The Afternoon of a Faun
Etat Libre d'Orange (2012)

I've read several reviews of The Afternoon of a Faun and they are all terrible. Of course they all reference Nijinsky's ballet, and make some attempt to try to align the perfume's visionary artistry and execution with the artistry of the choreography, and they fail. Sorry, I have no intention to insult, it's just the truth. At the end of each piece I find myself more confused than when I started. So, I will forget what I've read and make my own attempt - likely in vain - to describe what's going on with this perfume.

What you need to know about this perfume, at least to what my nose can understand to be going on, is that it is trying to setup disparate and difficult notes alongside each other in such a way as to create a pleasing symmetry. It's sort of like a Picasso or a Dali painting: individual, specific images or sections of any work by either artist is going to look "wrong." "That's not in the right spot." "That's not the right color." "That's not the right shape." "Why is her eyeball over there?" "What's that supposed to mean? It makes no sense." "Why was the stroke so heavy there?" And yet when you pull your focus back to take in the painting as a whole, it works... brilliantly. The most legendary of artists have challenged us while presenting something pleasing in its entirety. So, if you haven't seen the ballet on which this perfume is inspired, don't worry - you'll still be able to understand what The Afternoon of a Faun is trying to do if you're familiar with the concept I've described above either in classical visual arts or auditory arts. What will be required of you is the ability to not hone so far onto a specific note that you miss the forest for the trees, which is difficult with this perfume in particular.

This perfume takes many notes of really rather unfortunate and challenging natures and juxtaposes them in such a way to make them beautiful; the sum is really much greater than the parts. The opening of bergamot, pepper, and cinnamon f*****g stinks. The myrrh, immortelle, and iris of the heart smell like a compost heap, mostly comprised of someone's vegetable garden, with the lid suddenly lifted after many months and the gaseous plume hitting you square in the face. Pile that on top of the leather, incense, and musk base and you get a stale fart born of a big meal of Indian food. And yet... align all of these notes at just the right time and what you get is sort of a powdery anisic chypre. Warm, deep, mysterious, and alluring. But, it is also a bit standoffish, pushy, rigid and strong, giving-way very slightly in parts as if you have accidentally found chinks in its armor. It's your favorite wonderfully colored and warming wool blanket that if draped over you in just such a way can be a touch itchy. The Afternoon of a Faun is one of the most thought-provoking and emotionally confusing perfumes I have smelled, and it will be a rare or special occasion that I will feel the desire to wear it... and I think the perfume is fine with that. It seems to have the attitude of not giving a damn if I want to wear it, or like it, or not. It's brilliant.

I love the scent of immortelle: the dried flowers and the solvent-extracted absolute, warm and herbaceous, almost idyllic in nature. It reminds me of wildflowers under the sun, dry, baked, with the smell of the soil beneath them coming through. The first fragrance I encountered the features the note is a true love of mine, Annick Goutal Sables, which is pretty much an immortelle soliflore that really brings out the fenugreek and maple aspects of the note. Then there is Histoires de Parfums 1740, immortelle via leather, really dark and delicious.

Afternoon of a Faun is a bright autumn sun of a scent: immortelle with radiant aldehydes; bold, resinous, almost pungent myrrh, and a large tuft of oakmoss and florals. Immortelle is in itself a gregarious note, so there is truly art in motion here, to be able to have this altogether is nothing short of perfumery genius.

I am also struck by its mercurial nature: at certain points in its development, the rose and orris overshadow the immortelle and resins, then they recede, and return, a choreographic exchange with the moss weaving in and out, the myrrh asserting its dominance and then yielding. It's really a thrilling and positively enjoyable wear because there is a bit more suspense than usual, at least as it all dances on my skin and in my space. Afternoon of a Faun is olfactory seduction.

Sweet and floral, but also strong on the resins. Androgynous, but leaning a little male in my opinion, despite the sweetness. The benzoene balances it.

So I've worn this again and it starts quite appealing, but can become unpleasant after a time. Sweet and resinous, but also kind of linear? Very interesting, but probably not FB worthy for me.

Marcelle Lender Dancing the Bolero in "Chilpéric" by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

A rather strange, oddly and disturbingly old-fashioned conconction. I like immortelle in the fantastic Dior Eau Noire, but here it doesn't work for me. The combination of iris and immortelle with leather overtones smells like what might be left on a bed after the tryst of a dowager and a male escort.

This smells very strange. Like an old lady's perfume. Turns out I am not a fan of immortelle at all.

2/5