Liquo

There is much that comes to mind with Liquo. First, there are licorice sweets from Finland, known as "salmiakki," flavored with ammonium chloride, stimulating the salty and sour taste receptors. Then there's the bundles of dried lavender that are sold after a harvest, all cool and dusty-sweet. Third, the echoes of wistful, dew-dappled violet that is found in Apres L'Ondee. Lastly, there's the phenomenon we know as coumarin, that can at once seem to represent shaved tonka beans in a galette des rois, but then also carry with it bales of hay on a damp late summer day, or tobacco leaves hung to dry over barn beams. There's a velvet melancholy to Liquo, yet it also lends a sense of comfort to me. It is well-mannered in a way often lacking from artisanal perfumery, but also seems to reveal that sweet liminal space between realism and dreamscape that is uncommon in the mainstream. It isn't one that protrudes; it lives intimately in one's space and nudges its refrain now and then. It's important that there are fragrances of this nature: olfactory nuance would be all but lost if we were expect a scent to sing in a loud tenor, as textures would begin to scratch and agitate, spaces in between would melt away with the resulting blobs unable to carry the same emotional weight as a pianissimo.

Begins with a black liquoricey anise note that overwhelms the other notes for a few moments. After a bit this dries down into a powdery and deliciously pleasant lavender and warm coumarin hay kind of thing that I really like and that sticks around on the skin forever, just as a very subtle kind of background fragrance. Not in your face at all but comforting and familiar, with wafts of it occasionally releasing into the air around you. And since I like black liquorice the opening is also enjoyable. It’s quite different and to my mind that recommends it- you probably don’t have something like this in your collection. A fragrance that is evocative of summer in the countryside that can be worn at any time of year. It’s totally unisex and doesn’t have many of the components I normally associate with perfume, it’s a really unique experience. This creates happy feelings in me when I wear it, I don’t know why but it has that ability to create a mood and it’s so calming. For me my reaction to this is about the scent itself but also about the lovely, meditative mood it creates. It is truly an experience.

Very very lovely, liquorice, anise, hay (!) and gorgeous tonka beans. I love it! It's deep, dark and pungent, but also sweet and refreshing! An amazing smell. Very true Colin Maillard - it's like the countryside after a storm!! A beautiful deep aromatic natural smell. A stillness, that is also pregnant with life waiting to spring forth anew, as the sun comes out and everything starts drying and a more dusty, smoky smell wafts around. It's gorgeous. I love it. And it's very popular whenever I'm with other people, who really seem to love it, and love breathing it in, and telling me how relaxing it is to be near me. It is quite a unique perfume for me. It has a sense of peace and mystery to it. It's beautiful, one of my favourite perfumes.

For me, it's a complete match and just the best lavender scent in the world. I have just purchased the entire 100 ml bottle of an Extrait de Parfum and can't wait to unite with it while smelling the empty 2 ml vial on my table. For some reason, it calms me and helps me focus during my work, and I'm an artist, so not every scent can do it without distraction or overwhelming. I'm from Russia and don't have any cultural background that could be matched to this scent directly, but it's something from medieval lullabies books for me, with unicorns and potions.

Luca Turin on Liquo "I always think of liquorice as vetiver’s friendly sibling, and it is an unusual note in perfumery, notably prominent in the great Yohji Homme and few others. To me liquorice is inseparable from childhood and a particular liquorice powder I used to buy for pennies in a small metal box called Coco Boer, recently revived. Liquo avoids needless complication in what should be, and is, an innocent fragrance. The drydown veers towards an entirely pleasant coumarinic tobacco note.”