Favorite Scents That Nobody Has Heard About: Zenadora

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Zenadora Eau de Parfum

Raspberry, Rose, Elemi, Guaiac Wood, Incense, Patchouli, Benzoin, Labdanum, Myrrh

Zenadora is so obscure, there are zero reviews on Fragrantica, and just one on Basenotes. Parfumo.com has a listing with three user ratings that give it an average score of 7.7 out of 10, but no reviews. The scent was released in either 2005 or 2006; I would imagine that someone besides me and the three Parfumo users had to have purchased it! After a little more digging on the google, I found that Zenadora seems to be available for purchase on Russian-language websites. Except for the following excerpt from a feature on niche perfumes in WWD, there is zip, zilch, nothing else to be found.

ZENADORA

Launch: 2005

Founder: Frederic and Laurence Lipzyc

Parent company: Majina Fragrances, of Paris.

Distribution: 50 doors, in France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia and the U.S.

The lineup: 19 skus.

Claim to fame: Frederic, who directed a transport company, and Laurence, who was a psychotherapist, decided to create the fragrance brand called Zenadora as a combination of the words “Zen” and “adore.” Zenadora’s first offering was a line of scented candles, but the collection now includes six ambient fragrances and four scent concentrates for the home. In May, the brand introduced its first fine fragrance, a woody Oriental, called Zenadora L’Eau de Parfum. Another collection of candles bows in August, and the next scent is due out in May.

Price: 69 euros, or $87, for a 100-ml. eau de parfum spray.

$87 in 2006 was rather pricey, even for 100ml. And I'm pretty sure I didn't pay anything near that price. I bought mine at Beautyhabit.com, mostly likely 2008-ish, and probably on clearance. I'm not sure why I bought it, as the listed notes are not something that would ordinarily attract me. Zenadora is what I'd call an old-fashioned fragrance, a rather heavy and rich floral ambree, what used to be known as an "Oriental" scent. It wouldn't have been out of place sitting on a shelf next to bottles of Youth Dew, Tabu, and Revlon Ultima, or worn with shoulder pads and big 80s hair. It's very woody and resinous, a bit leathery, and has an almost church-y thing going on under the sweet-tartness of raspberry and rose. It's a cool scent, rather than a cozy one. At least, that is how it smells on my skin. On a test strip, the scent is more floral with much less fruit, and it's less resinous as well. In fact, the fragrance almost seems lighter on the tester. However, if applied judiciously, Zenadora isn't at all overwhelming. It takes an hour or two, but it settles nicely close to the skin--but then, I'm not an oversprayer. YMMV. 

But it's not like you're going to purchase a bottle anytime soon. Unless you want to fork over 11480 Ukrainian hryvnia ($277.47)

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Posted by theminx on Minxstinks
Note: this post is my opinion. I am not affiliated with the companies mentioned in this post or any other companies.

A Favorite: Profumum Roma Battito D'Ali

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Profumum Roma Battito D'Ali 

African Orange Flower, Myrrh, Vanilla, Cacao

Back in the years BC (that is, Before COVID), I was a semi-regular attendee of New York Fashion Week. One bitterly cold morning in February of 2016, I had some time to kill before I headed to Project Runway Season 5 winner Leanne Marshall's show. I decided to pop into Osswald, then in its original location on West Broadway. A vivacious young fragrance fanatic assisted me in my tour of the store, making recommendations and eventually selling me a bottle of Indult Reve en Cuir. While I loved Reve, the fragrance that truly stole my heart was Profumum Roma Battito D'Ali. The only reason I can think of for purchasing one over the other was that Battito was a bit more expensive than Reve--on the slippery slope toward $300--definitely out of my budget at the time (and still is!). 

I spent at least an hour in Osswald that morning, partly because it was so damn cold and I really didn't want to go back outside. But mostly because I was having fun. The sales associate and I not only had a love of fragrance in common, but also food. She, too, planned on attending the Summer Fancy Food Show, and we exchanged contact information so we could meet up at the show. In the meantime, she sent me on my way with my purchase and at least one sample of Battito D'Ali. 

Over the next couple years, that SA--Daisy Bow, now my good friend and favorite NY dining companion--slipped me several more samples of Battito, until I took the plunge and snagged a bottle on sale. It was still expensive, but when I realized that I spent far more cumulatively buying bottles of more reasonably priced fragrances that I didn't like as well, it seemed like a steal. (I really do need to get into the habit of buying what I love, not what I just like.)

So what does Battito D'Ali smell like? I can sum it up in two words: Sexy Bubblegum. 

I find the scent to be extremely well-blended; I have difficulty picking out individual notes. On my skin, it's absolutely linear, starting as a fluffy orange blossomish-vanilla cloud and ending as a fluffy orange blossomish-vanilla cloud. However, I wouldn't say this was definitely an orange blossom scent or a vanilla scent. The boundaries between the notes are so blurred as to be nonexistent. Somehow there's also the vaguest impression of spice in there too, perhaps clove? which is what gives me the overall sensation of bubble gum. I don't want to give the wrong impression here--there's nothing Bubblicious about Battito D'Ali. This is a very expensive gourmet Italian bubble gum favored by sultry and beautiful people who float rather than walk while wearing only the most diaphanous clothing hand-sewn by angels. Appropriate, as the name means "beating of wings." It's sweet, but not like a pop-star fragrance. It's not cloying in the least. And it's by no means innocent. I feel positively edible when I wear this perfume. 

If I were forced to pick a "signature scent," Battito D'Ali would definitely be in the running. 

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Posted by theminx on Minxstinks
Note: this post is my opinion. I am not affiliated with the companies mentioned in this post or any other companies.

All-Year Scents

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As I've mentioned in past posts, I wear my fragrances seasonally. In the warmer months I gravitate towards sharp citrus and light floral scents that cut through the heat. In the colder months, I turn to cozy ambery and vanilla-forward fragrances. The thought of wearing vanilla in the summer makes me gag a little; bright citrus in winter give me a bit of an unwelcome chill. But I do own a couple of scents that I can wear pretty much any time of year. None of them are 12-month scents, exactly--well, they might be, but I have so many perfumes that I really don't need to wear any one of them as comfortably in July as I can in January. But for those oddball too-warm-for-a-coat days that occasionally pop up in December or March, or the less-humid, high-pressure, dry summer days when the morning air is practically chilly, these scents do it all. 

Beauty Pie Angelique's Letters

Bergamot, Lemon, Tobacco, Cinnamon, Clove, Jasmine, Cedar, Musk, Vanilla 

This is one weird scent. Despite the spices, musk, and vanilla, this is earthy and green. The lemon and tobacco and maybe the spices merge into an almost bitter, turpenic, galbanum that reminds me a little of the opening of Must de Cartier, though when sniffed up close, it's definitely more lemon oil-esque. That lemony/green note lasts and lasts into the drydown and beyond, while supported by a musky warmth. The super lemon top with the warmth below make this fragrance perfect to wear in both warm and cold weather.

Bamford Gray

Vetiver, Sandalwood, Patchouli, Orange

Despite the name, Gray is an uplifting, almost effervescent scent. There's a bright vetiver and a light, non-dirty patchouli, with a hint of orange. But my nose also detects spice, something akin to clove, which makes this scent almost a watercolor version of a spicy ambree like Opium. It's fantastic on a rainy day in any season and a damn shame it was discontinued. 

D. S. & Durga Lady Greystock

Violet, Orris, Amber

I'd categorize this scent as a "modern chypre," and like most chypre fragrances, it's somehow simultaneously cool and warm. Its dry woodiness helps cut the heat in summer; the amber and patchouli base lends an overall warmth to the fragrance. Like Gray, above, it was discontinued, but I have enough backup bottles to get me through the next few years. 

Hue by Hayley Kiyoko 

Watermelon, Freesia, Blood Orange, Litchi, Rose, Magnolia, Peony, Musk, Cacao

Normally, I'd read that list of notes and run screaming. Too fruity! Too floral! Probably best for girls much much younger than my own almost-60 self! But it was 2020 when I first met this scent. We had been locked down for months and the rare joyful experiences I had came from participating in online Sniffapalooza events via Zoom. Most of these "master classes" were with perfume companies like Penhaligon's and The Harmonist, but this one in particular was all about Hue, a new celebrity scent. I had never heard of singer/songwriter/actress Hayley Kiyoko; had I not been at this event I still wouldn't know who she was. In any case, I guess she's big enough to warrant a scent of her own. And despite being a fruity floral, it's neither overtly fruity or particularly sweet. Rather, Hue is a somewhat watery rose/peony fragrance--I say "watery" rather than "aquatic," as there's no seaweed/mineral/calone/salt thing going on, just the convergence of watermelon and freesia. The drydown is warm and musky, and the cacao note is rather creamy, like white chocolate. I find this perfume to be light enough to wear in the spring and summer, but also warming enough for the cooler months. As someone who's not the biggest fan of rose fragrances, I find this one suprisingly...great.

Naxos Apothecary Yria

Bergamot, Pink pepper, Cereal, Rose, Jasmine, Benzoin, Patchouli 

I purchased this one in April during Sniffapalooza Spring Fling. The bright pink pepper note grabbed me immediately, and the unusual and somewhat cozy cereal note (like a bowl of Wheatabix) hooked me. I also love the bit of patch in the drydown, which keeps me sniffing down my blouse all day. I wore this in the Spring and Summer both this year, and it was the first thing I grabbed when the weather suddenly cooled down at the end of August. I'm not sure if I'll wear this in the absolute dead of winter, when snow is on the ground and the winds are howling, but I think it will be a welcome change from my usual cozy vanillas on those odd warm days in December and March. 

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Posted by theminx on Minxstinks
Note: this post is my opinion. I am not affiliated with the companies mentioned in this post or any other companies.

Flankers: Why?

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Why do so many flankers exist? For those who are not familiar with the term, "flanker" refers to a perfume that bears the same name as an existing scent, but with a twist or addition. Like Coke, Diet Coke, and Cherry Coke. Or Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios. An other way to think about them: flankers are like sequels. Shrek and Shrek 2, Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II. The same characters doing the same things, but with a different story. 

A flanker isn't the same as a concentration--there may be an EDT, an EDP, a Parfum, and an Extrait of the same scent, Chanel No. 5, for example (which also had an eau de cologne)--but those aren't necessarily thought of as different fragrances, despite the occasional alteration of ingredients. There are, however, flankers of No. 5, including Eau Premiere, Elixir Sensuel, and L'Eau. 

Clear as mud, right?

In my mind, there are three types of flankers: 1) a scent that is very much like the original, with just a hint of a tweak to the ingredients; 2) a scent that possesses the soul of the original, but is different enough to stand on its own (a true flanker); 3) a scent that has absolutely nothing to do with the original fragrance, but it bears a variation on the name. 

Fragrance companies do this to cash in on the popularity of a successful product. If they make a new scent and give it the same name, people who like the first iteration might be interested enough to purchase the second (third, ninth, etc.) whether or not the new version is anything like the original or not. This seems a bit disingenuous, though there may well be people who own Guerlain's La Petite Robe Noir and will also buy any or all of the thirty-ish flankers that have been released since the original came out in 2009. (The few I've tried smell identical, though I haven't done any side-by-side sniff tests.) But if the original is good and popular, why keep reinventing the wheel? And if the scent is vastly different, why not just give it a new name? 

Some fragrance companies make all their bank on flankers. Mugler, for example, essentially only has two fragrances that have earned them any real money, Angel and Alien. According to Fragrantica, there are at least 33 variations on the Alien theme, including a handful of masculines. Angel has a whopping 58 listings, among them flankers of flankers (like the 4 variants of Eau Sucree). Not included in that 58 is the Angel marketed toward men, A*Men, which has 19 flankers of its own, nor Angel Innocent (now just called Innocent though the bottle still bears the Angel star motif) which has 7. Sure, Mugler has put out other fragrances over the years, such as their excellent Mugler Cologne (of which there are 9 iterations), plus Les Exceptions and Mirror Mirror, two collections comprising 22 quite different and very good scents, all of which are currently discontinued. I was lucky to get one of the last bottles of Les Exceptions Over the Musk--a stunningly beautiful ambrette and musk concoction--from the Mugler.com site back in 2019. I was also able to snag a bottle of Miroir des Joyaux, a rich woody floral that I like to wear at Christmastime, from a discounter. (Fragrancenet still has a couple of Les Exceptions and most of the colognes available.) Apparently none of those scents--nor Womanity or Aura--sold as well as Angel and Alien, so Mugler is milking their cash cows dry. Surprisingly, however, despite the preponderance of Angels on the market, including the original, the new Fantasm (which I'd like to smell), and Nova, it's rare that I notice anyone around me wearing it. Certainly not like I did when the original came out in the early 90s. 

Many of Angel's flankers smell like, well, Angel, but with the volume of one note turned up or down. But there are also versions that have an added ingredient that changes the scent considerably while still keeping the Angel DNA intact. The original Eau Croisiere from 2019 has a lovely mango note, while its own flanker from 2020, also called Eau Croisiere, swaps out the mango for fig. Angel Iced Star, which came out in 2021, is essentially Eau Croisiere, but with pineapple and coconut instead of the mango or fig. I think of scents like these as true flankers, while the ones that haven't changed the original fragrance much are money-grabbers, pure and simple. 

Other flankers that fall in the "true flanker" category, those fragrances that bear the soul of the original, but with enough ingredients tweaked to make it truly different, can be more appealing to those who could not wear or just plain disliked the original. Let's go back to Chanel No. 5. I can't wear the original, and am not a huge fan of scents with an extreme amount of aldehydes. But Eau Premiere, which is a pared-down version of the original, with the aldehydes, ylang-ylang, neroli, jasmine, rose, vanilla, sandalwood, and vetiver, but minus the citrus notes, lily-of-the-valley, civet, amber, orris, patchouli, and oakmoss. The result smells very much like No. 5, but also quite different. To me, it's almost like the love child of No. 5 and Guerlain Shalimar, which is one of my favorites.

Speaking of Shalimar, it, too, has a number of flankers that smell a great deal like the original but might appeal to a broader audience. The original came out in 1925, a sexy amber scent with prominent citrus and vanilla notes, plus leather, incense, civet, and resins in the base. Over the years, the scent has been "cleaned-up" a bit with the removal of many of the base notes (though there is the occasional limited edition re-issue with the skankier notes added back in), and the flankers have modernized the fragrance even more. Parfum Initial, for example, added caramel to the now standard concoction of citrus, iris, patchouli, rose, jasmine, tonka, and vanilla. Initial L'Eau removes the caramel and adds more citruses, plus freesia and hyacinth, and Initial L'Eau Si Sensuelle takes out the extra floral notes and adds green ones. There was also a version that ramped up the orange blossom--Souffle d'Oranger--by adding mandarin, orange blossom, petitgrain, and neroli (I am so sorry I missed out on this one!) and several that leaned heavily on Shalimar's vanilla aspect. Ode a la Vanille Sur la Route du Mexique has caramel and chocolate, but the list of notes for Ode a la Vanille Sur la route de Madagascar reads very much like the original formulation. (I must admit I am relying on Fragrantica, which I know is not the gospel when it comes to listings of notes. It just seemed easier than trying to track them down elsewhere.) 

As for the third type of flanker, one that has no relation to the original fragrance whatsoever--there are far fewer examples of those. One that stands out in my mind, however is Black Opium. YSL's original Opium is a warm amber, one of those fragrances that used to be referred to as an "Oriental," loaded with spices like cinnamon, cloves, and pepper on a base of woods and resins. Black Opium is a sweet gourmand with coffee and vanilla. The only similarities between the fragrances are that they have used a bottle with the same shape (though the original has come in several bottle styles over the years), and the name. There's no reason at all that the newer scent should be named after the classic. Zero.

It's not only iconic fragrances for which flankers exist. And by iconic, I mean in the original sense of the word, not the current usage where pretty much anything can be iconic just because some TikTok user deemed it so. I'm talking Barbra Streisand iconic, not Sabrina Carpenter "iconic." Scents like YSL Libre, Valentino Valentina, Carolina Herrera Good Girl, and Jessica Simpson Fancy all have flankers, whether they need to or not. The original must have sold well, so I suppose there was no reason to try something new.  

Which seems very lazy to me.

In an industry already flooded with fragrances, do we really need more that are merely repetitions of what we already have? I suppose since flankers do sell, the answer is yes.

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Posted by theminx on Minxstinks
Note: this post is my opinion. I am not affiliated with the companies mentioned in this post or any other companies.