Lions, Panthers, Tigers: The Best Feline Flavors
Text: Ksenia Golovanova, author of the telegram channel Nose Republic
Sooner or later it had to happen: The American brand Demeter, which has been engaged in perfumery inventory of reality for twenty years, has released Kitten Fur, a scent with a cat's neck. In Russia, according to representatives of the brand, the flavor will appear closer to the end of the year, but there are already many opinions in the Russian-language blogosphere about the upcoming premiere.
For Anna Zvorykina’s perfumer, Kitten Fur is a typical example of post-modern perfumery: “In Kitten Fur, I see both provocation (compared to adding urine to perfumes, this is a rather mild provocation, of course) and deconstruction. Demeter — ingenious trolls, took yes and called perfumes in forehead: Kitten Fur. And it’s necessary that everyone release the perfume with the name “I and the Ball”, “The Temptation”, “Odaliska” and all that " (quotation shortened and adapted. - Ed.). In the meantime, the public decides how legitimate it is to distill cats in perfumes, we have found the most feline.
Lune Féline, Atelier des Ors
19 800 rubles per 100 ml
In addition to Lune Féline ("Cat Moon"), the brand also has Iris Fauve ("Cat Iris") in the portfolio, and brand creator Jean-Philippe Clermont likes to use the corresponding words in the interview: "cat," "soft", "fluffy ". When you ask him if there is any conscious marketing in this, deftly — absolutely cat-like — goes away from the answer. Anyway, Lune Féline is one of the best perfume vanilla that is beautifully smoldering: incense, myrrh and Peruvian balsam.
La Panthère, Cartier
5100 rubles for 30 ml
Panther - the most perfume cat of all, if you believe the medieval bestiaries. In the Exeter Book, this is a meek, solitary beast with a melodious voice and fragrant breath, and in heraldry the panther is often portrayed with tongues of flame at the mouth — a peculiar way of visualizing a fragrant exhalation. The perfumer Matilda Laurent draws just such a cat - with its claws pulled in: La Panthère is a calm and very fruity gardenia accompanied by an interesting metallic note. Probably, the latter hints at the jewelry collection of the same name of the brand - classic cat heads cast in white and yellow gold. There is, however, a hint of blood spilled by a predator in this metal: when the panther releases its claws, the heads roll.
Civet, Zoologist Perfumes
$ 30 for 11 ml
Strictly speaking, civet, to which this fragrance is dedicated, is not related to felines, but to wyverrobes - to the family, which consists of the first in a distant relationship. However, before biologists attributed civet to cats, and the stable expression - civet cat - is still common, for example, in The Guardian articles. Historically, not only the names changed, but also the role of civets in the odor industry: the odorous secret of their anal glands used to be in great demand among perfumers, but the fashion for animalica ended in the late 1980s - it was washed away by a freshwater tsunami in the spirit of Davidoff Cool Water .
Today, cibetin is experiencing a new round of popularity: young indie perfumers have made it their fetish, with the majority using ethical synthetic substitutes instead of the original substance of animal origin. Civet Canadian brand Zoologist Perfumes - one of the best modern "civet", spicy, sweet, tabletop. This is primarily a floral fragrance - a cloud of carnation, ylang and tuberose with heliotrope (perfumer’s own branded flower powder by Shelley Waddington), and only then the notorious “stench from under the tail,” fluffy and well combed.
PG 21 Felanilla, Parfumerie Générale
12 400 rubles for 50 ml in Articoli
The name of the fragrance is translated as "Cat's vanilla" (from English feline vanilla). There is an exceptionally interesting effect of animal presence without actual animalica, which is provided with savory vanilla with powdered toffee and warm, musky, “animal” hay absolute. Those same sweater and milk, which they talk about in blogs: kittens in the hayloft in the village, right under the roof, where the thick, but clean and fragrant air is really warm.
Fougère Bengale, Parfum d'Empire
11 000 rubles for 100 ml in the "Perfumery" salons
The roar of the Bengal tiger can be heard at a distance of three kilometers, as reported by Wikipedia. Fougère Bengale, fortunately, is not so rolling, but still growls: first you “hear” the immortelle - a complex floral scent that combines the sweetness of burnt sugar and the dusty spice of dried herbs. "Bengal Wine Glass" very quickly turns into a thick green syrup with ginger, mint and tea leaves - an extract of the Indian jungle, in which large striped cats walk.
Savannah's Heart, Olibere Parfums
buy from autumn 2017 on pudra.ru
Straight from the latest Esxence perfume exhibition, which has just been held in Milan, is the “Heart of Savannah”. He made it for the cute brand Olibere Luca Maffei, the most fashionable perfumer of the year: at the exhibition he already had twelve new launches, more than anyone else. The fragrance, as the name suggests, is inspired by Africa, but the surprise is that this Africa is tamed by man, subject to its inescapable comfort. Savanna's Heart smells like a five-star lodge in the middle of a huge plain: the wood of the terrace heated by the sun is soaring, the coffee pot gurgles, the guests got a hot rhubarb pie from the kitchen. And only caustic, slightly disturbing musk - at night lions came to the camp - reminds that a man is made of bones and meat.
Photo: Aizel, Sephora, Zoologist, Bloom Perfume, Imagine Parfum, Olibere