Hiya Niche Nerds,

I know how much you all love Pierre Guillaume’s physique, handsome face and abject fear of wearing too many clothes. The fact that he makes lovely, wearable, interesting fragrances can be bypassed quite easily for a lingering look at some of his images, he is quite stunningly spectacular. One of the great things for me about this man and his frags is that all three of his perfume companies, I think they are his businesses but he may be their perfumer only, feel like they are a good fit for me. Huitieme Art Parfums, Parfumerie Generale and Phaedon all have something intrinsic that invites me in, as if I’m already part of the gang and I can just come and have a casual sniff that may tuirn into full blown love at any moment. I feel much the same way about Guerlain, Olympic Orchids, L’Artisan and Estee Lauder: not that all of these companies offerings work for or on me but they feel friendly.

Vohina by Pierre Guillaume for Huitieme Art Parfums 2010

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
White honey, peach blossom, hay (LuckyScent calls it Lavender Honey)

Huitieme Art Parfums is a brand that I particularly like. The scents that I have spent any real time with have all worked on some level for me. So today I want to look at Vohina, I tried it in BLOOM Perfumery in London back in February and because I was too excited and couldn’t concentrate properly the girls have me a lovely carded sample which I’ve only just come across. Now I can spend some dedicated sniffing time with Vohina, YAY!

SMILE! This is so different to my memory and expectations. The white honey is waxy and animal, peach blossoms are pretty and surprisingly sweet (to be honest I get more fruit than blossom) and the hay seems still green at the beginning. I love how Birgit says in the middle of her winter, “I need the warmth of the sun, not an oven, I need blue skies and green meadows, not my living room. I need the sparkling freshness of a light summer scent.” Yes, Vohina is spring in a bottle, perfect for wear in any season and shot through with the splendid zing that can only come from the huge resurgence of life that spring is, like the world’s annual heart beat.

Photo Stolen Flickr

The honey takes a waltz with the peach right through the centre of Vohina, they are beautifully paired and in constant frisson. There are more things going on but if I told you I get a soft BarBQ and smoke through the heart you would think me bananas, and when I say that there is also a candy sweet sugariness like the strawberry part of Strawberries & Cream lollies and the pink Musk Sticks I know you will think I’ve gone barmy but there they are for me. Bold as brass.

As Vohina moves through its lifespan the spring turns to summer, the honey becomes less apparent, fruitiness recedes and the green haystacks brown off to straw. There is a clean-ness to Vohinas dry down, the musks? Could it be the lavender? Is there a whisper of it twisting through?

Sometimes I think my nose has gone a bit haywire, Vohina bears closer inspection.

Photo Stolen Geograph.org.uk

Vohina is lovely but my skin eats most of it in under two hours and leaves me with a very soft, a faint sweet musky woodsiness. It is pretty and wearable and I could imagine Vohina being an excellent gateway fragrance for someone who is testing the niche waters from a steady diet of designer.

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and Scented Hound
LuckyScent has $125/50ml and samples
First In Fragrance has €95/50ml and samples

Which of this line have you tried? Do you like Pierre or his fragrant aesthetic?
Come on, join the conversation, we love to read what you think in the comments below.
Portia xx