Niche Perfume

Nuit de Bakelite by Naomi Goodsir
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Nuit de Bakelite by Naomi Goodsir

Hello, Hello, Hello! As you in the Northern Hemisphere enjoy the trill of cool weather and as we hit the scorching heat I thought we should look at an amazing but very queer fish. Jin and I were lucky enough to be in Esxence in 2017 when it was launched. Naomi Goodsir had taken a room in the nearby Grand Hotel and wrapped it all in a luminous almost white green. Everything. It looked like Christo and Jeanne-Claude had waded in, swathes of fabric ready to wrap. There were also strangely compelling installations of soft sculpture that I can’t really remember clearly but was open mouthed in wonder at. I had the usual five or so minutes and had not expected to be alone with Naomi and her business partner. Thinking it would be a bunch of perfumista journalists in a Q&A, and hoping to piggyback off their collective inquiries. Being face to face with the startlingly beautiful Naomi Goodsir was a terrifying treat.

This review is spurred by my popping over to the Naomi Goodsir site and all the perfumes are now unavailable to buy. Quelle Horreur! So I ran to my bottle and spritzed. I can still see them available in online stores with no disclaimer so I’m not currently freaking hardcore.

Also, this is my mate Scotty’s favourite from the line. He wears it like it was made just for him.

Nuit de Bakelite by Naomi Goodsir 2017

Nuit de Bakelite by Naomi Goodsir

 

Instead of a note list we are given some very Serge Lutens gobbledygook, with some featured accords thrown in “A green, obsessive & addictive composition supported by tuberose abs, galbanum, angélique flower, fleur d’immortelle, wooden & leather notes & styrax. A focus on the small peduncle that connects the flower to the stem, the sound of latex when several stalks of tuberose tangle, the wild majesty of the Persian tuberose. Inspiration – The premise of a narcotic lady”

Peony Melbourne gives these featured accords:
Top: Galbanum
Heart: Tuberose, Bakelite Accord
Base: Cistus Labdanum

Created by one of the main perfumers for Annick Goutal, Isabelle Doyen, and reminiscent in style to some of her more tapestried works for that brand. I feel one of her true abilities is creating fragrant chiaroscuro (brilliant light and inky darkness) that sets up a beautiful harmonious dualism. It’s alluring and just a little fractious, like a fragrant contrapuntal. I find myself searching for how she makes something feel so simple from arms length, yet incredibly multi faceted up close.

Nuit de Bakelite is no exception.

The opening is galbanum and petrol, smoke and char. Nuit de Bakelite is NOT for the faint hearted. It is the heart of a tree nymph, a moss covered Ent and a reed ringed shallow lake that is heading stagnant. Dark, dank and ridiculously gorgeous. So alluring, even though it may be to your death.

Who knows what a bakelite accord is? If it’s the burning tyre hiding behind the greenery then maybe that was the intention.

Nuit de Bakelite is laugh out loud gorgeous and repellent in equal measure. The first hour is utterly bewildering.

Nuit de Bakelite Naomi Goodsir

Once the fireworks settle I’m left with a shady riverside glen. peaceful, cool and restful. The scent of a dream of the kind of place you can watch butterflies and dragonflies flying through dappled sunlight.

Unisex. Longevity is well out of the ballpark and diffusion is huge for the first hour and then calms considerably. You’ll be fragrant, but not aggressively so, all day.

 

Do you think Nuit de Bakelite sounds wearable or too confrontational for you?
Portia xx

 

Escapade a Byzance by Olibere
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Escapade a Byzance by Olibere

Hi there ULGers, A perfume crew that is rarely cited on the scentbloggosphere is Olibere. I’m not sure why. Here are my thoughts. They’re not a huge conglomerate with millions to spend on hype, they don’t use influencers, they’re a bit too good for the modern perfume bro but not classic or strange enough for the super perfumista crowd. I’ve got a couple of faves from them but today I thought we could talk about Escapade a Byzance.  Mainly because this year it turns 10 years old ! That’s a big deal in modern perfume years. Especially from a fairly under the radar house. I’ve had a 20ml travel of it for a while and it gets enough wear that it’s nearly half gone.

From Olibere: “A gourmand, warm, spicy and carnal fragrance, which will take you to the heart of a Moroccan souk. Perfume inspired by the film « The sheltering sky », shot in Morocco.”

I’m also loving that the brand’s blurb and my recent Morocco holiday are so well aligned.

Escapade a Byzance by Olibere 2015

Escapade a Byzance by Olibere

Olibere gives these featured accords:
Top: Black Pepper, Cinnamon, Saffron, Ginger, Cumin, Citrus
Heart: Cypress, Carnation, Incense
Base: Vanilla, Benzoin, Musk, Amber, Patchouli, Vetiver, Atlas Cedar

Opening is a warm vanilla rich amber that is given some extra spicy bells and whistles and interestingly the ginger gives it a very sharp green spiced effect, like biting into really expensive bitter dark chocolate ginger. It’s such an attention grabbing first few minutes.

Once we head to the heart Escapade a Byzance becomes a fragrance wholly blended to become itself, rather than outstanding notes. It’s a surprisingly dusty melange of spices, flowers, woods and a smoky overlay on a base of patchouli/amber. Today I’m wearing it in 27C/80f and it is blooming beautifully. I love that the bells and whistles last longer than just the opening and head with us into dry down.

Escapade a Byzance by Olibere

Dry down becomes more about the patchouli and a raunchy musk. The amber, spice and smoke are much more noticeable as the heft of Escapade a Byzance lowers. Maybe two hours in and the fireworks have calmed. I’m still fragrant 7 hours later but at a much lower projection. Now I need to move a bit to get a proper huff out of my top.

Unisex but leaning traditional and with excellent longevity. Does Escapade a Byzance remind me of being in a Moroccan souk? Yes and no. This is a fantasized glamorous rendering that amps up all the good bits and leaves out most of the cooking and less attractive parts. So a beautiful, technicolor dream of a Moroccan souk.

Do you know the Olibere Parfums brand?
Portia xx

 

Grenadille d’Afrique by Aedes de Venustas
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Grenadille d’Afrique by Aedes de Venustas

Hi there ULGers, Another find in the Decant Demolition 2025 oeuvre Grenadille d’Afrique by Alberto Morillas is one of the much lesser known Aedes de Venustas fragrances. It was released in 2016 and had a flurry of scentbloggosphere reviews and then radio silence. So it’s quite nice to refind it, even though about 70% has evaporated and it’s definitely had oxygenation. I’m seriously loving this extrait version though and you can still find it available at Aedes and other major niche retailers.

Grenadille d’Afrique by Aedes de Venustas

Grenadille d'Afrique Aedes de Venustas

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Bergamot, Lavender, Violet, Juniper, Vetiver, Labdanum, African blackwood, Vanilla, Musk

Lavender, Juniper and dry grass vetiver all jump out immediately when I spritz Grenadille d’Afrique. This is a calm and classy fragrance with no screech or overwhelming fireworks at opening. A smooth, clear, cool and unusual opening. Like walking into a very expensive wooden hotel in the mountains that has a spa on site and forests outside. I can smell the beeswax and resins used to keep the wood pristine.

Grenadille d’Afrique or Grenadilla of Africa, means African Blackwood. A small tree from the driest parts of Africa, Senegal and Eritrea to South Africa that is threatened with extinction from overharvesting. The wood is used in musical instruments and furniture.

Once we reach the heart a spicy, charred wood emerges. It’s dark and meditative. Deep. Slowly it sweetens as the vanilla and labdanum come through. Not amber or candy sweet, just a lift. A smoothing off and rounding of the ingredients. Now Grenadille d’Afrique starts to smell very expensive.

Dry down is very nice too. An amorphous vanilla/woodsy fade to nothing

Did you try, or buy, Grenadille d’Afrique? Might you?
Portia xx

No. 09 L’Eau Blanche by IUNX
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No. 09 L’Eau Blanche by IUNX

Hiya ULGers. Yes, here’s another decant found in my Decant Demolition 2025 adventure over on Perfume Posse. I’m one of the few who ever had a good experience with the staff at the Paris IUNX store. Obviously the grumpy old guy was a steaming turd but Anna Maria and I happened across a delightful girl one day that had come to Australia and knew her family through a job she had in Oz. It was utterly surreal. If you remember the stupid bottles their fragrances were housed in? Totally unacceptable, top heavy towers that fell over and smashed if you looked at them. Idiocy. So I only bought the travel size and only Splash Forte. Then they closed their doors for the second or third time and died. Once when we were in the shop with old grumpy guts salesman and the gorgeous Denyse Beaulieu two women of some Asian heritage came in and bought complete sets each of the big unsteady bottles. It was so cool and a LOT of $$$. We were gobsmacked. Anyway, on to L’Eau Blanche. My decant is from a Surrender To Chance sale a few years ago and has probably evaporated 60% so I’m writing about an oxidized extrait version.

No. 09 L’Eau Blanche by IUNX

These were the featured notes:
White Iris, Floral Notes, Teak Wood

Olivia Giacobetti is a famous nose. She created such fabulous firsts as Premier Figuier and Tea for Two at L’Artisan, Costes Hotel fragrances, Malle En Passant and Hermès Hiris and many more. Her IUNX range was very low key but beautifully subtle, I called them introverted perfumes and stand by it. Funny thing though, the hard core perfumistas went ape shit for them. While I was still pushing the envelope with intensity and weirdness the cool crew were eating this up. I think it’s how I came to them.

Soft iris but not a heavily woody or bready open, much more like scrunching up crabapple and stock petals, maybe even a couple of roses. It’s powdery like running a petal across your cheek but also a little vegetal and sappy sharp, like broken hyacinth stems. There is a feeling of the modern designer peony fragrance but done for a much more discerning client. Imagine a stark rendering of CHANEL No 18.

No. 09 L’Eau Blanche by IUNX

This oxidized extrait version of L’Eau Blanche is wearing so close to my skin but when I move it scents the air magnificently for the briefest moment and then fades to memory until I move again. Heavenly. You’ll note I’ve been wearing it almost to the dregs and LOVING IT!

Did you ever get your sniff on L’Eau Blanche?
Portia xx

 

Gentry Jockey Club Oriza L. Legrand
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Gentry Jockey Club Oriza L. Legrand

Heya Crew. Since their resurrection I’ve loved and followed the continuing brilliance of the Oriza L. Legrand house. It’s a house that has its fair share of devotees but if the style doesn’t work for you then maybe only three or four of their oeuvre will smell good to and on you. Luckily I love powdery, billowing, over the top glamstrosities that wear divinely on men and women alike. Actually wearing a big fluffy powder bomb feels unbelievably subversive as I wander the shops and mall here in Parramatta, or even in Sydney CBD. I feel like we perfumed gents are living in a golden age where not only the gays but the whole bro-niverse is smelling fine. So my wafts are not out of place, just regular Joe. Gentry Jockey Club is one fragrance that might fit for you if the Oriza main body of work isn’t your style.

Gentry Jockey Club by Oriza L. Legrand 2017

Gentry Jockey Club Oriza L. Legrand

Oriza L Legrand gives these featured accords:
Top: Ylang, Saffron
Heart: Iris Pallida, Leathery notes, Birch essence
Base: Sandalwood, Tonka Bean, Vetiver.

That beautiful, creamy ylang, sandalwood and dry cardboard/lipstick iris are totally contrasted by the scratchy saffron and birch. While Gentry Jockey Club is a leather fragrance it is also so much more. PLUS there’s nary a hint of powder anywhere near this perfume.

Things I’m surprised are not in the note list, plum, raspberry or some dark sweet fruit and resins like myrrh, labdanum or even elemi. The notes do not seem to cover the wealth of breadth Gentry Jockey Club displays. It’s in the same wheelhouse as Daim Blond or Bottega Veneta EdP but does it so differently. Dryer, less fashion and more… it’s not like working leather, or even boots. I’m really finding it difficult to pigeon hole. Yes leather, yes some fruit, some smoky resin, plush and creamy ylang and sandalwood but with zero Samsara feel. Through the heart and into the base I get a drying hay waft and some engine oil.

Gentry Jockey Club by Oriza L. Legrand

If Bandit was created in the 21st century then I think this is how it would smell. Two enthusiastic thumbs up. Unisex leaning towards traditional masculine with moderate projection and awesome longevity. If you want to smell good all day without the need for touch ups. Different from the crowd but well under the weird factor. If your job is based on solid structure but you need to be (or smell like) an effective think outside the box-er but not a maverick then I’m thinking Gentry Jockey Club might be perfect fit. It’s also bloody sexy on Jin.

Sadly I have no memory of where this decant came from. There’s maybe 4 of 10ml left and I’m enjoying it immensely.

Are you a leather or Oriza Legrand fan? Favourites?
Portia xx

Ambre Mythique by Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier
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Ambre Mythique by Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier

Hi there Looking Glassers, While you’re still stuck in cool weather but heading into warmer I thought we could look at one more gorgeous amber. Just for the love of it. Most of you would have heard of Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier ‘… founded in 1988 by the renowned perfumer Jean-François Laporte. Rooted in the tradition of 17th-century French perfumery, the brand draws its inspiration from travel, the world of opera, and baroque aesthetics.’ You’ll know Jean Laport from creating l’Artisan Parfumeur in 1976. He is quite the innovator and even when he is working within a trope he does it so flawlessly it’s like the idea has been perfected. Sadly the house has been lost in all the noise of new.

Ambre Mythique by Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier 2016

Ambre Mythique by Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier

Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, Geranium, Coriander, Incense
Heart: Myrrh, Lavender, Ciste labdanum
Base: Patchouli, Vanilla, Sandalwood, Tonka Beans

For many of the readers here a new amber perfume is the last thing on their list of needs. Yes, I’m much the same. Amber is one of my great perfume loves and the wardrobe is bristling with them. Last winter less than half of them even got worn. Yet, had I been in a shop with funds for spending I’d own the 120ml bottle already.

Opening with a deep patchouli/labdanum/incense smokiness, Ambre Mythique is furry and goat-ish but also has a whisper of crisp rose and greenery. A seriously warming fragrance that is leaning heavily into the heat here in the dying gasps of Sydney summer. Fire, smoke, woods and that beautiful animalic resinous sweetness of amber. So rich and burnished.

Very diffusive but not a screaming beast, longevity is off the charts. Spritz at 6am and you’ll still smell the rich remnants at midnight. GAH! I really want a full bottle of Ambre Mythique right now.

Ambre Mythique by Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier

You can see I just shook the decant in the photo before spritzing because some of the ingredients had sedimented over time. There’s only about 2ml left and it is a glorious amber colour.

LuckyScent still has bottles and samples

Are you a too many ambers person or is there room for one more?
Portia xx

Bois Sikar by Atelier des Ors
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Bois Sikar by Atelier des Ors

Heya Crew! Do you have brands that you sincerely love yet you have never bought a full bottle? This is my story with Atelier des Ors. Way back when I went to Esxence Megan even offered me a bottle of their newest release but I knew my bag was right at the limit so asked for a couple of sets of samples, one for me and one for a giveaway. Kicking myself ever since. Their bottles are so beautiful, I love the gold flakes and the fragrances are all so thoughtfully produced. Dozens of times I’ve had them in my basket but they just never seem to make it all the way through checkout. So I’m currently retrying a few to decide which one I’ll buy to congratulate myself on finishing my Celebrant Course (when I finally do!).

Bois Sikar by Atelier des Ors 2018

Bois Sikar by Atelier des Ors

Atelier des Ors gives these featured accords:
Top: Nutmeg, Precious Wood, Guaiac Wood
Heart: Vetiver, Styrax, Cedar Leef
Base: Tobacco Absolute, Cyrpiol, Incense

It’s easy to know why Bois Sikar is near the top of my to try list. Tobacco/wood/incense are all in my wheelhouse, add some spices and resins and I’m right there, front and center. of course, Atelier des Ors does it in their own way so let’s chat about it.

Dark, charred, smoky woods open Bois Sikar. There is also the smell of greenery torn and trodden. Like the cold dawn on a campsite with only coals left in the fire pit and the smell of dew drying on the trees. Add the scent of kicked up leaf mulch and someone not very far away cooking super crispy bacon.

As we head towards the heart resinous tobacco becomes noticeable and Bois Sikar becomes a warm fragrance. Lightly spiced and cozy with the smoke of burning incense wafting through. Some of you may remember the spicy woods of the 1980s mens fragrances? Imagine that genre but elevated by interesting, modern style. It’s almost oudh-y and has a deep whiff of band aid and barnyard.

Bois Sikar by Atelier des Ors decant

The base is very traditionally masculine woods, dark and mysterious. It stays interesting and a little raunchy right to fade. Having said traditionally masculine, I know you are mostly for sex free scenting, me too, but giving you the traditional names means you have a place to start in your head while reading. So, obviously, if you like the sound of Bois Sikar then it doesn’t matter where you lie on the scale, try it. You never know.

Were/are you a Bois Sikar devotee?
Portia xx

I bought my decant from Surrender To Chance.

Secret Joly Oriza L. Legrand
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Secret Joly Oriza L. Legrand

Howdy ULGers! I was trawling around in my cupboards this week and wasn’t quite sure what was going to get the spritz. I had plenty of time and a hankering for a forgotten beauty. Something I love but that has sat unremembered for a long while. The box with my Oriza also has Robert Piguet, Andrea Maack and Miller et Bertaux. To be honest, I thought it was going to be a Piguet kinda day. Maybe Bois Bleu or Alameda. When I looked in the box Secret Joly, a fragrance I’ve not worn in ages, called my name. OK. So I spritzed, and remembered why I bought it in the first place. I’ve pulled it out of the cupboard and it’s now own my desk. So wearing it for the third time in less than a fortnight I realized it needed a post.

Secret Joly by Oriza L. Legrand 2020

Oriza Legrand gives these featured accords:
Top: Hyacinth, Ylang-Ylang
Heart: Gardenia, Tuberose, Jasmine Sambac
Base: Civet, Tonkin Musk, Peruvian Balsam

Floral creaminess, a rich and hefty tropical miasma that is utterly entrancing. Secret Joly smells like nothing else but also has hints of a sneaky side eye reference to the BWF stunners of the 1980s. I think it’s the animalic undertow. Already the chosen flowers are pretty meaty but add some civet and musk style depths and GROWL.

If you’re expecting some gardenia blue cheese you will be disappointed. Well, it doesn’t show up on my wearings.

Normally I save Secret Joly for cool weather wearings. It is so ripe and warm and feels really cozy. Today is 36C and super humid here in Sydney and THIS PERFUME HAS BLOOMED!  I just took the dogs for a walk and the combination with the days heat and my bodies extra walking warmth and a bit of sweaty man. WHOA NELLY! I smell amazing. Eye rolling, mind blowing, heart racing amazing.

The last few wears since rediscovering Secret Joly have been fairly sedentary. Yesterday, by the time I went to aquarobics most of Secret Joly must have burned off beforehand because I just got some pretty reawakening and then the last vestiges washed off.

Definitely aimed at the girls but only a minor stretch to the guys and it smells F I N E!

Did you ever get your sniff on Secret Joly?
Portia xx

 

P.S. I also really loved Oriza Scotch Lavender and wish I’d bought a bottle.

Ombre Nomad by Louis Vuitton
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Ombre Nomad by Louis Vuitton

OK Looking Glass peeps, A mate of mine decanted this from his bottle for me. Bought it, not a gift. I remember trying Ombre Nomade in store when it was released and thinking it was very nice but wasn’t ready to lay down that kind of money to have a bottle. So I have had this 10ml a few years and every now and then I get the urge. HA! Trying to find it today was a bit of a thing. In my memory it was a gold bottle with white sticker so I overlooked this decant at least 10 times before the light dawned. Time just evaporates sometimes. My seriously scheduled day derailed. Oh Well, going with the flow.

Ombre Nomad by Louis Vuitton 2018

Ombre Nomade Louis Vuitton

 

Louis Vuitton gives these featured accords:
Oud Wood, Frankincense, Raspberry, Benzoin Tears

There has been a lot of talk in recent years about that smoky woods amber oud style base that is so prevalent in modern niche perfumery. It’s in so much and I can understand why people are bored of it or it may bring on migraines because some people just don’t have a stop spritzing button. I feel like every era of perfume has a few bases it works with. We look back at the 1970s floral chypres with such reverence but they do all smell within a certain wheelhouse. Then we had an era of spicy, amber rich florals which segued into the Big White Floral and then moved on to aquatics. See, eras of perfume are defined by certain styles. In 20 years time the kids now will be begging for confectionary gourmands, middle eastern style rose oudhs and heavily smoked woody ambers.

So here we have a smoky woods amber oud with raspberry as the defining difference. It’s fairly bombastic and smells pretty good. Actually, there are some marked similarities to Creed Carmina. While not the same they do have some crossover but Ombre Nomade is far less screechy and desperate for attention.

Ombre Nomade Louis Vuitton

I really like the way Ombre Nomade opens with darkness, a slightly medicinal woody oudh. Then it lets the raspberry sinuously slide in, snakelike and beautifully alluring. This is where the fragrance hits Carmina buttons and skews a little cough syrup, but luxuriously here and low key. Then a smoky amber woods comes through and pumps out long after I’ve lost the ability to smell it. The most common remark is that it smells like a smoky leather.

Masculine leaning unisex, extraordinary longevity and quite diffusive even when I can’t smell it anymore.

Did you ever?
Portia xx

 

Portia 56
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Portia 56

Hey there ULG crew. Yes, it’s birthday time. This year I’m leaning into the celebration.

Sunday night trivia at Austral Bowling Club they had a cake for me. Here is my super butch reaction to snuffing the candle with wet fingers.

Just had my Birthday phone call from Varun in India (my last long term partner) can’t believe he left Australia 22 years ago. Still miss his stupid face.

My Birthday day (Wednesday 25th) is all about study because I’ve been too busy to get anything done in the last week and I have stuff due. Actually due weeks ago. It’s causing me stomach curdling anxiety. Thing is, weddings, extra gigs and funerals aren’t something that can be put off.

The evening will be Trivia with my Greystanes Inn crew. Jin, BFF Kath and her Dad are coming for that. I’m pretty happy with this small scale on the day event.

Thursday night Jin is taking us to the Darling Harbour Sofitel for the night with dinner at a restaurant I like and hotel breakfast. Just us. Super chill.

Saturday we are having a bit of a party at the local Chinese restaurant. It serves Authentic 1970s Australian Chinese Food. Believe me, it’s a thing. We have this extraordinary history of Aussie Chinese. It’s getting hard to find nowadays because everyone is going much more Traditional Chinese FROM China. Anyway, it’s cheap as chips and the food is So Good!

It has been a toss up whether to buy a big ticket perfume that’s been on the To Buy List or art. I haven’t been able to decide, and we already have a surfeit of both. So I’m hoarding my money for our November family trip to Taiwan.

Rahele by Neela Vermeire Creations is my birthday perfume. It’s the scent of events ever since our wedding in 2018. It has been the perfect fragrance for important moments because it’s beautiful enough to be intoxicating but not so overwhelming it takes precedence. Osmanthus, violet and mossy leather with a whole bouquet to back it up. Perfection.

Notes of green mandarin, cardamom, cinnamon, violet leaf, osmanthus, rose, magnolia, jasmine, iris, violet, cedar, sandalwood, oakmoss, patchouli and leather.

Well, I’m off to get things done,
Portia xx