Edo Park and Or des Iles by Cherigan – Japan’s Gardens and the Gold of the Islands

With Edo Park and Or des Iles we continue our series on the fragrance house Cherigan and with these two fragrances we embark on an olfactory journey towards the East, to Asia and the South Seas. Whereas with Edo Park our destination is precisely known, namely Japan, with Or des Iles no exact destination is given. The fragrance is supposed to be exotic, so I automatically located it in the South Seas.

I’m pleased to link you to my last two posts on the Cherigan fragrance house, namely an interview with the current brand owner and my first review of Fleur de Tabac and Lovers in Pink:

• Interview with Cherigan’s founder Luc Gabriel – The scent of the golden twenties
• Fleurs de Tabac and Lovers in Pink by Cherigan – of tobacco flowers and lovers.

Edo Park – Japanese aesthetics

So with Edo Park, Cherigan takes us to Japan, Tokyo to be exact. For “Edo” was the name of Tokyo from the beginning of the 17th century until the middle of the 19th century, before the city was given the name we use today in 1868. Today, an amusement park called “Edo Wonderland” north of Tokyo, designed for tourists and locals, still pays homage to that time when the present capital of Japan still bore the name Edo under the rule of the Shogun dynasty.

The fragrance Edo Park is not dedicated to the theme park, but to Tokyo’s green spaces and, beyond that, to the Japanese artist Tsuguharu Foujita, who lived in Paris from 1913 onwards and enjoyed great success there from the mid-1920s onwards with his Asian-European works.

With the fragrance notes of citrus, pine, osmanthus, freesia, amber and Virginia cedar wood, the Cherigan brand creates an olfactory monument to the Japanese artist and his homeland.

The magic of Asia – Edo Park

Edo Park starts the fragrance with a radiant hesperid note. Light-flooded, very airy and sunny, but also underpinned by a certain dryness and gentle powderiness is the extrait de parfum. Light wood nuances and the delicate watery notes of freesia join in, giving a certain depth to the creation from the house of Cherigan.

At the same time, they give Edo Park greenish tendencies, underlined by the velvety and peachy-fruity accents of osmanthus. Finally, ambergris brings a touch of warmth to the fragrance, while the soft and clean-looking nuances of cedar provide durability and grounding.

Exceedingly serene, relaxed and contemplative is Edo Park by Cherigan. A fragrance that seems airy and light, rather skin-tight and restrained, but still has excellent durability. An Asian-inspired and woody-fresh floral fragrance, full of clarity and purity. Absolutely suitable for everyday life and office use and also not assigned to any particular season, Edo Park is an elegant, modern and timeless fragrance companion for any occasion.

Or des Iles – the gold of the islands

Or des Iles is such a picturesque title, and somehow the name always makes me think of Paul Gauguin’s Tahiti paintings, though of course he wasn’t travelling in the South Seas in the 1920s and 1930s. The painter died shortly after the turn of the century. However, Parisian society’s love of tropical lands, exotic backdrops and accessories was still evident at the time of Cherigan’s founding.

Exoticism was a great source of inspiration for Art Deco in the 1920s and 1930s. Wenge, teak, tropical islands … all these myths are found in a philosophy of pleasure and luxury.

Lemon, lime, bergamot, jasmine, ylang-ylang, rose, vanilla and white musk are the ingredients of this extrait de parfum, designed to capture the scent of an exotic island in the early morning hours.

Welcome to the fragrance paradise

Beguiling and creamy flowers open Or des Iles. Jasmine, ylang-ylang and rose create an intoxicating floral bouquet that is both soft like cotton and lush. I would bet that more white flowers contribute their scent here, even if they are not mentioned in the official fragrance notes.

But perhaps the lovingly arranged bouquet only hints at this, alternating between greenish, creamy and tropical nuances. The citrus gives the creation a subtle freshness that gives it lightness and liveliness and prevents the flowers from becoming too heavy, too opulent. Vanilla and white musk round out Cherigan’s fragrance with their lovely and powdery spice.

Friends of magnificent floral fragrances, of jasmine, of ylang-ylang and rose, of tropical-like creamy notes, of soft and gentle creations with intense floral presence should like Iles des Ors excellently. A noble and elegant fragrance, powerful and subtle at the same time, feminine, expressive and seductive. Wearable all year round and also for almost any occasion, Or des Iles is in my eyes an olfactory all-rounder that should make many a fragrance lover’s heart beat faster. 🙂