M/Mink by Byredo

Living in Stockholm it's difficult to avoid Byredo, Swedens only perfume "house". They have a prime selling spot manned with dedicated sales people at the only department store here in Stockholm that has a department dedicated to niche scents. In the blogosphere they get bashed around a lot, some claim that, scentwise, they don't have a clue what they're doing and that they exist only because insecure 30-somethings like to have a nicely designed and pricey looking bottle to show off. Myself, I like to believe that I'm keeping an open mind but I haven't found a fragrance from them that I'd like to wear. That does not mean that there isn't one that hasn't caught my attention.

Stigs harido

Yesterday I went perfume sniffing at NK (the department store mentioned above) and I sprayed a splash of M/Mink on a test strip. I got a very strong scent association right away. When I was in grade 1-3 in elementary school (6 to 8 years old) I lived pretty far away from my school. There was this guy named Stig that used to drive his green minivan and come every day to pick us up and take us to and from school. Stig was maybe in his 50-ies, had a few whisps of streaky grey hair in a comb over. He had this constant olfactory aura of camphorous cough tablets and very sharp old school hair pomada. This was backed by that sour kind of body odour that some guys have that heads towards urine whenever they break out in a sweat.

Now, Stig was not the type of guy who would waste a ride so occasionally he would do some private errands, leaving us kids in the car waiting while he did whatever he did. I especially remember one time, he was gone for pretty long, we were getting bored and while going through the car we found a porno mag under the front seat. At the time, I might have had some basic notions on how human reproduction happens, but learning there is such a thing as oral sex did come as a chock.

So now you have a basic picture of they guy. I think most of us know a Stig, for some personality types there are just more to go around than what meets the demand if you know what I'm saying. How anyone could leave Stig in care of their kids is a big mystery to me and it's an even greater mystery how Byredo have managed to create a scent that to me feels like having Stig standing right next to me.

When checking in on Byredos site, they say that M/Mink is all about ink. Now I never tried it on my skin, just on a strip if paper as the scent felt as it was as far away from my comfort zone as anything could ever be, so I've probably missed out some. But, to be honest, ink never crossed my mind.

The official notes of M/Mink are:
Top: Adoxal
Heart: Incense
Base: Patchouli leaf, clover-honey, amber

I'd never heard of Adoxal so I looked it up and this is how it is described, according to Givaudan:

Olfactive note:
Fresh, Aldehydic, Marine, Powerful, Floral
Description: Adoxal blends extremely well with floral notes such as muguet and cyclamen, as well as with fruity and woody compositions. It can also be seen as having a typical "fresh linen" odour which makes it very useful for detergent perfumes. Adoxal has a natural, ozonic aspect. Powerful, it must be used carefully.

I can tell you, M/Mink is NOT about fresh linen. It's a very unique scent that is interesting to perfume nerds as it is so different. I've been thinking about who could possibly want to wear it and the only one I can come up with is some kind of hipster guy making an ironic statement about something. Guys like Stig would be scared away both by the bottle design and the price. And why would they be interested in it, after all, if they go unwashed for a while and making sure they are dousing themself with pomada every day. they can sport it all for free.

Sarrasins by Serge Lutens

Once upon the time in far away Thailand there was a small shop that made jasmine garlands. The garlands used to chat about where they would end up when they were being sold. "I want be a gift to a famous monk", said one. "I want to cheer up someone who is ill", said another. "I want be wrapped around the neck of a beautiful dancer" said the third. I don't know what happened to the first two, but the third one indeed ended up around a beautiful dancer. One that worked hard, all nights long, in a very sad and seedy place...

So, Sarrasins is about jasmine. Initially, the jasmine comes out so load it's screeching. It has got a plasticky and synthetic feel about itself. After a while it calms down and a whole new picture reveals itself. The jasmine turns lighter and more realistic and in the background there is leather and other animal notes. There is flesh, lightly smoked fish and somehow (although I know you are not supposed to be able smell that) salt. I wouldn't say it smells like vagina, but that sure is the general direction of things.

It's no surprise that perfume makers use elements that are normally considered  unpleasant to make their creations come to life. However, it is unusual (at least for me) to find them left out in the open like this. I find the play between innocent jasmine and the other notes very intriguing. The only other fragrance I know of with this level of bipolarity is Tubereuse Criminelle. That one is, for me, about questionable sanity. This one is about guilty sex. I mean, why else hide behind all that jasmine?

So, risking to appear to be a total pervert, I have to confess that I love this scent. There is something about it that makes me smile again and again. I'll wear my sample to the last drop. I rate this one a 5 out of 5.