Description
Sepia was created during the “Letters to A Fellow Perfumer” series on Nathan Branch’s blog.
Sepia is a tint, a watercolor wash, an atmosphere, a memory. Exploring California’s Gold C
ountry ghost towns over the last years, I have consistently been struck by the desolate beauty
of their ruins, and wanted to recreate the mood of these lost worlds in scent. I am drawn to
the remains of their previous life much more than to what I would have seen when they were
new and pristine. What remains is experienced in the whispers of what came before. Sepia
is about atmosphere—the ghostly presences, the patina and beauty of what remain after
something is ravaged by time: the dignity of decay. In the aromatic world, could there be
anything to better communicate the elegance of decay than ambergris and oud?
Although the many intense aromas that make up Sepia—cocoa, coffee, cepes, tobacco,
oud, strawberry, and pink lotus—would normally be pronounced, they are in this case
tightly balanced to smell like they have been aged together for decades. Yellow mandarin
(a rare and very floral citrus) melds seamlessly with the blood cedarwood (intense ruby red oil from the heart of the wood) to create Sepia‘s elegant deep woody citrus opening note. At the perfume’s heart, neither the coffee nor the cocoa lend a gourmand note, but create an earthy and dark counterpoint to the full-bodied pink lotus—with a hint of spilt wine
from the strawberry. Musky flowering tobacco in the base echoes the opening of the rich
blood cedarwood. The murmur of cepes, married with the ambergris and oud, creates an
atmosphere of aging elegance. Sepia, with its soft, sheer, almost ghostly presence, becomes
warmer as it lingers on your skin in a diaphanous veil. Sepia was launched in 2012. The nose behind this fragrance is Mandy Aftel.
peu154InsuffBooni – :
I tried four different Aftelier perfumes today, and Sepia was my favorite. It just melted right into my skin so naturally. At first it smelled like strawberry jam and maybe a tinge of something slightly fecal (perhaps the oud)in a soft and delicate way that made my mouth water, but left me confused and pleasantly challenged. Then the rough edges and fecal note faded, and the notes became completely indistinguishable. They blended perfectly with my skin chemistry into a singular beam of fragrant light, leaving a vibrating, warm, glowing aura. I love that this doesn’t smell like I’m wearing a perfume, but that my skin is radiating an aroma. It’s going onto my want list!
duegrarpela – :
Spiced rotten raisin. Not in a good way.
aleks-jem – :
I was extrememly surprised to read the previous reviews of this fragrance. Sepia has been my #1 perfume for over a year now, and is my husband’s favorite on me. On my skin, it opens with a delicious jamminess, like berries warmed by the sun, tempered with wood. Then the jasmine blossoms into full view over a background of tobacco and oud. It is a truly magical fragrance, if one has the proper body chemistry apparently.
Alexey_kuzin130388 – :
Being new to taking perfume seriously, I was surprised and disbelieving when my nose said, “What??? That’s an uncleared horse stall!” Being a horse person I wear this fragrance a lot, but not from a bottle… When I mix it with Black Orchid,, well, NOW you’ve got something!!!
zsp – :
214) New Old style
Ce parfum est un défi. Une composition étonnamment complexe et presque indescriptible. Attention le oud et l’ambregris sont terriblement présent ce qui avec le labdanum et le tabac blanc pourrait évoquer l’odeur d’un ancienne ferme, avec sa grange et son écurie. Pour moi c’est un parfum d’ambre sans la vanille poussant le labdanum dans ses extrêmes.
Il y a une comparaison a faire avec Sonnet XVII de Olympic Orchids.
Les amateurs de oud, précipitez-vous!
This fragrance is a challenge. A surprisingly complex and almost indescribable composition. Warning, oud and Ambergris are terribly present what with labdanum and white tobacco could evoke the smell of a farmhouse with its barn and stables. For me it is a fragrance of amber without vanilla and pushing the labdanum in its extremes. Challenging as Sonnet XVII from Olympic Orchids.
Oud lovers, rush!
rtn240intitytek – :
Undeniably smells like horse manure on first application. I can still distinguish distinct notes of a very naughty flower mixed with wood, tobacco, and mushroom – who would guess that combo would read as fresh horse droppings? As it dries down I can see where she was going with the ghost town-melding of aged, comfortable scents.
This was incredibly evocative, fun to experience, but not something I would wear – unless going horseback riding.
oefszrmaih – :
I wanted to love this, I love the concept. Unfortunately, it smells like a wet ferret to me.