photo of Amelia Earhart via wiki, Les Parfumeurs du Monde logo and Androgyne 16020 courtesy of Parfumeurs du Monde

Courage is the price that
Life exacts for granting peace.
The soul that knows it not, knows no release
From little things:
Knows not the livid loneliness of fear,
Nor Mountain heights where bitter joy can hear
The sound of wings. ~ Amelia Earhart, 1928

Les Parfumeurs du Monde Androgyne 16020 by Isabelle Gellé was recently listed among my top ten fragrances for 2021 – and considering that it arrived at the last moment (when one feels spent and unlikely to alter the assemblage), that speaks to how brilliant and memorable it is. Androgyne 16020 is deeply unsettling in a wonderful way: the French might call it bouleversant. I’ve shamelessly punned here and deliberately referred to it as bouleau-versant because its leather accord blazes with birch tar (bouleau translates as birch en français) as it sizzles and crackles like a smoldering flame.

On January 11, 1935, Amelia Earhart became the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to the U.S. mainland.  via Getty

American trailblazing aviatrix Amelia Earhart provided the perfumer with ample inspiration for her beautiful leather chypre. Heaven knows, it’s a genre with which I’m most joyfully familiar – and one which blooms for me in a tellingly seductive manner. I’ve amassed many (both vintage and contemporary) leather chypres over the past 5+ decades, and Les Parfumeurs du Monde Androgyne 16020 is proof positive that there is indeed room for yet one more. I’d make haste to mention that this fragrance also puts to rest the notion that natural perfumes possess poor longevity. It leaves little doubt that Androgyne 16020 is purely a powerhouse perfume for the bold of heart and spirit.  It may be eschewed by the more timorous amongst us – but no fragrance should be expected to be the Alpha and the Omega to all and sundry. Chacun à son goût.

Les Parfumeurs du Monde Androgyne 16020 opens scintillatingly: unexpected yuzu and mandarin hit you immediately, deftly sprinkled with cardamom. It’s an intoxicating moment, light-filled and carefree – a prelude to the raw, elegant intensity which follows. As one anticipates, violet serves as the floral note which adds a definite douceur (in leather fragrances one finds violet and/or iris, rose, jasmines, carnation, narcissus among those frequently pressed into service); over time it morphs into a serene presence which may go unnoticed as the potent aviator jacket accords take hold. The woody fruitiness of juniper berry is animated, piercingly verdant with a somewhat sweet and extremely tenacious drydown – balsamic and boozy. Birch tar is a potent material which evokes leather in perfumery, but it also may suggest hot engine oil as well. Androgyne 16020 intimates both those qualities, rounded gently by the grassy smokiness of vetiver and softly loamy patchouli.

 

 

Perfumer Isabelle Gellé

Perfumer Isabelle Gellé’s new perfume is adventurous, forthright and refined: it never seeks to sacrifice authenticity in an attempt to curry favor. As such, its immediacy and veracity are undeniable. You are on that solo flight  January 11, 1935 right alongside Amelia. You are enveloped in overwhelming exhilaration, a wild sense of freedom. Androgyne 16020 is absolutely fearless; a perfume which defies gender classification in its quest for truth and realism. Notes: cardamom, yuzu, mandarin, leather accord, violet, juniper berries, vetiver, patchouli, birch

Sample generously provided by Les Parfumeurs du Monde – many thanks!  My nose is my own…

~ Ida Meister, Deputy and Natural Perfumery Editor

 Thanks to the generosity of Les Parfumeurs du Monde, we have a 50 ml bottle of Parfumeurs du Monde Androgyne 16020 for one registered reader in the USA, EU or UK. To be eligible, please leave a comment on what you feel about Ida’s review, if you are familiar with Parfumeurs du Monde, and where you live. Draw closes 1/13/2022

 Available on Parfumeurs du Monde and Jovoy’s websites.

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