Almost tragic isn't it, autumn? But so beautiful
- Chef Giorgio Locatelli
Re-reading this line, I then came across my writings from August 2005 on Alchimie/Rochas, Jacques Cavallier 1998
For those unfamiliar with the bottle by Serge Mansau, it is reminiscent of a magic wand in a magic pumpkin of beautiful autumnal amber-orange.
Alchimie, you bewitcher.
Alchimie, you bringer on of autumnal nostalgia, the time when land hovers, for moments at a time - into a phrase of time, the ear can hear to the horizon.
Watercolor transparencies of rust colored leaves and woods. A walk in the damp barked green forest, dark soiled, dark limbed, the wild colors of Mother Nature's last ditch attempt, before shedding into winter's serenity. The ice crackling quiet. But, first, the party!
The bee buzz around grape must. Dried golden stalks. Browns. I think of Cavallier's palettes of browns within M7, Alchimie. Woods of santal, oudh. (I hold to my 2002 prediction that M7 (Alberto Morillas & Cavallier for YSL) will have a comeback and be an even stronger seller, as it is "found again".)
Just when I fear its fruit note will sour, Alchimie veers.
It's a skin veil that hurts with its mystery. A deep inhale grounds, then on to feel the mystery of sheer watercolor autumnal silk on the skin.
This one haunts. Evokes.
I remember, Cavallier doesn't care for flowers, florals. So, in this one those notes on the palette, the florals, are used for enchantment, the beauty sleeping in the forest. Either sleeping to be eventually awakened, or, sleeping to eventually die, autumn to winter. It is the Life-Death bloom-or-fade transition that disturbs, that Alchimie captures. Fruits & Woods - flowers used as coloring, tints, hues, sheers, wind ...
Definitely a rêve, this dream state perfume. There is a vulnerability with this one, the mature sensitivity before the ice coat is worn.
It's the most beautiful day in the universe, and I am allowed to attend. It is not classic beauty, or textbook, or Hollywood film. There is overcast burning off, Mercury out of retrograde, stationary direct. A veil.
Veil of mist, veil of burn off, veil of heart yearnings, veil of sun's shine, veil of Alchimie, veil of thyme in oil on skin, summer bug repellent, Raid in the memory, citronella, nail polish remover, hair sprays, Hairnet with hair net, spider's web holding a bun.
Because of my own training in autumn nights getting darker and darker, earlier and earlier, sweating in ballet rehearsals with cold chill goosebumps and then ... a pumpkin appears ... in Cinderella during Snoopy's pumpkin patch season, I present:
Sergei Prokofiev: Slow Waltz, from the ballet Cinderella Op. 87
Piano: Vladimir Ovchinnikov
Venue: Piano Festival 2008
(performing 17 October 2010 in Bushy, Hertfordshire, England info here)
Happy Autumn Equinox!
Illustration: Trees Lura Astor
