Fly, Vetiver, Fly: Paul Emilien's New Vetiver Indien

by: Serguey Borisov

We discovered some news about French niche House Paul Emilien from Paul and Anastasia Mathieu back in September, 2015. They told us about the new collection of 4 perfumes they were planning to launch at Esxence 2016. So, be prepared for four new perfumes in the Eclat des Sens collection, devoted to Orchid, Gardenia, Vetiver and Leather. Just before the upcoming Esxence exhibition we met with Anastasia Mathieu to learn more about these scents, and to smell one of the fragrances, Vetiver Indien by Paul Emilien.

Anastasia Mathieu: Our new collection L’Eclat des Sens Paul Emilien is based upon a simple idea: we want to create a bridge to niche perfumes for all people. We do this by using three factors: a) perfumes that are easy to understand; b) comprehensible fragrances; c) a very friendly price.

We do hope that those three factors will allow the discovery of the beautiful world of artistic perfumery for many people used to buying heavily advertised perfumes in department stores. The wide-spread opinion is that art perfumes are very interesting and rare but expensive and weird – so we did our best to show the opposite.

We created these in the hope that connoisseurs of rare, unknown perfumes and perfume professionals will appreciate our L’Eclat des Sens collection, which like all the Paul Emilien perfumes, are created in accordance with French Haute Parfumerie traditions.

Sergey Borisov: Why did you choose the fragrance themes of Vetiver, Leather, Gardenia and Orchid?

Anastasia Mathieu: Let`s start with the fact that these are the first perfumes only. As far as people will love the collection, we will be happy to continue its development.

My husband, Paul Emilien Mathieu, adores vetiver as a raw material and perfume note, so vetiver fragrance Vetiver Indien was the must, sort of compulsory fragrance, and the starting point for the collection. We had started to work on our own interpretation of an orchid fragrance a long time ago, so we had a lot of different sketches on the subject. It happened that we chose the best version recently, and in order not to delay the launch, we decided to release it as part of the new collection, under the name Orchidee Charnelle.

Gardenia is a favorite flower of many women and men who love perfumes. I myself love gardenia, not only for the beauty of flowers, but also for their magical harmonious smell, which is why we decided to work on our own interpretation of it. Our gardenia is named Gardenia Tropical.

And the fourth perfume is devoted to leather, Cuir Rustique: leather is a very interesting smell. It has a myriad of beautiful interpretations, and it`s a very interesting accord to work with. We wanted to create old but fresh leather, raw but gourmand, i.e. to show the different facets of it.

Sergey's Review: Smelling the first fragrance, Vetiver Indien, one can approximate what to expect from the entire Eclat des Sens collection. Vetiver is gorgeous, radiant and bright – but it`s not Indian. There`s no everyday India with its lean meagre dogs, color-painted cows with sacred letters, overspiced dishes, the smell of the earth, and hundreds of big dark eyes, chasing you at any moment.

Vetiver Indien is a perfect, colorful picture from the tourist guide, the polished European version of vetiver. We could say it`s a refined dandy, Mr. Vetiver. Vetiver Indien should stand in a row between vetiver-and-incense Mark Birley for men and vetiver-and-myrrhe Vetiver Extraordinaire Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle. Thus, we can expect Eclat des Sens to be a collection of fine perfumes, that are delicately built, racy and delicate.

Vetiver Indien is radiant, it shimmers and shines so bright to amuse the senses (Eclat des Sens) – due to luminescence of citruses and mint, due to the mild invigorating spices (which lends the energy, but not taste), due to the fougere structure that illuminates the perfume. I believe that the fougere structure works here as silver foil under the gemstone that reflects light, giving it more color and light from inside. There`s not much India (and Vetiver) in it – the same amount is in the color photograph taken at the Goa beaches.

But in order to know the Vetiver note, Vetiver Indien is good enough. Unlike pure vetiver oil, which could be even repulsive by its oily, musty and earthy tones – and in contrast to, say, Gentleman Givenchy, where vetiver is hidden behind the patchouli, leather, oak moss and other male characters. In Vetiver Indien, a modern vetiver environment of grapefruit, mandarin, mint leaves and violets smells familiar and helps customers to find a ground of common notes.

Vetiver Indien is a modern citrus cologne, which you can revel in the most healthy way. It was polished in its opening notes so perfectly that you could offer it to kids. This is Erik Satie light splashes of ambient music, whose Musique d'ameublementpeople would try to listen to with much attention. It`s “Moonlight” or “Reflections in Water” by Claude Debussy. It`s romantic minimalism of Yan Tiersen melodies and Gymnopédies by Erik Satie.

Vetiver Indien is airy vetiver. Kind of vetiver-go-lightly, probably of elven origin. Flying vetiver is pretty unusual, instead of strong roots and mass it only shows emotional stability: equanimity and peace. Vetiver of such an exemplary calmness should be distributed as the in-flight fragrance in airplanes instead of “take-off caramels”, before take-off and landing, to avoid panic attacks.

Vetiver Indien by Paul Emilien Top notes: Grapefruit from Argentina, Sicilian Lemon, Italian Mandarine, Elemi, Peppermint; Heart notes: Lavender, Black pepper, Violet, Sandalwood; Base notes: Haitian Vetiver, Myrrh, White Musk, Amber, Oakmoss.

Fragrantica journalists promise to meet with brand owners and try all the new Paul Emilien perfumes at the Milan exhibition Esxence-2016, to let our readers know more about new perfumes.

Images: Paul Emilien