Penhaligon's Amaranthine: Lone Dissenter

Penhaligon’s Amaranthine received (pretty much) across the board excellent reviews. I received my bottle of Amaranthine many months ago and right away there was something about it that didn’t sit well with me. Yes, it’s Bertrand Duchafour and yes, it’s a departure for Penahligon’s but that’s not going to make me like it nor will that make me smell facets and pleasures that aren’t there.

Amaranthine is very sweet. I cannot underscore this enough - it's sweetness level is sky high. To me, it’s a milky vanillic floral. Not even particularly tropical – just a milky sweet scent with unidentifiable florals. It reminds me of Lalique Le Parfum and Kenzo both of which I like much better. Sometimes I think our readers only want good reviews but I do want to offer a contradictory point of view on Amaranthine. I enjoy the beginning of Amaranthine and this is the period of time I feel I’m being too critical, too harsh on this fragrance. But after those 15 minutes fade and it dries down to a swampy, sweet, humid mess, I can't help wonder what everyone else is smelling (only the first 15 minutes, perhaps?). Honestly, if I smelled this blindfolded, after it had been on skin for over an hour, I’d probably think it was something from Avon or Bath & Body Works. I don’t detect spices at all, nothing green, nothing woody. I'm not sure if anyone else mentioned this, but Amaranthine seems a failed Songes. Annick Goutal Songes does the tropical floral vibe with vanilla and soft spices brilliantly. To prove I don't dislike tropical florals entirely, I do love LesNez Manoumalia (this is tropical floral supreme) and L’Artisan Fleur de Liane (delightful green tropical floral).

I'm not sure what the inside of a woman's thigh smells like but I doubt it's anything like Amaranthine. Nor do I think Amaranthine smells corrupted. If anything, it's a gourmand floral concoction, basically comfy, milky, feel-good jus. I envision a tray with rice pudding, warm milk and a pile of sweaty petals and flowers turning brown in the heat of the tropics. Gag.

Turns out the opposite happened for me: I expected to love Amaranthine and I have a like (15 mins)/hate (the rest) relationship with it. I expected to hate Havana Vanille and I love it.

I’m not going to list the notes because you probably know them by now and as far as I’m concerned they’re all lies (!) Green tea? Coriander, cardamom and clove? Orange blossom? Amaranthine smells like this: ylang, indolic jasmine and condensed milk.

LesNez Manoumalia: A Review

LesNez is a niche perfume line hailing from Switzerland. The line was the brainchild of René Schifferle, a perfume lover who, after being bored by perfumes currently on the market, decided that “some really different perfumes were missing”. Therefore, lucky for us, the perfumers working for LesNez have freedom to create the most interesting, daring and unusual compositions they can imagine. The three existing fragrances in the line (Let Me Play the Lion, The Unicorn Spell and L’Antimatiere) were created in collaboration with Isabelle Doyen. Ms. Doyen is famous for her scents created for Annick Goutal.

The newest fragrance offering from LesNez, called Manoumalia (pronounced “man-oo- mal-eya”), due to launch in early 2009, is created by Sandrine Videault. Ms. Videault was one of the last students of famed perfumer Edmond Roundnitska (quite the teacher but I digress). Manoumalia is said to have been imagined by Ms. Videault’s time in Wallis, an island in the South Pacific. Wallis is a little known French territory located halfway between Fiji and Samoa.

As you might guess, a fragrance built upon the idea of an island in the South Pacific, will surely be tropical in style. Manoumalia is a tropical fragrance, but it is also so much more and so well done. The first few moments of Manoumalia are slightly reminiscent of a green Monyette Paris, Kai, Child or Montale Intense Tiare perfume. But after five minutes Manoumalia gets even more interesting than any of these scents. Just for the record, I adore Monyette Paris, and find it utterly beautiful. Manoumalia contains ample servings of vetiver, sandalwood and amber which keep the potentially extreme “tropics” aroma from taking over. To compare and contrast, let’s take Monyette Paris and Montale’s Intense Tiare, both of these fragarances showcase the sweet fruity florals of the tropics to the extreme. Monyette and Montale give us a fantasy version of the ultimate sweet and floral scents of the islands. Manoumalia seems to give us a more natural or realistic olfactory gift from the tropics. Manoumalia includes the green plants, the woods, some dirt and earthy dimension along with the gorgeous sweet tropics.

To be sure, there is a sweet fruity, tropical floral heart in Manoumalia, but the vetiver, sandalwood and amber underpin the fragrance giving the fruity-florals a certain weight and beauty I’ve never before experienced. Manoumalia is not solely a vacation or beach scent, it is a serious perfume easily worn to the office or for any occasion you wish to smell fabulous.

I’m surprised and delighted by Manoumalia. If this sort of fragrance sounds appealing to you, I highly recommend it.

Manoumalia will be available at Luckyscent in the USA in early 2009.

LesNez Manoumalia notes include: Fagrea, vetiver, tiare, sandalwood dust, ylang ylang, amber accord. Please visit Perfume Shrine for a more detailed description of the fragrance notes and fascinating specifics on the island of Wallis.

Longevity: Excellent 5+ hours
Sillage: Soft but present
Rating: 5 Stars

The image above is an engraving of The Surrender of the Island of Otaheite to Captain Wallis. It is located at Auckland Art Gallery.