One of my favorite pastimes is to go to the Luckyscent website and click on the “New Additions” header to see what fragrances have just been released, and what lines have been recently added by the store. I usually end up ordering samples of most of them, because I have an insatiable curiosity about how things smell. Once I know it exists, I must sniff it for myself. These samples join the hundreds of other unworn samples in my backlog of scents to try. That is how I ended up with these samples from strangelove nyc.
Someday I will gain the self-discipline to try all of the samples that I have on hand before ordering new ones. Meanwhile, I find myself particularly intrigued by the new scents that cost a fortune — I love to look at their lists of extravagant ingredients, and their flowery descriptions. While waiting for the samples to arrive, I start to prepare myself for the kind of sacrifices (and justifications) that it takes to fall in love with a perfume priced in the $7-10 per mL range.
In 1975, French racecar driver Hervé Poulain commissioned artist Alexander Calder to create the first BMW “Art Car,” an auto painted like a canvas, which Poulain drove in the 1975 Le Mans Endurance Race. Since then, BMW Art Cars have been produced by many famous artists, but the one that speaks to me most is entitled “Protect Me From What I Want.” Created in 1999 by American neo-conceptual artist Jenny Holzer, the car has phrases written on it, like The Unattainable is Invariably Attractive. This about sums up my experience with perfume, I’m always finding myself drawn to things that are rare, expensive, and difficult to obtain. So, a few months ago when I opened the New Additions page to find $795 bottles of EdPs from strangelove nyc, I knew that I had to smell them
strangelove nyc
strangelove nyc is one of those companies that shuns capital letters. Perhaps to be artsy or avant-garde, perhaps “to let the work speak for itself,” perhaps to buck the conventions of linguistics that oppress us all. Or maybe for some other reason, who knows? (All I do know is that repeatedly writing perfume names with italic characters in the middle, like meltmyheart and silencethesea, is kind of a pain in the rear end, so I apologize for the inconsistency if I miss an instance or two.)
The company was founded by American businesswoman Elizabeth Gaines. Gaines is also a co-founder of the company GaiaOne, which has a mission of marketing and distributing sustainable essential oils and natural raw materials. With strangelove nyc, Gaines hopes to use the highest quality materials in the world to create exquisite, luxurious fragrances. It was these materials, like natural oud and ambergris, and orris butter, that caught my attention, along with Gaines’ choice of master perfumer Christophe Laudamiel to create the fragrances.
CHRISTOPHE LAUDAMIEL
Mr. Laudamiel is somewhat of a rock star in the fragrance world at the moment, and he has a little bit of a connection to my hometown. His work is so prolific and diverse that in 2017, the Institute for Art and Olfaction presented him with an award for “Exceptional Contribution to Scent Culture.”
Laudamiel is a perfumer and flavorist who started out as a chemist, earning a master’s degree in chemistry from the European Higher Institute of Chemistry in Strausborg, where he was a champion chemist and valedictorian. He has taught chemistry at Harvard and MIT, but he got his start in perfumery at Procter & Gamble as an intern right here in Cincinnati.
Laudamiel started out as a flavor chemist, creating flavors to mask the bitterness of cough syrups. While working with the flavorists, he was introduced to perfumers, and was accepted into P&G’s perfumery school in Newcastle. Procter & Gamble is actually one of the largest perfume companies in the world — in addition to perfuming all of their many home and personal care products, the company owns (or has owned) many beauty brands that produce perfume.
Laudamiel ended up leaving P&G to pursue opportunities in creative fine fragrance and innovative projects in the fragrance realm. I’ll discuss some of these in Part Two of the strangelove nyc reviews. Also, in 2002, he founded the non-profit Academy of Perfumery and Aromatics in New York. The Academy is dedicated to the advancement and education of the art of perfumery and aromatics, and offers lectures and training, along with working with the Osmotheque, and other educational institutions.
strangelove nyc FRAGRANCES
strangelove’s fragrances come in both oil form and EdP. Because 1.25 mL of the oil perfume costs $55 from either Luckyscent or the strangelove website, I chose to sample the EdP fragrances. (Even these samples are premium priced, I paid $10 for each 0.7 mL sample.) I would imagine that the oil perfumes are even more decadent, but I think that the EdPs are sufficient to familiarize oneself with the scents.
All of strangelove nyc’s fragrances (to date) are built around sustainably sourced natural oud, and come with 24 karat gold-plated caps.
I was particularly intrigued to see the oil perfume necklaces. Custom-designed and plated in 24 karat gold, these charms hold 1.25 mL of strangelove nyc fragrance oil, and cost $260 – $390. I think that this is an interesting concept. I would definitely enjoy wearing jewelry that holds luxurious pure perfume oils — but maybe not for this price, which I automatically equate with one bottle of Malle…. (anything that costs around $300 is “Malle Money” in my mind.)
meltmyheart FRAGRANCE REVIEW
meltmyheart is a gourmand fragrance for men and women. It was created by Cristophe Laudamiel, along with Elizabeth Gaynes, under the creative direction of Helena Christensen. meltmyheart was released in 2017, in both pure perfume oil and EdP concentrations.
meltmyheart is described as “romance and indulgence for devoted lovers.”
Upon first spray, meltmyheart smelled like those dark chocolate coated orange jelly sticks that you find in a candy store. Deep, dark chocolate, crispy and slightly bitter, with just a touch of orange oil coming through from the jelly center. As it dries down, I’m reminded of a Terry’s Chocolate Orange. If you’ve never had a Terry’s Chocolate Orange, I can’t help you. You need to experience this for yourself. But here’s a picture. Go forth and seek out the real thing. (Now, excuse me for a moment while I attempt to order some for same-day delivery on Amazon).
After about 20 minutes, the fragrance starts to smell more dry and dusty. The chocolate is still there, but now I can also smell something that smells like the bottom of a well-loved and well-used makeup bag. At the 30-minute mark, meltmyheart smells very much like my beloved Too Faced Chocolate Soleil bronzer.
Over the next few hours, the deep cocoa started to fade, and some other scents became more recognizable. There was a very restrained bit of well-mannered oud. There was a fatty nuttiness that reminded me of Mauna Loa milk chocoate coconut macadamias. (If you haven’t tried these, they’re whole macadamias, dipped in white chocolate, then shredded coconut, then milk chocolate. Go get some.)
After three hours, the orris butter in meltmyheart really begins to shine. Rooty, woody, violet-y, and luxurious. So smooth and lovely, with just a dusting of cocoa powder. During one of my wearings I sprayed my wrists heavily and went to bed, inhaling the delicious aroma deeply at a close distance from my face. It became quite meditative, and I detected all of the nuances of the orris much more easily. After that wearing, I could pick out the orris throughout the wear, like my heart knew exactly where to look for it.
meltmyheart DETAILS AND FINAL IMPRESSION
meltmyheart lasted about 8 hours on my skin, and had low but steady projection. It is gourmand, but not too sweet. The chocolate is bitter and the orris butter is decadent, and both are the stars of the show, blending seamlessly. meltmyheart is what I wanted Iris Ganache to be. I enjoyed it more each time I wore it.
meltmyheart could be worn by men and women. The powdery “make-up” phase of the orris, while not too intense, and buffered by the chocolate, may displease some potential male wearers. Although some descriptions make it sound sexy, I find it more of a comforting scent. It is a scent of love, but not a scent of lustful desire or the throes of passion. It is more like the tender embrace of a true and faithful lover.
Perfumer’s listed notes for meltmyheart are pure orris butter, oud, sandalwood, ylang ylang, absinthe, French sage, ginger, mandarin, and dark chocolate. It is available in both EdP and pure oil perfume. For more details, visit strangelovenyc.com.
silencethesea FRAGRANCE REVIEW
silencethesea is an aromatic aquatic fragrance for men and women. It was created by Cristophe Laudamiel, along with Elizabeth Gaynes, under the creative direction of Helena Christensen. silencethesea was released in 2016. Like meltmyheart, it is also available in both pure oil perfume and EdP concentrations.
silencethesea is described as “an arousing, animalic fragrance.”
I love the smell of natural ambergris, and all the “real” smells of the ocean, so I was really excited to try this. I spent about a year wearing practically nothing but oceanic fragrances, and trying as many as I could find, so if any of the strangelove nyc offerings were going to woo me, I expected this to be the one.
silencethesea opens with a dry, bracing, bitter angelica. Just pungent, bitter, sour green. If you’ve ever cut a field of tall, sticky weeds, you might recognize this sour smell. After about 15 minutes, I start to smell some dirt. Dryness. Then salt and pepper. At 20 minutes, it smells like a salted and peppered bandaid, plus the sour weed stems.
At 30 minutes, a musty, earthy funk breaks free of the greenness. It is also sour, smells like mold, or fungus. Then it starts to be sweaty. The sour sweat with the salty bandaid reminds me of an overused and underwashed jock strap. Finally, at one hour, it settles in to just sour sweat smell. If you’ve ever woken up in the middle of the night with a fever, sweating through your sheets, the smell is similar. The sourness of sweaty sheets.
After two hours, silencethesea smelled mainly of leather and sourness. Like milk spilled in your leather couch and sat there for a day or two. Or a baby bottle got lost in the cushions and wasn’t found until it had curdled.
After three hours, my visual equivalent of the smell was if you were wearing a very old leather watchband, that’s been worn daily for years, and you spill buttermilk down your arm, on a hot day.
After four hours, I washed it off. My second wearing went about the same way. I didn’t attempt it a third time.
silencethesea DETAILS AND FINAL IMPRESSION
The perfumers refer to silencethesea as “provocative” and “daring.” I agree with them. I enjoy a lot of scents that many people would classify as “challenging,” but I could not find a happy place with silencethesea. Something about it disagreed with my nose, my skin chemistry, or both. I would call it an advanced fragrance, and a try-before-you-buy situation. If you like natural ambergris and oud, it’s probably worth a shot. I personally found the angelica to be overwhelming, and could never fully get past it to the other facets of the scent.
Perfumer’s listed notes for silencethesea are pure ambergris, black oud, frankincense, narcissus, tuberose, jasmine, white truffle, and angelica.
For more information, visit strangelovenyc.com. Also, samples of silencethesea (and all of the strangelove nyc fragrances) can be purchased at luckyscent.com.
PART TWO
In part two, I will review two more strangelove nyc fragrances, their original oud fragrance, deadofnight, and their latest release, floral oud fragrance, lostinflowers.
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