-woody type (karanal, for the technically minded) which embellishes many modern masculine fragrances.
In contrast to Land, Skarb ran out of luck when came to the advertising. It was saddled through no fault of its own with an exceptionally silly PR story, something about men feeling gloomy and crying. Tania Sanchez comments on this in the book “Perfumes: the Guide”, which she has co-authored with Luca Turin. It illustrates what might be called the "dark side of perfumery", i.e. we are kept in the dark about the true nature of perfumes, whilst marketers churn out uninformative nonsense. Never mind, as long as folks like Tania Sanchez and Luca Turin are around to set us straight, we will be OK. The internet has opened everything up to intelligent analysis, we are coming out of the gloom and the shadows.
Skarb costs $210 a bottle – nonsense of this calibre is expensive. But I don’t begrudge the money, because the total package is excellent. Skarb is truly a treasure, and one which is likely to appeal to women as well as men. Maybe that’s why the men are crying.
Close to the Land
Transparent topnote
Extra galbanum gives a pleasing variation
The dark side of perfumery: marketing nonsense keeps us in ignorance
Lorenzo Villoresi in his studio
John King resting in front of Iris roots in Florence Italy
ScentTrek technology analyses the scented air around a plant without harming it.
photo courtesy of Givaudan
