The name of the latest perfume from Aftelier, Cognac, might be deceiving. This is more of an olive scent than a cognac scent. Cognac is one of the most original fragrances Mandy Aftel, who is infamous for her use of hard to find, cutting edge natural essence. Cognac uses green olive fruit absolute along with a base of the fruity green cognac absolute (from residues of grapes in the wine-making process) and refreshing citrus top notes, to create a perfume that evokes the exquisite simplicity of life along the Mediterranean.

When wearing Cognac, I am instantly reminded of the "Mesique" (AKA olive fruit harvest), the breezy autumn days, chilly in the mornings but warmer around noon, when me and my little brothers would not go to school in order to help our parents harvest the olives before the first rains spoils them. After hours of olive picking, our fingers will diffusive of green fragrant fresh olive juice. When it was time for the ten o'clock break, we'd peel the first tangerines of the season, still mostly green on the outside but already sweet in the inside... But our olive-juice-anointed fingers will turn them as bitter as bittrex!

The texture of this fragrance, by the way, is quite oily - even though it is in an alcohol base. This must be again because of the olive fruit absolute.

Top notes: Blood orange, Fresh ginger
Heart notes: Oleander, Olive Fruit
Base notes: Cognac

P.s. On another note, I have to share another olive memory. My classmate Carmel, a constant seeker of strange sensory experiences, and with the talent of dragging anyone else into her obsession-du-jour, loved to smear herself with the black, ripe olives, and lead us to do the same. We would rub the soft black fruit all over our legs and they will become strangely moisturized and dry at the same time. And of course, we would return home covered in black juice with a bitter taste on our fingers that would last for the rest of the day. Thinking about now, it's surprising she has become a lawyer and not a cosmetic inventor. I can't imagine her being able to satisfy those sensory cravings in the courtroom!