Usually by this point in any given year I am suffering from some kind of fatigue. Last year it was oud fatigue as every perfumer under the sun released their take on oud, thankfully 2012 has been kinder in this particular regard. 2012’s malady is collection fatigue I have received over ten collections with more than six fragrances. At this point as soon as I see the word collection my eye begins to twitch. The word has become overused and I think in most perfumer’s lexicon it means little or nothing other than an excuse to sell a bunch of perfume. To every ill-thought foray into perfume overdrive there has to be an exception. There has to be some perfumers who actually understand that a collection should be something with a real sense of cohesion and each perfume should feel like a piece of a greater whole. In these early Fall days of 2012 Bertrand Duchaufour reminded me of what an intelligent artist can do with a collection and the three perfumes he created for the Parfums Ann Gerard Collection exemplify what a collection really means.
Ann Gerard is a Parisian jeweler who specializes in unique moonstone creations. She seems to enjoy setting off the shiny qualities of things like pearls, opals, and moonstones with traditional cut stones. The juxtaposition of point brilliance and surface sheen make for a fabulous visual. Bertrand Duchaufour is one of our greatest working perfumers and while point brilliance would describe many of his perfumes I’m not sure surface sheen would be a phrase I’d use to describe his fragrances. The credo by which they chose to build this collection is stated as; “Perfume is the mirror of our emotions, the most mysterious of jewels. It speaks to us silently…..a secret adornment.” All three of the perfumes in this collection live up to that as each of them spoke to me in single points of brilliance.
Cuir de Nacre is not a new fragrance it is actually a re-naming of a very limited edition M. Duchaufour made for Mme Gerard in 2010 which was called Pleine Lune at that time. It was only available at the Ann Gerard showroom in Paris and it seemed everyone who tried it was immediately overcome by its beauty. It was one of those things that seemed out of reach. Now with Cuir de Nacre here I understand what all the fuss was about. I am going to make a bold statement right away; this is the best leather fragrance M. Duchaufour has ever made. If you like L’Artisan Traversee du Bosphore or Penhaligon’s Sartorial get ready for the next evolution as M. Duchaufour’s leather accord is perfected and in Cuir de Nacre he slathers it with a decadent orris butter. That’s not all there is but really it is the heart and soul of Cuir de Nacre.
Cuir de Nacre has as straightforward a development as I can remember from a fragrance by M. Duchaufour. It begins with a set of very subtle aldehydes over angelica. Then the leather accord comes in right along with the orris butter. This is just an embarrassment of olfactory riches. It is like piling diamonds upon emeralds. It is so good that when the sandalwood and musk of the base slowly and surely make their presence known I wanted to find some way to shoo them off. Orris and Leather oh my!
After Cuir de Nacre anything should have been a comedown but Ciel D’Opale works by reaching for the sky, an opal sky. M. Duchaufour has always shown a deft hand with the sweeter floral notes and in Ciel D’Opale the floral notes of jasmine, honeysuckle, cassie, and mock orange create a floral opaqueness in the heart. Citrus on top, woody notes on the bottom add the sparkle the best opals contain.
Quince, lemon, bergamot start Ciel D’opale off in familiar territory but the heat of Sichuan pepper adds a bit of unique piquancy and galbanum adds its green forcefulness. The heart is jasmine, to start, along with the cassie. Honeysuckle and mock orange add to the intensity and oddly the shininess. Guaiac, cedar, and sandalwood carry this sky to its final horizon.
I think 2012 is going to go down as M. Duchaufour’s chypre year. He began it with Parfums MDCI Chypre Palatin and he ends it (I think) with Perle de Mousse. In a style of perfume which has systematically had its ingredients banned and forbidden M. Duchaufour has shown that is no hindrance to the talented. For those of you who like your fragrances green Perle de Mousse will be what you’re looking for. From aldehydes and galbanum through muguet to a brilliant modern chypre base this should kindle hope in any chypre lover’s heart that this artistic form still has some life left in it.
A swirl of aldehydes surround galbanum and ivy with a pinch of pink pepper for good measure. This resolves into a heart of muguet, clove, rose, jasmine, and gardenia. The greener character of the muguet and gardenia are accentuated by the remains of the galbanum. The base is mastic, ambergris, musk, and a pinch of vanilla. These four notes do an excellent interpretation of the traditional chypre oakmoss base and give me hope for more to come.
All of these fragrances has average longevity and average sillage. These are ideal fragrances for those who want to wear something strong without projecting too much.
M. Duchaufour laid out three glittering jewels in this olfactory jewelry box and my quandary is which one to pick up first. Finally a collection which holds my interest from beginning to end.
Disclosure: This review was based on a discovery kit I purchased.
–Mark Behnke, Managing Editor