Hi there Frag Hags,
Going through my samples in preparation for the big move to our new abode has been super fun. So many things I completely forgot I had. It’s like digging through a fragrant treasure chest. When Seville a l’Aube was first released it was unavailable in Australia and I was so excited that I must have ordered 2 x 10ml decants from different splitters, one I found is almost empty but one is nearly full. Then when I could get a full bottle they both went into the box of lost fragrances….. You know how it goes
Seville a l’Aube by Bertrand Duchaufour for L`Artisan Parfumeur 2012
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Pettigrain, olive blossom
Heart: Tobacco, beeswax, orange blossom, lavendar
Base: Olibanum, benzoin
My mate Denyse Beaulieu, from Grain de Musc, is the muse that co-created Seville a l’Aube with perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour. It comes from a story of a night in Spain where she met and trysted with a local on one of their high Catholic religious festival nights. Amusingly, and crassly, some bloggers and perfumistas have said that Seville a l’Aube means Fingered Behind the Church in Seville, in fact it means Seville At Dawn.
Photo Stolen WikiCommons
Orange twigs and leaf, with a dry, feral background that pumps raw sex and ultimate clean simultaneously. Seville a l’Aube makes me smile in delighted appreciation when I spritz. There is a pithiness and the honeyed beeswax id so animalic but not like ass, more like sweet wee, and the resins shine through as wet resin in the beginning rather than dry incense. There is still gum from the trees and bushes. The blossom is sweet and breathy.
You know it all washes over me in terrific clouds of fragrance and though I can smell the parts that make Seville a l’Aube up, what I really enjoy is the whole magic creation. A sweet and dirty, twig and dust, wee and breath bomb that glides around me in rapturous clouds. The first half hour is BIG! I have to be careful if I’m going into the world that I don’t overspritz because this much gorgeousness can be confronting for regular people. I love how the heart gets this great citrus-wood scented wax-candle that is slightly religious but more about cleansing for me, and the lavender keeps it all herbaceously slightly off kilter as if something extraordinary is on its way.
You know the song from West Side Story, Something’s Coming? That is how Seville a l’Aube makes me feel.
Maybe it’s the story in the book or maybe it is Bertrand Duchaufour and Denyse Beaulieu working together on something interesting, fun and magical that transcends the story and just gives the feeling of anticipation all by itself. Seville a l’Aube is thick and hefty, a beautiful, elegant waft of pithy orange, waxes and resins trails out behind you as you walk. If I spritz in a room and then walk out, the room is full of Seville a l’Aube on my return and it stays that way for hours.
Michael Borg, Denyse and I in Jovoy, Paris 2014
I have often talked about The Perfume Lover, and my mate Denyse Beaulieu who wrote it, because it’s a rollicking great read. The story that became this wonderful fragrance and told in such a readable, approachable style that it’s like sitting down with Denyse and listening to her chat. Full of fragrant insider gossip and details of creation that unless you are in the midst of creating fragrance would never be stuff you’d get to know.
Photo Stolen Book Depository
Book Depository has The Perfume Lover from $15 delivered worldwide!
CandyPerfumeBoy, NowSmellThis, BoisDeJasmin, all do amazing reviews filled with stories and information I can only hint at.
LuckyScent sells $165/100ml and ships worldwide
Libertine has $199/100ml FREE delivery in Australia
Have you read the book or tried the fragrance? Did you love it too?
Portia xx