The Black Knight by Francesca Bianchi greets you with the power of a fully equipped, light, and swift battle horse in a full gallop through a fresh and green field of vetiver: its muscles are moving in a tense way, hoofs picking up and throwing pieces of dry earth in the air behind it.
And yet, there is hidden tenderness and fragility that makes him feel – so human.
My review of The Black Knight perfume was first published in Cafleurebon, and this is the version I edited in 2021.
Say it with roses!
Let’s speak the language of love, the language of – roses!
I wrote a brief overview of 21 rose fragrances to fall in love with, with mini-reviews. Believe me, I really had a hard time limiting myself to compose a bouquet of 21 roses, I could go on and on – at least that’s what I thought when I started thinking about it, some six months ago. I had to draw the line somewhere because composing this list took a lot of time.
21 rose fragrance…I still haven’t found one rose to rule them all, but that’s great because it keeps me constantly trying out new and different creations. SOTD, SOTN, for all moods and occasions, and during any season in a year. La Reine is always at my side: I’ve never waited for someone to make me a bed of roses. I make it myself and choose my own roses.
There are many ways of seeing things and ways of finding your personal interpretation. Yes, sometimes it’s a Rashomon. Words express thoughts, thoughts can suggest an interpretation but it also works the other way around. Nomen est omen, and choosing a name for perfume is one of the hardest things any perfumer or brand manager faces.
The same goes for the newest addition to Der Duft‘s line of fragrances, created by Prin Lomros: Act.
Anselm Skogstad‘s (founder of Der Duft) philosophy rests upon freedom of thought, freedom of interpretation, and aesthetic simplicity that doesn’t steer your attention from the most important thing: perfume. All their perfumes have names that you can interpret as you find fit, and here is my interpretation of Act!
Mimosa Gold by Exaltatum Parfums captures the feeling of that sweet, creamy, and dreamy softness of Nature waking up with a bright smile, bursting with vivid yellows and tender greens. Its pollen-like floral buzz with a heap of white petals, soft branches, and smooth bulb roots draws me in like a hungry bee: all I want is to stay as long as possible inside of my little fragrant cloud of happiness!
Days are obviously getting longer, we’ve even had a couple of sunny days lately. I’m waiting for Spring…and I reached out for Velvet Splendour by Goldfield and Banks.
Its sunrise is displaying lovely hues of orange blossoms and puffy, soft, bright yellow mimosa blossoms, feeling like hot sun rays on your skin somewhere in South Australia’s Flinders Ranges.
Ok, technically it’s not mimosa, I know, I know, but that’s what I call those puffy-golden-ray-of-sunshine flowers! And honestly, I’d love to be somewhere in Australia right now.
Roses are interpreted in perfumery in so many different ways, and Ruby Wood quenches my thirst for exuberant, lush, and sensual roses in a way that rarely a perfume does. So much that it left me speechless. Pure joy! And a fine, artisan fragrance.