Hi A Bottled Rose Peeps!
The boards are full of a new brand nowadays, Maison Crivelli. In a recent First In Fragrance order they sent me a couple of samples to try as a GWP. Woo Hoo! Even the names of these fragrances are interesting enough to grab my attention. Just a few of them include Santal Volcanique, Bois Datchai, Rose Saltifolia and the one we’ll be talking about today, Absinthe Boreale.
Absinthe Boreale by Maison Crivelli 2019
Nathalie Feisthauer
Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Absinth, Lemon, Plant juice, Fern, Lavender
OOOOOH! The opening is tart lemon, celery and broken willow twigs. It’s delightfully sharp and herbaceous. Unlike anything I’ve sniffed before. It has a strange warmth that I can’t place at all but it feels very familiar. One of those ubiquitous base notes that is both smooth woodsiness and furry fibreglass roof insulation. Strange but compelling mix, much like absinthe I suppose.
Not long in and lavender makes itself known. A sheer veil of lavender that damps down all other notes without erasing them. It’s like smelling through a lavender curtain. It remains the focus, yet not a big statement, right through the heart. As if it accidentally found itself in centre stage, with no fanfare of desire to shine, yet by its perfect placement and poise it leaves all other players looking wan and lifeless.
The name intrigues me. Absinthe is the drink that causes hallucinations and melancholy. Boreale might be referring to the Aurora Borealis, that chiaroscuro of gases that lights the northern skies. It certainly fits with this fragrance and its changing story from green to lavender and further into the dry down gold seeming warmth mixes in. It could be sweet vanilla and woods but there’s nothing in the note list to point it out.
Every change within the fragrance life feels seamless and once you get there, inevitable. As if this fragrance was pre-ordained to be made, that there was already a space for it in our consciousness. Here it is.
Have you got your sniff on any of the Maison Crivelli fragrances yet? Does Absinthe Boréale sound like you could wear it?
Portia xxx
A Bottled Rose 
Hi, Portia! What an intriguing concept. I am rather fond of a glass of Absinthe and I think I would like to smell this, especially with its lavender character as I am into lavender at the moment. Whether I would want to wear it is another matter, but I love people being creative and coming up with inspired and innovative fragrances.
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Hey Jillie,
I think Absinthe Boreale might be exactly the right amount of weird but still wearable.
Yeah, when the houses get creative it makes me happy too. Even if I’d not wear it very much.
Portia xx
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Hey Portia,
I admire how you always have time for a new brand. I don’t seem to have the ’emotional bandwidth’. I love the way you describe the evolution of this perfume. Sounds striking.
I want to try and see the Aurora Borealis one day but I think there’s a lot of luck involved.
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Yes, there is a lot of luck involved in seeing The Northern Lights. My Daughter and Grandaughter ent to Iceland last year for a mini break and didn’t see anything. They had a nice time doing other things.
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Hey Tara,
When interesting stuff turns up as a GWP then I feel obligated to at least try it. About one in ten or even less makes it to a post. Maybe because I’m less emotionally attached it’s easier? Once I fall deeply for a fragrance all parsing and nitpicking stops and I just enjoy the ride.
We have pretty good luck, let’s go see the lights together.
Portia xx
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Oh I love your writing Tara. 🤩🤩 Very thoughtful and beautiful just like you xx
I miss you..it’s been just over a year since you were here.
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The beautiful writing belongs to our beautiful Portia, Anna Maria but I miss you too!
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Thanks Anna Maria,
For the compliment on the writing AND the compliment of thinking I could be even a shadow of our revered leader Tar’s reviews.
Happy dance.
Portia xx
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The notes don’t sound like my thing, but I’d be curious to sniff it. Unless it comes to a US distributor I doubt I’ll ever get to try them, as it will be a long time before I place another FiF order.
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I bet LuckyScent, OSSWALD or MIN will get it in, maybe even Twisted Lily?
Portia xx
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Not sure I’d wear this fragrance; however, I always enjoy smelling fragrances and experiencing their evolution. I am not familiar with Absinth, but I grew up in Northern Ontario where Aurora Borealis would make a nightly appearance at dusk. Stunning light show in the sky.
I haven’t heard of Maison Crivelli, I can always count on you Portia to keep me up to date with new arrivals in the fragrance world!
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Hi Kathleen,
I never knew the Aurora Borealis was seen in Canada, that’s really good to know.
You’re welcome. It’s nice that I get so much new stuff to sniff. Best to share the experience, eh?
Portia xx
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This sounds like the furthest thing from what I’d like, but how much did I enjoy your image of ‘furry fibreglass roof insulation’, a product I have done surveys on in the past, hehe.
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HA! Vanessa, of course you have.
Glad to tickle your writing fancy too.
Portia xx
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