Scented Snippets New Fragrance Review: Esscentual Alchemy Pro Fond

by: Ida Meister

Esscentual Alchemy Natural Botanical Perfume: Captivating and evocative natural perfumes that make people feel sensual.

"I compose music for your nose..."

So says Amanda Feeley of Ames, Iowa.

I love it when home-grown, hardworking folks create beautiful things on a grassroots level. When you have to build up a full-sized botanical perfume organ from scratch and raise a lively family of four children, this can be no mean feat. I admire Amanda's grit and determination; she's created a number of intriguing perfumes, and her latest—Pro Fond— is a heady floral/earthy composition.

Like many natural perfumes, Pro Fond is, by nature ephemeral.

First and foremost, it is helpful to acknowledge this, just as we comprehend thatNothing Lasts, if we follow Buddhist thinking. <3

We must take pleasure in it now.

Amanda tells me that the concept of a white floral fragrance embedded in “savory base notes” came to her in a dream.

[Knowing the perfumer, I'm fairly certain that she agonized over the process, trying to coax her fragrant components into compliance.]

I feel her perfume more a floral/balsamic/gourmand presence with a juicy preamble.

My attention is immediately garnered by a pulpy blood orange and zesty petitgrain at the outset: the natural isolate phenylethyl acetate possesses an intensely sweet, honeyed-fruitiness redolent of rose, pear, peach. These voices are brilliant and of relatively brief duration [due to the low molecular weight of top notes, generally speaking], as the floral heart follows on its heels and melds with rapidity.

Karo karounde originates in West Africa, a rather tempestuous white blossom with a jasmine/tuberose scent profile and animalic aspects; it is blended with white lotus, ylang ylang, tuberose and white champa, for a bold, unwavering floral heart. A luscious, unstinting heart.

Where do all these lusty blossoms repose?

Upon an unlikely bed of barley, Haitian vetiver, muhuhu [a soft cedary-vetiver African sandalwood with a decidedly balsamic nature], cacao, and choya loban [referred to as a “destructive distillation” of Indian frankincense—a smoky beast often used to emulate leather tones].

I have applied and reapplied Pro Fond over the past few days, focusing on the various stages of development. In this case, I truly enjoy them all: the joyous top, vividly sensuous heart, and the cacao-laden balsamic base. It's a truly beautiful perfume.

I have to hand it to Amanda—it is extremely difficult to micro-manage choya loban, it's such a smoldering powerhouse material that devours everything in its wake, if not vigilantly checked. It confounds me how she dosed that smoky little devil, but it never dominates the base; the vetiverlike components foster a comforting balsamic foundation.

As for barley—well, does anyone recall the Lostmarch Lann-Ael eau de toilette, with all its grains? The complete sense of childhood reassurance [we're assuming secure, happy memories here] inherent in each spritz? That's the role reprised in Pro Fond.

This is one of those moments in which I wish that I had a bottle to fully spray—just to see what would happen. Dabbing works well in many instances, but some fragrances beg to be lavished everywhere. You want to live with them on a larger scale ...

Pro Fond falls smack dab into the latter category.

Thank you, Amanda, for sending me a sample to explore!