Visiteur Cabaret Nocturne 

It’s my pleasure to introduce you to a new niche perfumes brand:  Visiteur, founded in 2018 by Janne Rainer Vuorenmaa from Sweden, with three initial fragrances and everything almost fully prepared for the official launch announced for December 2019/January 2020 – this time Janne means it, give or take a week or two!  I met with Janne at 2019 Pitti Fragranze (tap me on a shoulder when you see me in Florence – so I did), and listened to him talk about his childhood days spent in Finland, sauna rituals, dark lakes, travels and perfumes, influence of bits and pieces from the past that we carry into present, and distortion of memories. Janne talked, and I listened and sampled his perfumes.

He has been preparing the brand launch for a year now, carefully and thoughtfully threading all the necessary steps, taking his time. Janne chose to trust three young perfumers with his ideas and briefs: Cécile Zarkoian with Visiteur Cabaret Nocturne, Patrice Revillard (co creator of Fath L’Iris de Fath) with Beach Bizzare, and Marie Schnierer with Thousand Lakes.

Janne Reiner Vuorenmaa, photo by Visiteur

Janne was kind and patient to answer some questions so you might get to know him better:

Why did you decide to start up a perfume brand?

JRV:  I have been strongly affected by scent ever since my early childhood, and as a little boy I played around with anything smelly. It could be rubbing a cassis leaf between my fingers, and smelling the aroma which reminded me of a crossbreed between an innocent little berry and cat piss. It was, however, not until my early teens when I started to discover perfume. The idea of a brand was present in my mind for many years before I finally had the resources to approach it in the Spring of 2017. What has been delaying me lately are the caps and box design! The current forecast for the launch is December 2019/January 2020.

Visiteur Is Coming Soon, photo by Visiteur

What are you trying to say, and what makes your perfumes different from all the other niche brands already present at the market?

JRV: Visiteur became my form of self-therapy where I could finally fully express what I have been carrying with me throughout the years. So far each fragrance is based on a moment and a place in time lived by yours truly. When thinking back of these events I see them through a blurry lens. Memories fade with time and can become distorted and incoherent. Each sensation does also has its own inherent balance between darkness and light. None of those deserve to be put in the corner. We are all full of contrasts between darkness/light, happiness/sorrow, and love/hate and  that is what will bring forward. Contrasts of life for better or worse.

 Visiteur Perfumes, photo by Visiteur

Describe the idea behind this trio in one sentence, please.

JRV: “Sensations are temporary and memories are fleeting. In the end, we are merely VISITORS in our own reality”.

Pensao Amor Club in Lisboa, photo by Visiteur

Tell me more about Cabaret Nocturne Cécile created for you. What olfactory memory triggered its creation?

JRV: Years ago a group of friends and I spent a long weekend in Lisbon. By recommendation, we ended up in this place (Pensao Amor Club) which you could hardly see from the outside. The only object showing a sign of life was a tiny red lightbulb above the door. The entrance and the stairs up were worn out and trashy but once upstairs the decadent interiors revealed itself. It turned out the used to serve as a brothel in the past and judging by the interiors they did not try to hide it today. It was a bizarre mix of the dark days of the past and the contemporary upbeat of today. The venue was filled with young boys and girls dancing, drinking and smoking. The scent of body odor spilled out alcoholic drinks and cigarette smoke was almost tangible. Then in the middle of it all, I could feel the smell of tuberose. Only there was no tuberose around to be smelled!

Years later when Visiteur was about to take form I knew I had to do something about this scented memory from Lisbon. The first perfumer that came to my mind was Cécile Zarokian, mostly because of the way she handles bombastic florals. I met her in her lab in Paris and showed her the briefs of the three first perfumes. I showed her all of them because I wanted to know if there was a particular one she felt the most connection with. I like to think I appeared calm but in the back of my mind, I was screaming “Pick Cabaret!!! Pick Cabaret!!”. And I am so glad she did! It took us three trials before we agreed upon it. The two other perfumes required a longer time, about a year each.

 Visiteur Cabaret Nocturne Atmosphere, photo by Visiteur

She did, indeed. I was immediately drawn to  Visiteur Cabaret Nocturne first (working title: Pensao Amor) because I’m a big fan of cabaret and burlesque performances, costumes, music, atmosphere, and artists. That specific form of escapism, a distraction from the real-life, are worlds within this world providing a momentary reprieve from daily circumstances – just like perfume sometimes, before you snap right into reality. Life is a cabaret, my friend, Lisa Minelli, night clubs in Berlin and Prague, Christina Aguilera singing in the movie Burlesque, Comme ils dissent sung by Charles Aznavour, obscure bars in dark corners of harbours in Portugal, and images, tastes, sounds and scents racing through my mind as Cabaret Nocturne developed on my skin.

 Cabaret Nocturne, Let the Show Begin, photo by Visiteur

Visiteur Cabaret Nocturne enters the stage with an inviting atmosphere of here and now, present times, warm nights and cold drinks in Lisboa, Portugal: glasses with gin-cocktails and orange juice are mixed up on a table before you and your friends, the scents mixing up and flowing around you in the warm air inside of the club. Relaxed, inviting, an atmosphere full of promises. Florals are white and tenderly smooth as freshly picked buds, with a clean and greener facet of tuberose – the one that’s almost herbal, singing in a higher-pitched voice. The night is still young.

 Cabaret Nocturne By Elena

It’s obvious right from the start that what Zarokian does to tuberose accords used in this perfume is very much like what Spring does with cherry trees:  Visiteur Cabaret Nocturne is an opulent floral, tuberose-suggestive rhapsody, and all the ardent tuberose fans will surely rejoice in it, while some detractors of the same might find it interesting for a change.

 Lou de Boudoir Cabaret Performance, photo by Severin Dostal

In later phases of the Cabaret Nocturne, after all the drinks are gone and as the night progresses, the heavy red velvet curtains have been pulled aside –  the show is now in full swing. It feels like the two parallel worlds have met, present and past, with a very smoothly delivered transition, a change in rhythm and the atmosphere of the fragrance is easily discerned. Visiteur Cabaret Nocturne slowly reveals layers that come with strings attaching them to the past, unmade beds in empty rooms charged by an hourly rate, smoky trails of tobacco still lingering around closed curtains that visiting sailors left behind, cabaret backstage dressing rooms soaked in sweeter and darker, ambery scent of  silk gloves and stockings on naked, slightly sweaty skin, complicated burlesque costumes laid out and prepped-up for the show, black eye-pencils, red lipstick and white powder, and the cold sweat of stage-fright/excitement.

Lou de Boudoir, photo by Severin Dostal

This slide into a darker, inner side draws you in, you become a part of this exuberant marriage of present and past: more dramatic facets of the composition slowly but inevitably take over. The presence of tuberose is felt, not plainly visible or openly served, lurking beneath layers of carefully applied makeup, lingering among furniture, floors, walls and ceilings – you can see its shiny carnal teeth in the dark, its robes elaborately designed and seductive, with a dominant allure, asking you to come closer and experience it fully, to enter it’s world.

Burlesque Act I, photo by Severin Dostal

It’s decadent but promising, extravagant with an animalic, slightly sultry-bitter finale that eventually gets thick and creamy, and lasts for hours and hours – the longevity of this fragrance is exceptional. It also never tips over to the “vulgar“, overly sweet or uncontrolled-indolic side that many may find unpleasant.

Visiteur Cabaret Nocturne remains elegant and classy at all times, with a finely executed, overall bold and modernist, unisex wearable take.

Life is a cabaret, my friend, and  Visiteur Cabaret Nocturne delivers an exceptional experience and performance!

Notes: Gin accord, Pink pepper, Orange, Smoke, Sandalwood / Powdery notes, Tuberose, Tobacco, Cumin, Animalic notes.

–Elena Cvjetkovic, Senior  Contributor

Disclaimer: I received 3x2ml sample set from Janne as a gift in Florence, opinions – as always- of my own.

 

Visiteur Perfume Samples, photo by Elena Cvjetkovic

Thanks to the generosity of Visiteur we have avant premier 3x2ml discovery set for one registered reader worldwide. You must be registered or you will be ineligible. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what appeals to you about Cabaret Nocturne based on Elena’s review and where you live.  Draw closes 11/5/2019

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