Monday 2 July 2018

SP PARFUMS by Sven Pritzkoleit

There is no doubt that the “niche” fragrance market is an exciting, if perilous, place to be at the moment. Anyone can set themselves up as a “perfumer” and attach a price tag to warrant an “exclusivity”, but it’s increasingly difficult to navigate through the new launches. One man who has been creating since 2006, and most definitely deserves to be more widely known, is Sven Pritzkoleit of SP Parfums. He was described by Luca Turin as having a “beguiling combination of directness and skill” and, with seventeen fragrances currently available, shows no signs of slowing down. So, let me introduce you to my favorites.

When Sven started creating fragrances back in 2006 it was borne out of a love for his sense of taste and smell. Ever since childhood he had been fascinated with the various scents around him and was constantly searching for new ones to stimulate and challenge him. After training to be a pharmacist, and then working at the family pharmacy in Germany, he began to study privately in the art of perfumery and says that he was influenced by the combination of “traditional and modern-experimental perfumery”. SP Parfums finally launched in 2016 and choosing my top four was hard.

First up is Pink Patchouli, which immediately took me back to the gloriously musky scents that my mother used to wear in the early eighties. It is a delicately fruity chypre with a peppered red berry accord at the opening. The development brings out a perfectly measured tonka bean creaminess before a truly evocative patchouli and musk pairing completes the scent. It veers more towards feminine and definitely provides that “hug” feeling.

Next we move onto Green Tea and it really was an eye-opener because I usually find “tea note” fragrances too aquatic for my taste. The citrus opening here is wonderfully bright, with a bergamot and lime pairing that is particularly engaging, but the aromatic quality of the green tea stops this becoming “just another” tea fragrance. Pop it onto an amber cedarwood base and you have the perfect fragrance for summer evenings.

Hold onto your hats now because we’re getting a little dirtier with Dark Rose. It is described as “celebrating the dark side of the rose” and it certainly does. This is a boozy concoction of a deliciously syrupy rose with a carnal leather in the base. A startling bergamot grabs the attention in the opening but it’s the oriental body of this fragrance that is truly decadent. I would definitely describe this as unisex and sultry.

My favourite out of the whole collection though has to be Lignum Vitae Forte. From the outset you get a great dose of labdanum, which provides a sexy quality to this wood-heavy fragrance, but the use of an ingredient called nard gives a wonderfully earthy and musty aroma. Combined with the spicy guiacwood and leather notes, this fragrance places me firmly in a nineteenth century library ... and I cannot stop wearing it!

The collection is available from Sven Pritzkoleit’s website at www.sp-parfums.de in 1.5ml, 7.5ml and 30ml sizes with prices ranging from 10€ to 158€ [Samples provided by SP Parfums]

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