Joseph Quartana’s Six Scents series is ingenious in its simplicity and thrilling in its execution. The basic premise of each series is Mr. Quartana plays matchmaker with a rising fashion designer and a perfumer. He then gives them a bit of a theme and then sits back and lets the collision of couture and cologne produce a perfume. Surprisingly this initiative has more often than not produced some quite spectacular collaborations which culminated in Six Scents Series Three winning a 2011 Fifi Award for Fragrance of the Year Indie Brand. It has been over a year and Mr. Quartana has to be very weary of my asking when Series Four was coming. Finally, it is here and during the Spring 2013 New York Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week had a coming out party. I have had the set for a few weeks now and have once again been struck by the breadth and quality of the collection.
Boris Bidjan Saberi Fall 2012
No. 1 Crust by Boris Bidjan Sabari & Shyamala Maisondieu
Boris Bidjan Sabari uses leather for impact in his fashion; Shyamala Maisondieu uses leather as the central accord in a three note fragrance called No. 1 Crust. It is meant to evoke a minimalist aesthetic but also be strong. A very fleeting citrus mélange gets your attention before a supple well-worn leather accord takes center stage. This is the smell of a favorite leather jacket that has been worn for many years. It carries a fainter impression of leather but no less the animalic character. Cedar is the final note and it adds clean woodiness and towards the end the cedar and leather give a slightly funky Band-Aid accord which I found enjoyable but I can see where others might not.
Giuliano Fujiwara Fall 2012
No. 2 Modesty by Giuliano Fujiwara & Rodrigo Flores-Roux
Giuliano Fujiwara’s men’s fashion is all about detail and tailoring. His fragrance which was realized by Rodrigo Flores-Roux is also about tailoring and detail. First Mr. Flores-Roux uses what he calls a frozen metal accord which is that metallic aspect of violet surrounded by the chill of aldehydes. This gives the detail of a frozen tundra. The tailoring comes into play as he slowly but surely finds the right balance of wood as serene cypress gives way to a huge slug of a woody note called Kephalis in overdose. Labdanum is then added to give the feel of this intense wood oozing sap in fat amber drops. The detail returns as the resins die down and then a single bloom of oppoponax sticks its head above everything as one final bit of contour.
KTZ Fall 2012
No. 3 Buk by Kokon To Zai (KTZ) & Guillaume Flavigny
KTZ is actually a trio of designers one Japanese and two Macedonians who use graphic designs in their fashion. Their Fall 2012 line was an explosion of tartan plaid and in many ways it shouldn’t have worked but by layering it and embracing the contrast in those differences they created a striking collection. Guillaume Flavigny makes a fragrance of deeply colored layers with No. 3 Buk. M. Flavigny’s first layer is to lay down bergamot, bay oil, and incense. This is a swirling mas of crisscrossing sensations which frightened me on the page but was weirdly refreshing on my skin. The second level is reached when Gardenia coated in beeswax brushes aside the top layer and then adds its own contrasting note that shouldn’t work in gingerbread. The gourmand quality of the gingerbread runs head on into the green floral over the top floralcy of gardenia and instead of a train wreck it is beautiful synergy. Oppoponax and oakwood add a more traditional layer to the final moments of Buk.
Raphael Young Winter 2011
No. 4 Nappa Noir by Raphael Young & Calice Becker
Raphael Young is an incredibly talented shoe designer whose creations carry a special architecture and are as beautiful to admire on the shelf as they are when there is actually a foot inhabiting his shoes. For No. 4 Nappa Noir Calice Becker was not inspired by the architecture but the leather Mr. Young uses. He introduced her to a soft amazing leather which captured her imagination. From that beginning Mme Becker turns Nappa Noir into a leather tour de force. First though before we get to the leather we need a little coffee, a smoke and some pastry. The opening stage of Nappa Noir would’ve been a lovely evocation of a European café all by itself. This opening is just captivating but Nappa Noir becomes mesmerizing as the leather accord comes together. At first it seems unrefined, a little bit sharp as birch tar carries the early going. Then as if a leather worker was tanning and stretching and processing the leather right on my skin the leather transforms into a supple sweet accord as vanilla is the note used to complete the transformation. A final application of musk reminds one of the animalic aspect of leather at the final moment.
VPL Fall 2012
No. 5 Second Skin Victoria Bartlett (VPL) & Marypierre Julien
Are you a fan of sheer musk? Do you like your perfume like your fashion to cling to you like a second skin? Then Victoria Bartlett of VPL and Marypierre Julien have done just that with No. 5 Second Skin. This is one of the most appropriate named fragrances I’ve worn in a long time as it feels like my skin as it comes out of a shower clean but radiating some residual heat. A bit more synthetic musk and my skin has gone outside for the sun to warm it up. Add another synthetic musk with a bit of leather and amber and you get that slightly sexy slightly dirty skin accord. Mme Julien’s creation clings to you like, well, you know.
VASR Fall 2012
No. 6 Une Beaute Accidentelle by Vth Avenue Shoe Repair (VASR) & Nadege Le Garlantezec
Vth Avenue Shoe Repair creates fashion that starts at the shoulders or the hem with normal tailoring and precision but somewhere in the design things begin to get out of sync and it sometimes seem like their couture has a mind of its own. Une Beaute Accidentelle does a bit of the same as Nadege Le Garlantezec takes a very traditional citrus beginning and over the course of the development deconstructs it in to something still recognizably citrus but out of sync a bit. The opening is a clean blast of grapefruit bracing and chilly. Nutmeg and sage come along to blunt the citrus quality and use the soft spicy herbal quality they each impart to turn the grapefruit into something more matte than gloss. A duet of cedar and gaiac take the grapefruit into the woods and then leather, vetiver, and patchouli remind you that the woods can be dark and perhaps dangerous. By the end the grapefruit is lost in the forest but the frisson of being lost makes it fun instead of frightening.
Photo by Rocky Li
All of the fragrances which make up six Scents Series Four have above average longevity. Second Skin, Nappa Noir, and Une Beaute Accidentelle wear close to the skin. Crust, Modesty, and Buk have a bit more projection with Buk being the most forward of the entire Series Four.
I was a big fan of Series Three and thought it deserved the Fifi Award it won. I think Series Four is even better. There are no fragrances here that I don’t want to wear again and in the case of a couple they will be among my favorite new fragrances of 2012. I can’t wait to see where Mr. Quartana takes us for Series Five.
Disclosure: This review was based on samples provided by Six Scents.
Thanks to our friends at Six Scents we have a sample set of all the fragrances in Series Four to giveaway. To be eligible leave a comment picking which one you think will be your favorite. We will draw one winner on September 16, 2012.
We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.
-Mark Behnke, Managing Editor