aroma M musings....

As Sealed By Lilith. A Perfume for the Devil Scent Project.

I sense an intense white flower presence, tuberose and jasmines abounding in indoles, so sweetly animalic yet green. The sweetness is almost crushingly evident, as if its tendrils [ or talons] had wedged their way into your ears, your eyes,your nostrils, your very amygdala- and are like to drive you mad. With fear, with lust, with revulsion.

Quite simply, I adore this perfume. But I wouldn’t advise it to the timorous.

As Sealed by Dev. A perfume for the Devil.

Darkly debonair, I may be enticed into transgression by the deepest cocoa note I’ve ever encountered, accompanied by what feels like a possible davana, soft florals and dirty business underneath. Filthy business, truly. Animalic growling, nasty unwashed toenails which more resemble hooves than anything human. Long, slender clever fingers with razorsharp fingernails; the nails look like an auto mechanic’s, strangely at odds with the pale violinists’s hands.

Sweet Damnation. A Perfume for the Devil.

This is not anyone’s usual idea of that pop-culture creature of temptation. This Dev is damnation-in-a-bottle, lasciviously liquid like all the very best of love potions, as illicit and as delicious as sin, but you are helpless to resist it and wouldn’t want to even try. You know he’s a rotter. Your heart will be broken. There will be tears.

If Immortal Mine were the phantom of perfumed perdition, then this Dev is so downright incendiary, I’m surprised the contents of my little skull bottle don’t just burst into flames. Wearing it, I almost wish I would.

You don’t care. It will be worth it, if only in hindsight, if only to know that one instant, you knew precisely what it means to… burn.

Like all fatal fallen angels, he begins with sweet. I don’t have a list of notes – Dev came with a sealed-wax stamp and the words…

Immortal Mine Perfume, Clarimonde Perfume Project.

Anyone who appreciates (or shamelessly hoards) resinous, ambery and woody fragrances with a healthy dose of mystery beneath the surface will be interested in Immortal Mine. Its unique beauty certainly stands apart from the rest of my fragrance collection….”

Perfumes for the Devil & Lilith. The Devil Scent Project.

A duo of Dark Lover perfumes with mysterious magical ingredients… I have only my impression, my nose, my experience of these elixirs to go on. I will say Otherworldly. I will say floral (Lil perhaps more…dare I say Tuberose?), Dev perhaps more Ambery notes? Both warm, both floral ambery, heavy heat in the dry down. I feel like these get stronger with wear. They last for days on my clothes, many many hours on skin. They are not shy fragrances, you would definitely make your presence known in these- and remembered. They waft, creeping tendrils of scent finding your nose at unexpected moments and have me thinking “wow, what’s that totally sexy scent?”

Primeval Forces of Perfume, Maria McElroy.

Trouble always awaits when you’re sent eight samples of a new line and you can’t say one bad thing about any of them, only that you want…one of everything, pronto! This happened last summer when I was introduced to Aroma M and the lovely Maria McElroy, but little did I know the epiphanies that awaited when she joined forces with her Cherry Bomb Killer Perfumes partner Alexis Karl of Scents by Alexis fame for the Clarimonde Project and their Immortal Mine, nor what I would be inspired to write because of it.

Perfume - Ode to Madame De…

The first time I saw Max Ophuls masterpiece The Earings of Madam De…I feel in love with the main character Lousia and felt a strange affinity with her. I have been know to have a streak of the dramatic in me and Lousia most diffently is dramatic. The fainting spells aside Madam De embodies beauty and elegance effortlessly, she is my dream alter ego. The film glitters and dazzles, and beneath the artifice creates a heartbreaking love story that takes place in Vienna a century ago. The film is famous for its elaborate camera moves, it follows the lovers adorned with gowns, uniforms and of course jewelry. Dancing and dancing in grand ballrooms, the camera circling the couple until they are left all alone, their courtship all told in a dance, what Romance.

The film opens with one of my favorite scenes, Madame is rummaging through her possessions desperate to find something to sell. We follow her as she looks through her beautiful dressers and closets filled with furs, gowns, jewelry, finally settling on a pair of expensive diamond earings that were a wedding present from her husband the General. She trusts the jeweler who originally sold the earrings to the General and sells them. Then, the General buys back the earrings as a farewell present to his mistress, who is leaving him and going to Constantinople, thinking certainly his wife will never see them again, poetic justice awaits. The mistress sells them to cover a gambling debt. The Baron buys them and in turn meets Louisa on his travels and falls in love with her. The Baron gives the earrings to Louisa who is shocked to see them and a the whole issue of deception unravels. For Louisa the earrings teach a lesson, she is no more to blame than her husband or her lover. But adultery is not the only thing at stake, it is the Generals honor and the Baron understands this and withdraws.

We watch Louisa writing her Baron day after day, with no letter back. When they finally meet the Baron tells her “I always answered your letters, my love but I lacked the courage to mail them.” Then we see the unmailed letters torn into bits and flung into the air to become snow, such is bold romance.

The movie ends in tragedy as all great love stories do, deep in the misty mountains we hear far off gun fire and watch Madam and she watches from a far, she falls and faints in horror for possibly the last time.

The Perfume.

Top Notes: Tuberose, Gardenia, White Lotus and Labdanum.

Middle Notes: Violet, Orris Butter, Champaca, White Cognac.

Base Notes: Choya Loban, Genet Absolute.

1 month ago Notes (0)

Aroma M Geisha Noire Fragrance Review.

“Dominant is the optimal word here as Geisha Noire is strong. I would be tempted to call it Samurai Noire because it’s quite powerful, yet stealthy.

Although named for a feminine icon, the geisha, the scent is easily wearable by men and women. The oil is very moisturizing which makes sense because it’s all essential oils to me. Geisha Noire is to an oriental fragrance what Caron Impact is to Caron Pour Un Homme – the mid and base notes amplified without any top notes.”

Geisha Amber Rouge Perfume/ Indie Perfumes.

“ Geisha Amber Rouge is a variation on their popular Geisha Rouge fragrance which I have never smelled, but now that I have tried the new one I am eager to do so. To say that it is sexy is an understatement, but it’s not done in an obvious way. It is a rich and complex Oriental style blend sweetened with star anise, clove and cinnamon and deepened with a particularly vibrant amber note. Unlike many ambers it it is not heavy, cloying or “doughy” and it just might be responsible for converting the amber-phobic among us; I find its bright spiciness irresistible and I want to sample more of this company’s offerings.”

What Would They Wear.

Mos Def continues to amaze me. As a rap artist, his verses are prolific and he is building his acting chops nicely. His style is also impeccable. Raised in the Brooklyn, New York, he knows a thing or two about fragrant oils. We practically came up at the same time and I know he’s worn his share of Egyptian Musk, etc. I can totally see him wearing Aroma M’s Geisha Amber Rouge. Africa holds a special place in Mos’ heart and I can see him being intrigued by the scent’s inspiration, Morocco.