LE PETIT GARÇON EDP - MY VERY OWN BLEND

LE PETIT GARÇON EDP

Launch: 2015 – Customized Edition

Perfumer: Ane Walsh

Olfactive Director: Simone Shitrit

THE COMPOSITION

Olfactive Notes of: Cedrat, white grapefruit, mimosa, genet, tagetes, osmanthus, roman chamomile, calendula, fabriana imbricata (pichi), adesnemia boroinoide (paramela), honey & pollen tincture, ambergris, musk algazal.

Olfactive description: Yellow-ish radiant, sweet, waxy-honeyed, slightly fruity, hay-ish and herbaceous, with a balsamic, warm leathery, animalic - mineral undertone. Unique, sensual and slightly inebriating.

INSPIRATIONS

Continuing to work on discrepancies in perfumery, this time I wanted to work the concept of incongruity, in such a way that we would not have either contrast nor opposition.

“To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys... But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world...” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-1944)

The Little Prince character represents the open-mindedness of children, as the prince is an explorer who restlessly asks questions and is willing to engage the invisible secret mysteries of the universe. The beauty of Saint-Exupéry's poetic writing goes into such details that in the original French version of the book he has never used the word adult. Instead, he calls adults "les grandes personnes" (the big people). What he meant with that was to say that what matters is the attitude of a person and not his actual age. In that sense children can act like "grandes personnes" and adults can also see the word as little children. Which brought me to an intriguing question that has been challenging me for a while: Do we all have a little prince (child) inside of us?

Continuing to explore psyche as inspiration the brief that I shared with perfumer Ane Walsh was the thought of creating a fragrance that would evoke this child that we have inside of us and what it means to have one when you have already grown. 

Having an inner child means that you are constantly questioning and opened minded without limiting your perspectives. You are aware of and sensitive to the mysteries and beauty of the world. 

But what happens when you let your inner child run your life?

“…The inner child comprises and potentiates these positive qualities. But it also holds our accumulated childhood hurts, traumas, fears and angers. "Grown-ups" are convinced they have successfully outgrown, jettisoned, and left this child and its emotional baggage long behind. But this is far from the truth. In fact, these so-called grown-ups or adults are unwittingly being constantly influenced or covertly controlled by this unconscious inner child. For many, it is not an adult self-directing their lives, but rather an emotionally wounded inner child inhabiting an adult body - A five-year-old running around in a fifty-year-old frame. It is a hurt, angry, fearful little boy or girl calling the shots, making adult decisions. A boy or girl being sent out into the world to do a man's or woman's job… And then we wonder why our relationships fall apart. Why we feel so anxious. Afraid. Insecure. Inferior. Small. Lost. Lonely. But think about it: How else would any child feel having to fend for themselves in an apparently adult world?" (Stephen Diamond, PH. D., edited)

In a nutshell: if the little child does not have an adult making the rules of the game there will be a lot of suffering. I asked the perfumer to stay away of tantrums! Suffering was not the aspect I wanted to explore because I wanted to come up with something that I would like to wear; that brings out beauty, not pain. For that matter I had to detail the brief in a more personal level and explain to her that it all came from the fact that a friend of mine once called me little prince and that I also have a little friend that needs my constant attention and that the fragrance had to be about him...and me:

MY IMAGINARY FRIEND

Garçon is a little boy born in the northwest part of France called La Bretagne (French Brittany), part of the six Celtic nations. In the Celtic language his name means warrior.

To bring the aura of Britanny I asked Ane Walsh to compose a bouquet with mimosas and genet. Mimosas brought a soft, delicate, sweet, powdery floral note with a suave green honeyed undertone, while genet added a hay-honey-like scent with a tenacious herbal tone. To add a marine sensation of a coast line ambergris was added. 

MIMOSAS

Photo credit: + Q Perfume Blog

Following the thoughts of the little prince's friend the fox, in the excerpt of the book cited above, Hervé is not just like a hundred thousand other little boys. He is a unique little warrior who has tamed me. He is my inner child, my imaginary friend. 

The inner child embodies innocence and openness; love and joy; creativity and curiosity; wonder and awe; appreciation and devotion; beauty and playfulness; forgiveness and unity; determination and strength; gentleness and enthusiasm.

Hervé has all that. He inspires me to create; he challenges my curiosity; he is the fine-tuning of my appreciation and determination; he brings unity to my thoughts. Garçon is the little child in me and he is responsible for what wonders and awes me and this is exactly what I wanted the be the core of this perfume.

In that line of thought the fragrance had to be about The Little Prince’s idea of grandes personnes and what Hervé represents to me. The name LE PETIT GARÇON EDP was my idea of a merger of both.

The funny thing is that this composition not only had to have a scented composition of La Bretagne, but it also had to have the golden locks of the little prince and myself (I also have them!). Garçon, my imaginary friend, has red hair and freckles. 

TAGETES, CAMOMILE, PARAMELAS, CALENDULAS 

Calendulas were added to compose an orange yellow-ish bouquet, adding a warm creamy texture (like redheads' skin) with an herbal undertone. Tagetes (marigolds) and a bright crisp, sweet-herbal balsamic chamomile with its apple notes brought the essence of little children and a fruity sprinkle. Honey and pollen tincture were not only the final golden touch but they added a spring-y solar aura to the fragrance.

“WONDER IS THE FIRST OF ALL PASSIONS”

René Decartes (1596–1650)

“Passion may be a friendly or eager interest in or admiration for a proposal, cause, discovery, or activity or love – to a feeling of unusual excitement, enthusiasm or compelling emotion, a positive affinity or love, towards a subject. 

The origin of the word passion is found in the Latin word "passio" which means suffering. On the surface, the word “passion” can stir emotions in us inspiring, motivating and elevating us to live life at a more exciting fulfilling level. But just as the core of an apple cannot be separate from the apple itself, “suffering” is always at the core of passion. We cannot have one without the other. In that sense could Hervé inspire passion without making me suffer? 

Both Garçon and myself are solar souls. So I wanted this aura for the very first whiff. I also wanted the notion of freshness because both children and passions have in its core the freshness of a new adventure, the excitement for life. Cedrat and white grapefruit were added to give this freshness that only citrusy notes can give, but also to balance the sweetness of the fragrance with a zesty varnish. Paramela notes were also added to bring a sensation of well being and fluidity.

LA BRETAGNE

So far the idea was a solar fresh orange yellow-ish Breton composition which brought me back to the question of incongruity (the proposal mentioned at the beginning of this post) and other questions that came along: is it possible to create a fragrance that is slightly carnal and yet, take you to a spring/summer trip to the blooming coasts and still make sense? And if we can't have passion without suffering how can I leave pain out of the brief?

The term passion is particularly used in the context of romance or sexual desire though it generally implies a deeper or more encompassing emotion. For that matter the perfume had to contain both wonder and awe, but in a different tone  - the tone of passion. Ane Walsh surprised me by adding Fabriana Imbricata, a note that is said to have inebriating effects when inhaled. By the way, I learned that Paramela smell is also very attractive. Both notes combined with ambergris and musk algazal ended up developing a rather disturbing stimuli. Something that it is kinda difficult to explain. Provocative and instigating.  Sensuality with a fleshy-warm-sweet kinky touch was added, bringing the sensation of touching skin, of instinctive sex, of something rather chemical (chemistry of attraction). Osmanthus came to compose the flowery bouquet with a sweet, warm, rich, honeyed leathery note and an elegant animalic undertone. Fact is that smelling this perfume on my skin makes me blush.

So, answering my very own question, as incongruent as it seemed, passion, desire, wonder, awe, the coast of La Bretagne and my imaginary friend were brought altogether to compose one fragrance. LE PETIT GARÇON EDP ended up being artistically conceived and unpredictable exuberant as passions are. 

***

Cole Porter was an all-time talented composer and song writer. In 1936 he composed a song about the incongruity of passions and in 1946 Frank Sinatra brought a beautiful romantic tone to the lyrics. 

Wearing LE PETIT GARÇON EDP puts a huge smile on my face and it feels as silky as Sinatra's version of I've got you under my skin.   It makes me travel to La Bretagne.  It fells like lying on the warm sand. It brings me closer to my inner imaginary friend Hervé.



I've got you under my skin
I've got you deep in the heart of me
So deep in my heart that you're really a part of me
I've got you under my skin

I've tried so not to give in
I've said to myself this affair never will go so well
But why should I try to resist, when baby I know so well
I've got you under my skin

I'd sacrifice anything come what might
For the sake of having you near
In spite of a warning voice that comes in the night
And repeats, repeats in my ear

Don't you know little fool, you never can win
Use your mentality, wake up to reality
But each time I do, just the thought of you
Makes me stop before I begin
'Cause I've got you under my skin

WHITE PERFUME EXTRAIT BY PUREDISTANCE

Photo Credit:+ Q PERFUME BLOG

I haven't been quite active in my blog not only due to lack of time, but also because I haven't been presented to fragrances that I find worth writing about.

Since my last article about niche I have been feeling really disappointed with perfumery in general. Too many dull creations, too many blogs writing about them...too much of everything.

Last week I had a huge surprise when finally my newest PUREDISTANCE creation arrived.

The brand presents a dream in white & gold; a flow of happiness. An intimate escape from harsh reality. And that is exactly what it is. The harsh reality of 1000s of niche fragrances one copying another, one using more OUD than the other and finally an ESCAPE. I am happy to see that among so much olfactive stupidity someone finally presents something that it is worth buying. (I know many perfumers are hating me right now or shouting who she thinks she is...but that is the freedom of speech that millions are fighting for these days. In my blog, I say what I feel. Simple as that!*)

How beautifully crafted WHITE is. JAN you excelled yourself with this one!!

No wonder it is another Antoine Lie creation. He has also composed BLACK for the brand, which is a very sensual perfume. White is a mood transforming perfume that makes you fall in love.

Photo credit: PUREDISTANCE website

Following the trend of looking for local exclusive ingredients and their uniqueness PUREDISTANCE is presenting the following composition of Olfactive notes: Rose de Mai (France), Orris (Italy), Patchouli (Indonesia), Bergamot (Italy), Vetyver (Haiti), Tonka beans (Venezuela), Sandalwood (Mysore) and musk.  Concentration: 38% perfume oil

WHITE PERFUME EXTRAIT is a complementary fragrance to BLACK IMO. The sensuality continues to flow in a subtle, gentle and smooth provoking way.

At the very first whiff you understand what the brand is about. Happiness is a smile that does not show gum. It has style.

PUREDISTANCE is 100% niche because it reflects JAN E. WOS' personality: PUREDISTANCE is JAN and JAN is PUREDISTANCE. Impeccable manners with a sincere humor. 

The fragrance itself has an opening that brings a whiff of greens evolving a beautiful real rose. In my last article I mentioned the smell of real roses remember...well, PUREDISTANCE would never think of using something else in its compositions.

After a few minutes the creaminess of sandalwood will be rounded with Tonka unfolding the sensuality to the perfume shaped by a luxurious orris note. Vetyver brings a smokiness and a rare bitter chocolate undertone which is not so easy to find these days. Most vetyvers are simply earthy and dirty.

It is a delicious gourmet perfume that reminds me of another one that provoked as much as this one: Le 6 by Ida Delam. While Le 6 is a pure into the panties perfume, WHITE is more of an invitation. Just as BLACK, it won't press you against a wall and penetrate you right there. It will whisper something very charming with an understated wish to penetrate you. ;-)

Photo credit: Lucien Clergue

WHITE could be easily understood as the olfactive interpretation of French photographer Lucien Clergue black and white nudes.

Truth is that WHITE is not so white...it has shades of BLACK.

*sample was provided by the brand as many or most of the perfumes are, and yet many of them I don't review because I didn't relate to them in a positive way. I keep an objective view even being friends with some of the brand owners. I am not paid or encouraged to write articles.

SMELL IN THE CITY - AN URBAN OLFACTIVE JOURNEY IN SÃO PAULO CITY - BRAZIL - PART V

Continuing to draw the smellscape of São Paulo City I am bringing you today smells and odors that are very cosmopolitan, such as the smell of construction debris found everywhere in the city. 

São Paulo is a city in development and remodeling, so you will find parked in almost every street what we call CAÇAMBA DE ENTULHO or construction dumpsters/containers. Pieces of wood, ceramics, concrete, walls, cartons and plastics are deposited everyday in these containers under the sun or rain until contractors fill them up and call collectors to remove them from site. If you pass near these container you will smell dust, paint, rotten wood and wet concrete all together. It is the smell of change, modernity.

Although Brazilians try to copy movements coming from other countries such as being eco-friendly, selective garbage disposals are not very common. They exist but it is not enforced by any legislation. Usually you will find huge plastic bags mixing all sorts of meat, poultry and fish leftovers combined with fruits is decay, papers of all sort and used aluminum foils, broken glasses and vases etc... just waiting outside to be collected. In my neighborhood you can put the garbage outside 3 days a week and only 2 hours before the garbage truck passes by.

According to the City Hall website the city generates 20.000 tons of garbage per day which 12.000 come from private homes. Also it is known that Brazilian garbage is one of the richest garbages in the world. As experts explain, the more developed and richer the country is, poorer is its garbage. Our garbage still reflect a third world country condition.

If you take a walk in my neighborhood you will find a lot of plastic bags filled with broken tree branches, leafs and recent cut grass collected from the yards. They smell fresh, green with a hint of wooden decay and straw. 

Also if you pass by my street early in the morning on sunny days you will smell the scent of fabric softeners. It is the smell of recently washed laundry. Slightly powdery, very flowery and sometimes very sweet. Brazilians also have the worst habit of washing the outside areas of the house with water, not minding the challenges of water shortage that we are facing. They pretend it does not exist. So the green fresh smell of garden waste combines with the scent of laundry softener and detergents plus some sort of powder soap that runs out of the houses to the sidewalks. I must confess I love that smell, even thou it is selfish and not very eco-friendly. 

The backfire of this misuse of water is that sometimes it brings back the smell of dried urine of dogs. It is simple unbearable, but sometimes something magical happens. The smell of urine is combined with the scent of flowers in a way that you can create an holographic white tropical flower as you pass by. I love when that happens!

São Paulo is not like New York City where the smell of human piss and dog's urine is so strong sometimes that you feel nauseated. Since we have even more dogs than New Yorkers, I take it our dogs piss less or are dog owners are more educated...

Another common smell is the one coming from kiosks located on the sidewalks. These kiosks sell newspapers, printed magazines, cigarettes, candy and sometimes beverages.

As you pass by a kiosk you can smell the scent of recently printed papers. It is a particular smell of ink, mixed with the smell of glue and varnish. The smell is dry and fatty. Oily I must say. When it comes to women's magazine you will also find hints of all sorts of perfume printed ads with encapsulated fragrances. The old scratch and sniff or open and sniff techniques. I love the smell of the kiosks in São Paulo. They give a hip and classy touch to the streets. 

And since we are mentioning ink...São Paulo embraces street art like no other city. We simply love graffiti! They are everywhere including on the walls of private home commissioned by its owners. They are colorful, creative and real pieces of modern art. We have embraced them and we have an open gallery located in the neighborhood called Vila Madalena where you will find wall after all covered by beautiful graffiti. Probably the most famous and the one you all know by name is Os Gêmeos - the two brothers whose street art has travelled the world. Everywhere I pass by I smell the scent of fresh spray paint. Frankly I am allergic to it so it is not my favorite. Visually I adore it!

Remember I said that São Paulo has a rustic side? Well we still have street markets in every neighborhood. If you pass near one the strongest smell you will find is of coconut oil cooking pastries. It is not a good smell IMO. It is the smell of fat, flour and cheese burning. 

If you stay close to the fish stands you will find a cold smell of ice mixed with the briny - salty smell of the ocean. Fresh fish actually smell good! The only problem for me is when fish vendors open the fish to clean. The smell of guts and blood are not my favorite. They wash them after opening and this water runs down to the pavement which later on starts to evaporate and stink. I can't stand that. So if you happen to be here in town, try to have a street market experience early in the morning when the sun is not burning the skull and you won't smell rotten fish vapors.

The aroma of vegetables and fruits are a one of kind experience. It is simply lovely and fresh. Very tropical, very intense. You will also find spice stands where you will smell a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, oregano and bay leaf. Very intense by the way!

These aromas are so beautiful that a Brazilian cosmetic brand called DUCHA has all its products inspired by them. The founders wanted to bring the street market experience to the homes of its clients; specially to the bathtub.

Street markets leave a residual smell that is as disgusting as the smell of an old opened trash. Oranges in decay and rotten fish odors are washed with tons of water after they dismount the stands. Truth is that you can still smell that disgusting residual rotten smell of garbage in decomposition the day after.  A tip for people looking for apartments - check if the street has an open market. If so, don't rent; don't buy it!

So let's make a quick list what was mentioned till now:

1. smell of Pinheiros and Tiête rivers (rotten eggs)

2. basaltic and limestone rocks, dust, pollution, pavement, abrasive metallic haze, rain water evaporating

3. flowers and plants of the park

4. humidity, moss, fungus, wood in decay, 

5. spray paint, construction waste, garden waste, garbage

6. frech ink, glue, varnish, encapsulated perfume

7. laundry softeners and soaps, dog piss

8. fresh fish, rotten fish, fresh fruits and vegetables, rotten fruits and vegetables, spices, fat+flour+cheese burning

Stick around as I continue to smellwalk in São Paulo!

SMELL IN THE CITY - AN URBAN OLFACTIVE JOURNEY IN SÃO PAULO - BRAZIL - PART IV

In my first article of the SMELL IN THE CITY series I started to describe the SMELLSCAPE of São Paulo City. Today I will continue to  deepen into the unique olfactive qualities of this city by bringing to you sensory information of my perception of different places and sites.

Before we start this journey I will introduce a concept that will be used many times in this text - SMELLSCAPE.
 In "Landscape's - ocular-centrism and beyond?" Hannah Mcpherson from the school of Architecture, Planning & Landscape of the University of Newcastle, UK explains that although the environment perception literature focus mostly in the ocular centric approach (sight), there are other alternative aspects of how the land is sensed and interacted with. 
Talking about multi-sensory interaction with the land she points out that the relationship between perception, the senses and the landscape is not fixed, but geographically, historically and culturally contingent. She also mentions the works of Porteous and the inclusion of the such terms as soundscapes and smellscapes.
Our perception of places and landscapes are also understood experiencing sounds and smells. Landscape perception is therefore, a "whole-body activity".
The experience of visiting a city cannot be reduced only to a visual perception of the place and its landscape, but an enriched experience that must bring a multi sensory exploration!
For us here sound and touch are less important, but not excluded. I will focus more on the SMELLSCAPE of São Paulo by bringing general smellscapes for the entire city, no matter where you are located or local olfactive experiences in neighborhoods of my choice.
 Last time I started describing São Paulo's general smellscape as follows:

"My smell walk in São Paulo City starts with an olfactive exercise of trying to decompose the general smell that is particular of my city. 

Unfortunately the stench of Tiete & Pinheiros Rivers is growing stronger as we approach to Summer, added to the fact that the air is denser and dryer due to a long and severe period of drought. We are facing an increasing amount of dust in the air and also in the level of the city's pollution. The result is a stronger odor of sewer discharge (consisting of industrial and domestic waste) combined with the stench of abrasive metallic pollutants and the smell of a haze of urban dust which is a mix of fine particles of residual concrete, paint, wood and many others materials used in the construction of buildings.
These 02 rivers with high concentrations of sulfides flow through the city bringing a smell of putrid waste and rotten eggs all together.

It is indeed a very difficult task drift away from that stench, but a trained nose must be succeed by focusing in something else".

Updating the local meteorological status - it started to rain. In fact we have been celebrating many heavy to medium showers lately - which painted a slightly different scenario in our smellscape. Let's say the smell of dust has decreased and the smell of humidity has returned.

To describe the olfactive urban design of São Paulo I will start from below the nose with smells located underfoot with the Brazilian pavements and sidewalks.

BRAZILIAN PAVEMENTS & SIDEWALKS
You will find different types of pavements and pavements techniques in São Paulo. The most beautiful one IMO is the mosaic shaped sidewalks:

Calçada portuguesa – Portuguese Calçada or mosaic (also known in Brazil as Portuguese stones) is a specific pavement, used mostly for finishing the walkways and sidewalks, alleys, squares and other bustling places. This stone flooring is particularly popular in Portuguese speaking countries. The unique mosaic pavements (typically from limestone or basalt) are irregularly shaped. The game of contrasts allows forming various decorative designs because of the difference in the nuances of the different pieces. The most common colors used for shaping the cobblestones are black and white, but there may be found in red and brown. (extracted from the work of Tatiana Weintraub and Waldemar Celes "Modeling the Copacabana Sidewalk Pavement").

Contrary to Israel and the United States where pavements made of concrete are everywhere, here we find a vast array of styles and materials. What is unique about these pavements is that there is a sense that time has stopped here. Sometimes you feel you are in a small village centuries ago just by looking to these trails of limestones. Brazilians are not picky about plants growing on the corners of the sidewalks. Sometimes the roots of trees have such extraordinary growth underneath the pavements and that they lift the sidewalks and street pavements resulting in superficial runoff, or end up crackling them considerably, taking over the landscape. 

São Paulo has many streets and entire areas presenting partial or total pavement destruction due to high traffic density and the high volume of pluvial waters a year round. Urban flooding is still a reality here even in the fanciest neighborhoods.

In terms of smellscape there is a very exquisite combination of mineral smells of limestone and basaltic stones combined with the smell of dirty humidity from soil and rain water evaporating with the heat. 

São Paulo is in constant rebuilding, so it is very common to find the smell of shaving/grinding stones, the tarry- rubbery smell of blacktop (asphalt mix) or the smell of smoke and oil of tractors working outside on the streets.

RUSTIC TOUCH

Interlocked concrete pavements do exist in larger areas and squares, but the streets of São Paulo still offer the vintage experience.Then there is the particular smell of the humid dirty accumulated between stones combined with the smell of moss that grows within time - a deep green smell of moss with a decay aura on top of it and the fresh flowery smell of plants, little flowers and fungus. Fact is that ecological pavements do not offer the infiltration of pluvial water and the growth of plants and mosses like these limestones do.

Visually São Paulo still presents some sort of rusticity to its landscape. All over town you will find rotten cut branches of trees with huge fungus cultures shelving up and rotten wood benches and fences. This brings a particular smell of wood decay and humidity to the air that is very countryside-ish. To me it is natural, organic and mushroomy. 

In my next post we will continue to explore the city's smellscape focusing in smell sources of all kinds. Good or bad. because the olfactive identity of a place is not the designed by a home spray or a city themed perfume!

    

SMELL IN THE CITY - AN URBAN OLFACTIVE JOURNEY - PART THREE

If you haven't read the previous posts here you can find the links: PART ONE/ PART TWO.

My smell walk could have ended once I found myself under the lime trees. It would be considered an amazing olfactive experience of smelling scents in natura, after all I have encounter many sources of raw materials. Curious as I am and eager to find more beauty I continued to explore the park and its surroundings.

Location 07: Hortensias.
Even that they were beginning to bloom I caught one that had a hint of fragrance. Truth is that these flowers have a very delicate smell that is almost imperceptible. Slightly flowery, they are more beautiful to look than to smell ;(.

Location 08: Sweet Alissum.

Although Sweet Alissum is a border/edging flower from the Mustard family and said to glow in the dark (I have never seen it) it does not smell like mustard at all!

What a joy to the senses is to experience the sight and the smell of these beautiful little flowers! Originally from the mediterranean region they bloom beautifully in Brazil. And the scent? OMG the scent! Pure golden sweetness!

It is very floral - gourmand mixing notes of honey dew, honey comb and pollen. 

By far my favorite honey note of all flowers.

Location 09: Plumeria.

Most commonly known as frangipani these flowers are natives here, found in white, dark pink, light pink and pink and yellow.

Although it releases most of its scent by night in order to attract moths  (their pollinators), here in São Paulo you can smell these flowers from far. They are everywhere and right now it is an endless display of beautiful trees in the entire city!

I am surrounded by them. All my neighbors have at least one tree in their garden. My right neighbor has a tree that is almost the size of her house.

I smell these beautiful flowers from the time I wake up till I go to sleep feeling blessed by this gift from Nature.

It evokes a sweet tropical scent of sunsets at the beach and picnic under trees. It is a sensual and alluring fragrance reminding tiare and jasmine with fruity undertones. 

When I close my eyes under a frangipani tree and smell the scent of its flowers I feel elevated. It is a mythical experience for me.

In perfumery the fragrance of frangipani varies according to its extraction method.

The British brand Ormonde Jayne has a beautiful Frangipani perfume that I recommend to every person who likes the scent of this flower.

Location 10: Magnolia Champaca.
Here in Brazil they are not yellow at all. In fact they are dark orange, almost red.

Heady-floral, creamy, warm, exotic, Joy-ish (by Jean Patou), magnolia - like fragrance with a hint of a tea note and a apricot undertone, it is by far the most beautiful scent I've encountered in the park. 

Champaca is loaded of carotenoids, ionenes, jasmonates and indoles which are some of the main ingredients of its brilliant scent.

Although lime blossom was equally amazing somehow Champaca is more luxurious, more chic.

Finishing the smell walk in the park I could not be happier to close my fragrant experience with the scent of green mangoes!

Outside the park, near to the place where I parked my car I found 3 mango trees.

Final location: Mango trees.

Unripe mangoes, what a scent!

Luxurious, ethereal, fresh, green-ish floral, delicate with a fading metallic hint (due to acetone molecules). It is a perfume ready to be bottled and sold.

Just like frangipanis, the mango trees are to be found all over town. In my neighborhood I have seen many, but not with this quantity of mangoes.

Yes, it screamed JEAN CLAUDE ELLENA loud and clear!

In my next smell walk you are going to take a walk with me and discover why São Paulo in a way is similar to NYC and the versatility of cultural backgrounds and how they influence in the general olfactive experience. Stick around because it is...

To be continued...