Euterpe by Herr von Eden : Perfume Review & Sample Draw

I promised you something special for today and I just know you will be as enthusiastic about this amazing perfume as I have been to discover it! Essenza Nobile surprises me with three different samples each month. If I like any of them, I review them, if I don't, I simply don't write about them. So far, since this relationship started, there've been some months when I haven't had anything to write about, once or twice when two of the perfumes grabbed my attention and some months when one of the three was the winner. Never so far however have I been so impressed with all three perfumes. While I hope to find the time to review all three of this month's perfumes soon, I am starting with my absolute favorite of the three, Euterpe by Herr von Eden.

It is easy to get disillusioned as a perfume reviewer: trying to keep up with the countless perfumes out there as well as the legions of new releases each year means that for every rose you dip your nose in, four dozen piles of trash make their way to the same olfactory receptors to get your spirits down. After a while you end up having to think twice even for perfumes that are actually worth something. Every once in a while however something comes your way that is so amazingly good that it makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Something that electrifies you, something that makes you think "Yes, this is what perfume is all about, God yes, this is why I love smelling perfumes so much, this is why I chase after that high everywhere I go, every chance I get!". Sound familiar? These are the gems, and let's admit it while we're at it, these are the shining slivers of beauty that drive our addiction. Euterpe is one such beacon of beauty and hope for me.

I'd never heard of Herr von Eden, but a little search revealed that it is the brand of Hamburg-based Bent Angelo Jenson, a German who started his business not with perfume, but with clothes - suits in particular. Originally catering to men, his company has now extended to female clientele with modern women's collections, edgy eyewear and jewelry. The brand now includes three different perfumes in simple, chunky, masculine, slate-grey flacons bearing elegant Greek names: Euterpe, the muse of lyrical poetry, literally meaning "the pleasure giver", Eros, the son of Aphrodite and god of sexual love and beauty, and Eclipse, which aside from the obvious astronomical event it refers to, literally means "absence", a ceasing to exist.

Now, will you also, like me, find it thrilling if I tell you that Euterpe, with the delightfully feminine name smells like an archetypical masculine perfume? Yes, on the Essenza Nobile website it is listed as a unisex fragrance, while the Herr von Eden website itself assumes a Sphinx-like silence and refuses to comment on either a gender or scent description of the perfume. The Essenza Nobile website also lists it as a "true fougere". Believe none of it! Euterpe is the paragon of oriental masculinity and not even a modern one at that: it already smells like a classic. And it does a fantastic job of it too. Intensely, yes, intensely virile from the first moment you spray it courtesy of a strong, naughtily dirty animalic undertone that refuses to subside until the moment the perfume fully expires from the skin, Euterpe smells of retro brashness, hunger for sex and power. It smells of a man that'd make you feel like the world would come to an end (but who cares...) if he locked you in an erotic embrace. In other words, it smells totally unfashionable. And so very me.

The listing of the perfume as a fougere, if not correct, becomes comprehendible when one attends to the top notes: bergamot, lavender, lemongrass, rosemary, coriander and grapefruit, especially in combination with the patchouli in the basenotes draw a typical chypre canvas (even as there is no moss to be found). Yes, this is a strong impression, but not the only one. Let me explain - this side, the masculine side if you will, provides the sharp toothed, sexy bite of the perfume, something you can appreciate entirely when you consider exactly what the combination of rosemary, pissy coriander, dirty patchouli and animalic base do... They are the aggressive seducers. Add to this the oudh (yes!) which plays both fields from the base and you get a pretty good idea. But that's not all... The other side of Euterpe blossoms and seduces with a mouth drenched in sweetness, using orange blossom (honeyed, tender, in this instance) as a driving engine and carnation (a million kudos for respecting the past), ylang ylang (ditto), rose (again) and cinnamon as catalysts. But as powerful a composition as this already is, it would be nothing without its gooey, warm, nay, smoldering center: Tonka bean, sandalwood, Siam benzoin and vanilla kiss the perfume with soft sweetness from the base. As it dries down the now ambery, vanillic Euterpe smells more and more like a comforting cashmere hug. Imagine Ormonde Jayne's Tolu, but more complex and multifaceted. This comparison should also make clear that the intense masculine edge slowly dies down with the dry-down, even as the animalic edge doesn't. Finally, this amazing oriental gains its wings as a unisex. But who gives a damn about gender distinctions when a perfume is this good?

I know you'll want to have a whiff of this amazing, complex, involved gem so I'm holding a draw! Simply leaving a comment means you automatically enter. Winner will be announced in a week's time, next Friday.
Have a good weekend!

Official Notes:
Head: Bergamot, Lavender, Rosemary, Lemongrass, Coriander, Orange Blossom, Grapefruit
Heart: Rose of Palma, Cinnamon, Rose, Carnation, Ylang Ylang, Clyclamen
Base: Sandalwood, Bezoe Siam, Patchouli, Vetiver grass, Cedar wood, Tonkabean, Vanilla, Oud

Price: 119€ for 100ml or 89€ for 50ml via Essenza Nobile's webshop.

Geranium pour Monsieur by Frederic Malle : Perfume Review

Happy New Year everyone! I am hijacking the first part of this review to thank you all for your lovely wishes and the warmth you’ve shown me through your messages in the past month after my attack. I am fine now. I spent three days in bed, not really wanting to travel to Greece - I was so down I didn’t feel I could go celebrate the holidays with my family. However, after just two days with my family, my spirits were lifted and my emotional as well as physical wounds healed. I had a lot of writing to do for the university through the holidays unfortunately, and although I finished delivering papers yesterday, I now have to study for one more exam and my thesis group is beginning later this month. Wait, WHAT? Oh darlings, this year is truly kicking my ass. No matter, as long as I don’t have to be writing day and night like I have been doing for the past two weeks, then I am here, dontcha know? :) Yup, that’s what I call commitment! What can I say, I love perfume and I love you so forget about rest (or shopping), here I am, ready for another review. Enough about studies and pressure and all that: Let’s just pause and breathe in the rarefied air of Monsieur Malle!

It has to be said that Geranium pour Monsieur is not going to be everyone’s favorite: with a rather toothpaste-like, strong mint-spearmint opening, it is unlikely to float everyone's boat. Not a universally accessible scent thus, but an extremely innovative, unique and beautiful one nevertheless. The mint opening is supremely cool, like an icy breath, perfect for cooling down in the evening with a couple of spritzes after a gloriously sunny, hot day. Give it five minutes and the mint loses its toothpaste qualities and calms down to an herbal, bitter-sweet breeze of freshness with gentle camphoric undertones. A slight earthiness, too, struggles to emerge, bringing the senses on the cusp of delicious anticipation.

The heart notes are dominated by geranium. If you haven’t smelled geranium essential oil (Pelargonium Odorantissimum), do it now: any perfume lover that wants to train his or her nose to better pick out notes can start successfully with this one. Its scent is extremely pungent and extremely unforgettable. Alone and in good quality high concentrations it is rather unpleasant, smelling profusely of citronella and leaving a rather sour, dry and ever so slightly earthy trail. The reason I so eagerly suggest it as an early tool to train your nose, is that once you smell it, you won’t forget its scent again, preparing you to readily pick it out in complex compositions. In Geranium pour Monsieur the dose is just right. Yes, it is used generously, so that the end result is instantly recognizable as a composition in which the geranium note steals the starring role, but it is used with such consideration along with the supporting notes, that it shines brightly, jubilantly, youthfully, all its harshness beautifully tempered by the lovely bitter-sweetness surrounding it. So let’s return to those supporting notes then: the mint is unbelievably still there, providing quiet freshness and a cool breeze. Its herbal aspect is underscored by a dill note (oh yes, don’t laugh, I am quite serious), whose inherent soft anise aspects are enhanced by sweet fennel and barely-there anise. You see how genius that progression goes? From the is-it-there, is-it-not anise aspect of dill, to the stronger aniseedic scent of fennel, and finally, to the oh-so moderately used anise? Beautifully considerate, isn’t it? The result is beautiful too, balanced and calm - never a spiky note. Finally, hints of clove and cinnamon underscore the sweetness gently, provide a good bit of dark spiciness to the mix and enhancing the quietly camphoric impression.

The drydown is pure glory. The freshness dies down to a whisper and allows itself to be superseded by clean musks (think fresh sheets), but the beauty truly comes from the round voluptuousness provided by the sweet ambers: soft incense rises through a cloud of yummy, vanillic Siam Benzoin and beautifully balsamic storax. It is all gorgeously rounded off by creamy-sweet sandalwood. Despite this being a predominately masculine scent, it really can work like a charm on a woman. While its signature is definitely masculine, at no point is it even close to aggressive. Proof positive of how well it can work on a woman is Sniffapalooza’s Karen Dubin. She bought this while on our trip and her sillage was so magnificent I had to immediately ask her what she was wearing. Do give this one a try, it might just surprise you. If I am honest, I’ll even admit that I like it better on women than on men. Hey did I say this out loud? Apologies in advance to all the Monsieurs reading my blog - Sorry guys, we’re stealing this one from your shelf!

Images: toothpaste tube via Flickr by twenty_questions, Geranium pour Monsieur flacon