Nasomatto Nuda: No Boundaries

Nuda- aka “nude”- is the eighth fragrance in the Nasomatto line, based in Amsterdam.
It’s the one of the line that I would absolutely shell out the required dosh for- no lie.
The one of which I’m truly fond, and find so joyfully wearable

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Montale Mango Manga: An Animated Fruity Floral

The Japanese market has always been seen as a market, maybe even a world, apart from Western aesthetics. The assumption behind the great majority of fragrances inspired by or for a Japanese aesthetic is that light clean lines are what are desired. When I am thinking about fragrance Houses that embody that kind of style, one that would be low on my list would be Montale. It was with a great deal of surprise when I read in 2005 that Montale was making a Japanese market exclusive fragrance, Mango Manga. I thought it would be so very interesting to see a perfumer who is all about bold powerful notes try and adapt his style for this different audience. Now in 2010 Mango Manga has been released to the rest of the world and we can all enjoy Pierre Montale’s Eastern vision.

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Caron Parfum Sacre Intense: If The IFRA Gives You Lemons….

Parfum Sacre was a spice and amber laden rose fragrance that surrounded the central rose note with a warm enveloping spicy grouping of notes. It was surprisingly light for a fragrance full of intense notes. When I first smelled Parfum Sacre it was an opulent fragrance. I was shocked to find the currently reformulated version of Parfum Sacre to be a wan imitation of the original. Once again the heavy hand of IFRA and their regulations had squeezed the lush juice out of a memorable fragrance and neutered Parfum Sacre in the process. Because of that disappointment my level of skepticism with the new 2010 release Parfum Sacre Intense was very high. What I found, instead, was a perfume House which found a way to pay tribute to the original Parfum Sacre and somehow create a new fragrance that allows it to surpass the current formulation of the original.

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EnVoyage Perfumes Carmel de Ville: Olfactive Landscapes Of The Monterey Peninsula

Certainly one of the most successful examples of this kind of artistry are the first two fragrances in Hermes “Un Jardin” series; Un Jardin en Mediterranee and Un Jardin sur Le Nil. For both of those fragrances the perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena spent time in the Meditteranean and near The Nile and let his nose become the way we would experience his impressions of those locales. I am reminded of this by perfumer Shelley Waddington and her Carmel By The Sea Series for her Envoyage Perfumes label

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