Perfumes Like Paloma Picasso Minotaure

Perfumer: Julien Plos

The charming and playful dancer warms up before her debut. Talented and passionate she radiates confidence and anticipation. Deliciously, exciting and unexpected. Sweet almond and ripe cherries contrast with sandalwood and vanilla for a floral, sweet and woody intensity. 

A nostalgic soap scent that’s fresh and creamy, based on the tissue thin, dissolving paper soap available in Japan. Lavender and aldehydes soften into rose, jasmine and lily-of-the-valley, conjuring vintage sudsiness.

Fleur de Rocaille (French for “rock garden flowers”) assembles a richly contrasting bouquet around a large cast of floral characters. Subtle lilac is enhanced by a fresh rose essence and the crystalline green sheen of lily of the valley. Gardenia becomes even more voluptuous thanks to a blend of moon-kissed white flowers: honeyed orange blossom absolute and narcotic jasmine. Aldehydes brighten the effect, and the creamy scent of sandalwood smooths the landing. Bonus points for its featured mention in the Al Pacino film “Scent of a Woman”.

Perfumer: Bertrand Duchaufour

Visual artist: landscape artist/photographer Martin Hill.

The same way in which Martin goes to a sight and rearranges what nature left there into an installation, the perfumer rearranged some molecules and materials to put the beauty of a natural material into focus.

Also Martin aims to let his structures be absorbed back into natural chaos. Perfume evaporates into the environment in a similar fashion, beautiful but transient.

In Vanilla Shot all of the focus is on vanilla (natural, dark and balsamic). The concept of the perfume is inspired by a photo of a piece of Martin Hill's land art shot at dreamy dusk (below). The twigs used in the structure balanced over the lake are reminiscent of vanilla beans. The installation transcends two planes - liquid and ether and in the perfume vanilla spans the sweet and bitter corners of the scented universe. Vanilla Shot is not an ordinary sweet gourmand. In this perfume all nuances of natural vanilla get proper attention: balsamic, fruity, spicy, sweet and even leathery.

Jade line

Perfumer: Philippine Courtere

Irisation or cloud iridescence is a colorful optical phenomenon that occurs in clouds lit by sun or moon disks behind. The pattern resembles a chaotic dance of a rainbow on a soap bubble.

This seems to be the logic of the perfume formula: iridescent jasmine with swirls of red strawberry, ochre praline, ambery vanilla, green bergamot, cool iononic rose and violet blackcurrant 

“Bain de minuit” is French for “skinny dipping”, and what could be more decadent than a midnight splash au natural in a giant vat of strawberries, cherries and vanilla? The initial fruity-tootiness gives way to a tough ‘n’ tropical accord of monoï oil and leather, with jasmine and praline singing the high and low harmonies.

Gratia Aestiva is Latin for “summer grace”, and this extrait is an absolute abundance of sundrunk fruit. Punchy pineapple, melon and strawberry wave a big HELLO right out of the bottle, while passion fruit, with its tangy, grapefruit bite, tempers the sweetness with rawness. Indian jasmine adds floral fullness on a spiced bed of coriander and ambered woods. On the right side of too much.

Pergola opens with the most incredible rush of twisted green vegetation and instantly transports you back to the heyday of that decadent walkway. There is so much happening in here but the notes of galbanum, bergamot, and ivy are particularly spectacular. The floral heart is a swooning blend of narcissus, tuberose, and jasmine but the pergola’s passage of history is provided by an earthy pairing of patchouli and vetiver. You get a real impression of its heritage from touches of resins and moss and, whilst it’s described as a fougere, there is definitely a feeling of the most glorious aromatic chypre.

Circa 1900, the cook for the governor of Queensland was in a jam. Asked to rustle up a dessert for last-minute guests, he improvised by cutting up day-old vanilla sponge into squares, then rolling them in chocolate and coconut. The guests were impressed, and “Lord Lamington” went from being a governor to an Australian culinary tradition, and now to a perfume. This edp features the treat’s strawberry, cream, coconut and chocolate, tempered by the crisp aromatics of bergamot and clary sage. The amber drydown lets you know you’re wearing a perfume and not a cake.

The Bijapur kingdom of 11th century India had a culture shaped equally by Hindu and Muslim confluences. A floral gourmand built around spice, smoke, flowers and wood, this is a composition that pits indulgent pleasures against each other in a battle for supremacy. An herby/petrol cannabis blazes out on the wings of aldehydes, smoked out with a strange clash of bitter coffee and heady jasmine sambac. Smooth Vietnamese oud heightens the “coffee in a wooden cup” effect, while tobacco and vanilla do their best to soften the rough edges