Calisson meets Loukhoum: Kayseri by Abdul Karim Al Faransi Maison de Parfum

Sometimes someone makes an awesome perfume discovery and shares it. Finding Abdul Karim Al Faransi's perfumes is very much courtesy of the Facebook group Facebook Fragrance Friends.

Kayseri may be the ultimate wallet friendly and interesting Loukhoum scent you have been waiting for. Although, lets take a moment to reminisce about the time when Loukhoum scents were a big fad in the fragrance community, yup it was the early 2000s and everyone was talking about Luten's Rahat Loukhoum, Keiko Mecheri's Loukhoum, and Montale's Mukhallat. For those of us obsessed with gourmands it was like a new frontier because this was a gourmand that featured roses and nuts prominently. Fast forward a few years and well the trend fell to the wayside. There are still those of us who enjoy the idea of a loukhoum inspired fragrance but the thing is most loukhoum scents have a clobber you over the head aspect frequently.

What if someone created a scent that featured the rosewater powder nutty goodness of loukhoum at its heart but instead of blasting you with powder decided to introduce a completely different element at the beginning, in this case the melon almond French sweet, calisson. If you are not put off by this idea then you need to try Kayseri. Kayseri starts with a sweet candied melon note, not overbearing, but most definitely there, it is very unique and somewhat reminds me of the beginning of Providence Perfume's Provanilla, this melon is most definitely of the cantaloupe* variety. It's a clean and sweet and not going to burden you and as time progresses it transforms to delicious rosewater loukhoum scent. Al Faransi's loukhoum note has accents of lemony rose and at moments I could swear it hints at a tiny smidgen of violet in there too. The beauty of Kayseri is instead of pummeling you with sweet powder as can frequently happen with a loukhoum scent Al Faransi has made a loukhoum that is slightly water-colored. The earthy quality of the melon note lightens it and adds a gentle spicy quality and it all sits on a bed of gently sweetened musky woods. Kayseri is easily one of the most wearable loukhoum scents I have encountered. Most interesting is there is a depth of layering to it that I have not really encountered in most loukhoum scents and much less in oil based scents.

Try Kayseri if you like Loukhoum scents, Sonoma Scent Studio's Lieu de Reves, or Rose Absolue by Yves Rocher

*Fun fact many melons in the cantaloupe family are called muskmelons. Considering Al Faransi specializes in musk scents how appropriate is it that use a muskmelon note in their scent?

Kayseri image from Alfaransi.com
Calisson image from Butterbadge
Loukhoum image from Splendidtable.org 

Lipstick and Loukhoum: Traversee du Bosphore by L'Artisan

Traversee du Bosphore by L'Artisan is an odd one. I like it but as many have pointed out the qualities it aspires to create, a marketplace in Istanbul, is not what the user actually gets.

So what are you actually getting with Traversee du Bosphore? Imagine an expensive suede handbag with an owner who frequently carelessly tosses expensive lipstick, tobacco, makeup powder, and fruity loukhoum into it. The purse is a mess inside but the mess smells good. The rosy chewy scent of expensive lipstick is supported by a powdery fruit note from loukhoum, and in the background with the lightest touch is suede and tobacco. It is a scent that hints at the gourmand but is not actually a gourmand scent, it is a fairly easy going scent, that uses divisive notes. Overall it is a balanced scent nothing is overpowering the other. It is a bit Chanel like in that the blending is the point; no one note is blaring above the others. It feels like a weird take on the lipstick rose genre scent. Instead of violets, loukhoum takes their place and instead of pure makeup powder to support the lipstick, it has been mixed with powdery tobacco and suede. It is basically the scent of lipstick at a bar.

Try if like Frederic Malle's Lipstick Rose, Etat Libre d'Orange's Putain des Palaces, or Vivienne Westwood's Anglomania.

image Slava Fokk

Comfort and Joy: Ombre Rose L'Original by Jean-Charles Brosseau

This is the idea of what a pink rose should smell like. Now if you are a rose lover you know that roses have many differing scents some smell edible, others are lemony, some are very spicy, the scent of roses vary a great deal.

What makes Ombre Rose by Jean-Charles Brosseau so interesting is for myself it is what a pink rose should smell like, it plays with the idea of color and it's coordination with scent.  Ombre Rose is not an intensily rosy scent, there is rose there, but it is not the dominant character, but there is no real dominant character to this scent rather it is a cast of notes that works wonderfully well with others to create in my mind what a pink rose smells like just based on color.

The opening is a ylang-ylang rosewood tinged powder that reminds me of the wonderful original scent of Nivea lotion, this is then followed by a powdery heart that has tinges of the delicious powder used in Keiko Mecheri's Loukhoum but much cleaner and less over the top. Finally it drys down to a warm musky powder with hints of cinnamon, vanilla, honey, and rose. Overall this scent is excellent for powder fans and floral lovers.

Image provided by J'adore Photography