As I spend these final days of 2020 looking back over the year, I am trying to identify trends. If you had told me in January that in December one of those trends would be horse accords, I would’ve laughed. But it is and Sarah Baker Bascule joins in.
Sarah Baker
Sarah Baker has been making perfume ever since 2016. She has been deliberate about the way she releases her collections. For 2020 she has the S. Baker Collection. It is notable that she is stepping into the shoes of perfumer on two of them. If she is intent on taking the reins of her brand going forward Bascule closes the loop she began as she returns to working with her first collaborator Ashley Eden Kessler. Those early perfumes, Greek Keys and Leopard, were fragrance as hedonism. They struck just the right level of intensity to keep it from being mawkish. With Bascule they are in an entirely different frame of mind. This is the scented version of horse and rider as a single entity. Ms. Kessler finds the milieu of the tack room and the barn along with the horse itself.
Ashley Eden Kessler
This begins with an inverted pyramid as the leather of the tack room has the early moments. Ms. Kessler has composed a remarkable leather accord which evokes the polished version of riding boots and saddle. She even gives a hint of saddle soap running through it. As we enter the stall the hay lining the ground lifts into the leather. This is a gorgeous mixture of sweet leather and sweet dried grass. Into this comes a rich juicy peach. As if we were giving a treat to our riding partner as we feed it quarters of peach while getting the saddle situated. There is a metallic ingredient which slides through things as we get in the saddle. Now it is time to ride. Ms. Kessler has a wide-open green field accord to race across. Using vetiver, muguet, and grass oximes she finds the sense of the turf underneath the hooves of our steed. At this point the leather hay, metal and greenery form that horse accord I have become acquainted with. The ride comes to a finish with amber and musk capturing the setting sun as we leave our riding partner to rest for the night.
Bascule has 10-12 hour longevity and moderate sillage.
In their previous collaborations Ms. Baker and Kessler were happy to let loose with a rebel yell of hedonism. In Bascule they find the sensual pleasures of horse and rider as their well-mannered equine gallops with abandon.
Disclosure: this review is based on a sample provided by Sarah Baker Perfumes.
–Mark Behnke
