Your description of vanilla pods in a jar speaks to why we find many phenolic, smoky or animalic materials work so well with vanilla, as well as some fruity materials like Prunella base. I am less impressed with Marc's struggle with rendering vanilla though, I would rather see him attempt and understand the struggle of making a floral as polished and round as say, Calice's Beyond Paradise.
i Profumi di Firenze Vaniglia Del Madagascar is the rare vanilla I love to wear, but I cannot wear it at work. It somehow has the power to make me throw down my pen and summon Fabrizio to bring wine!
I so much appreciate wearing Madagascar by Marc-Antoine Corticchiato these weeks, It is such an intriguing vanilla fragrance, not ‘vulgar’, no sticky sweetness, it is complex and refined.
Biochemically, that maps to: phenolic compounds like vanillin can be biologically “hot” (reactive/toxic at high local levels), so plants keep them locked as glycosides and can un-lock them via β-glucosidase when tissue is damaged , so the “vanilla” isn’t free to evaporate into the air until that happens, “No good nose hits”. Glycosylation is a very interesting defense mechanism. I wonder if the Reverse mechanism would work in cancer research in humans. I’ve always been told that Sugar is the fuel for cancer cells..
so curing vanilla is a staged process. interesting that natural vanilla as being dirty or complex which is coming from the other natural odorants that are being produced. I always wondered about the smell of cotton candy and cough syrup. In Madagascar, they used tincture + vanilla absolute + vanilla CO2, to land in the sweet spot between “Lab vanilla” and “Jar of Pods Vanilla “, while turning the funky pod stuff down. They didn’t want it too straight too clean or too chemical, just the fingerprint and whatever came along for the ride. I think that’s the point Doctor Luca Turin is stating making it smell more alive and not as a single note. A cleaner natural vanilla tone that doesn’t drag in as much of the swamp. Very masterful blend of all three. Absolutely amazing and very skillfully done.
My problem with vanilla perfumes is that they inevitably fall into the gourmand niche, a category that, generally speaking, lacks depth. A cake is good but not sexy or mysterious or challenging.
Amazing revelations and a mandatory unsniffed purchase -- AGAIN. Don't stop!
FYI, Kit of the Perfumery Bases update. Sadly, profumo.it / Abdes Salaam Attar / La Via del Profumo had to cancel and refund US-destination purchases last week because the tariffs turned out to be MUCH greater than expected. But stay tuned: they are planning to remedy this by making the US kit available in splash bottles rather than spray bottles. It was the metal sprayers that triggered a 300% tariff. (!!!!!!)
Parenthetically, I had already made arrangements to order my kit via Shop France, Inc., and it was shipped to the Paris address just before they reopened US orders again. Fingers crossed, I am on track to receive the kit after Suzan Becker makes her next shopping trip to Paris in January. FYI, I've had completely reliable purchase experiences with Shop France, Inc. over the years (and also buy perfume samples and travel sizes from her eBay store). For example, when Jacques Fath was about to launch L'Iris de Fath (the one for which Luca was on the evaluation committee), it wasn't clear if it would ever be sold in the US, and I feared it would sell out quickly or be reformulated by the time it showed up here. Suzan kept in touch with a company representative to know as soon as it available for purchase in Paris and brought it back for me.
It sounds like profumo.it is on track to surmount US tariff challenges. Nonetheless, Shop France, Inc. is worth knowing about. I have no affiliation with Ms. Becker or this service. Please pardon the digression!
Just received my sample. So delicious, dark and intoxicating.Very impressed with this company, they provided 5 x 2ml samples for £25 with free delivery from France to the UK.
Your description of vanilla pods in a jar speaks to why we find many phenolic, smoky or animalic materials work so well with vanilla, as well as some fruity materials like Prunella base. I am less impressed with Marc's struggle with rendering vanilla though, I would rather see him attempt and understand the struggle of making a floral as polished and round as say, Calice's Beyond Paradise.
Amen. Le Cri is halfway there, I wonder whether he'll be tempted.
Le Cri is divine!!
i Profumi di Firenze Vaniglia Del Madagascar is the rare vanilla I love to wear, but I cannot wear it at work. It somehow has the power to make me throw down my pen and summon Fabrizio to bring wine!
What happened to Luigi?
We broke up. ; )
Great read, thanks for the chemistry background!
I so much appreciate wearing Madagascar by Marc-Antoine Corticchiato these weeks, It is such an intriguing vanilla fragrance, not ‘vulgar’, no sticky sweetness, it is complex and refined.
Colette would have loved this! And so do I!
Biochemically, that maps to: phenolic compounds like vanillin can be biologically “hot” (reactive/toxic at high local levels), so plants keep them locked as glycosides and can un-lock them via β-glucosidase when tissue is damaged , so the “vanilla” isn’t free to evaporate into the air until that happens, “No good nose hits”. Glycosylation is a very interesting defense mechanism. I wonder if the Reverse mechanism would work in cancer research in humans. I’ve always been told that Sugar is the fuel for cancer cells..
so curing vanilla is a staged process. interesting that natural vanilla as being dirty or complex which is coming from the other natural odorants that are being produced. I always wondered about the smell of cotton candy and cough syrup. In Madagascar, they used tincture + vanilla absolute + vanilla CO2, to land in the sweet spot between “Lab vanilla” and “Jar of Pods Vanilla “, while turning the funky pod stuff down. They didn’t want it too straight too clean or too chemical, just the fingerprint and whatever came along for the ride. I think that’s the point Doctor Luca Turin is stating making it smell more alive and not as a single note. A cleaner natural vanilla tone that doesn’t drag in as much of the swamp. Very masterful blend of all three. Absolutely amazing and very skillfully done.
My problem with vanilla perfumes is that they inevitably fall into the gourmand niche, a category that, generally speaking, lacks depth. A cake is good but not sexy or mysterious or challenging.
...but read on :-)
Of course! ;)
I impatiently await for my bottle to arrive in the mail.
I've been wanting to try Madagascar. I'm ordering a sample now for sure!
Amazing revelations and a mandatory unsniffed purchase -- AGAIN. Don't stop!
FYI, Kit of the Perfumery Bases update. Sadly, profumo.it / Abdes Salaam Attar / La Via del Profumo had to cancel and refund US-destination purchases last week because the tariffs turned out to be MUCH greater than expected. But stay tuned: they are planning to remedy this by making the US kit available in splash bottles rather than spray bottles. It was the metal sprayers that triggered a 300% tariff. (!!!!!!)
Parenthetically, I had already made arrangements to order my kit via Shop France, Inc., and it was shipped to the Paris address just before they reopened US orders again. Fingers crossed, I am on track to receive the kit after Suzan Becker makes her next shopping trip to Paris in January. FYI, I've had completely reliable purchase experiences with Shop France, Inc. over the years (and also buy perfume samples and travel sizes from her eBay store). For example, when Jacques Fath was about to launch L'Iris de Fath (the one for which Luca was on the evaluation committee), it wasn't clear if it would ever be sold in the US, and I feared it would sell out quickly or be reformulated by the time it showed up here. Suzan kept in touch with a company representative to know as soon as it available for purchase in Paris and brought it back for me.
It sounds like profumo.it is on track to surmount US tariff challenges. Nonetheless, Shop France, Inc. is worth knowing about. I have no affiliation with Ms. Becker or this service. Please pardon the digression!
Just received my sample. So delicious, dark and intoxicating.Very impressed with this company, they provided 5 x 2ml samples for £25 with free delivery from France to the UK.