Pep Dalessandri aka The Scentinel with a bottle of L’Artisan Parfumeur Timbuktu

This story does not begin with me recounting how my earliest memory was a fascination with all things scented. Fact is, I am regrettably late to the party when it comes to the art, science, and culture of perfume. But I am doing my best to make up for the ‘lost years’. Growing up as a first-generation Australian of Italian migrant parents, my smelly experiences weren’t eucalyptus trees and vegemite. I had lemon trees, tomato plants, and tiramisu growing up in my own Little Italy in suburban Australia.

via tumblr

Embarrassing fact: I used a pacifier until well past my toddler years and the reason I choose to humiliate myself like this is because my grandfather, lovingly ignorant as he was, used to let me dip my pacifier into his espresso coffee all while he was also enjoying his beloved Peter Stuyvesant cigarettes. So my first two major scent loves were coffee and cigarettes (surprisingly also a film I have yet to watch). But my “nonno” was also the source for my first encounter with actual scented grooming products. From the Brylcreem, to the shave foam that I am reminded of every time I spray Rive Gauche Pour homme, and finally to the Old Spice that he used to brace himself for before a hearty splash on the cheeks and neck. Later on I would identify that my dad was a Brut 33 man, as opposed to my Old Spice-y nonno. But for the rest of my childhood the only distinct memories of perfume were the television ads for Cacharel’s Lou Lou, and subsequent bottles my mother over-sprayed. One day I discovered a bottle of Chanel No.5 on her bedside table, and somehow I instinctively knew that this was one of the “special ones”. Maybe I just knew of the Chanel prestige by osmosis but as soon as I sprayed some in the air, it only confirmed that magic can exist suspended in alcohol (way before I was legal drinking age).

Fast-forward to adulthood. Preparing for a rare social function I decided new “cologne” would be more appropriate than the body-spray deodorant I had been using for years. I would get the best thing money could buy from the local pharmacy and smell like a million dollars. I eventually decided on Paco Rabanne’s Invictus, even though I could have opted to literally smell like One Million. By this time in my life I had already become dependent on the internet for all my research purposes, and naturally my first search were the words that now languish in infamy within the most ancient part of the brain – “best cologne for men”.

Suddenly I was like a dry sponge soaking up a flood of fragrant information that was always a click or a swipe away. Fragrance forums? Dedicated YouTube channels? Communities? I found out George Clooney liked Green Irish Tweed, which then led to finding out about Creed, which in turn led to Aventus (a whole sub-culture of its own. I found out you could buy splits, samples, decants, and then I found out about niche.

Photo courtesy of Perfumes The Guide Amazon 

Through all this it came to my attention that a “Guide” for perfumes existed, which I promptly downloaded to my Kindle and began my reading marathon. By now, I had amassed several decants of various things that were being hyped on social media channels, but I now became interested in Luca Turin’s 5 star perfumes (by now I had realized that men actually wore “perfume” too).  Unlike the present, I would blind-buy bottles with abandon at this early stage in my collecting, so why not with the 5 star Timbuktu. The consensus on forums was that it was a highly rated, but not entirely safe blind-buy. Needless to say then, I was beside myself when the parcel arrived. Not exaggerating.

Now at this juncture, I want to point out that I had no idea what incense, papyrus, benzoin, vetiver, and myrrh were supposed to smell like, let alone karo karounde. But a few seconds after I sprayed this on, that was all purely academic. I was now seized by the actual magic of a perfume. The ability to transport your soul to a place you have never been, and may not even exist. Smelling L’Artisan Parfumeur Timbuktu on my skin was the first time I was able to imagine in 3D, to an extent that none of my other senses have ever been seduced to do. The way my mouth begins to water from the mango, the way I can hear the breeze rustling through papyrus reeds, feeling the warmth of the sun as I am lying on the earth. All while watching a cloud movie.

Bertrand Duchaufour courtesy of Bertrand Duchaufour

I think it was after this pivotal moment that I began to want more from a perfume than was being offered at the local department store. I lost my footing on the edge of the rabbit hole, but I am climbing steadily down instead of free-falling. It was overwhelming at first with the range and choice of things to try, but Timbuktu also became my tour guide. I explored more of the work of its creator Bertrand Duchaufour, I have since purchased several of his creations for both L’Artisan Parfumeur and other houses. It refined my tastes and also became a reference for a perfume’s artistry.

I’d like to end this tale paraphrasing a caption I wrote for an Instagram post of this perfume: Like the place itself, L’Artisan Parfumeur Timbuktu is both real and mythical at the same time. It transports me far away when the mood strikes, and keeps me grounded when I need serenity. Love is in a faraway place.

–Pep Dalessandri, CaFleureBon reader, YouTube Fragrance reviewer   @scented_souls

Disclosure: Pep’s bottle is his own, as are his opinions.

Editor’s Note:  In my 2010 interview, I asked Bertrand Duchaufour what makes a great perfume…his answer,  “I am sure of one thing; time is the best judge of a fragrance”. And Timbuktu is, still, after 15 yrs, one of his finest fragrances for the House. It is also classic Duchaufour.-Michelyn

Thanks to the generosity of L’ArtisanParfumeur we have a 100ml bottle of Timbuktu for registered reader in the EU, USA or Canada (you must do this and use your user name or your comment is invalid). To be eligible please leave a comment with what you enjoyed specifically about Pep Dalessandri’s Fragrant Awakening and where you live.  Have you liked this series on Facebook? Or follow it on the sidebar of our site. Draw closes 5/30/2019

We announce the winners only on our site and on our Facebook page, so like Çafleurebon and use our  blog feed…or  your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.