Shanti Shanti by Miller et Bertaux 2008

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Hello lovers of fine fragrance,

I think this little gem came in my box of goodies from Birgit or Sandra at Olfactoria’s Travels but I could be wrong, it may have been from Sheila at The Alembicated Genie or even as a Gift With Purchase. It is a manufacturers carded sample in a beautiful heavy, matte, white card with silver writing and inside was a 2ml dab vial that I immediately upon opening decanted into a spritzer to get the scent thatv you would get from the bottle.

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Bulgaria rose, iris, warm spices, cardamom, patchouli, sandalwood

LibertineParfumerie gives this list:
Top: Rose (Bulgarian or Damascene)
Heart: Iris, rose (Baie)
Base: Cardamom, patchouli, sandalwood (Indian)

Rose, ROSE, a big, wet, musky, sweet, spicy rose with tea facets and a little leaf and twig. Clean and fresh, no hint of manure or humus, like sitting in the middle of a field of roses very early in the morning and it’s cold, as the sun comes up it warms the flowers and the dew and fragrance flies, on an icy but stunningly fragrant breeze. Thank goodness for the thermos of tea because otherwise you’d be freezing. Adult rose, manly rose, green, crisp and alive are all things I’ve jotted while sniffing. It’s a wonderful opening.

Photo Stolen WikiMedia

As Shanti Shanti settles the rose stays and is joined by cool, rooty, powdery iris but it feels very musk also, maybe the thing that my nose/brain thinks is musk is another ingredient. At two hours wear time and though the fragrance has softened appreciable it still is a very fresh green rose, I can just detect some sandalwood/patchouli/cardamom but it’s a green, milky softness rather than each note separately. Shanti Shanti has work quite linear really, not much story, but not boring either. That they have kept it so defiantly green is beautiful, I bet this would be a fabulous Summer scent.

Why is it called Shanti Shanti? Shanti (from Sanskrit शान्तिः śāntiḥ) means peace, rest. Yes, this is extremely peaceful and restful, the final dry down has a musk and herbal tinge over the rose that could with your eyes squinted and a bit of imagination be a referral to India, but only the travel brochure pictures of India not physically being there.

Photo Stolen Bulgaria-Trips

Shanti Shanti has opening heft, I am decidedly fragrant but it would take mega spritzes to get skunkish. After an hour it calms to a light, but not too light, fresh fragrance that is green and clean without being generic or laundry. Like a breath of fresh air all day, well for around 5-6 hours.

Further reading: PerfumeNW and Perfume Posse: both these reviews are smaller bites in a post but I couldn’t find others on the first 3 pages of Google. Sorry. They’re both worth a read though because they catch stuff I miss.LibertineParfumerie has $195/100ml including FREE Australian Shipping
First In Fragrance has €94/100ml and does samples €4

Photo Stolen Alianna Logan Flickr

See how this girl is both elegant, dressed up, lovingly thought out but then her hair is artfully disarrayed, that’s how Shanti Shanti feels. Perfect but comfortably so. Miller et Bertaux is a line that I keep coming across and I think I like them very much. Spiritus/Land #2, A Quiet Morning and now Shanti Shanti have all been winners for Jin & I.

Have you tried any of the Miller et Bertaux fragrances? If so, what did you think? If not, are they now on your radar?
See you tomorrow,
Portia xx

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Spiritus / Land #2 by Miller et Bertaux 2004 (?)

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Post by Poodle

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The cottage was a mess when she inherited it. No one had lived there since her grandfather died. Her family thought it was too small, too rustic and that she should sell it. She thought it held a certain charm and now it was hers. It needed a lot of work but she had vision to see past the years of dirt that had accumulated in every crack and crevice. She scrubbed every inch of it until her fingers were raw. She remembered her grandmother used to burn incense to purify the air. She loved the smell of incense sticks but not the smoke so she would tuck them strategically around the house like potpourri. She washed and polished the wood floors. She put fresh new curtains on the windows. Little by little it regained some of its former beauty.

Photo Stolen TripAdvisor

She was now finally able to sit back and admire the results of her hard work. The warm spice tea she cradled in her hands comforted her. The smell of the ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg brought back memories of when her grandmother used to bake in this very kitchen. It was early fall and still warm enough to keep the windows open. On the breeze she could smell the lavender and geraniums she had planted in the window box. Every now and then she caught a whiff of the late summer roses but they were far from the house so it was only ever a fleeting scent. Sunlight streamed into the kitchen in the late afternoon. She was convinced that as the floorboards warmed under the sunlight she could smell the wood and even after all of her cleaning efforts and bucketfuls of soapy water, a touch of her grandfather’s tobacco still lingered.

 Spiritus/Land #2 by Miller et Bertaux

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Top: bergamot, rosemary, incense
Heart: lavender, rose, geranium, ginger, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg
Base: sandalwood, teak wood, patchouli, tobacco

When I got the sample for Spiritus / Land I was expecting something earthy and dirty. It has a dusty quality to it but it’s clean and fresh at the same time. I saw it described as an incense scent but this is not churchy at all. It smells more like the unlit sticks. It’s also a soapy scent. It opens somewhat herbal, fresh, and woody all at the same time and then hits you with ginger and spice. Not like dessert spices, these are spices without the sugar. The spices are prominent throughout its development and the wood notes seem to come and go. Yet for all the spice and woods it is a very clean smelling fragrance because it has a very strong soapy quality to it that persists throughout. It also seems to smell cleaner as it develops instead of getting woodier and dirtier in the base. This isn’t the modern clean of laundry fabric softener. It’s more along the lines of an old fashioned guest soap. If soap isn’t your thing you might want to pass on this one. If you’re looking for a clean scent without citrus or marine accords it might be worth a try. The lack of sweetness in the spice might make it lean more masculine to some. Longevity on the average person is probably pretty good. My scent eating skin got a few hours out of it and at the end my skin had a just out of the shower scent to it. This was the first perfume I’ve tried from this line and while it was not true love on me I imagine it would be wonderful on the right person.

Photo Stolen ehow

Further reading: Perfume Smellin’ Things and Now Smell This
Libertine Parfumerie has $165/100ml with FREE postage within Australia
Aedes de Venustas has $145/100ml
Surrender To Chance start at $3/ml

Thanks for reading<
Poodle xx