Many of the great perfumers have produced progeny that have gone on to follow in their olfactive footsteps. The list of those children that have excited the perfume world include Michel Roudnitska, Olivier Polge, Patricia de Nicolai (Guerlain), Erwin Creed, and Celine Ellena. Mme. Ellena in particular out of that list has been very inventive over the past year or so; L’Artisan Cote D’Amour and, one of my favorite fragrances of 2009, The Different Company Oriental Lounge. In the latter fragrance I really felt an artist choosing the style in which she wanted to compose her fragrances. Oriental Lounge took a well-known style of perfume and gave it a modern twist. Mme. Ellena’s style is very far removed from that of her father, Jean-Claude Ellena. Where M. Ellena goes for minimalist compositions where each component stands on its own as part of the whole; Mme. Ellena chooses to find synergy in her components and an ability to elevate those component by intelligently choosing them and where to place them throughout the development of her creations.
Her latest release might be her best fragrance to date; The Different Company de Bachmakov weaves disparate notes into uncommon beauty and uses the inspiration of the Annee France-Russie as starting point. Right from that inspiration the idea of marrying the steppes of Russia with the fertile fields of Bordeaux would make for something interesting. The choices Mme. Ellena makes take de Bachmakov beyond interesting and into the realm of breathtaking.
The opening of de Bachmakov is that wind across the steppes as it feels bracing and vibrant. The notes used to convey this chill are bergamot, coriander and shiso. The coriander could tilt de Bachmakov towards a gin and tonic feel but instead it stays much greener than the gin vibe that coriander usually imparts. That greenness actually is what adds the icy feel to the opening and the green tea airiness of the shiso adds to it. This is a cool breeze not a biting breeze. The heart is all about freesia. 2010 is seeing a lot of freesia appear in fragrances and I am enjoying the different uses the perfumers are finding for it. In de Bachmakov Mme. Ellena uses it to create that green floral component and so it extends seamlessly from the coriander and shiso in the top and then takes over the middle aspects of development. Underneath the freesia, jasmine adds some more sweet floral character and nutmeg a sweet spicy quality. The base is made up of cedar and a base called “craie douce”. Craie Douce is defined in the comments on Now Smell This by Elsa from The Different Company as:
“Craie Douce is an intellectual interpretation of the composition musk and cedar wood. Celine Ellena wanted to translate a powdery but not sweet “mineralite’”, smooth, mat and as tender as chalk with this special scent when it is humid. It’s the wind scraping rocks and snow in that particular moment when spring takes over winter. In reality, Craie Douce is the association of macro-cyclique musks (the most eco-friendly) and woody notes composing the perfume.”
On my skin Craie Douce imparts that mineral quality that the quote above refers to. It has a passing similarity to the mineral aspects from Mme. Ellena’s father’s Terre D’Hermes but Craie Douce imparts a deeper more mineral aspect than the accord found in Terre D’Hermes. I had them both on side-by-side and found that it was the de Bachmakov arm I kept returning to because the balance of cedar and Craie Douce is so much more complex than that in Terre D’Hermes. Mme. Ellena finds much more fertile “terre” with Craie Douce and uses it to stunning effect.
De Bachmakov has average longevity and average sillage.
Despite the idea in the quote about de Bachmakov being a fragrance for spring I think it is more a fragrance for fall and winter. It has unexpected warmth on me after the chilly beginning and the final moments around the Craie Douce are all about comfort to me. Mme. Ellena has once again created a beautiful piece of olfactive synergy that is, in my opinion, her best fragrance.
Disclosure: This review was based on a sample purchased from The Perfumed Court.
-Mark Behnke, Managing Editor