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Beyond Pilates: New Space, Same Scent


Renowned dancer, choreographer and Pilates instructor Noam Gagnon has just opened his new Beyond Pilates Wellness Centre. The studio was originally run by Monsieur Gagnon alone, from his shabby-on-the-outside and stunningly-serene-on-the-inside Chinatown location. With the assistance from a handful of talented teachers when he was away on his international dance tours, this was only the beginning of a very promising future of a centre for Vancouverites to learn real Pilates in a very fun and humorous environment (Noam is not just a serious dancer, he also has the most exceptionally fabulous sense of humour, so you get your abs really working in his classes!). Noam knows how to make you work really hard and make you lough at the same time, and that cannot be said about too many other instructors that I've encountered in any field, really...

You may ask yourself what this has to do with perfume? well, not much. Except that the humble perfumer and writer of this blog finds an enjoyable workout/maintenance of the body to be a very important part of her life and, well... well-being. And besides the fact that I always love to promote things that I love, especially when delivered by exceptional people. And what a better place than a blog that attracts 8,000 visitors a month?!

But it won't be completely worth a Smelly Blog entry if Noam's studio didn't still have that old, familiar scent that I was so hoping would not get lost in the big move. Despite the fact that the cherry wood floors, Chinese paper dragons and incense and Catholic-scented candles were left behind in the old location - there was still some of that familiar Noam Gagnon scent in the air when I went there for the first class today after a long Gagnon-withdrawal. Think vanilla, sandalwood, candles, cat's fur and a bit of lemon would best describe the scent. It's always welcoming, and while being just enough spiritual, it does not lack humour. Although Noam told me he wears Gucci perfume, the whole impression smells like a much improved dry down of Shalimar Eau Legere.

To try and get a guess at it yourself, or better yet - experience some hard-core Pilates with a bunch of exceptional teachers, you must visit Noam Gagnon's Welness Centre Beyond Pilates at 928 Davie Street (just between Burrard and Hornby, exactly where Atomic Cartoons used to produce their hilarious animation -whomever owns that place must like a good laugh!).
And now that the centre is offering a week of unlimited trials for only $30 - you must try it for a body and mind transforming opportunity.

Samsara

Without going too much into the meaning of the name, I would just hint that the sound of it is actually much more attractive than the actual meaning. Perhaps Guerlain overlooked some of the deeper meaning of the name while making their decisions, as Samsara being the “endless cycle of birth and re-birth” is exactly what, according to Budhism, we’re trying to redeem ourselves from to reach nirvana. I also heard at certain point that metaphorically, the concept of Samsara is likened to seven heaps of dung, being the different stages of life which we go through and symbolize our attachment to the physical worlds. But nevertheless, this is a beautiful perfume, and perhaps it reflects very well the beauty of the cycle of life, the beauty which probably makes us attached to it and have the illusion that we have reached nirvana even though we are very far from it…

Samsara has become a modern classic, and is perhaps one of the best creations of Jean-Paul Guerlain, in my opinion. Perhaps the one scent that he will be most significantly remembered for.

Perhaps the one thing that characterizes Samsara most of all is its homogenous scent, without being flat or one-dimensional. The theme of Sandalwood-Jasmine accord pervades throughout the composition, but at every stage it has a different nuance to it, which adds interest and depth. In that sense, Samsara is at once simple (a-la the modern linear scents), and complex (because, thanks god, it is NOT linear!). Samsara is circular, it’s an olfactory cycle, dynamicly flowing, yet always comes back to the same things, the three element that make it such a unique fragrance, a combination of sheer pleasure and an almost ecstatic religious experience: Woody notes (mostly sandalwood), White Florals (jasmine and ylang ylang), and culinary sweetness (vanilla and tonka bean). You really couldn’t have asked for anything better put together.

Sweet and fresh fruity top notes of peach and bergamot and the light, soft powdery allure of linalool (perhaps from rosewood?) engages you to explore the creamy, fruity-floral ylang ylang notes. That brings you to the heart of Samsara – a few different types of Indian jasmine (grandiflorum and sambac) and indolic yet subtle notes of narcissus dusted with the butteriness of Orris root in the classical tradition of Guerlain.

The base is dominated by a rich, vanilla-infused woody note of fine Mysore Sandalwood and is further rounded by the warmth of Atlas Cedarwood.

Buddha and Plastic Flowers, originally uploaded by Curious_Spider

The overall impression is sweet, woody, and subtly floral. It is an ideal for floriental fans, and is excellent for almost all seasons. I find the EDT nicer, where as the Parfum is a bit overly sweet, and for some reason smells rubbery, plasticy and more synthetic than the EDT (hence the above image, courtesy of C. David Wendig). The woody-powdery notes are more accentuated in the EDT which makes it particularly suitable for warm weather. I also like the EDP, which offers the best of both worlds – the extreme smoothness of the parfum, minus the plasticy feeling, and I believe can be enjoyed in warm weather as well. The body lotion, by the way, is heavenly, and has a sillage that requires no further enhancement (meaning: you can wear it on its own and won’t need any perfume added…). It has a different scent though, it’s far more sweet and the peach and cedar notes are more pronounced.

Top notes: Peach, Citrus, Ylang Ylang, Linalool (rosewood?)
Heart notes: Jasmine Sambac, Jasmine Grandiflorum, , Narcissus, Orris root
Base notes: Sandalwood, Tonka bean, Amber, Atlas Cedarwood, Vanilla

If you have become obsessed with Samsara, here are a couple of clips for you, including the trailer for Pan Nalin's film by this name:





Hamsters and Elephants

“Deep in the rainforest, riotously alive with the tangle of lianas, the odour of wood and overgrown temples, elephants are dragging scented logs of the sacred tree sandalwood.” – from Diptyque’s website.





It must be terribly difficult for the elephant to escape its cliché tiny enemy, the mouse. And so the noble sandalwood must be having hard time avoiding confusion with lumber.

The first thing I smell in Tam Dao reminds me of wood shavings that are used to cushion the floor of hamster cages: Tam Dao opens with a definite aroma of Virginian cedarwood and other soft lumber, scents that are particularly favoured by carpenters.

The otherwise humble and well behaved sacred oil of Sandalwood usually acts out when it meets my skin – its otherwise smooth and benevolently flattering aroma tends to flatten out the other notes, and adds a certain woody bitterness that is not what I consider pleasant, but rather acrid. With Tam Dao, however, my experience is a bit different – once the initial slightly green blast of freshly-logged cedarwood blows away, it stretches into an endless sandalwood with barely-there hints of cinnamic warmth and an overall smoothness that is calming and has the potential of developing into an addiction. Especially if you happen to be a carpenter..

I think Tam Dao is a great woody scent, even if not quite what I would expect a sandalwood scent to be. Overall, it is nothing like the warm incense from dry sandalwood powder. In fact, it is rather cool and refreshing. It is also more on the bland side and does not demonstrate much evolution or complexity. After a while (half an hour to an hour) I get bored with Tam Dao, and feel tempted to layer it with other scents, particularly florals such as rose and tuberose and jasmine, but also Philosykos. But than – I would rather wear the scents that already have those notes built in to the original fragrance.


Urban jungle, originally uploaded by Pensiero.

P.s. and while I find hamsters to be the friendliest of animals and the ideal pet, I cannot resist linking to this page that Katie have posted on her blog recently for no apparent reason - the image of the attack of the hamster is hands-down hysterically-funny.


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