REVIEW BY OCTAVIAN COIFAN
Natural perfume “Tawaf”
saturday, october 20
Tawaf (Profumo) – new fragrance review
One of the revelations of this fall, TAWAF is a fabulous experience of spirituality – the beauty of a “flower” resurrected from the “resin” where it has been preserved for a long time.
The perfume has the delicacy and profound balance of the XIXth century creations signed by Aimé Guerlain. When wearing this perfume with its golden flower touch (exotic jasmine and narcisse) I felt transported in the time when Fleurs d’Italie was delicately blooming as a Venetian embroidery on a silken veil. Perfumers were discovering the flowers and the geometric Arabian patterns.
I evoked on the other website the perfume I made as a special command this year (Miraj – the night journey The Prophet الإسراء والمعراج – the article is in romanian). This month, TAWAF came as a fabulous surprise.
Tawaf (طواف) is one of the Islamic rituals when Muslims circumambulate the Kaaba seven times, in a counterclockwise direction – the worship of the One God. The circle begins from the Black Stone on the corner of the Kaaba.
From the balance of golden flowers – narcisse / jonquille / genêt / night jasmine – a flamboyant honeysuckle emerges with its honeyed sparkle melting in a glorious oriental breeze. Opopanax and Myrrh underline the flower, they are the secret nectar. A drop of gold in a drop of perfume. Is the Grail the PERFUME?
Narcissus and its pair, jonquille, are flowers of resurrection, flowers of gold (Dome of the Rock), but also flowers of darkness (Black Stone) – they emerge from the earth every spring.
The rose used in the perfume is extremely delicate, it is a veil, it is the softness of water, not the profusion of its petals. Here, the use of sacred resins is far from the so called oriental style – we are in the spiritual realm, not in the overpowering scents of seduction. Not the spice market, nor Morocco, or the so called oudh perfumes, but pure grace and genuine experience.
The perfume is warm, yet confident. Myrrh is the tear of the flower, opopanax is its nectar. TAWAF is golden like honey, like the late summer honeysuckle – a pure delight. The almost green, vegetal touch explosion of the top notes is amazing. Green, and suddenly floral, like a garland of petals falling from the sky, and suddenly a mysterious resin – perfumum. The pray, the stone, the “incense”.
Because jasmine Sambac is dominant, it evolves with subtle notes of tea and osmanthus, almost hay like – lavender. A small gardenia effect emerges here (see my article Gardenia – Opopanax maze). If you like Tom Ford Jasmin Rouge, you will adore the splendor of TAWAF, a delicate, confident and intimate perfume.
The flowers are not narcotic, the tone is almost austere with the soothing, herbal chamomile effect. A cup of tea in Asia., a monastic, almost ascetic experience which becomes ascension through perfume. The flower blooms over the resins, the volutes of the sacred smoke are her fumes. TAWAF – la via del profumo…the perfumes of life from the silk & incense road – a double meaning in Latin.
Tawaf is archetypal. It smells as if it was composed in the 8th century. Pure, sensible, vivid, like a flower on a rock. Probably a touch of the silex note exhibited by a famous Arabian fragrance raw material with terrible powers. Almost metallic, like the meteorite stone, a true experience of the real Tawaf. A touch of saffron for the Paradise…
TAWAF – Official Website
In 2012 for the TAWAF (طواف) experience the perfume, a revelation of serenity.
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