It was a few years ago when Mrs. C and I were having dinner in an Asian-themed restaurant. A couple of tables away were two parents who had a very active young boy with them. He was having trouble staying seated, silverware was hitting the floor, and he was loudly babbling nonsense words. It all culminated in him taking the silver topper off a rice bowl and pitching it like a frisbee. It ended up at my feet. I picked up the object to hand back to the father. The son had followed him over and was peeking at me from behind his dad. There was such an air of innocent mischievousness it was hard not to smile. This is that fine line that young children straddle between obnoxious and precocious. They probably oscillate back and forth every day. The latest release from Editions de Parfums Sale Gosse tries to find that balance in a perfume inspired by this.
Frederic Malle
Sale Gosse translates to “dirty brat”. It is the first niche composition by Dominique Ropion protégé Fanny Bal. Mme Bal has been a name I’ve heard about as another of the young next generation of perfumers. This is the first opportunity I’ve had to try a perfume she has had the responsibility for composing. M. Malle asked his perfumer to create an eau de cologne which represents childhood. Mme Bal took this brief and created a combination of the classic cologne recipe and candy. Depending on your tolerance for either, especially the latter, will decide your impression of Sale Gosse.
Fanny Bal
Mme Bal probably produced the traditional eau de cologne recipe hundreds of time during her training at ISIPCA. She takes those ingredients; petitgrain, bergamot, neroli and rosemary producing the typical top half of a classic eau de cologne. Repetition makes for a lively version where it seems the petitgrain and rosemary are dosed a bit higher than in the tradition eau de cologne. It is the back half of Salle Gosse where Mme Bal shows her ability to move in new directions. The note list is Malabar and violet candies. For those who are not European, Malabar is the European version of Bazooka Joe bubble gum. Candied violets have been a staple of niche perfumery for many years. It is the Malabar accord which is exciting to experience. Bubble gum has a kind of odd sweetness and there is a powder which also covers each piece. It provides an attenuated type of candy accord. The violet is much more pronounced in its sweetness as I can almost feel the crystallinity of the sugar coating them. When it comes together it forms a different accord for me. There is a violet flavored chewing gum called C. Howard’s which was sold in my local drugstore as a kid. The latter phases of Sale Gosse are a dead ringer for that.
Sale Gosse has 8-10 hour longevity and average sillage
If there was anyone wondering if being purchased by a big conglomerate would change Editions de Parfums; Sale Gosse is proof that it hasn’t. Particularly the candy accords show Mme Bal is another of the young perfumers to keep an eye on. Sale Gosse turns out not to be a dirty brat but a beatific devil of a perfume finding the right balance between precocious and obnoxious.
Disclosure: This review was based on a sample provided by Editions de Parfums.
–Mark Behnke
Looking forward to sampling this, how’s its sillage?
Sillage is average I forgot to include that in the review.