Monday, June 9, 2008

Leather Incognito

An accord by Roxana Villa

This is a leather accord that is not a leather accord ~ it is a perfume. The ingredients read like a guest list to an exclusive party. A masque ball on the banks of a slow moving river.

The Choyas arrived with Mr. Mate in tow, while a belligerent Dr. Orris tussled a bit at the buffet line with the Balsam brothers, Peru and Poplar. The Misses Saffron and Mimosa cornered the handsome bachelor Mr. Cabreuva in the geranium garden, begging for cinnamon kisses. It was all in good fun.

The Oakmoss Band played into the early morning, leaving alone Labdanum and Ambrette embracing on the cedarwood dance floor.

Okay, that was just a bit of silliness. The 'guest' list is much, much longer. Without giving away too much by way of what's in this leather incognito, let me finish off by saying it is lovely. It opens fresh and sparkly with notes of geranium tangling with orange and bergamot. The flash lasts moments before moving into something softer, sweeter, a little closer to the skin. Flowers emerge -- jasmine, a hint of rose. This 'fume has spectacular lift. It is effervescent and pops off the skin. Never quite going completely dark and leathery, it maintains this lighter than air character. And it lasts quite a while on the skin.

In a word, this leather accord is delightful.