Outlaw Perfumes: Amazing, and my conclusions (aka "Outroduction")

Amazing Eau de Parfum

Perfumer: Jo Anne Bassett

Man oh man has this got oakmoss. Real oakmoss! I love it! It comes leaping out from my skin and it’s unmistakable. On reading the letter that came with “Amazing,” I see that the perfumer started building the fragrance around an oakmoss absolute. 

After the citrus/oakmoss calms down a bit, the florals begin to peek out. There is a spiciness too, a bit of the kind that gets up your nose and tickles -- but just a little. One ingredient I didn’t recognize was muhuhu. It’s a wood essence, something like sandalwood but darker. (I had thought I’d smelled sandalwood, but it must be this instead.) It’s sometimes called “African Sandalwood.”

I would call this a mossy citrus with floral notes. I haven’t yet worn it all day, but my guess is that the oakmoss will make it last. Another perfume that could be worn anywhere, by anyone -- accessible, well-blended, uplifting.

Notes: Oakmoss, cassie, cinnamon, vintage jasmine, lemon verbena, rose otto, muhuhu, ginger, yuzu, rhododendron, benzoin, violet leaf, cinnamon leaf and “19 others,” all outlaws.

Unisex. Sits close to the skin. Longevity t.b.a, but I’m guessing it will be good.

Outlaw Perfumes: The Outroduction

And so I come to the end of this week of testing these artisanal perfumes, researching  the ingredients and writing about them. I just have a few conclusions:

Compulsive risk-taker that I am, I have tested all of these on skin, and some pretty delicate skin at that! And, although my skin is sensitive and prone to rashes, not one of these perfumes gave me even the slightest rash, even after sun exposure (admittedly, winter sun.) I examined the sites where I’d put the perfumes with a jeweler’s loup and saw no redness, no irritation, nothing. Just sayin’. I mean, I know it’s not unbiased and all, like the research the IFRA sponsors is. 

Oh, and I’ve sniffed them too, every kind of sniff from quick and repeated to deep and long inhalations, drawing air up into my sinuses. And haven't had so much as a sneeze or stuffy nose, either.

I like these perfumes, a lot. I sometimes wish they had more sillage. I’m not sure if there is any way around that when using botanicals. But heaven knows there are plenty of room-clearers out there in the mass perfume market; there is plenty of space for Subtle.

Finally: One more time for emphasis: these are perfect for the modern no-perfume office environment. They are aristocratic in lineage and attitude. They speak in a low, well-modulated voice, and they never screech or laugh too loud (or chew gum, for that matter).  If “Angel” is Lady GaGa, these are Grace Kelly. You get the mood-elevating effects of a personal fragrance, without having to put up with cubicle-dwelling harpies intent upon removing all pleasure from the world singling you out as an offender. And wouldn’t that be nice?

Thanks to all the perfumers, and bloggers, and especially to Anya McCoy and Elena Vosnaki for putting this together!

As always, leave a comment here to be entered in the drawing for a bottle of “Belle Starr” by Artemisia. I’ll do the drawing and announce the winner tomorrow (Tuesday) November 23^rd by 11 a.m. Eastern US Standard Time.