Italian fashion house Costume National recently released two new fragrances onto the market. The fragrances named, I and J are intended to explore the balance between the fashion cultures of Italy and Japan. I managed to get my hands on a couple of samples. Below are my first impressions.
Costume National I – Julien Rasquinet is the nose behind I, a leather, woody, herbal scent that is my favourite of these two new scents. The “I” release is inspired by Italian culture and Tuscany. A light aromatic, smooth leather, that is softened by the use of thyme, lavender and geranium. There’s also a saffron note that provides a little earthiness to the composition. A wonderfully bright, fresh, spicy leather that can be worn during the summer, but will work just as well during the cooler weather. On my skin I lasted over 8 hours with good projection for the first 2 hours. Neat work.
Costume National J – Fanny Bal is the perfumer behind J, a clean soapy citrus scent perfect for the warm weather. Neroli, mandarin, orange blossom and cashmere wood are the main notes to my nose. The Japanese influence is introduced in the form of a cherry blossom, and rice note that gives the fragrance a slight powdery, soapy touch. As a whole it works well and fits the brief of someone looking for a minimal scent that’s unlikely to draw much attention to itself. It’s a little too soft for my liking, and as such the longevity suffers, with the scent disappearing relatively quickly after a few hours.
Note: Bottle images courtesy of Fragrantica
Nice descriptions: haven’t tried those yet, but I sounds like something similar to Russian Leather by Memo.
Thankyou. I haven’t tried Russian Leather yet, so can’t compare the two. I is a really wearable leather though.