Wild is the Wind

The notes listed here are incorrect. From the Atelier de Geste website: TOP NOTES: Rose, verveine, geranium MIDDLE: Woody pine, jasmin musk, leather BASE: White musk, exotic santal Truly enjoying my sample of this. Crisp, clean, warm and inviting, with the pine being most comforting to me. If the longevity is even only average, it will be a FB purchase.

Notes from Atelier de Geste: • Top tête (20 mins) - rose petals, verveine, savage geranium • Middle coeur (2 hrs) - pine, jasmine, musk, leather • Base fond (12 hrs) - white musk, sandalwood "Wild is the Wind" is one of my favourite songs, particularly the version by David Bowie on his Station to Station album, though I also love Nina Simone's recording. To expect Atelier de Geste's fragrance to match the mood and whims of the song would be to look for a wild, unusual, perhaps nocturnal or even animalic perfume. Incidentally, the perfume is none of that. The perfume here is a leathery floral, with lashings of musk and woody notes that extend the dry down. The initial phase is bright, with the rose finely blended with geranium to act as a pale veil, rather than a sharp colour. There is a brief but intense burst of green initially, supposedly from the verbena, but making me think of galbanum several times. Thankfully the verbena never turns sweet over time, unlike in several other perfumes, and the perfume remains crisp. The mid-phase is where the leather is more prominent. The pine is there, but handled like the rose: soft, finely woven within the accord, and in the background. In the dry down the musk is fresh and a little sensuous, while the composition is still verdant. Sillage and duration are both appreciable based on a moderate application. Overall, this is a legible and very much wearable perfume, nicely positioned between the green-florals like Bel Respiro, Cristalle and the rose-patchoulis such as Eau de Protection, though being much closer to the former group. Nothing, sharp or dull or animalic, nothing extravagant or seductive; instead, a cool, wistful perfume, engaging on rainy days during the transition from spring to summer, or summer to autumn. 3.5/5