Parfumeurs du Monde Brin de Peau via Clémentine Humeau Instagram
* A moment of reflection upon the path to Compostela, a sprig (branch, twig) of fleshly (carnal) honeyed herbal spice upon warmed/heated skin. A fragrant vestment both discreet and evident, obvious, overt – a wisp perfume, of/from a wisp of skin.
Brin = wisp, jot, particle, twig, sprig
“This morning she disappeared as she had appeared. Without a murmur, without so much as a vibration.
As a suspension in the atmosphere, so delicate that she had crushed nothing. The wind tumbled her diary – in which lay only two words: “FINIS TERRAE”, Land’s End.
The sun rises. It is nearly as tough as the stag beetle’s shell.
I feel alive.
You begin once more to tread the path. I observe you. You encounter the vibrant orbit of my herbaceous aroma, harmoniously blended with that fleshly one of the departed being.
The perfume steeps and starts to rumble in your veins. The wind traverses you.
A fragrant vestment, both discreet and evident, a wisp perfume.
From a particle of flesh.” ~ Clémentine Humeau, parfumeur – Les Olfactines, février 2020
(Ida’s translation)
Clementine Humeau via Facebook
It is exceedingly rare that one receives such a parcel – from anywhere. In this case the precious gift arrived from France, affectionately hand-inscribed on the outside from Gwennaelle Saby and Thierry Bernard of Parfumeurs Du Monde. Their latest aromatic oeuvre was accompanied by a brief, exquisite Parfum-Roman written by the perfumer herself – young native Haute-Provence-born perfumer Clémentine Humeau (born in Manosque, as was brilliant writer Jean Giono). Thierry was kind enough to provide me with some biographical background, which only served to fascinate me further. From those sentences alone, I felt immediate kinship with this woman who was a classically educated musician, appassionata in the realm of poetry, literature, music, the sciences, viniculture, philosophy, the natural world and its raw materials. Clémentine went on to be mentored by Master Perfumers Amélie Bourgeois and Anne-Sophie Behagel (of Flair) at the Cinquième Sens school where she received formal training. Nothing good goes to waste: her journeys as a musician led to a coalescence between travel diary and olfactory poetry.
Tobacco Flower Botanical Print via The Antiquarium
In Brin de Peau (representative of France: each all-natural perfume created by the Parfumeurs du Monde explores an individual concept and material from a specific geographical locus.) we distinctly feel the Scented Skein traverse a physical/metaphysical tightrope in very real time. The chosen aromatic material fêted here is the exquisite tobacco flower.
Camino de Compostelavia via Pilgrim
Brin de Peau le champ des étoiles (loosely translated as “Wisp of Flesh, the field of stars”) arises from Mme. Humeau’s reflections as she trod the pilgrim’s path, that of Saint James of Compostela: Compostela means “field of stars” – Campus Stellae in Latin. Alternatively, there are those who choose to translate it as composita tella from the Vulgar Latin meaning burial ground, as Santiago de Compostela is traditionally believed to be the burial site of the apostle Saint James. The Way (as this journey is named) may easily take a month or more to complete on foot, and many legends swirl about its origins, significance and symbols. The best-known is the presence of the scallop shell as iconography – it is used to guide pilgrims along the many routes to Galician Spain, and they wear the symbol to better identify themselves along their travels. Some posit that seekers carried the shells with them in lieu of bowls for food and water. Others believe that the multiple lines which adorn its surface represent the various paths traveled from all around the world. Still other tales avow that St. James rescued a knight covered in scallop shells; that while the apostle’s remains were being carried from Jerusalem to Galicia, a knight on horseback fell into the sea and emerged covered in scallop shells. This is where the familiar French term “coquilles Saint-Jacques” originated, as those among us who relish these mollusk morsels will attest.
Santiago scallop via Marly Camino
Along the perfumer’s personal path (for every pilgrimage is personal) the ever-present panoply of odors swarms like a benevolent apparition. She experiences the exchange of aromas human, spectral, herbal, of flesh, well-worn shoes of supplicants. Each odor is transformative; Clémentine is permanently altered by their eloquence – she feels penetrated, bitten, pinched by them as related in her travel diary. It is overwhelming. Northeastern winds carry pastoral whispers of the Aubrac, the hay-infused aromas of caramel-colored cows in a laughing valley: vanilla, tea, mint, honeyed tobacco. I feel her acutely when she speaks of distilling herself upon another’s skin, leaving permanent vestiges of an olfactory tattoo.
Parfumeurs du Monde Logo
Brin de Peau is a skin scent, undeniably. As with all perfumes composed by the Parfumeurs du Monde, it is cruelty-free and botanical, 100% natural – so anticipating a nuclear sillage or longevity is not an option. The nature of the ephemeral is where Brin de Peau’s beauty lies.
Albrecht Dürer 1503 A Large Piece of Turf Wikipedia
“Je suis un brin. Un brin d’herbe haute.”
(“I am a wisp. A sprig of tall grass…”)
From the bracing bergamot which begins our journey under the blazing sun – the gentle solarity of turmeric woos jasmine and the tender footfall of mimosa is underpinned with fur. Ambrette expands on this theme; it’s in its element in the company of coumarinic-rich hay, dried grassy/floral/wine like tobacco. Tonka and benzoin sweeten the dulcet path, accompanied by the discreet grounding of cedar leaf. We are awash in spice, herb, blossom –rendered by a loving subtle hand into a haunting perfume swirling about and within our orbit. It will mark us as seekers – indelibly with ineffable grace.
Notes: bergamot, cedar leaf, curcuma (turmeric), mimosa, jasmine, ambrette seed, tobacco, tonka bean, hay, benzoin
~ Ida Meister, Senior Editor and Natural Perfumery Editor
My bottle was a gift from Thierry Bernard and Gwennaelle Saby – what a thing of beauty! I cherish it. My nose is my own…
The first Parfumeurs du Monde Michel Roudnitska, Isabelle Gellé, Thierry Bernard, Perrine Scandel, Eric Gigodot 2016
Editor’s note: Among her many gifts, Ida is a polyglot and painstakingly translated Clementine’s journal and the press release from French to English.
We have reviewed 2019’s Ujan by Thierry Bernard here, his 2018 Val d”Orca here and each fragrance from the inaugural 2016 collection from Michel Roudnitska (Agua Nativa), Kashi by Isabelle Gelle, Izwe by Perrine Scandel, Tsingy by Thierry Bernard, and Tzundha by Jean-Claude and Eric Gigadot here.
Parfumeurs du Monde Brin de Peau fused with grasses by Michelyn
Thanks to the generosity of Thierry Bernard and Parfumeurs du Monde we have a 30ml bottle of Parfumeurs du Monde Brin de Peau for a registered reader in the USA or EU. Please leave a comment telling us what you enjoyed about Ida’s review of Parfumeurs du Monde Brin de Peau and where you live. Draw closes 8/22/2020
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