A perfume house under a bushel - Tom Kosmala Rose Amber Musk review

Couldn't find a bushel

As mentioned in my last post, my friend Clare surprised me with a birthday gift of a bottle of a perfume from a house I had never heard of - Rose Amber Musk by Tom Kosmala. Kosmala is a British independent perfumer, whose scent collection seems to be available exclusively at the Apple Tree Market in Covent Garden, though I found the odd additional outlet for his cute looking soaps at least. These are shaped like cupcakes, and may be the products for which Kosmala is currently better known.  They feature a goodly number of what we used to refer to in my food marketing days as 'particulates'. Oh, and judging by this photo, he is also rather easy on the eye, in a dashing, Tom Ford / Terence Stamp kind of a way..

I didn't manage to find a note listing for Rose Amber Musk, for example, but I am assuming there is a clue in the name.  To my nose it reminds me vividly of Ralph Lauren's extravagant rose perfume, Love, that I once tried in Harrods and have never seen since - perhaps a tad less sweet, but plush and opulent like Love.  

RALPH LAUREN LOVE

Notes: Chinese magnolia, mimosa, Bulgarian rose, ylang-ylang, May rose, amber, iris root, patchouli, vetiver, musk and vanilla.

Photo courtesy of Ian Phillips-McClaren

If you are not familiar with that particular fragrance, imagine the 'love' child of the original Stella McCartney and Narciso Rodriguez For Her, give it a luxe twist, and you won't go far wrong. Shades of Guerlain Idylle as well - the original one I mean, if anyone can remember that far upstream.

All three key notes are readily discernible, and while Rose Amber Musk smells straightforward like its name, it does come off as luxurious. I could almost picture it as a Roja Dove creation - 'Rose Amber Musk Extrait', say ;) - for the ingredients feel very high quality. Yes, I will wear it quite happily - good spot, Clare!

Rose particulates ~ Source: Lang Yee via Pinterest

Now not only is Tom Kosmala very much under the perfumista radar, but his footprint in Google is light to point of imperceptible, and I was able to glean next to nothing about this house on the Internet. I found a Tom Kosmala who is a a field engineer with 1'st Rail, but I am guessing that isn't our man. At the time of writing the brand doesn't appear to have its own website, and I can find no note of prices on the Covent Garden page for the store. I guess I could ask Clare, but that would be rather impolite! When I compare Tom Kosmala's low key marketing approach to Liz Moore's careful nurturing of her brand on social media in the run up to the Papillon Perfumery launch, the contrast couldn't be more marked. Though maybe that is all about to change...?

Well, I ended up ringing the professional portrait photographer who took this shot, Ian Phillips-McClaren - first off to ask his permission to use it, for he seemed to be the only source of images on the Internet(!) - and secondly to ask him if he knew any more about this rather reclusive nose.

A pro like Ian would have lost the bit of teal sofa in the corner

I learnt from my chat with Ian that Kosmala has a new range in the wings, soon to be launched in the Middle East, and comprising two scents - one for day and one for evening - in an extremely high end presentation. The scents come in highly lacquered boxes - one white, one black - lined with sumptuous red velvet. Perhaps Kosmala will be majoring on the export scene and the UK perfumes - why, I don't even know what other scents are available here! - were more of a toe in the water before the big push overseas. Time will tell, perhaps.

Ever the interviewer, I quizzed Clare herself about her visit to the store. She confirmed that she had met Kosmala, who was very chatty and friendly and surrounded by an eager throng of customers / admirers. She recalled there being other scents in the line, but couldn't name a single one. Half a job, Clare!

So... if you like rose scents in the general territory of Vera Wang, Chloe, RL Love, Stella, NR For Her or Guerlain Idylle, I would imagine there's a good chance you'd like Rose Amber Musk. Like a fragrant Ronseal, it 'smells what it says on the bottle'.

The Art Of Wearing Perfume Ironically: Leiber EDP

Some months ago I received a sample of Leiber EDP as a freebie in a swap. Now as anyone who engages in perfume swaps will know, 90% of the unsolicited freebies that are included in swaps are dross, some quite distressingly so - Demeter New Zealand, I am looking at you! Others you never actually get round to trying, so sure are you that they will also be dross. Which is perhaps shortsighted, but scents called "Melissa" and "Moonstone" don't exactly inspire me with confidence.

I umm-ed and aah-ed about trying this Leiber EDP for some time before I finally sampled it. I had never heard of the perfume or the individual, Judith Leiber, after whom the fragrance was named - I have since found out that she's a luxury bag designer - and was nervous of courting a scrubber. Then one day I took the plunge...

And to be honest, it isn't great. There is a peculiar vinyl note going in. It is very much in the same vein as David Yurman and Ralph Lauren's wickedly overpriced Love. The similarity with David Yurman is interesting, as he is a high end designer of rather ostentatious jewellery, while Judith Leiber's uniquely flamboyant handbags LOOK like jewellery, as does the bottle for her eponymous scent.

Leiber is an oriental floral, created in 2007 by Karine Dubreuil, who isn't one of my favourite noses, and whose claims to fame include Lanvin Eclat d'Arpege, Gianfranco Ferre Rose Princesse, Gucci Envy Me and Celine Dion Paris Nights(!).

Here are the notes, stripping away the rather purple padding I found on Fragrantica ("voluptuous pineapple", "shy vanilla").

Top notes: Italian bergamot, mandarin leaves, osmanthus, pineapple

Heart notes: Turkish rose, white gardenia, jasmine, cyclamen, magnolia, pimento leaves

Base notes: vanilla, musk, ambergris, patchouli, cedar

And here are the notes for DAVID YURMAN:

"Mandarin, fresh green petals, cassis, peony, water lily, natural rose otto, patchouli, exotic woods and soft musk."

And for RL LOVE:

"Champagne accord, goji berry, cool green water accord, rose, magnolia, amber, iris, sandalwood, vanilla and patchouli."

So whilst the notes are by no means identical, the vibe is similar, for they all feature sundry fruits and rose, patchouli and some combo of vanilla, woods, amber and musk. They are all heavy and sweet to wear, in a blurry, borderline furry, kind of way that is doubtless due to the patchouli and/or the musk.

I mind Leiber a lot less after the plastic top note has blown off, plus it becomes lighter and less sweet as it gets going, which I know may sound like the argument for stopping hitting your head against a brick wall, but I mean that I would rather be wearing the latter stages of Leiber than no perfume at all.

Why I am delighted to have received this scent in a swap has little to do with the fragrance per se, and everything to do with Judith Leiber herself and her fantastical bags.

Born Judith Peto in Hungary in 1921, she was the first woman to join the handbag-makers' guild in Budapest. She sought refuge in a safe house in Switzerland during the war, and emigrated to the US with her American husband in 1948. After initially making handbags for other companies, she founded her own business in 1963. And what extraordinary creations, nay confections, they are! Witness the cupcake bag, famously featured in Sex and The City. And thanks to Judith Leiber, I have learnt the term "minaudière":

"a woman's small handbag, often decorated with costly material, used for formal wear."

Well, let me tell you that "decorated with costly material" is something of an understatement. For here is one of her so-called classic range:

Leiber bags are so exclusive that there are only a handful of boutiques in the world - well, all in the US, actually - unsurprisingly in the blingier cities like LA and Las Vegas(!).

I was pleased to note that certain models have ended up in the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in New York and our own Victoria & Albert Museum in London, which is accolade indeed. For whilst some of these bags are without question unashamedly and rampantly kitsch, others are gloriously whimsical works of art, such as this bird bag:

I am also beginning to wonder if this was where Damien Hirst got his inspiration for that notorious £50m skull...