Tom Waits www.telegraph.uk.co
“And I’ve hawked all my yesterdays
Don’t try and change my tune
‘Cause I thought I heard a saxophone
I’m drunk on the moon.” ~ Tom Waits
Charna Ethier of Providence Perfume Co.
Hand to the Divine: you don’t have to yank my chain in order to draw me in this time around; I’m done for. Independent artisanal perfumer Charna Ethier of Providence Perfumes Co. has my full attention with her latest perfume Drunk on the Moon – boozy, blowsy, and inebriating. Color me smitten.
Last week I took note of one reader’s comment which resonated, a clear criticism of my over-effusiveness. They weren’t wrong. I don’t perceive myself as some deranged demi-goddess impaled by the Muses, and resolved to take their criticism to heart (Until this sample landed in my mailbox last Friday. Now gushing is necessary and I ‘ll try to be tasteful about it). And I shall. Harpoon me if you will: my guts inform me that Providence Perfume Co. Drunk on the Moon is among the finer releases this year, even so late in the season – and there have been quite a few noteworthy fragrances among the ever-burgeoning deluge in recent memory. It will be challenging to come up with a workable top ten for 2019.
Maggie Gyllenhall in The Deuce via IFC Center
A more youthful Tom Waits’ smooth, buttery-jazz delivery of the street scene he encounters is peppered with the plaintive wail of a sax. This deliciously louche fragrance has been composed to partner his melody: it saunters loose-limbed and amply-hipped down the back alleys and boulevards in high heels. Nocturnal by nature, such beings arise at dusk and ready themselves before the broken shards of mirrored reflection – world-weary but not so broken as to exist devoid of dreams, jaded lyrics notwithstanding. Emily Dickinson voiced this memorably: “Hope” is the thing with feathers – that perches in the soul – And sings the tune without the words – And never stops – at all -”. We are not the mere sum of what we do, what has befallen us to do, what we are driven to do. I choose to believe that an element of hope may hover indefinitely, however tentative – fragile but unyielding. Hope radiates, drawing breath from the indolic.
Madonna 1894 Edvard Munch en.wikipedia.org
Drunk on the Moon possesses an eloquent melodic decadence. Charna refers to a ‘velvet cream sherry base’, and I brook no argument. Nutmeg may be polarizing for a few – but then, aren’t all spices a matter of preference? In over-abundance, nutmeg is an acknowledged hallucinogen; it seems to crave the intimacy it shares with a lustful tuberose. One can’t harp enough about the rose/peach connection as I see it: the ripeness is potent and lush and immediate. Sweet myrrh aka opoponax is an intoxicating base note and a complete perfume all by itself – but introduce it to fine sandalwood and there’s a wedding ring in its future.
Insert Edvard Munch The Bite 1914 via definition-of-sex.soup.io
Charna’s seamless convergence of aromatic elements produces a sensuous fragrance which I find unutterably addictive. I’d be happy to bathe myself in it; it does us the favor of not teetering into the gooey gourmand category (something I enjoy in small doses but would not be pleased with on a daily basis) and retains a seductive sweetness poised with an animalic reminder of floral reproduction. Providence Perfumes Co. Drunk on the Moon is a joy to wear, and I hope that you will try it for yourselves; I’d love to know what you think (The sex lives of plants. It’s a beautiful thing.).
Notes: tuberose, rose, nutmeg, opoponax, peach, sandalwood
Thank you, Charna for sending along a sample. I’m mad for it. My nose is my own…
~ Ida Meister, Senior Editor and Natural Perfumery Editor
Providence Perfume Co. Drunk on the Moon courtesy of Charna
Thanks to the generosity of Charna Ethier of Providence Perfume Co. we have a 5m ml rollerball bottle of Drunk On The Moon for one registered reader Worldwide. You must register here or your comment will not count. To be eligible, please comment upon what appealed to you in Ida’s review of Drunk on the Moon and where you live. Draw closes 11/8/2019
Editor’s Note: Charna Ethier’s all natural perfumes have won a few CaFleureBon Best of Scent awards. Charna was my choice for the 2014 hardest working Perfume Person of The Year. Do you get the feeling 2019 she’s in for a win-Michelyn
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