Providence Perfume Company- Divine

Natural perfumer Charna Etier of Providence Perfume Company has just launched a new fragrance, Divine Noir. Before I review the new creation I thought it's a good idea to talk about the original PPC Divine, an older favorite that deserves the spotlights (and then some).

The basic list of notes for Divine as published on Providence Perfume Company's site  is rather short:  Moroccan orange blossom, neroli, vanilla and natural musk. We often see similar ideas in mass market perfumery, only they should be honest and call it "something that kind-of-sort-of smells like orange blossom(ish)", "saccharine plastic vanilla", and "clean and scrubbed white musk from the laundry room". Not here. This Providence perfume is forceful and intense; there's no vagueness about the statement Divine makes. It's here to be noticed, desired, and worshiped.

I love it when a perfumer takes both facets of orange flower, the blossom absolute and neroli, and combines them together. The result is lush and has the power to soar over the skin in a breathtaking sillage. Right from its opening Divine is spicy and sensual, a little heady and impossible to ignore. As it develops, the fragrance gains ground and sweetness. I love the way Charna Ethier works sweet rose notes into her perfumes. They never go sour on my skin which I appreciate, and have enough body and opacity to hold my attention for a very long time.

The base of Divine is a rather animalic musky amber. The natural musk in this case comes from the perfumer's confident treatment of ambrette seed and angelica (I previously reviewed her Mystery of Musk contribution, Musk Nouveau, which used similar elements). The result is dirty in the best possible way, luscious and utterly addictive.

Notes: bitter orange, coriander, bergamot, orange blossom, neroli, rose, jasmine, ambrette, amber, vanilla and angelica.

Divine eau de parfum by Providence Perfume Company ($26, 6ml. Other sizes and samples available) is available from providenceperfume.com. The samples for this review were provided by the perfumer.

Image: Wings of Victory by Erté, 1919 for Harper's Bazaar.