One of the hardest things to decide as a perfume company is how you’re going to tell your story to the customers. The fragrances aren’t always enough by themselves. Sometimes it’s that little extra piece of information that will turn a browser into a purchaser. Getting it wrong at the beginning can often be difficult to correct at a later date, and so it’s always worth making sure that you’re 100% happy with your decision. One company that absolutely nailed this was The Perfumer’s Story and, as we approach their seventh birthday, it’s time to go back to the beginning and rediscover Mystère Vetivert.
Azzi Glasser launched the company in 2015 after a string of high profile successes, but it wasn’t always clear that she would end up in the perfume industry. Until the age of four she lived with her grandmother in Mumbai, before moving to London, but she’d always had a fascination with scent. The smell of a rainstorm is a memory that Azzi often talks about, because it reminded her of the monsoon season, and she pinpoints that as an early realisation that scent could be both evocative and comforting. It’s this idea of “memory” that would play such a large part in the perfumes that were to follow.
Winning a FiFi award in 2001 for the debut fragrance release from Agent Provocateur undoubtedly cemented her place in the spotlight but, unknowingly, it would be her private commissions for her friends that would form her greatest triumph. She began creating bespoke perfumes for actors, musicians, basically anyone who wanted something that was different to the usual mainstream fragrances. Azzi once said to me that a perfume should suit a person’s character and style in order for them to feel “confident and unique”. She added, “Perfume is like a love affair, when you find the right one you become loyal to it.”
The idea of The Perfumer’s Story was to release some of Azzi Glasser's private back-catalogue, complete with the novelty of the scent’s original reference number and obviously the blessing of the original intended wearer. So, when it became clear that Jude Law had been linked with Mystère Vetivert (which was originally called Mr Vetivert) you can understand the public's interest. The fragrance was described as being inspired by a dapper English gentleman who is “charismatic, seductive, debonair and alluring”. You’ll find vetiver in many of Azzi’s fragrances, but how would it work in the spotlight?
The fragrance opens with a beautifully green quality, reminiscent of laurel and coriander, but immediately begins to hint at a cologne-splashed collar; that aroma of freshly starched cotton. The star vetiver ingredient then begins to show itself, but with its crisper facet, and is accompanied by an elegant touch of peppered violet. However, the development of the fragrance is so seductive. The vetiver is added to by an oud note, but cleverly restrained, and a whisper of animalic castoreum brings out the vetiver’s earthy quality. A final touch of sweetened cedar truly does produce an exquisitely elegant fragrance that cannot fail to impress, and is surely the perfect Valentine’s Day gift.
Mystère Vetivert is available from The Perfumer's Story website at theperfumersstory.com priced at £95 for 30ml or £225 for 150ml. [Bottle was a competition prize]
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