Love Me Tender: New Hedonist Cassis by Viktoria Minya

by: Juliett Ptoyan

I love to see the transformation of a perfumer's signature - there's always something exciting about inspecting a group of aromas by the same artist, much like reading an interesting story or watching a favorite show.

When there's not so many fragrances in the portfolio of a perfumer, I'm unconsciously hoping to find something in common, a special manner of working with materials or composing accords. After encountering a number of fragrances, the feeling is different: like if you visit a friendly chef awaiting a degustation of new experiments, knowing the favourite ingredients.

With Viktoria Minya, I had exactly the same story: I remember my interest in roseand iris Hedonists and my curiosity before meeting with Eau de Hongrie.... Now, with her fifth fragrance, I can talk about the signature of the brand - femininity.

Hedonist Cassis (2015) - blackcurrant absolute, Bulgarian rose,

freshly cut grass, cedar, incense

Originally, Viktoria had planned to release three fragrances by the name of Hedonist all together, but the first was launched in 2013, and the remaining two, Hedonist Irisand Hedonist Rose, appeared in 2014. At the end of 2015, we heard about Hedonist Cassis — and today I want to tell a bit more about it. 

This time the main ingredient of the composition is blackcurrant bud absolute which can be surprisingly different depending on the concentration: undiluted it is a quite thick, almost animalic scent; being "adapted" it becomes more familiar, with dry and cold, fruity undertones.

In Viktoria's interpretation, blackcurrant show us its airy, minty character, like the smell of your hands after picking berries from a ragged, dusty bush; the emphasis in the perception constantly shifts from the ingredients to the mood of fragrance - light, like a bubble, completely carefree and very bright.

Hedonist Cassis begins with a pastel, iridescent grapefruit-currant cloud, but there's no bright tartness from the former note, nor animalic touch from the latter: bitter citrus is intangible, almost powdery, and currant is more like a tiny berry caramel. From the skin it's like a foam of bubbles - instantly melting away; but you, of course, can layer. After the bubbles dissipate, there remains light, tender spring roses in a crystal vase and a hyper-realistic shade of freshly cut grass: it may seem that it's knocked out of the matrimonial idyll, but after a while it merges with a fresh floral accord and white musk.

Moving away from the ingredients, and returning to the mood, it turns out that for me, the Cassis evokes the image of an idyllic, young woman of the 1950's who just married: she's nice, modest, sticks by her husband and moderately indulges her child; our heroine could wear any starchy name like Becky or Gloria, love Carven, and cook (with sincere pleasure) oatmeal or something like that for the spouse. This fragrance, with its unique femininity and obedience, reminded me of Secret by Arte Profumi: the same loving voice, the same sweet smile, the same excellent manners.

In the era of independent perfumery, to experience such an aroma is quite pleasantly amusing. Try it if: you're crazy about fragrances like Tout A Vous; if you like subtle floral-fresh fragrances; or if you are generally interested in Viktoria's works - the signature of all of her work is femininity.

Hedonist Cassis's brand of femininity is most like the one that we already met inHedonist Rose, but if in the first case, the heroine only flirted with us, in Cassis she is already a faithful wife and mother.