It’s fall in NYC… almost photo by Michelyn©
The summer of 2019 was one to remember…or maybe forget. The United States and much of Europe experienced the wrath of the weather gods, with torrential rains, hail, wildfires, tornadoes, flooding, wicked winds. record breaking heatwaves, extreme variances in temperatures, hurricanes and drought. Which left the question what to waft? Now that Fall is almost officially here (September 23rd in the Western Hemisphere), we breathe a collective sigh of relief and offer our “Ode to Autumn” with the Fall fragrances that we have already begun to spritz with abandon.
Ice and Wood, © Carl Hutzler via carlhutzler.com
Aedes de Venustas Palissadre d’Or signed by master perfumer Alberto Morillas in 2015 is a perfume I’ve been reaching for about this time over the last few years. Although the name implies “rosewood” there is actually none of that precious, endangered wood in the fragrance, don’t worry. At first spray it there’s a very pleasant biting pink pepper with an underlying smoothness. Chilly spiciness remains center stage while the warm woodiness swells in the background. A little bit into wearing it the elements meet in the middle when cinnamon heats up while a creamy sandalwood smooths out. Rose and frankincense aren’t listed as official notes but I feel as if they peak through now and then. Another thing I appreciate about this fragrance is that is smells differently when you press your nose up to your wrist and when you get a waft of it throughout the day (both addictive to me.)
Notes: Ambrette, Pink pepper, Coriander, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Sandalwood, Copahu balm, Cedarwood, Patchouli, Ambroxan –Marianne Butler, Senior Contributor
Autumn by Giovanni Paolo Castelli
Fall is taking its time here in Milan and the morning air just started cooling down, yet days look like late spring. Flowers rejoice and the first yellow leaves start to float in the air like in a Baroque landscape. The appropriate match to this Baroque languor is a beautiful bunch of cinnamon dusted violets, redolent of face powders made out of crushed petals and the red tinged spice to blush the porcelain cheekbones of the courtesans: in a word Neela Vermeire Creations Rahele. Its leather and tobacco laden chypre carpet covered in earthy patchouli and violet leaves, wears like a pair of cuir pleine fleur gloves thanks to touches of styrax and saffron. –Ermano Picco, Editor
Photo by Elena©
Fall leaves are falling…not yet, but soon! This is “my” season: a Virgo in me becomes hyperactive, busy as a little ant before Winter kicks in and below-zero C temperatures slow me down again .Feeling like Persephone, I turn to more “earthy” tones in perfumes, although I tend to ignore any and all rules. Speaking about busy little ants, there’s one perfume that fits this feeling well: ADH – Aroma de Hormiguero (The Scent of the Anthill), from the Primal Waters Collection of Santi Burgas, created by Rodrigo Flores-Roux, launched in 2018. ADH feels almost like you are experiencing a whole day in an ant’s life: from rushing along a trail in midst of a dewy grass field, moving along many busy corridors inside a freshly constructed anthill – earth still damp, to moments of rest and satisfaction of work well done, expressed by soothing resinous-balsamic tones softened by a remote hints of oakmoss-patchouli layers.
Notes: Naturally occurring formic acid derivatives (formates), algae accord, fresh mushroom accord, geosmin, galbanum, mastic tree resin, patchouli, oakmoss, fir balsam, vetiver, artemisia, and petitgrain. – Elena Cvjetkovic, Guest Contributor
photo by dana©
When fall falls, we call it out: “the sun has teeth again”. Days get short, nights-nippy, and melancholy hits in tones of purple (usually), textured greys, and the occasional off-white that makes the eyes close and the mind rest. Above all, the platitude- necessary, total, and respectful as the silence at the end of a long labour. The only smell that makes this transition seamless and organic, for me, is Coeur de Vetiver Sacre, a lost gem from L’artisan Parfumeur. Created by Karine Vinchon Spehner with assistance from Nick Steward, (now founder of Gallivant), Coeur de Vetiver Sacre blends fat vegetals (vetiver, tarragon, bergamot, tea, peppers) with smoky tinges (black tea, incense, osmanthus, guaiac, tonka, castoreum) and creamy facets (saffron, iris, sandalwood, musk, apricots) for an effect that is filling, satisfied, and as definitive as the end of the summer.
Notes: bergamot, orange, black tea, pepper, ginger, coriander, saffron, dates, dried apricot,incense, osmanthus, rose, iris, vanilla, vetiver, tarragon, sandalwood, white cedar, guaiac wood, amber, tonka , labdanum, castoreum and musk.- dana sandu, Contributing Editor
Fall in Utah by Sandi©
My favorite time of year is FALL! It just like spring here in the desert, is unpredictably warm and usually as short! Or totally nonexistent. The dry heat that lingers and lingers leaves me longing for a shot of the nourishment that served the Greek Gods so well. Ambroise from Ormonde Jayne serves me up the sustenance that satisfies not only my skin but my spirit and mind as well. It leaves me longing for more and a more intimate embracing of the flowers and the abundance of fruit followed by the warmth of amber and vanilla. It absolutely is bliss on earth.-Associate Contributor, Sandi Lundberg
The top fall fragrance for Editor Sebastian Jara is Nishane Ani by Cecile Zarokian
Still Life with Old Books and a Cupcake – Gail Gross ©
In late Autumn, when the big Pacific storms start rolling in, when the winds howl and the trees fall, there is nothing more comforting or distracting than sitting by a warm fire and simply reading a book. Chatillon Lux Bilbio by Shawn Maher from his Side Project Series, creates the same cozy, bookish and protective atmosphere that I enjoy as I curl up by the fireside for a long, lovely read. Sensations of dry, desiccated woods in Chatillon Lux Biblio float like motes of dust through filtered vanilla-almond firelight, telling musky, waxy, sweetly intoxicating tales of crumbling boards, split spines and fading moiré-patterned endpapers. Caramel, a bit of clove, balsam, something vaguely phenolic and nuances of dark chocolate all contribute to the story. Furfural (the scent of brittle, crumbling paper) and a suggestion of fallen leaves add a nutty, malty, slightly burnt, roasted aroma to the mix. As the fire crackles and flickers out, Chatillon Lux Biblio surrounds me with a quiet, enveloping, balsamic darkness, fragrant dreams nestled between the pages of my books.
Notes: Dry paper/papyrus accord (Norlimbanol®, Tobacarol, Iso E Super), Fufurals, Vanillin, vanilla, almond, spice, light, sweet florals and balsam –Gail Gross , Senior Editor
Indianyug.com
With the advent of autumn follows a period of reflection, introspection, the culling of wisdom of the ages. How intuitive then, to don Neela Vermeire Creations Trayee for Fall. Memorializing India’s iconic Vedic Era, Trayee (Bertrand Duchaufour) evokes potent images of deities and spiritual tutelage, totemic symbols of all that really matters in our lives – all the while cherishing its immense beauty and depth. I should add that it was my first full bottle purchase (while agonizing over the choice between Trayee and Mohur – which I eventually bought as well. Resistance is futile). As I dab it on my wrist I sigh, seven years later: a tribute to complexity and the exquisite nature of botanicals, Trayee has lost none of its baroque lustre. Riotously floral and smoky by turns, it coaxes you to examine your inner workings. No one need be the wiser: to gauge it on loveliness alone is perfectly permissible. The woody foundation lends voice to the season sans melancholy. “The unexamined life is not worth living…” ~ Socrates
Notes: blue ginger, elemi, cinnamon, ganja accord, black currant absolute, basil absolute, jasmine sambac, Egyptian jasmine, cardamom absolute, clove, saffron, Javanese and Haitian vetiver, incense, Mysore sandalwood oil, patchouli, myrrh, vanilla, cedar, amber notes, Laotian oud palao, oakmoss –Sr. Editor, Ida Meister
St. Clair Scents Frost (Diane St. Clair): Reminiscent of woodsmoke from a chimney, falling leaves, and rare, rich mulchy soil, Art and Olfaction finalist Diane St. Clair’s tribute to American poet Robert Frost is the quintessential Fall fragrance. What St. Clair’s Gardeners Glove does for the summer garden, Frost does for the autumn walk in the woods. Laden with the essential smells of the woodlands in Fall, Frost is the olfactive equivalent of a tattered and earmarked book of verse you might carry in your favorite wool “woods-tromping” jacket. It smells of forests, campfires, and the slumbering earth. “This scent follows the story of Frost’s poem, “To Earthward” which describes the transformation of youthful love, from “sweet like the petals of the rose” and “sprays of honeysuckle” to painful love, which stings like “bitter bark”, “burning clove” and “rough earth.” -Diane St. Clair Perfumer
Notes: Bergamot, Mandarin Yellow and Green, Coriander, Petitgrain sur fleur, Meyer Lemon, Honeysuckle Accord, Rose Geranium, Elderflower Absolute, Petitgrain Absolute, Cistus, Labdanum Absolute, Vanilla Absolute, Vetiver , Cedar, Smoke, Clove Absolute. –Robert Herrmann, Sr. Editor
“Blame it on the rain”, photo by Carter Smith for Vogue US 2000®
Parfums Dusita Le Sillage Blanc (Pissara Umavijani), an atmospheric green/leather beauty in the vein of vintage masterpieces of the genre, fulfils my autumnal yearning for emancipating chypres exuding self-confidence. Evoking both invigorating walks into the woods right after the rain, and relaxing afternoons spent reading in a comfortable Chesterfield armchair, Parfums Dusita Le Sillage Blanc is composed as an olfactory harmony of contrasts: fiercely green galbanum mellowed by luminous orange blossom, neroli and ylang-ylang, a heart of earthy-sweet tobacco leaf and refined leather, a deep patchouli/oakmoss base encompassing both dry and moist… Parfums Dusita Le Sillage Blanc bears the unmistakable signature of Pissara Umavijani: a soulful fragrance in which the sensual and the spiritual appear as ONE, instilled with the perfumer’s effervescent optimism.
Notes: Orange Blossom, Neroli, Ylang-Ylang; English Leather, Artemisia, Persian Galbanum; Indian Ambrette Seed, Oakmoss, Patchouli. – Despina Veneti, Senior Editor.
Promenade of Autumn Mihai Christe
Yesterday I moved my summer citruses and fruity florals to the other side of the dresser. The fall weather right this moment in New York City is glorious… warm days but a chill in the night air. Grandiflora Boronia by Bertrand Duchaufour (that makes four for Duchaufour in our top fall fragrances) is a rich boozy perfume with the unmistakable but indescribable aroma of true Australian Boronia, which is a scrub flower with an intense aroma; highly floral with a chameleon like scent of hay, osmanthus and woods that peek through. Saskia Havekes, the creative director of Grandiflora has bottled her youth in this intensely intoxicating chypre fragrance with gourmand nuances that balance warm resins, smoky tea and a soft tobacco with rich swirling notes of golden cognac and caramel that waft around me like a light autumn breeze. For me, it is the most “Australian” of Grandiflora’s fragrances, suitable for both men and women and the one I always reach for when the sidewalks of NYC are covered in a mosaic carpet of colorful leaves.
Notes: Boronia megastigma, cognac, verdant florals, black tea, resins, tobacco, suede, caramel and dry woods. –Michelyn Camen, Editor in Chief
Fall In NYC by Michelyn©
There is a ÇaFleureBon favorite fall fragrance draw for 7 registered readers (if you don’t know if you are registered click here) as follows:
Photo by Clayton©
Worldwide: From the ever generous Saskia Havekes 50 ml of Grandiflora Boronia
Photo by Sebastian©
Worldwide: From our friends at Nishane 50 ml of ANI
Photo of Rahele by Ermano©
Thanks to the lovely Neela Vermeire it is your choice of 60 ml of Rahele or Trayee in the USA, EU or Canada for two readers
Worldwide: Merci to the talented Pissara Umavijani for 50 ml of Le Sillage Blanc
USA ONLY: 100 ml of Aedes de Venustas Pallisandre d’Or from Robert and Karl of Aedes de Venustas
photo by Gail©
USA ONLY: We have a 2 oz. bottle of Chatillon Lux Biblio
To be eligible for the above you must be a registered reader. Remember to click here or your comment won’t count. Tell us what you thought of our favorite fall fragrances, which you would like to win, and where you live. You can list as many of the seven bottles as you would like. Draw closes 9/22/2019
We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so like Cafleurebon and use our BLOG FEED…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.
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