Chanel – Bel Respiro

source: mkalty.org

The Blossom

Merry, merry sparrow!
Under leaves so green
A happy blossom 
Sees you, swift as arrow,
Seek your cradle narrow,
Near my bosom.
Pretty, pretty robin!
Under leaves so green
A happy blossom
Hears you sobbing, sobbing,
Pretty, pretty robin,
Near my bosom. 

– William Blake

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CB I Hate Perfume – I Am A Dandelion + Giveaway

Some days I find myself wishing that the wind would come and take me to a far-away land, where no one can find me and where I can be contentedly alone. On days like these I wear I Am A Dandelion by CB I Hate Perfume [water perfume, not the perfume absolute]. For then I don’t just imagine myself as a dandelion floating in the gentle breeze, I become the dandelion, I inhabit its body in a way that Thomas Nagel could never conceive of what it is like to be a bat.

Perfume Haiku Series: Le Temps d’Une Fête by Parfums de Nicolaï

Le Temps d’Une Fête by Parfums de Nicolaï

Come mow the lawn in
Anticipation of spring
Grass and pollen fly

~ The Smelly Vagabond

Magnetic Scent – Tindrer

Tindrer by Magnetic Scent opens with an unconventionally green, dewy violet that smells like it’s just been freshly cut at the stem. It’s vegetal and… is that a hint of soil? Mmmm. Ten minutes in, Tindrer segues into its heart. There’s definitely something marine going on here that makes Tindrer salty fresh while the violet continues strongly in the foreground. Strangely, I keep getting the smell of new, unused erasers

Tindrer evokes the image of a young child running freely through a field of violets. It has just rained and the smell of the earth and flowers and grass fill the air. He’s smiling, but why are there tears in his eyes? He lies in the middle of the field and takes a deep breath. It’s the first time in many years that he’s been allowed out to play in the field. Tiny raindrops fall on his cheeks and mix with his salty tears, suffusing him with a sense of peace and joy.

“Forgiveness is the fragrance
the violet sheds
on the heel that has crushed it.”
Mark Twain

I wish I could live through the top and heart notes of Tindrer over and over again. Tindrer peters out after some time to a watery, barely-there musk that is pleasant but nowhere as interesting as the first hour of magic. Its sillage is moderate bordering on weak and its longevity is average, which is perfectly fine with me given that its charm lies in its ethereal nature.

Compared to The Unicorn Spell, a violet-themed fragrance by Lez Nez, Tindrer is more aquatic and transclucent, and definitely many shades brighter than its mossy counterpart. If The Unicorn Spell were a dark forest on a frosty morning, Tindrer would be an open field under a drizzle.

Overall, perfumer Spyros Drosopoulos (what a mouthful!) manages to take the violet and develop it in an original and compelling way. Where violet-dominated fragrances have typically been candied or fusty, Tindrer stands out as a delicate study on what happens when violets are looked at through a water prism. Definitely worth trying.

Details

Tindrer is available at Bloom Perfumery, London, for £80. Alternatively, you could order it directly from Magnetic Scent for €110. Magnetic Scent also sells samples at €3.50 a piece, definitely a reasonable way to ‘try before you buy’.

[Review based on a sample I purchased from Bloom Perfumery, London]

~ The Smelly Vagabond