Neela Vermeire's Trayee - A whirling dervish of beauty. (perfume review)

Irreverently edited picture of  Sadhu source

For those of you do not know about Neela Vermeire's perfumes, you're in for a treat. Neela is fragrance fan who, in 2012, launched her own house. She contracted none other than Bertrand Duchaufour (seems to be a smart trend among new houses!) to bring to life her idea: Discover Your India. Together, they urge you to sample from India's past through to its future, in the French perfume style. Sample the Vedic period in Trayee, experience the Mogul-British Raj through Mohur, and finally land in Modern India with Bombay Bling. All three scents have been well-received by perfumistas and Noses in the Know alike. Today, we're going to discuss Trayee!

One of the incredibly intelligent things the Neela Vermeire Creations line does (aside from having beautifully-made scents) is offer not only a sample collection, but also a "discovery set" which includes 10ml of each scent (only $118.55). Genius.

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Trayee

The name (pronounced “try-ee”) means “triad”, an allusion to the sacred origin of the first three Vedas, the most ancient sacred texts in India. The notes are drawn from the ingredients used in religious rituals and ayurvedic medicine during the Vedic era. Rich in incense, myrrh and oud, the fragrance is a poignant blend of smoke, spices and resins that harks back to the very origins of perfumery – a burnt offering to the gods and an aid to meditation.
Bertrand Duchaufour has always excelled at bringing transparency to dark resinous notes, and he surpasses himself in the smoky blend: Trayee is amazingly faceted, with green (basil, cardamom, cassis), floral (jasmine), spicy (ginger, cinnamon, clove), leather (saffron, oud), smoky (vetiver, sandalwood) and balsamic (myrrh, vanilla) effects, dominated by the quintessentially Indian fragrances of sandalwood and jasmine. The perfumer has even added an arrestingly realistic ganja accord, a memory of the sadus he ran across during his trips in India.
Trayee’s smoky tendrils may not have consciousness-altering effects, but we suspect that the gorgeous natural materials in the formula might be aromatherapeutic. Beauty heals.  - Luckscent

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Trayee Notes
Blue ginger, elemi, cinnamon, ganja accord, blackcurrant absolute, basil, jasmine sambac, Egyptian jasmine, cardamom absolute, clove, saffron, Javanese and Haitian vetiver, incense, Mysore sandalwood oil, patchouli, myrrh, vanilla, cedar, amber notes, oud palao from Laos, oak moss.

Special Note: Trayee was nominated for the prestigious Fifi Award! 

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Trayee opens with a strong elemi scent to me. It's a lemon-piney resinous scent that is bright and sparkly - imagine lemongrass furniture polish, but pretty. Elemi is related to frankincense and myrrh. It's not a scent I am used to, and so perhaps that's why it stands out so much, maybe your results are different. The scent of elemi is considered to be balancing, and I think I find that to be true with the opening of Trayee. It's very calming.

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Slowly, the blackcurrant (cassis) peeks out, alongside some green cardamom. And there's a dash of spice and a basil leaf or two. Where did those come from? Maybe my nose simply adjusted to the elemi and they've been there all along?

Like blinking through smoke, or perhaps waking from a dream, one slowly becomes aware of soft, lush floral jasmine, but it's so hard to focus! Is it really there?

If you sniff closely, you get one thing, if you pull back and pay attention to the scent you'll notice that things are different. The heavier aspects (woods, resins, spices, fruits) seem to be weighted to the skin, while the smokier facets lift off and swirl around the wearer. It is here that you'll pick up not only the incense but, if you're lucky, that "ganja accord" which does flash in and out from time to time - and it's spectacular.

The sweetness of vetiver, vanilla, cedar, and oud now push forward a bit, grabbing the scent and pulling it down into a sweeter darkness, which eventually fleshes out and becomes a woody but sweet serenity, laced with smoke. This is definitely a scent that inspires relaxation and comfort. I haven't yet meditated while wearing it, but I suspect it would be perfect.

Trayee twists in the air, like the smoke she's based on (clearly she's a "she" as she's so beautifully volatile - though please men, try her! She's made for men and women!). She's mysterious, like her sibling Mohur, and rather like a multi-faceted gemstone shows various flashes of light, darkness, and color depending on how you hold her. Each time you pick these two scents up and wear them, you will surely get a different experience. Trayee is sometimes spicier on me. Every now an again she's all about the jasmine. Some days she wants to be a bit oud-ier, going nearly straight from the elemi into the oud with hardly a backwards glance at her own heart. Other times she is truly a full-fledged journey through all of these notes. Just like finding my center and staying focused while meditating, Trayee is hard to pin down to just one thing.

I'll be honest with you: all three of the scents in the Neela Vermeire Creations line were challenging to get to know. This one was my first favorite, and yet it was still quite tricky for me. In the end, like many things challenging, this challenge ultimately makes these scents all the more special. If you, like me, find these hard to understand, please persevere! I promise you, in the end you will fall in love with them.

Buy Trayee and the other 

Neela Vermeire Creations through

 the NVC website, Luckyscent, 

and through the retailers listed here.

Did you see that bottle?! 

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samples were a gift

Aqua Allegoria Mandarine Basilic (Guerlain) - a morning picker-upper.

I am, perhaps, strange in that I do not enjoy orange juice in the morning. I am a straight-to-coffee kind of gal. Even at more formal breakfasts than I usually have , I take a pass. (the average day finds me in pj's on the couch, sucking back coffee and checking Facebook) When I was growing up, orange juice did not come in a "pulp-free" option and, to be frank, the pulp skeeves me out. Or, as my toddler has taken to saying, "that really freaks me up!"

What I do love, though, is spritzing on a glass of juice refreshing citrus perfume to wake me up.

Citrus oils are usually used as top notes in perfumery. Their scent is short-lived. Some sort of citrus - bergamot, mandarin/clementine, orange, lime, neroli, grapefruit, lemon, tangerine,  bitter orange, pettigrain - is used in almost every scent. These oils add sparkle, brightness, and what perfumers describe as "lift". The use of citrus goes back nearly as far as perfumery itself and is, these days, perhaps most commonly identified with colognes and men's scents.

I love a perfume with a big old dose of almost any citrus. They are usually refreshing, invigorating, and happy. Spritzing on a citrus-heavy scent in the early hours is like drinking in the sun and getting a cheerful kick in the pants to get ya going. It's also a delicious way to cool off and feel clean and fresh in hot weather!

One of my favorite morning jump-starts is grabbing one of my Guerlain Aqua Allegorias. These lightweight, fairly straightforward compositions are a great choice in the morning. They're short-lived, at least the ones I've tried and on my skin. As always, your mileage may vary. I like that brevity sometimes - I can wear something that creates or captures a certain mood but not have to commit to it for 12+ hours. And if I put it on before I shower, I don't feel too guilty washing it off after only having it on my skin for awhile. Yes, I have Perfume Guilt. Don't judge me.

I really enjoy Mandarine-Basilic, which gives a bright, intense, happy hose-down of mandarin balanced perfectly with the herbal bite of basil, one of my favorite herbs to sniff.

On me, Mandarine-Basilic shares its orange effervescence for about 45 minutes or so. During that time, the mandarin fades slightly and the basil starts to slip in the back door. Eventually,  florals join in, but softly, with the orange/mandarin scent still sticking around. The entire development takes about 3 hours on my skin - if I've used a citrus-y bath product or body lotion it goes a bit longer.

Mandarin-Basilic's drydown is a soft, slightly ambered woods -not the typical vanillic Guerlain base. It's a perfect set-up for a latter application of a sandalwood or amber-based scent. Note that both of those base notes, amber and sandalwood, are widely considered to be soothing and calming. This perfume is gorgeous aromatherapy!

By the time Mandarine-Basilic has faded, my mood has usually solidified somewhere in the happy range. If I need a bit more tweaking or am starting to feel hot or sticky, it's a complete delight to re-spritz and start the happy mandarin waterfall all over again!

Aqua Allegoria Mandarine-Basilic by Guerlain is a Citrus Aromatic fragrance for women. Aqua Allegoria Mandarine Basilic was launched in 2007. The nose behind this fragrance is Marie Salamagne.
Top notes are clementine, orange blossom, ivy, green tea and bitter orange
Middle notes are peony, chamomile, mandarin orange and basil
Base notes are sandalwood and amber.
 -Fragrantica





Do you enjoy the Aqua Allegoria line, or are those scents too wimpy, simple, or just "wrong" for you? If you like them, which is your favorite? And can you suggest any other citrus-predominant scents I might like try? I'm a huge mandarin, lime, and blood orange fan.