Vesper

From the first moment I first saw the bottle of Vesper by MIKMOI last March at the San Francisco Artisan Fragrance Salon I was captivated by the polished beauty of the Italian made flacon and enchanted the perfume that it held within its impressive form. (When you look down through the bottom of the bottle there is a charming surprise.) I asked its creator Mik of MIKMOI if he had named it after the evening prayer practice in many Christian churches or if he had christened it after Vesper Lynd the heroine in Ian Fleming’s “Casino Royale”. I was delighted when he said. “It is named after both the prayers and the woman.” Vesper has a sensuality that bleeds into a reverent introspective and contemplative feeling of soft dreamy layers like sea fog on a summer evening. It is both a prayer and a remembrance of something precious that is past away and lost forever. “Vesper” is simply a beautiful perfume. And running below its beauty like a subterranean river is a touch of Japanese style and elegance. The opening is as sharp as the fist sip of a martini and indeed there is a delicious note of Lillet in the opening. Lillet is a French aperitif that is used to make a Vesper Martini and quite nice on its own as well. There is nothing boozy or blowsy about this note, but rather urbane and stylish. It brings in a French perfume feeling to the rather surprising center notes to come. The liqueur sharpness is quickly gone and replaced with a rich green fig note which deepens into the Lillet and enhances the elegance of this perfume. The fig is our fist hint of the East as we slowly move away from European tradition toward something new. In the center a sophisticated and very cool Baccara rose unfolds like beautiful origami flower with ribbons of soft supple suede trailing from her long graceful stem. Here it moves toward a more Japanese feeling in it subtle play of notes. There is really a lovely soft green accord that plays over the rose and suede making it very distinctive and unusual. In the base come the prayers on tendrils of twisting smoky myrrh, and frankincense coiling over the delicate amber. These incense notes with the amber can be both European cathedral and Shinto temple. It is all in your perspective on how they will play out for you. The sillage is not overwhelming nor should it be. This is something as subtle as geisha’s glance across a fan and as beautiful and layered as a fine Kimono. On my skin the perfume lasts about eight hours moving very close to the skin at about three hours in. Vesper begins in sensuality and ends in beautiful reverent place of meditation. A most unusual journey for a perfume and in so I find that Vesper is a really gorgeous fragrance. Vesper by MIKMOI Five Gold Stars ***** (FOR THE JAMES BOND STORY BEHIND MY REVIEW CHECK OUT MY BLOG, SCENTS MEMORY)

I enjoyed both reviews below mine. My thoughts of Vesper stand somewhere between the adoration of Lanier and the dislike of Livelyup. I don't love this, but it's nice. The name "Vesper" has a couple of meanings which Lanier brought out. In my mind I instantly thought of prayer time for a monastery as I am unfamiliar with the Bond reference. But it is a cocktail in that novel. So, this scent applying to both contexts makes sense. For me, this reminded me of a scent with a similar idea - Miller et Bertaux's Spiritus. I wouldn't say they're exactly the same, but I think the goals were similar - the goal of a high church service or late night prayer time, consisting of some deep incense notes or something similar (myrrh and olibanum). I found Vesper to be rather simple and my impressions with a few wearings are that it opens with some of the myrrh, olibanum and suede. The sweeter floral notes and white wine are softly there underneath and rise to take over after a few hours. All in all this isn't bad. I do like it but I prefer Spiritus over this if I'm to compare them. Vesper is a fragrance that I like but probably wouldn't purchase for myself (if that makes sense).

It is the narrow, dimly lit room of the old bowling alley, where hundreds of rental shoes are stored on racks along both walls. It smells of hot suede, a nondescript disinfectant, and other people's feet. I enjoy a challenge, but this is hard to wear.