In the Pines, Phoenix Botanicals’ Irina Adam photo @irina
Natural Perfumer Irina Adam of Phoenix Botanicals amasses inspiration from neighboring environs, local micro-enclaves of natural beauty. One of her more recent releases, In The Pines – probes the Long Island pine barrens (Irina refers to it as “an enchanted coastal terrain”), resplendent with the sap of conifers, oak wood and birch peppered with blooming yellow heather. It is a scrubby, windswept landscape in which native flora adapt to buffeting air currents and salinity – tree trunks twisted this way and that, gnarled through relentless transfiguration. That which is predisposed to flourish does: moss, grasses of varying heights, a mixed deciduous forest. City dwellers must seek out respite as they can, and fortunately one may find many such oases quite close to NYC (consider Frederick Law Olmsted’s contributions – NYC’s renowned Central Park, Prospect Park in Brooklyn, for example). Phoenix Botanicals in the Pines spirits you away from daily devoirs with a well-placed dab or two.
Irina supine amidst the pines
In The Pines commences with an initial spicy citrus accord, as a sunlit shaft of conifer-inflected mandarin intrigues your nostrils (or so it smells!). Shortly thereafter an intimate herbal/floral tone makes its subtle presence known, infused with wispy birch tar. Wispy birch tar? Yes, there is such a note if you are Irina Adam; her perfumes are nothing if not delicately artistic. It is unlikely that you would handle palo santo with such aplomb, showcasing its creaminess – or that oud would be employed with the merest caress. Pine pitch in her hands is but a wraith trailing upon the wind’s coattails; oak is insinuated, an olfactory sotto voce humming sound.
Retsina image from blog.gastronomytours.gr
In The Pines resembles a bashful eau-de-vie: with its feathery amber and traces of berry it develops into an attenuated Retsina (a Greek white wine infused with Aleppo Pine sap) aroma which feels salty and comforting. Its discreet resinous personality is easily worn and sits very close to the flesh; one has to lean in in order to appreciate it fully. For those who crave sillage, this would not be a favored choice – but if you delight in a more personal pleasure, In The Pines would be most welcome. Being a sylvan creature by design, I find it graceful and gracious.
Notes: pine bouquet, heather accord, juniper, palo santo, birch, berry, amber, oudh, pine pitch, oak
5 ml flacon kindly provided by the perfumer, Irina Adam – many thanks! My nose is my own…
~ Ida Meister, Senior Editor and Natural Perfumery Editor, all photo Irina except where specified
Editor’s Note: Irina is a 2 X Art and Olfaction Finalist for The Artisan category: Vanilla and The Sea and Peach Tree
Thanks to the generosity of Irina Adam of Phoenix Botanicals we have a 5 ml flacon of Phoenix Botanicals In the Pines perfume for one registered reader anywhere in the world. You must register here or your comment will not count. To be eligible, please comment upon what appealed to you in Ida’s review of In The Pines. Do you have a favorite Phoenix Botanicals perfume? Draw closes 10/12/2019
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