Initial idea: The comfortable brightness of saffron.
Main ingredient: Saffron Oil Greece.
Creative approach: Habanolide Musk amplifies the contemporary, genderless character and aura of saffron. Ambroxan underlines its comfortable, almost addictive facet. Incense Oil Somalia both accentuates the vibrancy and projection of saffron, and brings texture to the fragrance.
Aurélien describes the inspiration as a bright, chilly, and sunny winter day in Northern Greece. A breeze from the sea brings the salty air that softly blows on my skin. I’m catching a spicy aroma whiffing from a spice shop selling the highest quality Saffron. I approach the shop and I took a pinch of local Saffron grandly displayed. Northern Greek Saffron is considered to be the highest quality in the world. It gives off a deep yet hazy, bright yet smoky, savoury yet sweet odour, with nuances of contrasting honey and metal.
NOTES
Top: Musk Habanolide
Middle: Saffron
Base: Ambroxan, Incense
PERFUMER
Aurélien Guichard
HOW IT WEARS
A bright opening of clean, airy yet sensual Musk Habanolide mingles with the dry, savoury and slightly leathery Saffron. It feels crisp and warm at the same time, which is very intriguing. It triggers a scene in which you are lying in the middle of a Saffron field during the flower harvest in the early morning hours. The opening settles relatively fast, revealing a carnal side at the core. Saffron now feels much smokier, yet sweeter, as a result of the heart note intersecting with the Ambery Incense accord. The Somalian Incense is reminiscent of another fragrance in the Matiere Premiere collection, Encens Suave; however in Crystal Saffron the incense remains a supportive note to the powerful Saffron. To balance out the carnal and deep facets, Ambroxan gives a really fresh yet salty and musky edge. The sillage and longevity of Crystal Saffron is incredibly impressive (as with all of the Matiere Premiere fragrances), it lasts 8 hours plus on the skin to our delight.
LORE LOVES
Saffron is usually a top note in perfumery, but with this release, Aurelien is trying to push boundaries and create an accord that illustrates the purity and delicate nuances of the main raw material. Hence, we have a crystal-clear interpretation of Saffron from the beginning to the end of the perfume’s lifetime which is just sublime and intoxicatingly powerful.
Crystal Saffron has a very simple note breakdown. It includes Musk Habanolide, Saffron from Greece, Ambroxan and Incense from Somalia. However, that’s not all that you experience when wearing it; it feels like Aurelien has created an olfactory illusion as the scent plays with contrasts and takes us on a unique journey to a spice shop in Greece.
ABOUT THE BRAND
Debuted in 2019, Matiere Premiere (or “Raw Materials” in French) is the work of renowned nose and master perfumer, Aurélien Guichard.
The core objective of the Matiere Premiere range is to put a spotlight on some of the most precious fragrance materials from around the world, and to hero the beauty and elegance of a single note fragrance.
A 7th generation perfumer born in Grasse (arguably the perfume capital of the world), Aurélien Guichard has a passion for fragrance running through his veins. He has been the nose behind nearly one hundred fragrances and has worked with brands such as Givenchy, Narcisco Rodriguez, Gucci and Commes de Garcons.
Guichard is also the owner of an organic farm where he produces Rose Centifolia and Tuberose, some of which is used in the Matiere Premiere line, making it one of the only brands in the world to own and produce some of the raw materials used in their fragrances.
“Growing our own rose is a way to reconnect with the essence of the work of a perfumer – creating the fragrance itself, but also supervising the quality and production methods of the raw material” – Aurélien Guichard.
Matiere Premiere is all about honouring the beauty and sophistication that lies in simplicity – one raw material can contain a plethora of olfactory facets ripe for exploration and interpretation.
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