I have a very bad habit of not appreciating that which is right in front of my face. If I hear there is a great restaurant right next to where I live you can be sure I’ll drive three times as far to go somewhere else. If the local band is supposed to be awesome I’ll make sure to check out one from across town. I live next to some of the greatest museums and historical sites in the world; and go to none of them. I live down to Groucho Marx’s admonition, “I don’t want to be a member of any club which would have me as a member.” In perfumery I have usually avoided it.
When Michelyn Camen invited me to be part of her original staff when she founded CaFleureBon one of my earliest colleagues was the Natural Perfumes Editor, Rodney Hughes. One of the things I miss about being at CaFleureBon is being part of a team because it was fun to meet up and talk. I met Mr. Hughes on a trip in to NYC for some perfume event. At that point he mentioned he had a perfume line, Therapeutate Parfums. Right away my insanity kicked in and you could be sure I was never going to try them. Now that I am on my own Mr. Hughes reached out to me; sending me a full sample set of all seven of his releases. Again my insanity kicked in, to his favor, now that he was far away I was excited to try them.
Rodney Hughes
After spending time with the entire collection I can say that it is a really solid grouping of perfumes. Osirius, Modern Patchouli, and Taosi are all stand-outs. The one which was always going to be the one which attracted me was Cardamom Rose. it is my favorite of the entire line because of my fondness for cardamom as well as Mr. Hughes way of adding in much more than just the two notes on the label.
That cardamom I like so much greets me right away and introduces me to its friend orange. Mr. Hughes uses a full bore orange which also requires an equally weighted application of cardamom. This allows Cardamom Rose to take off right from the first moments. Mr. Hughes uses a lush Rose Otto as the other note in a starring role. Again pitched at a higher intensity he uses a really ingenious underpinning of pine and tuberose to elevate the rose to meet the cardamom. As everything begins to come together a swirl of vanilla surrounds it all providing a sweet grounding of the entire composition.
Cardamom Rose has 10-12 hour longevity and above average sillage.
Just in the last few months I have been trying to face up to my silly attitudes. Mrs. C made me take her to Fort McHenry last weekend; and I enjoyed it. The same holds true here as Mr. Hughes has sent me an excellent example of independent perfume of which Cardamom Rose is the compelling scent coming from next door.
Disclosure: This review was based on samples sent by Therapeutate Parfums.
–Mark Behnke
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