Révolution
Trudon (2017)

Revolution begins with an interesting mix of fresh-green and smoky notes. After a few minutes, unfortunately, an aquatic note (calone or something similar) bubbles up, feeling dyspeptic and ill-at-ease with the herbal, woody, and smoky nuances. An hour or two in, the watery facets mostly dissipate, leaving a vaguely pleasant but ultimately thin woody-smoky-mineralic base. The top notes are fairly unique, but most of the rest has been done better elsewhere, and more than once. Also too expensive for what it is, and seemingly unavailable from discounters.

My first thought when smelling Revolution is that this is elemi resin that has been accosted by birch tar. It's très enfumé, reminding me of those Paine's Balsam Fir incense cones that are made in Maine and are popular in New England during the Yuletide season. I do love these incense cones, but I don't think I want to smell like them, but surely there are others who might. To it (and Lyn Harris's) credit, this does feel overall to be a more affable experience than the sullen travesty that is Tonnere, the oppressively phenolic Bois d'Ascese, or the unforgivable smoked swine of Bois Sikar. Yet, it still just is a little too much combustion for my taste.

With the exception of the outstanding Apoteker Tape Holy Mountain, I've come to the realization that I like smoke in perfume turned up to a 5 at most, not to an 8-10 like the aforementioned and Revolution. But if you do, you may find in this one the perfect companion.

I love a good smoky fragrance, but it’s hard to get right. Le Labo Patchouli 24 satisfies me on almost every level, but its marshy, vetiver-led drydown sometimes turns to runner’s sweat on my skin, so I have to think carefully before putting it on. I love the sweet, glazed-ham smokiness of Fireside Intense by Sonoma Scent Studio, but sometimes I think I can taste a rather nasty aromachemical up front, like a shot of liquid smoke one puts in BBQ sauce (I can live with it, though). Bois d’Ascese by Naomi Goodsir is too much for me, an unrelenting plume of opacity.

Revolution really gets the smoke right, and as far as I can tell, it’s because there’s a clever balance between black, dry smoke (licorice root, charcoal, soot), green, herbal smoke (cade oil, papyrus, pine), and white, creamy smoke (mainly elemi). Creamy might sound like an odd word to use, but it really does strike me that way. Elemi smells lemony and bright, but also creamy and vaguely floral, in some compositions. It also smells like the white ash that’s left after a piece of resin burns away completely.

This balance of elements means that while Revolution smells green and coniferous, it also smells like ash rubbed into butter. I can see where the gunsmoke reference comes in – a bright, dry pepper note fizzes on top, giving the composition a sense of excitement and movement, but it’s quite subtle (not unlike the way pepper is used in L’Artisan Parfumeur’s Amour Nocturne to suggest gunpowder). I appreciate Revolution because it’s both atmospheric and wearable, which is not as easy as it sounds. Consider the set piece that is Memo’s Russian Leather for a more heavy-handed treatment of the same theme.

Your crush's leather jacket, still warm

My experience with Révolution was very similar to StellaDiverFlynn's. The perfume opens with a bold bonfire accord that's unmistakably rich with cade. It briefly tilts toward savoury barbecue smoke, as if seasoned with a dash of Le Labo's Patchouli 24. While the projection is excellent, it is not challenging. Forget the dry, phenolic fumes of Lampblack or Black Afgano. There's a tactile softness right from the opening that makes Révolution very wearable.

The dry down enters into more woody and tanned leather territory though the smoke is still there at the skin level. It's a broken-in butch leather made even more approachable by what smells like amber to me.

I can't say there's much about this fragrance that seems revolutionary to me, especially now that every niche house and their uncle is releasing a smoky fragrance. Révolution's charms lie not in asserting radical changes but in taking a pugnacious genre into a more wearable, comforting direction. It certainly doesn't bring to mind the violent days of the French Revolution - as comforting as we may find the idea of workers guillotining their oppressors.

The opening of Révolution is fairly smoky. Not the kind of harsh, acrid woody amber aromachemicals, but the leathery smokiness of cade oil, reminiscent of the savoury nutty aftertaste of finely smoked ham (without the salty meat part).

The resins soon emerge to further smoothen the initial smokiness. Their deep balsamic smell and velvety texture, especially that of opoponax, enhances the sensual, musky leather undertone while bridging to the smoke. This development makes Révolution more fleshly and round than other smoky fragrances, often either austere and aloof, or fiery and aggressive.

What's more unusual of Révolution, is that, with the seemingly heavy note pyramid, the perfume has a surprising, luminous quality, and occasionally exhibits a bitter green, almost grassy smell, which I suspect is the doing of elemi and angelica. This subtle herbaceous nuance almost reminds me of II, another Trudon fragrance created by Lyn Harris, as if there's an internal link between these sibling creations.

Like the other Trudon fragrances, Révolution shifts incrementally. The nutty smoke gradually fades, while the mild leathery undertone and the subtle vegetal nuance remain in the dry down. The resins also grow dim, and hand over the baton to the musky sensual cedar. The end result is a radiant green woody skin scent. The patchouli hums in the background with its deep, dark, spicy medicinal facet in the dry down, when I apply only one spray to my wrist. But with two sprays on the same spot, there's a moment of dark cacao stemming from patchouli in the opening.

Révolution has a moderate sillage, and lasts about 9 hours on my skin.

While niche perfumery does not lack smoky fragrances, Révolution can still stand out as a refined, even sensual smoky perfume, in my humble opinion. I especially appreciate its finely tuned mellow nutty quality, which helps to avoid being acrid and forceful. Its surprising "human" feeling and radiance also makes it more approachable than most smoky fragrances without being boring. I'd definitely recommend it to those who are interested in exploring smoky perfumes.