Lapis-Lazuli
Olivier Durbano (2016)

The fragrances of Olivier Durbano are like really good poems where I reread the most beautiful lines and just savor each word, ponder each passage and allow the imagery to unfold in my mind. In Lapis Lazuli, there is the shimmer of impressionistic vegetation, at one moment indistinct, and at another, lucid and outlined. I am reminded of this huge swath of mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) that grows at a nearby sanctuary called Broadmoor. Mugwort is a relative of wormwood, emitting a bittersweet camphor, reminiscent of sage, spruce needles, and of course its aforementioned close cousin, Artemisia absinthium.

In the sanctuary it grows among yarrow, milkweed, and dogbane. The combination of wormwood and thyme in Lapis Lazuli reminds me of walks through this patch of land. I also pick up on the grain accord here, which is meant to represent spelt, with a nutty wheat sensation, which melds the grassiness and the herbs with its warmer tolu and resins in its base. The merging of such contrasting facets is ambitious for any perfumer as it risks clashing and dissonance, but here it works so well, really setting an evocative scene: a retreat among the wild brush, perhaps after a rainfall. I file this under fragrances to wear when one plans to daydream.