PureDistance 1 -- A Full Bottle Giveaway

The kind people at PureDistance Master Perfumes have honored me with a full bottle to give away to one lucky reader!  Leave a comment by midnight, April 4, U.S. Eastern Daylight Time. I’ll chose one commenter, using random.org, and announce the winner by 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 5^th.

At my first sniff of “PureDistance 1,” I thought “Hitchcock blonde.”

The great film director Alfred Hitchcock was obsessed with the kind of cool, sophisticated blonde whose calm demeanor hid...well...a lot. There were many -- Grace Kelly, Eva Marie Saint, Kim Novak -- but the best personification of the Hitchcock blonde has always been, to me at least, Tippi Hedren, as the secretive socialite Melanie Daniels in “The Birds.” 

“PureDistance” is a green floral perfume that starts out in the cool spectrum and ends up warm and a little musky, but never loses its aplomb. Released in late 2008, it was the first perfume from Vienna-based PureDistance. The perfumer, Annie Buzantian of Firmenich, has said in interviews that this was the one she would have made for herself, and that her fragrances tend to be “joyful, with a very fluid signature”(Osmoz, 2008.) Romanian by birth, American by choice, she is a Lifetime Achievement Award winner -- American Society of Perfumers, 2003 -- and her other creations include Estee Lauder’s “Sensuous” and Ralph Lauren’s “Pure Turquoise.”

My guess is that Buzantian jumped at a chance to create something as high-end as this, without the common denominator constraints of the mass market. There is nothing common about this fragrance. It is, like a Hitchcock blonde, a little secretive. It doesn’t stray much. It announces its presence quietly, but isn’t afraid to stay late.

The initial reviews for “PureDistance 1” were glowing, but the mention of a slightly watery, slightly ozonic top note scared some of the original commenters. I personally dislike ozonic florals. This scent has nothing in common with that unfortunate 90’s fad. It opens with a slight, warm citrus, and a subtle floral note, meandering through magnolia, mimosa, and a little bit of rose. It finishes with a warm amber and white musk.

This scent is subtle. It’s very much a close-to-the-skin fragrance, but it never gets sharp or powdery. If you’re looking for a va-va-voom “Here I Am, World!” fragrance, this one probably isn’t for you. It’s Alfred Hitchcock’s Melanie Daniels, not, say, reality TV’s Snooki -- actually, it’s about as far away from Snooki as a perfume can get, and for that, I am grateful.

“PureDistance 1” is extrait strength, at 32% perfume oils. The bottle holds 17.5 mls, quite generous for a niche extrait. 

I’ll be very happy for whoever wins this!

Disclosure time: The bottle of “PureDistance1,” and a sample for me to use for review, were given to me by PureDistance Master Perfumes.

The photo of Tippi Hedren as Melanie Daniels is a taken from the Hitchcock film “The Birds.”

“Notes” for “PureDistance 1” include tangerine blossom, cassis, neroli bigarade, magnolia, rose wardia (a trademarked Firmenich composition), jasmine, natural mimosa, sweet amber, vetiver and musk.

To enter the drawing, click on the word “Comments” at the bottom, just above the “Labels” statement, and a comment screen will open. If you comment as “anonymous,” make sure there’s a name there somewhere, so I can identify you if you win!