January Scent Project – Attaupe
I have reapplied for a deeper dive before I comment.
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Grrr. Yesterday was not conducive to in-depth analysis. John Biebel call this “a lavender-tobacco syrup fragrance,” which it is; but, per usual for JSP, nothing is what you’d expect. “Syrup” might imply either syrupy sweetness or thickness of texture. Well, there is sweetness, but not cloying, and there is a richness of texture, but not of a gluey sort. There’s also precious little hint of the barbershop (or Provence) in the lavender, and the tobacco is decidedly unsmokey.
Well, that’s what it ain’t. Pinning down what it am, that’s gets tricky. To my nose, Attaupe is characterized by an almost plummy roundness, unsurprising in a fragrance containing several oils 75–100 years old. It’s spicy, but also incredibly smooth, the way pebbles are worn by the ocean from jagged rocks to near-perfect smoothness. It’s dark without any arch gothic pretensions; the shadowy nature of the scent, with all its muted tones, carries considerable mystery, but the conceptual foreboding (JB drew some inspiration from the Great Depression) is balanced by hope, and so it’s by no means a depressing wear. Sobering, perhaps.
What else can I say? I’m glad I set an alarm and sat with my finger at the ready on the Add to Cart button. This will bear repeated wearing when I’m in a contemplative mood. I suspect I’ll have all too many such opportunities in the coming years.
