Neil Morris is alive and well, and continues to create fragrances that add to our olfactive vocabulary.
Sometimes The Big Fella is impassioned by memory; often, it’s a person or place that moves him.
From time to time, he reworks a project he’s begun, and put aside for awhile- then strikes gold. Other times, he tweaks and tweaks a new perfume that he’s all fired up about.
When I caught up with him one recent afternoon, we were doing some mighty hefty sniffing.
I saw a familiar name on a bottle, and when I got a whiff, I grinned at him:
“You’ve TWEAKED this one since the last time!
OOOOH!“
The Rose Tattoo
Neil had been inspired by a woman he’d met in a motorcycle shop.
One of those people whom it is easy to dismiss, perhaps-
Not as tough as she looked in her leathers, bearing a rose tattoo on her arm…
She was one of the kindest, gentlest souls he had ever met; he wanted to create a homage to her.
A testament to her very goodness.
I inquired:
Was he aware of the Tennessee Williams play, or the film, of the same name ?
Had that been an influence as well?
Ironically, he hadn’t.
And he’s an avid film fan.
Oh my.
The plot thickens.
So, what have these two in common ?
Both the scent and the film- are sweet, passionate, and a little bit rough on the surface.
The film stars knockout Anna Magnani as a young widow, who withdraws after the death of her husband, a miscarriage, and a nasty secret is revealed to her.
Glorious young Burt Lancaster plays the new love interest [a truck driver] that restores her to vitality.
The entire drama unfolds in steamy Louisiana, in a poverty-stricken Italian-American community.
This perfume begins with a green fruitiness that belies the darkness beneath.
Green ivy, cassis, and papaya combine to produce a freshness that feels innocent and juicy.
The rose that follows is the very lovely Givaudan rose, hand-in-glove with rosewood; this modulates the sweetness and is very balancing.
The base lists patchouli, Iso E Super, leather, and amber.
Neil is notoriously fond of patchouli; I’m not a huge fan of Iso E Super in large amounts.
Fortunately, there is a deft blending of base notes here, the leather feeling soft, not spiky.
Unlike Gotham, which possesses the naughtiness of narcissus and the labdanum which bring out the growl-
Rose Tattoo is all beautiful earthy sweetness with just a crack of the whip.
Not unlike the magnificent Magnani herself.
And that lovely, nameless girlchild in the bike shop.
–Ida Meister, Senior Editor
Thanks to the generosity of Neil Morris Fragrances we have a bottle of The Rose Tattoo to giveaway. Just leave a comment by 11PM EST Sunday July 18th and you will be eligible for this draw.