When it comes to the inspiration for the releases coming from the Vilhelm Parfumerie brand I must give a hat tip to founder and creative director Jan Ahlgren. In more than a few of the perfumes the story which goes along with it has been equally engaging. Such is the case for the newest release Purple Fig.
Jan Ahlgren
One of the marvelous things about walking around any European city is finding these odd alleyways which give you a true insight into a city; more so than seeing another museum or historical site. In the 11th Arrondissement you might have been visiting the Place de La Republique and told to head to the Oberkampf district to find some nightlife. If you misheard and instead find the Rue Oberkampf you will find yourself in this urban verdant-lined oasis called Cite du Figuier. The entire small alley way has growing things and near the middle is a lone fig tree. It is this which M. Ahlgren asked his partner in fragrance, perfumer Jerome Epinette, to interpret.
Cite du Figuier
M. Epinette and M. Ahlgren have designed something closely representing a house style over these early releases. Purple Fig is the thirteenth and it follows the same as the previous having three distinct chords of two notes. Now before we go any further if the name has you excited about a figgy perfume look at that picture of Cite du Figuier above and realize this is much more about the green. For Purple Fig M. Epinette has created a sunny autumn stroll down the Cite du Figuier.
Jerome Epinette
M. Epinette uses a brilliant lemon given weight by angelica seed which imparts a botanical musk to make this less ebullient. This is the way I see the sun on an autumn day when it hangs a little lower in the sky. It is bright without being blindingly so. Then in the heart M. Epinette matches cyclamen and stemone to create a green chord. It is watery, the remaining moments of the angelica seeds provides a slight hint of potted soil while the stemone comes as close to fig as you’ll get. It is a vibrant accord which has a hint of the stone walls of the buildings in the alleyway. The base is a green version of cedar bolstered with cypress which provides the woody missing link.
Purple Fig has 10-12 hour longevity and average sillage.
I’ll admit at first I was disappointed a perfume named Purple Fig wasn’t going to be a gigantic fig as the name portended to me. Instead M. Ahlgren and M. Epinette took me on one of those offbeat journeys I so enjoy to find where a fig tree grows in Paris.
Disclosure: This review was based on a sample provided by Vilhelm Parfumerie.
–Mark Behnke
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