Katie,
Check out the press release for Humiecki & Graef Blask:
"BLASK, a fragrance about trust. BLASK is a Polish word that means glow, brilliance, glory and glamour, the shine of the sun and the gleam of moonlight. The dry, savory tang of bay leaf oil together with the full, elegant body notes of rich red wine and a woody walnut note give a deep, solid sense of maturity and intimacy. BLASK is a warm, alluring fragrance that virtually strokes the skin, exuding a compelling, haptic sensuality."How do we feel about this? About having our skin "virtually stroked"?
Dan
Dan,
We feel like it sounds more like a salad dressing than a perfume, but are fine with the idea of having our skin stroked in whatever fashion it might occur.
But what is "haptic sensuality"?
Katie
Katie,
If you have to ask, then maybe Blask isn't for you.
Dan
Dan,
But I do like the definition of blask, the Polish word for "glow, brilliance, glory and glamour, the shine of the sun and the gleam of moonlight." Do you think that's real? I'm going to ask my Polish yoga teacher. A grown man who unnervingly resembles Dakota Fanning.
 |
| Not my male Polish yoga teacher. |
I'm wondering about the new Huitième Art number, Myrrhiad. It's myrrh! I'm a-purr for myrrh. But when Octavian reviewed it on 1000 Fragrances, he stressed the tea aspect. I'm not excited about tea. Too much tea smell makes me retch.
Katie
Katie,
There's too much tea in Octavian's description! Every time he talks about something else, I get excited, and then he goes right back to the damn tea.
I feel the same way you do about tea notes. They're often insidious: I'll think, "Is that tea?...oh hell, that is tea...now it's all I can smell...oh hell, I hate tea."
Dan
Dan,
I briefly sampled Myrrhiad today -- I impulsively swerved my car into the loading zone in front of Scent Bar and ran in to try it. I was disappointed that it lay more on the sweet, root beery side of myrrh than the balsamic/piney/incensey side, which I prefer. But any tea stayed at stealth levels, thank goodness.
You're just up and buying Blask? But it's supposed to smell like walnuts and wine! What's tempting about that?
Katie
Katie
I know you think Blask sounds gross, but I disagree. I like wine-y perfumes. Tom Ford Black Violet is probably the best example (it literally smells like you spilled a whole bottle on yourself). Then add walnuts and, well, I don't really know what walnuts would smell like in a perfume context, but I bet it would deepen things, like a light woody contribution.
Having said that, Christophe Laudamiel doesn't typically create perfumes that resemble ordinary real-life things too closely. The smart money says it'll be odd. (Of course the smart money also wouldn't buy it unsampled, so what do I know?)
Dan
Read Blask Part 2 here.
Stop! Tea Time! via
Still Life with Walnuts, a Jar and Wine Glass by Miguel Parra
A funny story about my Polish yoga teacher in "Amazing Rants"
Hi Katie and Dan!
ReplyDeleteI don't hate tea, but tea notes turn very sour on my skin and I end up smelling like a wet dog! About Blask, I may end up trying, just out of curiosity, but I don't really see the appeal in going out smelling like a pork marinade with walnuts :)
Hugs,
S.
Between my suspicion of its haptic sensuality and my fear of smelling like vinegar, I'm pretty sure that I won't like Blask. But I do have a sample of Myrrhiad heading in my direction. I have some hope. Myrrh can make me feel vaguely nauseated if it's too sweet. Tea makes me wrinkle my nose when it's too astringent. So maybe they'll cancel each other out and play nicely together?
ReplyDeleteCount me in for the pro-Blask faction - everything included in this description sounds amazing - walnut perfume! And the name - BLASK! Which evidently is a "Polish word that means glow, brilliance, glory and glamour, the shine of the sun and the gleam of moonlight."
ReplyDeleteSeriously, 'heads - why WOULDN'T you try this?
Bay leaf oil, rich red wine and walnuts? I'm all in. Great post!
Well, I wear fragrances that sound like dessert all the time. So I suppose that I should be daring enough to try one that smells like a first course.
ReplyDeleteSabrina, the way I apply perfume, any perfume, it may as well be pork marinade.
ReplyDeletemelisand61, your finely-honed instincts are correct: the tea (I'm guessing it's the tea) reins in the cloying aspect of this gourmand myrrh composition. So it's not as gloopy thick as, say, Goutal's Myrrhe Ardente.
Katie, I am a heavy sprayer too, but seriously... Wine, bay leaf, you just need a little pepper and the flesh is ready to marinate, LOL! But I didn't want to offend anyone with that comment, I am sure Blask may end up smelling really nice, and God knows I like a lot of perfumes some people here find repulsive!
ReplyDeleteNew From Katie Puckrik: Pork Marinade! The men's cologne that says, "A man who's confident enough to be brined, basted and locked in an oven for over an hour and STILL be good enough to eat!"
ReplyDeletePork Marinade is available at FragranceX.com - $100 for 60ml
Judging a perfume by its listed notes can be tricky, because things sometimes combine end up smelling like other things. Once I ate something that had dried thyme and then some red grapes and together they tasted like raspberry iced tea.
ReplyDeleteI think that if I say one more thing that makes me sound like Rose from the Golden Girls then my fanny is going to be banned from this blog.
And that would make me cry.
But seriously, think about what I said.
Sorry, but I just don't get glow, brilliance, glory and glamour, the shine of the sun and the gleam of moonlight out of red wine and woody walnut.
ReplyDeleteThe obfuscatory self inflating descriptors are out of sync with the actual fragrance notes.
Dear Paul--
ReplyDeleteAh, good point. Sounds nice, but you're right, they just don't match.
Nora, I'm fascinated by the chemistry lab that resides within our nose and mouth. You're right - seemingly random ingredients can echo each other, or nudge their smells in one direction or another.
ReplyDeletePaul - "The obfuscatory self inflating descriptors are out of sync with the actual fragrance notes."
That's because the obfuscatory self-inflator is H&G's creative director, and the perfumers 2 other people entirely. This H&G video reveals the source of the waffling:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rYZKZxd328
I don't get the walnut bit. But when I do munch on walnuts, there's a slight sensation of what chewing on wood, which is on the point of decay, wood(would) feel like.
ReplyDeleteAnd there are frags I own which remind me of wine: Guet-Apens(a k a Attrape-Coeur) being one of them,and Samsara being the other.
But red wine? Perhaps they are hinting that the fragrance has tannic resinous undertones?
Of my collection, I suppose Frederic Malle Une Rose is wine-y. Walnut-wise, all will be revealed when Dan receives his Blask.
ReplyDeleteHi Katie!!
ReplyDeleteIn what aspects Myrrhiad would be similar to Goutal's Myrrhe Ardente and in what others it would be close to it? I am a huge fan of the Goutal one so i am considering getting this other one..thing is i haven't seen it in spain still *sniff*
ElenaBueno - Myrrhiad is closer on the myrrh-o-meter to Goutal's rich, sweet, vanillic Myrrhe Ardente than to the sharp, herbal approach of Prada Myrrhe and Diptyque L'Eau Trois. However, Myrrhiad is a lot more transparent and a lot less cloying than the Goutal, making it more versatile, and possibly easier to wear for men.
ReplyDelete"Blask"?? Don't they talk to any English speakers? Worst perfume name since Shingl...AnnieA
ReplyDeleteAnnie - it must positively trip off the tongue in Polish, though...
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for the answer Katie!! super clear and useful! as allways!
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of bad perfume names, does "Dzongkha," sound like a euphemism for boobs to anyone else?
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like their cartoon sound effect, Nora.
ReplyDeleteThey make noise? I miss everything.
ReplyDeleteNora, yours must be on "mute".
ReplyDeleteThe notes in this one are not calling my name, but the word Blask is magnificent. It makes me think of basking seals rather than basking in the glow of a blask.
ReplyDeleteAs for haptic sensuality, I get asked that question quite often in the context of a polyurethane dashboard. Sometimes it is found wanting I can tell you, and the designers reach for walnut instead. Which if I had to have one of thsoe two materials in my perfume, I guess I would go with walnut. (Though I would rather not.)
"As for haptic sensuality, I get asked that question quite often in the context of a polyurethane dashboard."
ReplyDeleteFor those who don't know your real-life job, that sentence raises so many questions, and eyebrows.
Blask. It does sound like something Ikea might call a chair, table, shelving unit or some such. BUT, I just encountered a real live bottle of the stuff in Zurich yesterday and it brought me to my knees.
ReplyDeleteYou shall not speak disparagingly of this name once you know what it represents...
Blask = glow, brilliance, glory and glamour -- not an occasional table, dammit!
Delete