NEW from Frédéric Malle, "Dries Van Noten par Frédéric Malle"

[hawk]

"Dries Van Noten par Frédéric Malle" is to be released in February.

the Notes which look amazing: (quoted from fragrantica) citron, sandalwood, guaiac wood, saffron, Spanish jasmine, tonka beans, Cashmeran/blonde woods, vanilla and musk.

This sounds interesting: "Not only is the collaboration with a fashion designer news, it's also an innovation on the formula front, as the new Malle perfume is touted to be inclusive of a new, natural Indian sandalwood from a sustainable source. Indian sandalwood, for those who didn't know, had essentially been eradicated from perfumery in the last 20 years or so, due to concerns and regulations on the sustainability of the Mysore sandalwood. The news therefore is a leap of hope for the industry in general and sure to create a real peak of interest in the heart of every perfume fan out there. The new fragrance is an oriental woody, smooth and polished like the designs of Van Noten."

[hednic]

Thanks for the info.

[SculptureOfSoul]

Always love to see guaiac wood in a notes list! This sounds pretty good indeed. Thanks!

[Prince Barry]

Interesting. Wonder what Van Noten knows about perfumery? Perhaps it's a collaboratibe effort with a perfumer.

[hawk]

The perfumer is Bruno Jovanovich ... He's unknown to me!

[Prince Barry]

The perfumer is Bruno Jovanovich ... He's unknown to me!

Thanks Hawk. Unknown to me also.

[gandhajala]

The perfumer is Bruno Jovanovich ... He's unknown to me!

Interesting. He certainly seems to be favoured by designers.

[forfreddie]

Why am I not excited about it

[dougczar]

Thanks for the heads-up... I will certainly have to give this one a try

[OctaVariuM]

Sounds interesting. Unfortunately my experience with sandalwood is limited (OS, MBI), and I didn't care for OS at all. I'm interested to see what Malle asked the nose to do with it.

[sjg3839]

Will try to sample when I get a chance.

- - - Updated - - -

Will try to sample when I get a chance.

[hedonist222]

Sounds great. Looking forward to it.

[The_Cologneist]

The perfumer is Bruno Jovanovich ... He's unknown to me!

I believe he did A&F Fierce. Other than that, dunno much of his work.

[alfarom]

Dries Van Noten is one of my favorite designers...I'm excited to smell this one.

[drseid]

I am definitely looking forward to this release for sure...

[DreamerII]

some day Malle should release a magnolia perfume (with C. Benaime), the perfume created with Grojsman and of cource the next one with Ropion

[Oupavoc]

Can't wait to try it.

[Mervin]

The fact that he created A&F Fierce is enough to have me excited alone!

[mikeperez23]

Very excited about this.

[Partario]

I'm optimistic.

[Trebor]

The new bottle label is very ironic! It looks like something from Byredo. LOL!

[Kielecki]

Thank you. Sounds interesting-looking forward to test this one!!!

[Sol invictus]

Not an oud/guaiac wood fan.

[gtsb]

I get nervous about vanilla in perfumes... not exactly the most subtle note. The danger is that the vanilla could overwhelm the sandalwood note that is supposed to be the centerpiece of this perfume.

But if anyone can do it, Malle can, so I'm interested to see how it turns out!

[Birdboy48]

I've always admired Malle's approach to fragrance, and the way that they don't just pop out new frags one after another.

But I do wonder about this one. If it's going to have a fashion designer connection, and it's made by someone who's not a part of Malle's stable, how exactly will the association with Malle fit into the equation ?

[Wingie]

Apparently Van Noten had been selling Malle's fragrances in his boutiques for some time, and this is what led to the collaboration. According to Fragrantica, this fragrance is the first of a new line for Malle in which he'll be collaborating with several fashion designers.

[calilove]

oooooo lala

[Adrem]

Need to try this

[Birdboy48]

According to Fragrantica, this fragrance is the first of a new line for Malle in which he'll be collaborating with several fashion designers.

As a Malle fan, I'm not sure that I view this change of course with optimism.

[mr. reasonable]

Tandem Thread here:

http://www.basenotes.net/threads/323...t=#post2833226

And a first review here:

http://graindemusc.blogspot.hk/2013/...-malle_11.html

[mikeperez23]

And a first review here:

http://graindemusc.blogspot.hk/2013/...-malle_11.html

I read this tonight. It doesn't sound like Denyse is that thrilled with it, or is that just my interpretation of her review? I think, from her description, it sounds like something right up my alley. I am really excited to smell it. Anything that says it has real Mysore sandalwood sounds intriguing.

[Kagey]

I smelled it on Saturday. Nice but it didn't blow me away. Very sweet, woody, milky, spicy. Of course, I don't have the most sophisticated nose, but what's left on the card reminds me of M7 but with a bit of cream.

And nothing jumped out at me to scream "real Mysore sandalwood." This is from someone who used to wear the oil daily as a perfume and misses it like crazy.

[hawk]

I smelled it on Saturday. Nice but it didn't blow me away. Very sweet, woody, milky, spicy. Of course, I don't have the most sophisticated nose, but what's left on the card reminds me of M7 but with a bit of cream.

And nothing jumped out at me to scream "real Mysore sandalwood." This is from someone who used to wear the oil daily as a perfume and misses it like crazy.

Does it share anything with Costume National's 21 ? Sweet and milky is what I get from "21"

[mikeperez23]

Thanks Kagey

[Gamma]

The description sounds amazing.

[mr. reasonable]

Judging by Denyse and Kagey's comments still sounding very interesting to me, Mike . . .

I used to wear pure oil in the 70's Kagey, and my nose is pretty finely attuned to mysore. Always on the lookout! I look forward to this regardless because even without any discernible mysore it sounds like my kinda thing, anyway and I doubt Malle would let anything sub-par slip thru, particularly given this is the launch of a diffusion line for him. And I am absolutely sure he wouldn't quote mysore from a sustainable Indian source in the press release if there wasn't at least SOME of the stuff in there somewhere

Several people described Santal Massoia as 'milky' as well - I like that one enough for 'what it is' but personally I think that was a misnomen, even if it does contain the Australian sandalwood - there is absolutely no resemblance IMO and I have compared both EO's over a few days.

Let's see.

[Kagey]

Does it share anything with Costume National's 21 ? Sweet and milky is what I get from "21"

Sorry, hawk - I'm not familiar with 21.

I can't wait to hear what others think when they try it. My assessment is probably totally off base. I didn't find it too similar to Santal Massoia, though. But I don't have the vocabulary to articulate it properly!

[Scentologist]

I would like to try it, but another tanka/vanilla frag doesn't excite me and I hope it doesn't steal the show.

[cello]

A spice (with cinnamon!) sandalwood always perks my ears up. I'm with Mike, a sample that I am looking forward too.

[gandhajala]

Sniffed it briefly yesterday : lactonic, sweet, with citrus in the opening and a balsam like accord. Anyone expecting a real Mysore sandalwood fragrance will, I fear, be disappointed. Might appeal to fans of P.G.'s Cadjméré.
Ultimately too sweet for my taste.

[hedonist222]

Thanks gandhajala.

[Smelly Beast]

I was very excited with this new mysore sandalwood but I feel that this fragrance is going to be a huge disappointment to me...

[zztopp]

Malle "collaborating" with a fashion designer? This might be the end of the line.

[HDDP]

thanks for the head up gandhajala,

a friend also tried this and was left disappointing as well, it lack the uniqueness of the "old" Malle line, and is nothing unusual,

nevertheless, still looking forward to sample this

[hedonist222]

Scalpel

Incision

Forceps

Laparoscopy

Maneuver through mass amounts of wood, plethora of musk and a flower held in suspense to arrive at

DNA traces of :

[gtsb]

Sorry I'm ignorant, what is that? ^^^

Have to say I haven't smelled this either, but from what I've heard, it's nothing to get excited about.

[hedonist222]

Sorry I'm ignorant, what is that? ^^^

Have to say I haven't smelled this either, but from what I've heard, it's nothing to get excited about.

released before its time - put down gracefully


http://www.basenotes.net/ID10211785.html

[gtsb]

Thanks... hmm that actually sounds pretty interesting... maybe I'll swing by Malle and give it a try.

[mikeperez23]

hedonist, is it as milky as the Issey Miyake?

[juanderer]

hedonist, is it as milky as the Issey Miyake?

Yes, please. I'd like to know, too.

[LloydLlewellyn]

It's a milky sandalwood with the sweetness of Jeux de Peau, from what I could smell on the card.

[DreamerII]

I would call this perfume Dior's Dolce Vita for men. Top notes of citrus with the base of sandalwood.
It's more intellectual than beautiful. Word ,,beautiful" does not suit to this masculine perfume without sillage.
It's not sweet at all, perfectly balanced. Could be a sandalwood prominent scent for a man who does not like woody perfumes.
It has some ,,smoke, burn - milky, nutty" idea from Geranium pour Monsieur or Portrait of a lady.
I am not a big fan of woody scents, though on me it smells very good.
Haven't smelled anything similar to this perfume, some associations could be found with CD Dolce Vita, Costume National Homme, Portrait of a lady, Guerlain Samsara.
Bruno Jovanovic is the future ,,Dominique Ropion".

[Kagey]

I would call this perfume Dior's Dolce Vita for men. Top notes of citrus with the base of sandalwood.
It's more intellectual than beautiful. Word ,,beautiful" does not suit to this masculine perfume without sillage.
It's not sweet at all, perfectly balanced. Could be a sandalwood prominent scent for a man who does not like woody perfumes.
It has some ,,smoke, burn - milky, nutty" idea from Geranium pour Monsieur or Portrait of a lady.
I am not a big fan of woody scents, though on me it smells very good.

Not sweet at all?! You and I definitely didn't smell the same perfume! I found this overwhelmingly sweet, and very milky-woody.

[HDDP]

Not sweet at all?! You and I definitely didn't smell the same perfume! I found this overwhelmingly sweet, and very milky-woody.

same here

[Kagey]

I'm going to come out now, hands up, and say I'm sorry I sort of dissed this fragrance.

I'm not sure if it's the long, relentless winter we've been having or some weird new change in my taste, but I've been craving warm, woody, spicy, ambery scents in the worst way. I saw Dries Van Noten mentioned in another thread, so I dug out the card I'd sprayed a few weeks back. It still had quite a bit of presence and I thought I'd like to test it.

Went to Les Senteurs on Saturday, got a sample, and wore it that evening out with friends. This time it blew me away. I'm not very good at describing fragrances, but what I noticed was that on a card it was very elegant. Well-blended, elegant, and sophisticated. In this way it reminded me of the best Chanels. Seamless and beautiful, but not necessarily warm or friendly. Aloof. You might appreciate it but you're not moved by it.

On skin, it was a different story entirely. It became warm and friendly. It seemed to embrace me. It became comforting. The notes are still sweet and milky, a bit nutty and spicy. If you put your nose close to your skin after about 20 minutes in, you clearly get the caramelized biscuit smell peeking through. I liked that because, although I'm not a big gourmand lover, I felt like that was the thing that broke through the aloofness and made it more human and playful.

Others have said that the projection is very low and that's true. I kept smelling it wafting up around me, but it didn't project. There's something sheer about it and I think it will work in warm weather. Yet it was really persistent; I could smell it on my arm the next morning, and it lingers on clothes.

Also, I still didn't really detect the Mysore sandalwood (it's a smell I'd know anywhere). I'm ok with that.

Finished the sample today and bought a 100ml bottle. I've either gone completely mad or I've come closer than ever to finding the one perfume that could make me sell up and be faithful. Actually, that's unlikely, but it's close!

Anyhow, sorry for the lame report, but I thought I should correct my unfair earlier assessment.

[mr. reasonable]

DRIES VAN NOTEN PAR FREDERIC MALLE

Over the last few days I have worn this mega-dosed, with enough sprays to make some of the grown men here faint, and also with just a spritz to each wrist, to see how it performs.

This one will confuse a lot of people, but if you are familiar with the fashion line, maybe not.

It does not have a ‘wow’ opening – the brief tingle of bergamot is barely detectable as a note per se, and the moist, slightly lactose nutty accord is reminiscent of standing near the counter and catching that hint of steam coming off a coffee machine finishing off a hazelnut latté or something along those lines. It is not a ‘grab ‘em at the counter so they buy it quick’ approach – if anything, the opening is a little odd, although the underlying quality beckons, you can detect something worth sticking round for.

A few minutes in things settle down and this is where it really does conjure up the mood of a friendly old style café with its lived in aroma of pastries, hot beverages, even old books and wood, offering a familiar ‘safe haven’ from the world outside. It’s not a full on gourmand, actually it’s a really pleasant, understated vibe – more of an ‘ambient scent’ than a perfume, which suits me fine.

The much vaunted Mysore sandalwood (Santalum Album grown in Australia for IFF, as opposed to the native Australian variety) is not overt but I do get a sense of it in there somewhere - it melds nicely with the mildly gourmand accord and stays close for a good few hours.

Dries van Noten par Frederic Malle performs in a similar way to Vetiver Tonka for me, albeit a little more quietly – a perfect companion for quietly navigating life, especially when traveling, where stangers and events are whizzing by and I am in my own space ‘inside, looking out’. I would recommend trying it on a scarf or inside of a favourite relaxed jacket or similar item – something from Dries van Noten would do the trick nicely ☺

Very happy with this, glad I bought it while the weather is still coolish.

I look forward to this regardless because even without any discernible mysore it sounds like my kinda thing, anyway and I doubt Malle would let anything sub-par slip thru, particularly given this is the launch of a diffusion line for him. And I am absolutely sure he wouldn't quote mysore from a sustainable Indian source in the press release if there wasn't at least SOME of the stuff in there somehwere.

Malle wasn't here this time but his representative for the launch explained that IFF have shares in a source for Santalum Album being grown outside of India in a couple of locales, Australia being one of them. Hope we see more info about this and more of the stuff being reintroduced in fragrances. Crabtree & Evelyn . . . Are you reading this? Hallo!

[pluran]

Looking forward to trying it.

[hednic]

My bottle should be arriving any day now.

[mr. reasonable]

I'm going to come out now, hands up, and say I'm sorry I sort of dissed this fragrance.

I'm not sure if it's the long, relentless winter we've been having or some weird new change in my taste, but I've been craving warm, woody, spicy, ambery scents in the worst way. I saw Dries Van Noten mentioned in another thread, so I dug out the card I'd sprayed a few weeks back. It still had quite a bit of presence and I thought I'd like to test it.

Went to Les Senteurs on Saturday, got a sample, and wore it that evening out with friends. This time it blew me away. I'm not very good at describing fragrances, but what I noticed was that on a card it was very elegant. Well-blended, elegant, and sophisticated. In this way it reminded me of the best Chanels. Seamless and beautiful, but not necessarily warm or friendly. Aloof. You might appreciate it but you're not moved by it.

On skin, it was a different story entirely. It became warm and friendly. It seemed to embrace me. It became comforting. The notes are still sweet and milky, a bit nutty and spicy. If you put your nose close to your skin after about 20 minutes in, you clearly get the caramelized biscuit smell peeking through. I liked that because, although I'm not a big gourmand lover, I felt like that was the thing that broke through the aloofness and made it more human and playful.

Others have said that the projection is very low and that's true. I kept smelling it wafting up around me, but it didn't project. There's something sheer about it and I think it will work in warm weather. Yet it was really persistent; I could smell it on my arm the next morning, and it lingers on clothes.

Also, I still didn't really detect the Mysore sandalwood (it's a smell I'd know anywhere). I'm ok with that.

Finished the sample today and bought a 100ml bottle. I've either gone completely mad or I've come closer than ever to finding the one perfume that could make me sell up and be faithful. Actually, that's unlikely, but it's close!

Anyhow, sorry for the lame report, but I thought I should correct my unfair earlier assessment.

Glad you took a second look - a spritz on a card can be helpful but seldom definitive. I think your description of the performance is spot on - I wore it for a week solid and like many more subtly crafted works I needed time to 'habituate' myself to the thing. A couple of days I overdosed and it still seemed quite fleeting (albeit 'there') and more recently I have found a couple of sprays and it's there like a long lost friend.

I want to investigate this business with IFF and this new Santalum Album source - the Malle rep did not have a deep inside track but it seems IFF own, or have a stake in, plantations outside India and my guess is that Malle, as an ex-IFF employee and now client, was one of the first to access what they are doing with it. The shape of this perfume seems to have been dictated by DvN and has taken the more cosy gourmand route so a sandalwood showpiece it ain't, but it is one of the first to come along in a long time that I have bonded with as a potential personal staple - Vetiver Tonka and L'Heure Fougueuse were the last to have that effect for me . . . but I digress.

I just hope this IFF thing is the beginning of some potential sandalwood 're-reformulations' where the stuff gets put back in a few personal favourites!

[Kagey]

I want to investigate this business with IFF and this new Santalum Album source - the Malle rep did not have a deep inside track but it seems IFF own, or have a stake in, plantations outside India and my guess is that Malle, as an ex-IFF employee and now client, was one of the first to access what they are doing with it.

Yes, interesting, and please let us know what you find out in your investigation.

I've also been reading a few things recently about industries that depend on "terroir," like coffee and wine, for example, being affected by climate change. I wonder if anyone's considered the possible effects on the quality or availability of sandalwood or other natural perfume ingredients.

And good point about the shape of the perfume and the fact that the design was intentional!