I once read a phrase by
an obscure French novelist who talked of “a
kiss drowning in a sea of romance”.
The phrase had a good deal of resonance with
me at the time and it is an idea that I have
used in this fragrance.
First off the fragrance
is a complex one which gives it lots of areas
of interest. The top note offers yellow mandarin
from Sicily with some carefully selected green
notes built around a light apricot fantasy.
This gives a sophistication and delicacy to
the freshness theme. I like the interaction
of the natural green leaf traces with the
greenness of the yellow mandarin very much.
The fruit playing behind that combination
gives the opening a beautiful harmony.
The heart of the fragrance
contains two types of rose - the Bulgarian
and the Turkish rose which together give a
very powerful effect. I also used a tuberose
absolute from India to give weight and breadth.
To stop it being overly singular I added jasmine
sambac from India which offers a lighter white
floral note than some of the other jasmine
oils which are available. I then layered in
cassie from Egypt. The heavier notes of the
fragrance are very important and it is here
that the inspiration of the “kiss drowning
in a sea of romance” came into play.
I created a “sea” of amber in
which to “drown” the rose notes.
The amber offers such a good structure for
the rose notes to fill and I’ve used
lots of it – its wonderfully warm, soft
and sensuous. To further increase that feeling
of softness and envelopment I added vanilla
from Madagascar. The vanilla is no ordinary
vanilla. It has been extracted by a special
process which uses CO2 and thus retains so
much more of its creamy nature and lasts much
longer. To round off the substantivity of
the work there is a secret musk base of mine
that I created many years ago and which I
use on the occasions I am able to afford it
in the formula.
This fragrance is one of
my most treasured creations. It has many different
facets and they don’t all reveal themselves
at the same time. I think it’s important
for a fragrance to be discovered over time
and not just give up everything as soon as
you open the bottle or put it on a smelling
strip for two minutes. Enjoy it slowly.