L'Eau de Phaedon: the First Non-Allergenic Cologne

by: Serguey Borisov

Eaux de cologne are timeless scents, starting from the time of their invention in the 17th century and continuing into the future. Not many odors make men happy as quickly and effectively as the smell of citrus rinds and fruits. Every few years, especially in the spring, the theme of cologne comes back into fashion, sometimes answering to dodgy marketologists' plots, and sometimes with the help of perfume chemists and perfumers' advanced designs.

New cologne L'Eau de Phaedon, released in the spring of 2014, was created by a young perfumer, Danielle Maniquant (employee of the Pierre Guillaume company), and it represents a new cologne trend. 
This trend could be called “suave colognes for the whole family.”

These kind of colognes were created in the last few years by Pierre Guillaume himself (the new cucumber lotion Eau de Concombre Phaedon), by Francis Kurkdjian (the muguet citruses of Aqua Universalis Maison Francis Kurkdjian), by Etienne de Swardt's perfumers (Cologne Etat Libre d`Orange). The Jo Malone range mostly consists of similar fragrances, as if from a “happy family” television advertisement.

What makes light and happy cologne L'Eau de Phaedon so different from the others? It's a non-allergenic cologne for the whole family. That's noticeable to anyone who likes to read the inscriptions on the backs of boxes,  as there's not a single ingredient from IFRA's list of allergens.

All L'Eau de Phaedon components were chosen so elaborately, to please all existing recommendations of IFRA to the maximum level, without using a single ingredient known to be allergenic. However, the cologne manages to surprise us with its floral freshness and some citrus splash, just before it turns into dew drops on green leaves.

It's not so easy to nail down these slightly bitter flowers—they are so familiar but rolling on the tip of the tongue. They are similar to the orange blossom of Nerola Countess, to the eternally feminine sweet jasmine, to the lilac of vintage perfumes and to contemporary 21st-century freesias. I'd put my bet on the sweet jasmine and modern white freesia, as after the flowers,  there enters some floral-aquatic molecule (Floralozone?), which is referred to in description as aloe vera juice and agave leaves. It has some floral, dewy, green and slightly dusty facets—like the smell of the first rain drops on a sandy beach. Rounded and fresh, L'Eau de Phaedon shines happily and chirps cheerfully for all the hour that all colognes have to live. Then it whispers with sweet woody-musky sillage for the other hours, broadcasting some modern easy listening music for a slightly positive mood. I must say that it lives longer on the hair, a shirt or scarf fabric, purring for the whole day. On my skin it flies away pretty fast. And while it just seems to be natural cologne, it's pleasant.

I imagine a nice and simplistic L'Eau de Phaedoncologne as an amazingly functional thing, in the sense that it will find a lot of applications in our modern lives. If you spend a third of your life in the office, working with people, it will not annoy anyone as it's barely conspicuous. If you spend a couple of hours a day in sports activities, no one will notice it (and will not say a bad word after) even during aerobic exercises. If you go to a meeting or an appointment, it will behave perfectly, and no one will make the cologne a topic starter, no one will ever remember the scent—only a sense of purity. If you're going to the store to get some clothes or find a new perfume, L'Eau de Phaedon will not change the smells. Nice floral-musky cologne L'Eau de Phaedon does not show off. And one more thing: it could be the very first cologne for someone who has an allergy and has never worn fragrances. This fragrance is not about love, is not about victory over rivals and circumstances, not about Mother Nature or another Paradise on Earth, nor is it about sex at a hormonal maximum, nor some superman in shining armor. This is just the perfect fragrance for TV commercials about the happy family that exists only on TV screens. Olivia Giacobetti could create this for her IUNX range, if it has not been closed, and continue its development.

So ... here comes the future?
 The future, as has been predicted by IFRA restrictions?
 Looks like it. But this is a future quite unlike hell.

L'Eau de Phaedon

Notes: Neroli, jasmine, yellow mandarin, aloe vera, agave, woody notes, musk.