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Post by TinaG
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Perfume holds a vision of truth – a truth which can strike deeply to our core, a trigger which can bring to the surface a crazy mix of visions in a flash of memory, borne only from a single, deep breath. It is such a personal sensation, that rush, corners of the mouth relaxing into a smile and just the enjoyment of being swept away in an all-encompassing pure experience, if only for a few moments.
One of the challenges I find is conveying that feeling, those emotions to other people. How do you capture that? You can’t photograph a smell, but you can convey the sense of a moment through an image. Sometimes we write beautifully crafted landscapes to try and explain what it is that we are experiencing – I think that is often the most successful way, but ultimately one may need to go on that experience themselves to see whether they agree, disagree, or are led down a completely different olfactory path.
Flashback by Olivier Cresp for Olfactive Studio 2013
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Rhubarb, orange, grapefruit
Heart: Granny Smith apple, pink pepper
Base: Vetiver, cedar, amber, musk
Olfactive Studio’s fragrances have taken a different approach to their scent creations, by starting with photographic art, and creating a fragrance which reflects that moment. Sometimes I get it, like the half-light of a distant hotel room with Chambre Noir, other times I’ve been taken my own journey like the amazingly visual images I got whilst testing Still Life – albeit quite different from the photograph Still Life was created in conjunction with. And I’m OK with that, it is all part of the story.
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
So here on another Olfactive Studio journey, I give my wrists a light dewy dusting of Flashback, allowing the fragrance plenty of breathing space. The reward is a whoosh of gentle pink pepper and a deep moist green rhubarb. The rhubarb here is freshly picked, the stem snapped in half with juices flowing. This fresh bitterness is countered and lifted by the beautiful understated warmth and sweetness of the pink pepper.
After half an hour it is joined by grapefruit, such as one which has just been cut and squeezed. It is crossing over between smell and taste in a big way as I can feel my tongue tingling from the sharp juiciness. The wallflower orange is shyly floating in the background but never really makes a stand. At two hours cedar comes through along with some pink musk which help soften the citrus, but this seems to fade after an hour and I get the predominant grapefruit back again but this time with a lingering underlying touch of vetiver, and this combination lasts and lasts.
Photo Stolen Flickr
Further reading: The Non Blonde and Olfactoria’s Travels
First In Fragrance have €72/50ml and samples
Libertine Parfumerie has 100ml/$195 including postage within Australia
Peony Melbourne has 100ml/$195
Because of the tanginess of this fragrance I’m considering it for a travel scent, as the rhubarb and citrus would be a refreshing pick-me-up after a long haul flight. So perhaps there may be stories in our future – always happy to make some new & fun memories!
Tina G