L'Artisan Parfumeur Batucada (2011): Aquatic Prune on an Orb from Day to Night {Perfume Review & Musings}
Batucada is the new opus by L'Artisan Parfumeur and is inspired by the passionate, effervescent rhythms of Brazil, hence its name which means "beat" and describes a style of Samba.
The house has a collection of fragrances which are perfumed versions of travel diaries (Bois Farine, Timbuktu, Dzongkha, Fleur de Liane...) This time, it is different as instead of sending off a perfumer to explore the flora and culture of an exotic locale (Jean-Claude Ellena, Bertrand Duchaufour), the creative process was made to include two long-distance perfumers, one living in Grasse, France - Karine Vinchon - and the other one in Sao Paulo, Brazil - Elizabeth Maier.
This conversational exchange between perfumers across cultures and markets is not uncommon in the fragrance industry in the age of computers and the Internet. But here, it is highlighted to reveal L'Artisan Parfumeur's insistence on fact-checking and authenticity...
Heloisa Pinheiro, the original inspiration for the song Garota di Ipanema
Batucada is a fresh aquatic perfume with a dark, Oriental fruity twist.
The development turns out to offer a narrative structure reflecting the passing of a day, from morning energy to a quiet nocturnal note. Contrary to a symphonic perfume piece, there is less of a cohesive framework and more of a series of tableaux. The top notes show this tendency at its most, flying by like clouds chasing each other.
If you stopped at the top notes, you would only catch Batucada in the morning. You have to wait until the fragrance has written "The End" on your skin to fully get its story. It is not meant for people who do not like their perfume to "change" as it could be suspected of appearing two-faced, even, to those sensibilities. Batucada is metamorphic and there is the sense of a journey, across a day. It is a perfume of shifting moods.
As it hits the skin, the Eau de Toilette starts by offering a delightful citrusy and fruity opening which makes you think of a cocktail drink: Capirinha, the national drink of Brazil. The lime is vivid, even raspy and sappy (spearmint), spritz-y. Creamy hints of tiare flowers and vanilla soon temper the effervescence. It smells of sugar wetted by a beverage. We are invited to feel Brazilian and hedonistic.
As the composition develops, it becomes obvious that while the citrus fireworks are part and parcel of this joyous, fizzy juice, it does not stop there. Softer, more vegetal-y nuances become more characteristic turning Batucada into the perfume equivalent of a delicious, sing-song, and soft-as-can-be, suave Brazilian accent. Imagine hearing pronounced the name "Vinicius de Moraes", which can feel like cream to the ears.
There is a more vegetal-y Amazonian forest ambiance succeeding to the upbeat beginnings. There are very light woody touches - like drenched and drowned woods in the rain forest.
Putting the scent in the context of recent launches, it becomes obvious that it reinforces the trend this season of seeing very pale, aquarelle-like perfumes take part of the spotlight of new introductions (Santal Massoïa; Glam Rose.)The fact that the scent was launched in the fall shows that ligthness is considered a style trait rather than a season-appropriate characteristic. Although summer starts in December in Brazil.
After a while, this scent which at the beginning seemed to be simple, laid-back, a Havana-sandal-styled perfume, reveals even further complexity. It now smells more darkly fruity, being suggestive of prune and davana.
It is a bit like smelling a later work by Edmond Roudnitska, Eau Sauvage, say, and going back in time to encounter Femme by Rochas by the same author, all in the same fragrance.
One little-known ozonic-aquatic fragrance by the French perfumer is the discontinued Ocean Rain for Men by Mario Valentino launched at the cusp of the 1990s, the decade which saw the height of favor for watery perfumes and which presents the same kind of duality we see at play here.
The new book by Frédéric Malle De L'Art du Parfum, also reveals how Le Parfum de Thérèse by the same author was intially known, for a very long time, under the code name "La Prune." As the Editions de Parfums Le Parfum de Thérèse is this mélange of watery, melon-y notes with darker prune, one sees a definite conceptual link to Le Parfum de Thérèse in this quest for olfactory duality.
What started as an extrovert perfume ends up smelling dusky, a bit dark, and quiet. It is like starting with a Samba dance on the beach and seeing the sun set on the hills of Rio de Janeiro. Going back to the press materials, one realizes that this is a willed effect. The perfumers wanted the composition to reflect a day-to-night cycle.
The composition has a tendency to thin down instead of maintaining a pervasive sillage. It is not easy to create the quality of being both light and persistent, but it can be done. See for instance Osmanthe Yunnan by Hermès signed by Jean-Claude Ellena (not all of his creations are always that diffusive.)
The drydown is discreetly powdery, with touches of water and prune. The skin becomes salty and musky. It smells of sugared plums.
One is reminded of yet another perfumery reference, L'Ombre Bleue by Jean-Charles Brosseau signed by perfumer Michel Almairac: there is prune, there are solar accents, and there is musky powder.
Another reference which comes to mind is Pomegranate Noir by Jo Malone, for its dusty, sweet and savory dark fruit effect on the skin.
While Karine Vinchon and Elizabeth Maier no doubt imagined together the scents of Brazil by showcasing some motifs - Caipirinha, rain forest, coconut toddy, exotic flowers, sun - they also paid due respect to academic tradition by unearthing a lineage which is less well-known: the aquatic-prune-y perfume. It reveals the patrimonial turn of mind of perfumers, their constant tapping into the past to legitimize and offer foundations to the fragile, evanescent art of olfactive beauty, to give it further tangible historic shape, authority and instinctive recognition, including for themselves.
Notes: Lime, cachaça accord, spearmint, tiaré, ylang-ylang, coconut, aquatic note, musk.
Previous Posts in Perfume Review & Musings:
Les Parfums de Rosine Glam Rose (2011): Ideal Violet
Clinique Aromatics Elixir Perfumer's Reserve (2011): Extract This Contradiction
Cartier Les Heures du Parfum L'Heure Convoitée (2011): Oeillet Oeillade
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