Outlaw Perfumes: Cannabis by Dupetit

Cannabis by Dupetit

Perfumer: Alfredo Dupetit-Bernardi

“Hey bud, let’s party!” 

“That was my skull!”  

(both lines from the immortal character Jeff Spiccoli, played by Sean Penn in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High”


Cheech: "It's Dave. Lemmee in, man! I got the stuff!"
Chong: "Dave's not here, man!"

Cannabis, by dupetit, does smell like the Evil Weed. Not Humboldt County skunk, though, more like a nice homegro -- er, never mind.

Actually, this is great-smelling stuff. It’s citrusy, like grapefruit, with a smooth, rich base, redolent of tolu balsam and perhaps vanilla, although that’s not listed in the notes. At the first instant,  the “bud” note is obvious, but then it recedes and becomes one instrument in the chorus. If I was smelling this blind, I’m not sure I’d even recognize it, as such, but since I know it’s there, it’s obvious.

If you’ve been to California in the last few years, you know that, with a doctor’s prescription, one can walk into a “dispensary,” offering many different variations on cannabis, labeled as to taste, strength and effect. Without editorializing too much, this is civilized. I’m surprised that, in the recent election, the same state that put Governor Moonbeam back in office also defeated the marijuana legalization initiative, but hey, that’s California. (And I like Jerry, make no mistake.) Just imagine the tax revenue from that industry, in a state desperate for tax revenue? Well, it makes no sense, nothing does in the US at the moment, but I digress.

The perfumer, Alfredo Dupetit-Bernardi, makes a good point in his literature. He says that if this proposed IFRA no-no list goes through, instead of substances tested for thousands of years as perfume ingredients, we will instead be spreading on skin, and breathing, untested substances of unknown origin. He also likens the IFRA’s efforts to control perfume ingredients to the way cannabis became outlawed in the 20’s and 30’s, with lots of media help from the Hearst corporation (and, though he doesn’t mention this, good ol’ Harry Anslinger and the FBI) thereby ending its use for recreation, but also medically.  Interesting that medical use has gained the Evil Weed its new foothold in quasi-legality.

I’d wear this fragrance. In fact, I will wear this fragrance. Just not to the airport.

As always, the notes on the IFRA's proposed no-no list are given in red italics.

Notes:

Basil oil (holy), Bay oil (West Indian), Bergamot leaf oil, Birch tar oil, Citronella oil, Clove oil, Geranium oil, Ginger oil, Grapefruit peel oil, Jasmine Sambac absolute, Lemon peel oils, Lemon verbena absolute, Lime peel oil (expressed) Mace oil, Nutmeg oil, Orange blossom absolute, Orange leaf oil, Orange peel oil (bitter) orange peel oil (sweet), Peppermint oil, Rose absolute, Rose oil, Rue oil, Taget (marigold) absolute, Thyme oil (thymol CT) Tolu balsam extract.