Friday, November 19, 2010

Outlaw Perfumes: Notoriety


Notoriety
Perfumer: Jane Cate,  A Wing and A Prayer Perfumes
I like this one a lot, as I’m a sucker for any mixture involving quality rose essences. This does, and more.
Using the triad approach for testing -- on paper exposed to air, on paper held next to skin and...horrors!...on skin itself -- I find that the trajectory is similar to other naturals I’ve tried. (I should mention that my skin is capable of burning through anything in double-time.) The drydown on this is a creamy amber-rose with a bit of oakmoss punching through it: very nice. 
“Notoriety” reminds me of some of the fragrances the Parisian perfume company Rosine features, which are all about rose, but do use synthetics. There is a velvety quality to this scent that none of those have, though, and it makes the perfume more sensual. The perfumer states that she was interested in making a fernlike fragrance infused with a floral, and, although “fern” is more an idea than actual scent, I think she has succeeded. Worn on my skin alone, the fragrance is a little sweeter than on paper held to skin, and that’s a good quality -- a choice.

The perfumer says that she uses the concept of a muse when assembling a scent. In this case she thought of Etta Place (the “girl” in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid), the dancer Isadora Duncan and Lillie Langtry, the 19th century actress who was also the mistress of Edward VII -- how about that Royal Family, eh? I didn’t know that! And that all* of the ingredients here are on the IFRA no-no list.
“Notoriety” contains oakmoss in the base. Oakmoss was the first substance to come under fire as a possible sensitizer. Interesting how it is a naturally occurring lichen which grows on oaks in some of Europe’s darkest corners, and is subject to fluctuation from weather and so on and must be gathered by annoying peasants, isn’t it? So much better to replicate it somewhere. They’re stll trying. We’ll see. In the meantime, I have already noticed that “Notoriety” is lasting longer than most botanical perfumes, another plus; that’s what oakmoss does.

Very nice rose/amber; longevity is better than most natural perfumes.


*I don't see lavender on my lists, but that doesn't mean it's not perceived by the regulators as some sort of threat.
The notes for “Notoriety” are:
Top: Bergamot, Rosewood
Heart: Rose, Wild Rose, Lavender, Violet Leaf, Carnation absolute and Geranium
Base: Amber, Oakmoss

5 comments:

Lisa Abdul-Quddus said...

Notoriety sounds beautiful.

AbsintheDragonfly said...

Sounds like they took a leaf out of the US "Drug War" book.

Just follow the money to see whom will benefit the most from these rediculous regulations. Oh! Large multi-national corporations. Another way to squeeze the little guy out of the market...

janelc said...

Thank you for the lovely review about my fragrance, Notoriety. I'm thrilled that my perfume is getting such notoriety and living up to its name! The experience of blending with outlaw EOs was surreal. Thanks again. Janelc

Isa said...

This must be a lovely and charming scent. Thanks for the great review.
I'm in the mood for rose perfumes these days and this one seems to be the kind that I like, not too strong or dark.

womo531 said...

oakmoss! make me wish I was like 50year older to have experienced the era when these things weren't banned...