In the latest edition of “Why I Love My Readers” after reviewing Gucci Memoire d’Une Odeur I received an e-mail with a provocative question. “If you think chamomile is a challenging perfume ingredient have you tried Roberto Greco Oeilleres?” I replied I hadn’t tried it and began the process of finding a sample. If the Gucci perfume was attempting to broaden the perfume palate of the masses, then Oeilleres is a perfume only for those who appreciate something different.
Self-Portrait by Photographer Roberto Greco
Roberto Greco is a French photographer who wanted a perfume to accompany his latest book of thirty-one photos of flowers. He turned to one of the most creative independent perfumers we have, Marc-Antoine Corticchiato. The desire was to create an “anti-flower” perfume to match the style of M. Greco’s photographs. It would take two years of work for the two creative minds to agree they had made something which lived up to that.
Marc-Antoine Corticchiato
In further reading on the website they decided early on an “anti-flower” would also be animalic and vegetal. Instead of turning to traditional floral ingredients the two they chose are chamomile and broom. M. Corticchiato uses a clever set of green and sweaty skin accords to flesh out the final construct.
It opens with overdoses of chamomile and broom. In the case of Oeilleres M. Corticchiato wants to accentuate the deep green herbal-ness of chamomile. If it was left on its own it would become difficult to wear because at this concentration it also has some spikes among the green. It is why the broom is used to soften that. Broom has a sweetly honeyed aspect over its own green scent profile. It is the sweetness which tempers the chamomile while the green adds in a softer layer underneath. The other piece of the top accord is the icy chill of eucalyptus. It provides contrast and lift. Some lavender is also present to support the herbal effect. The animalic change comes with the use of cumin again in a dose which will challenge those who are cautious of its presence in a perfume. The cumin here brings that slightly dirty sweaty skin as if the chamomile and broom were covering the back of a perspiring worker in the fields harvesting them. That picture comes into further focus as a lot of coumarin provides the sweet hay scent among the sweaty herbs. It turns more deeply animalic as M. Corticchiato layers some of the animalic musks to create that.
Oeilleres has 14-16 hour longevity and average sillage.
Oeilleres is exactly the kind of perfume designed to accompany an artist’s visual works. It isn’t interested in finding the masses. It is focused on finding those who already enjoy the different in perfume and want more. Count me among that smaller group.
Disclosure: This review is based upon a sample I purchased.
–Mark Behnke
Dear Colognoisseur,
Thank you very much for your review. There isn't a good or a bad way to percieve a perfume, but you put the finger -and nose- on that project with accuracy!
As you say, my goal wasn't to find or get away from the masses, I didn't really thought about the target actually, but I was quite convinced that co-creating with Mr. Corticchiato the result would be unique. Unique cause his way to approach a scent is far away from what the masses want, indeed : a perfect match with Corticchiato's thought on classical perfumery from the past and my desire to find something out of the bounderies without being too conceptual. (I think that this creation is not that challenging, but pure beauty on a bottle, but I'm not objective isn't 😉 )
I'm glad you were curious enough to try it, and thanks again for your review.
Best,
Roberto
http://www.oeilleres.com
How marvelous to see a comment from the creator here!
Oeilleres strikes me as gorgeously anachronistic in that it has the architecture, quality, and emotional tone of vintage greats like Cabochard, Bandit, and Chanel No. 19 — dry green fragrances that have always moved me, with their elegant austerity, far more than the typical florals and orientals. But it also conjures a breeze in a wild field of broom and herbs in autumn along with a faint animalic undercurrent suggesting the end of a cycle of life before the next renewal. Maybe "timeless" is a better word.
Moments after opening my sample and applying it to my skin, I ordered a full bottle. I was overcome with emotions and memories I couldn't even name. This is what fragrance should do. This is a masterpiece.
I am already lamenting the last spray from my precious numbered bottle. But I will enjoy it fully while it lasts. Thank you!
Dear JR,
Thank you very much for your kind word, I really appreciate it. I'm really happy to realize that there is a public able and aware enough to enjoy what I did with Mr. Corticchiato. Two years of work, trying to be the most sincere as we can, and doing our best to forget what a perfume should be today to be appreciate. It was risky, because even if it's a really well made scent it's not an easy one. Like a movie we were not ready to watch but who left us with a story in our head 🙂 (don't know if the analogy is clear enough).
Thanks again for getting back to me, and enjoy your bottle!
Ciao!
Roberto