What shall I say? If I had to specify the idea of what the first Slovak niche brand should look like, it would look like this.
But from the beginning. When I found out that a boutique with its own line of niche perfumes has opened in Košice, I was really curious. When they opened a branch in Bratislava, curiosity became unbearable. I had originally planned to set aside a special time for my first visit, but when I soon passed the Carlton Hotel, the gravity between the perfume maniac and the nearest perfumery made me suddenly decide that I have more than enough time right now, stepped on the brake, turned the steering wheel and shifted to get into the orbit. Who am I to fight the laws of physics?
Perfumery 1907 is located in a small but elegant and pleasant space in the passage of the Carlton Hotel. Immediately at the entrance, there were brands from the top of my mental list “to try” – Au Pays d’Orange, Puredistance, Nabucco, Jul et Mad. The sales lady was nice, pleasant, patient, and (sic!) informed!!! Just – as if it weren’t in Slovakia.
I was most curious about their own line, so this time I passed on all the other brands (except for Simone Cosac, where the sales lady convinced me to try at least lilac Osé).
The bottles are elegantly minimalist, high-quality, with a simple white label, currently only in a volume of 100 ml.
I tried these scents:
Vanilla – at the beginning, it is dominated by ylang, which is so dry and non-fruity that I – to my own shame – confused it with tonka and could not figure out how did they managed to get tonka into the head, well… Then come the soft powder tones with the gradually added sweet Madagascar vanilla. It is notable that it does not lose its intensity for a couple of hours, but on the contrary, it gains in intensity, so I advise you to be careful when applying.
Ambrette – I think it should be called Rose. It is the scent of Turkish rose with a fruity touch on a musky base (ambrette = “musky” seeds). The processing is quite reminiscent of the scents of Le Parfums de Rosine, personally, Rose d´Été is the closest, but it is by means not a copy – just a similar way of processing.
Almond – salted almonds. It’s interesting, at the beginning it reminds me a bit of peanut butter – it is probably an almond paste in the composition. Gradually the almond tone fades away and the salt stands out more, ultimately the smell of seawater remains. Certainly no fish, no seaweed, no driftwood, just the smell of clean skin after bathing in the sea.
Galbanum – beautiful galbanum with vanilla mixed so as to suppress that for galbanum typical initial nose punch. Here it is confident but civilized. I often have the problem with galbanum that makes me feel sweaty, and here it also has such a phase, fortunately, a very short phase – just a few minutes, when it starts to mix with the base, which is very reminiscent of salted almonds in Almonds.
Pine – begins with relatively strong citrus tones – but very natural, like a freshly grated citrus peel. Later pine needles join. As the citrus gradually drains away, the drydown remains very reminiscent of the layer of pine needles in a pine forest on a nice, sunny day.
Jasmine – a very tame, soft and gentle, not indolic jasmine in the company of similarly conceived floral tones. Jasmine dominates but does not scream. The scent is non-conflict, but not generic or boring, in my opinion also suitable as a gift. The overall perception is similar to Suave Petals by The Merchant of Venice, but this one is less girly and more feminine.
Verbena – as freshly cut from the flowerbed, extremely faithful, clear, fresh green scent. The endurance is not great, but quite decent for the smell of this type.
Heliotrope – is interesting. One is accustomed to the fact that this purple flower either finds itself (perhaps with the exception of the Korres scents) as part of a composition of relatively complicated scents, or just the opposite in the form of a soliflor, where it is usually conceived explicitly almond-sweet to gourmet. It plays a major role here, but it is conceived in a relatively unconventional way, with oriental and spicy tones. Like, it doesn’t deny its almond sweetness, but the interpretation is completely different.
Next time and then just decide that. It won’t be easy :), so far my autumn favorite is Galbanum.
Simply put – if it’s not clear from the previous text – I love the brand!
Hope it will last…