Perfumes Perris Monte Carlo from the Scented Island

by: Serguey Borisov

In 2012, Gianluca Perris, from the family better known as the owner of Houbigant andAlyssa Ashley brands, released the first collection of Perris Monte Carlo fragrances, along with his sister. Focused on the Middle East, the collection included such perfumes as Oud Imperial, Bois d'Oud, Ambre Gris, Musk Extreme, Essence de Patchouli ...

Madagascar

The expansion of the collection continued on a perfume-geographical basis: after the mulled wine flower Rose de Taif (2013), the add-ons of the past year were gourmandish-flowery Ylang Ylang Nosy Be and dry wood Patchouli Nosy Be. From the famous rose gardens of Saudi town Taif to the island Nosy Be in the Indian Ocean, where vanilla, coffee, sugar cane, and ylang-ylang were grown under the French protectorate from 1841. The island's name in Malagasy means “Big Island,” and it deserved its nickname of “Nosy Manitra” ("Scented Island"). Today it is one of the examples of environmental cooperation and fair trade between international perfume corporations and local residents.

We were able to learn about these new fragrances first hand, speaking with Gianluca Perris at Pitti Fragranze.

Gianluca Perris:
We did strong work with our partners, Robertet company. Robertet has a big plantation of 60 hectares of ylang-ylang on Nosy Be island. And Nosy Be island is just a small paradise in northern Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, where many natural fragrant plants could grow. Every dawn the air at Nosy Be island is so fragrant, it's called Perfume Island. Now Robertet has about 220 hectares of earth there and have started experimenting with patchouli, pepper, eucalyptus, vetiver, and other crops.

Ylang-ylang from Nosy-Be, photo by Tomoo Inaba

The ylang-ylang from Nosy Be gives extraordinary fantastic quality, and also ylang-ylang is the only flower that is extracted by fractions. You have to fractionate by time of distillation and only 2% of the total production becomes the best quality Ylang-Ylang Extra.

Ylang-ylang from Nosy-Be, photo by Tomoo Inaba

So we took the best quality of ylalng-ylang oil and we made a blend totally dedicated to it. And again, it's a very high degree of a natural Ylang-Ylang Extra. The moment you smell it, you recognize it instantly.

Serguey Borisov:
It starts with a rather gourmand accord … like banana and vanilla …

Gianluca Perris:
Very gourmand! The natural flower itself is so sweet, it's so intoxicating, so beautiful … I just love the perfume!

Serguey Borisov:
As far as I can recall, there are not very many ylang-ylang soliflore perfumes on the market now… Why is this?

Gianluca Perris:
It is a very difficult ingredient to work with! You have to get the right approach to make a perfume out of it—you need the very best quality of ylang-ylang to make a really great, expensive-smelling perfume. And the very best quality, Ylang Extra, is very expensive. If you compare Ylang Extra with Fraction One or Fraction Two, the difference is huge. The quality goes down a lot!

The second problem is that regulations are becoming harder and harder on ylang-ylang (as it contains nearly 0.5% of isoeugenol which is considered a skin sensitizer by IFRA, by SB), and IFRA rules are getting more tough with the flower extracts, so you have to use a fraction that could pass the IFRA standards, or change the formula.

The third thing is that it's not the easiest flower note to work with, because it's mostly a top note. I mean, you can smell it in the start and later you have to associate it with some other natural flower notes and some synthetics, to keep the smell of an ylang soliflore recognizable.

So, in the Ylang-Ylang Nosy Be perfume, we used woody notes, labdanum and vanilla in order to prolong the sweet exotic smell of ylang flower into the base notes.

Serguey Borisov:
Looks like it`s not the only perfume you made from Nosy Be crops …

Gianluca Perris:
Yes, indeed. Also, we have another unusual project, Patchouli Nosy Be Perris. They planted a new plantation at the island. One person from Robertet propagated by hand every small plant of patchouli. There was a small plantation on Madagascar, but it did not give any results because the heat was killing the patchouli plants, so they put all the small plants under the other big (ylang and eucalyptus) trees in order to protect them in the shadow.

And the result is the very unique patchouli that loses a bit of its camphorous smell and has a very strong dry woody note that lasts almost forever. I find this fragrance very unique and it's almost the greatest base for fragrance layering, I mean, to layer with some flowery or different perfume. I like oud and normally I put Oud Imperial or Bois d'Oud on top of this fragrance. If you like rose, just put Rose de Taif on top of this fragrance and enjoy the chypre. Or you could combine both new perfumes of Nosy Be— Ylang Ylang and Patchouli—to create some tropical feeling.

I am very proud that we made the patchouli fragrance as the world-wide avant-premiere of the ingredient. Perris Monte Carlo was the very first brand which used the patchouli crop from Robertet's plantation on Nosy Be.

Perris Monte Carlo Ylang Ylang Nosy Be

Head notes: Ylang Ylang from Nosy Be, Lemon, Grapefruit, Cardamom;
Heart notes: Ylang Ylang, Jasmine, Fleur d`Orange, Rose Damascene;
Base notes: Ylang Ylang, Ambergris, Labdanum, Vetiver, Cedarwood, Vanilla.

Perris Monte Carlo Patchouli Nosy Be

Head notes: Patchouli from Nosy Be, Pink Pepper;
Heart notes: Cocoa, Labdanum;
Base notes: Patchouli, Vanilla, Cedarwood, Sandalwood.

Photos from Fragranze by Fragrantica