Scent Semantics: Luscious / Jezebel! (Anka Kus Parfum, 2019)

Luscious is the word of this month’s Scent Semantics, with six perfume bloggers all over the world choosing one fragrance to represent it.

My choice is Jezebel, created by Ali Erkekli (Anka Kus Parfum), and here are my thoughts and musings about this alluring, luscious, and seductive fragrance!

Luscious is a tricky word, indeed, It can be interpreted in many different ways, adding juice to different connotations, from something being deliciously edible to someone being deliciously sexy. Why not both, I thought? This is not going to be about 10 Foods That Will Improve Your Sex Life, but the connection between  delicious food and other interpretations of luscious, also according to Merriam-Webster, is always present:

Considering that my task was to pick one perfume to represent the word, I wanted to stay away from “excessively sweet”, “cloying” or “excessively ornate-rich” – these things are just not my cup of tea in perfume anyway.

Now, how and when did Jezebel become luscious? Well, since Ali Erkeli (Anka Kus, Australia) created this fragrance in 2019! You might know Ali’s creations from the times he was Manle in Fort and Manle Parfum, and you might remember the first batches of Charlatan signed by Ali, a lovely floral gourmand.  Charlatan (2016) is important to understand Jezebel better, and here are notes, as listed by the brand: pear and dark chocolate, Damask rose, Moroccan jasmine, vanilla and tuber, osmanthus, Australian sandalwood, amber, and Madagascar vanilla.

Jezebel

Jezebel. oh Jezebel: if Charlatan, the conniving one, flashing around “big” words and not a single act to support them might seduce you only to disappear the next morning, Jezebel is outspoken, fiery, and determined, boldly slutty and fatal. Jezebel could eat Charlatan for breakfast, and then some. I own a bottle of Charlatan, and I’m enjoying it, but Jezebel – well, although it might sound similar according to notes, is something completely different. Luscious!

Nothing at all like this, “Bette Davis’ eyes”-type  and reputation as the bad girl (of Bible).

Jezebel as interpreted by Ali is an alluring, sensual, luscious, and complex fragrance with a challenging opening. Hedonic and mouthwatering right from the opening, like dark chocolate smeared all over naked skin, and quite complex.

Think dark chocolate, smoke, and ripe, almost sour pears juice on red, voluminous lips, intense and quite drunk. Her skin is soft like rose and jasmine petals shine like fangs, glowing in an erotic dance of fragrant notes. There’s an animalic moment that’s very strong here, but it very quickly becomes seductive. The flowers that surround her are lush, bright, but covered with shadows of decay. Quite gothic.

There’s a boozy feeling to Jezebel, intoxicating at first but later it becomes very joyous…somehow unrestrained: I told a perfume friend openly when she asked me how this stage in the development of perfume felt to me, that it looks like Jezebel got drunk while entertaining people at a wild party, had sex, laughed some, returned to her table to drink more, and then had sex again.

A shameless ambery seductress it is, soft as a rose but wild within, rising proudly over all the layers of Osmanthus she rolls in. Jezebel is flowing, changing, provoking, questionable and irresistible at the same time: laden with notes you’d normally associate with gourmands, but never succumbing to become one. That would be too simple and obvious.

Ancient and modern at the same time, multifaceted, perfectly gender-free, and with a strong character, Jezebel has that luscious vibe of a bad girl everyone wants to be. All the way, with no regrets.

Notes (as listed by the brand): chocolate, pear, Damask rose, Vanilla, Moroccan Jasmine, Cashmere Musk, Osmanthus, Sandalwood, Madagascar Vanilla, tonka bean, and amber.  

Which perfume would you describe as luscious?