Issey Miyake A Scent Ida’s bottle

“Green green rocky road

Promenade in green.

Tell me who you love, tell me who you love.” ~ song by Len Chandler and beat poet Bob Kaufman, based upon an African American children’s rhyme.

 

DSM-Firmenich photo of principal perfumer Daphné Bugey

This week’s review is a discontinued chypre created in 2009 by Daphné Bugey, the celebrated nose for Firmenich: A Scent by Issey Miyake. This verdant fragrance is both limpid and lovely to wear – and I suspect that it flew under the radar, as often happens. Unlike some other years, 2009 was a rather versatile one for fragrances: it embraced any number of ambery, woody, floral, and fresh Scents. A Scent was likely outshone by the likes of Tom Ford, Byredo Parfums, Bond No.9, and Maison Francis Kurkdjian – all of whom released a prodigious number of highly-regarded and potent perfumes that year. It is understandable how something as delicate and subtle as A Scent might escape notice.

There are very, very few fragrances that don’t have an aromatic predecessor, and A Scent is no exception. The fondness for mossy green perfumes existed years before it was created. We could easily begin with the very first chypre to be so named: 1917’s Chypre de Coty, composed by the legendary François Coty.  The name chypre was inspired by the island of Cyprus (Chypre in French) – the birthplace where Venus, the goddess of beauty and love was born. An attempt to list them all seems a Herculean task. Some pristine examples of related perfume greats which came before would include Chanel No.19 (Henri Robert, 1970), Chanel Cristalle eau de toilette (Henri Robert, 1974) and Calandre (Michael Hy, 1969).

oakmoss via Pixabay

The fact that A Scent by Issey Miyake was launched in 2009 is revealing for another reason, and that pertains to oakmoss (arguably one of the most traditional and well-loved components in the chypre genre). The IFRA (also known as the perfume regulatory body called The International Fragrance Association) began to restrict the use of oakmoss in 2001, because it was considered to be a potential skin irritant – and by 2008 the first (and stringent) interventions regulating the use of oakmoss (its offending culprit components were atranol and chloroatranol) became mandatory. By this time reformulation of existing fragrances was necessary, and if a brand wished to sell their Scents globally (with the exception of a few small independent American perfumers), the presence of atranol and chloroatranol had to be strictly reduced. Several fragrance houses created powerful powdered crystalline substitutes such as Evernyl (Givaudan) or Veramoss (IFF), which could be readily dissolved in solution and imparted a similar Scent profile. These powders changed our perception of moss: it smelt ‘cleaner’, brighter, and not as moody and murky as the original material (I keep a small quantity of each of the iterations, including the non-compliant one). In the eau de toilette a Scent, this element goes by the name crystal moss.

Via Britannica

A Scent by Issey Miyake is in keeping with the late Issey Miyake’s spare, minimalist and playful Japanese aesthetic. It seems incredible that a fashion designer born in Hiroshima seven years before its fatal bombing should possess such a wonderful sense of humor and fun – but all Miyake’s designs express just that. A Scent integrates the stemmy vibrancy of galbanum (never a shy aroma) with a painterly touch of just enough indolic floral elements: wisps of jasmine commingle with a lively hyacinth which exhibits tones of divine decay. Lemon verbena contributes a brisk note of citrus herbalcy – tonic, uplifting, and light-hearted. The crystal moss which I described earlier comes across as powdery and earthy; there is no patchouli listed, or vetiver – but a Scent’s authentic characterization of rooty, grassy facets rest atop a featherweight comforter of cedarwood and a bit of white musk. Underneath the fragrance is a distinct, but faint suggestion of metal – sometimes ascribed to the resinous green galbanum. I have the feeling that a sensitive stroke of aldehyde may be present, although it is not mentioned. After all, galbanum, hyacinth, and jasmine are heavy hitters, and A Scent might have needed something to produce a lift – a sense of airiness and ethereality.

A Scent is not a groundbreaking fragrance, and it doesn’t need to be: its elegant transparency speaks for itself. Despite it having been discontinued, A Scent can be found online for a variety of very reasonable prices, enabling the wearer to spray liberally and repeatedly, if they so desire. One can also uncover wildly disparate reviews of this perfume (no surprises there). It appears that either it smells natural and lovely to you, or you detest it. Those who crave a hefty chypre base redolent with true oakmoss, vetiver, patchouli and/or sandalwood will be disappointed. Essentially, A Scent mirrors Issey Miyake’s inherent philosophy: “Design is not for philosophy—it’s for life” (quoted in the International Herald Tribune in March, 1992). When we consider that he was greatly influenced by his fellow contemporary artists Isamu Noguchi, Constantin Brâncuşi, Alberto Giacometti, and fashion designer Madeleine Vionnet (the pioneer of the bias cut dress who created Isadora Duncan’s flowing gowns), A Scent by Issey Miyake makes perfect sense.

Notes: galbanum, hyacinth, lemon verbena, jasmine, crystal moss (aka Evernyl or Veramoss), cedarwood, musk (Perceived notes: aldehydes, metallic tones)

This fragrance was a personal purchase and is part of my collection. My nose is my own…

~ Ida Meister, Deputy and Natural Perfumery Editor

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