Private Label
Jovoy (2011)

Private Label together with Incident Diplomatique constitutes, in my opinion, the best of the Jovoy house. It is a wonderful perfume, in which vetiver and patchouli work in unison to give a perfume as intense as it is virile, masculine, serious, dry (less dry than Incident) and austere. A mature perfume that also shows the creamy side thanks to the sandalwood and the leather that help to soften what otherwise would risk being an excessive "earthiness" also due to the papyrus. It is a masterful perfume, a truly masculine perfume (like Incident) and not feminine or metrosexual stuff, no dociumi, no vanilla, no fancy stuff, just the scent of an adult male, serious and composed; reserved for those who have a nose and are able to appreciate classic creations, of course.

Private Label conjures a magical mystery tour of a rich amber blot floating over the terrestrial, the vegetal, the balsamic that haunts every nook and cranny of the olfactive… Collectively a leather bound trail toasting a holy communion of dark green and resin, Private Label opens with a naturally parched papyrus and its masala scroll inked by a grand design of spicy Java vetiver and deeply zesty patchouli, morphing into a petrolized vinaigrette deepened into the crease of a moist sandalwood, lit up in birch, sharpened in cedar edges and touched up with the tasty vanille facet of cistus, merely climaxing into an inebriated coriaceous fume; one that is tastefully direct and not for the faint. Simply, here is ‘presence’ and ‘intrigue’ as main ingredients for a unique label that may appear challenging yet is so seductive in its assertion. Truly more than a cimmerian beauty, Private Label pulses with a golden brown core that is shimmering, illicitly welcoming, naturally beckoning and waiting to be unleashed for a harvest moon… Ahh, fetching!

Dark, brooding, gorgeous take on leather, vetiver, and patchouli. Those three notes are present from top to bottom, a dragon's breath concoction of near-total darkness. Certainly not for everyone, but I can't get enough of it. The vetiver in particular is outstanding - in the deep dry down, it turns into a nutty brown vetiver note that makes me think of a richer, much longer lasting take on Givenchy's classic Vetyver accord. Lovely stuff.

Comparisons to Gucci Guilty Absolute are appropriate, though Private Label lacks the shrieking bandaid/plastic note that makes GGA unwearable for some of us. (Not hating; I suspect it's a note sensitivity not everyone shares.) While I'd never say Private Label is easy to wear, and it's much stronger and more intense than GGA overall, its composition is better balanced and more to my taste. Different strokes.

Performance is pretty close to nuclear. A single spray lasts all day, gets in your clothes, survives a trip through the laundry, and might wake your neighbors at odd hours. It's clearly an oily, resinous scent; your skin will glisten after application, so apply carefully. Definitely not a work or date night scent, but that's half the fun.

Not for kids. This one's for ones who seek adventure in perfumery...like when profumum released fumidus Or parfumerie generale bois blond and such.

Smells of intense dried leaf with hints of green left in it. Dry, gritty, dark and warm in its projection. A scent truly meant for the woods..It won't disturb the environment, rather blend with it.

Drydown is almost barnyard like oudh

Not for the faint hearted.. Sample.

Jovoy Private Label is wonderful. It smells like a tan-colored field of dried, dormant grass on the soggy ground. The aroma of rustling leaves invites you to sit in the sun and inhale. It smells like smoke and leather, like when my cats come in from outside on a cold winter day, and I bury my face in their fur. Papyrus creates airy smokiness carried on a breeze -- not a charred campfire at close range, but wisps of cigarettes smelled from a distance. The effect is expansive and diffuse. A bittersweet, wild aroma develops, like black walnut hulls ripening on the ground. To me, Private Label is the ambient aroma of the outdoors, of camping and hiking. It makes me supremely happy to be able to carry it indoors and wear it on my skin. People don't register that I'm wearing a fragrance at all. They think I've picked up the aroma of the outdoors. Such fun!
The last time I felt that outdoorsy thrill was from vintage Caron Yatagan. Possibly Lorenzo Villoresi Yerbamate. Maybe even Nasomatto Hindu Grass. I also enjoyed Jovoy Incident Diplomatique. Jovoy Private Label is a stand-out, and one of the very few fragrances I have fallen in love with in the post-apocalyptic IFRA-approved era.

Everyone to their own taste I suppose, but I simply can't stand this stuff. Sharp, grim and dystopian is how I'd describe it, and far from anything natural or pleasant .

Obviously it was intended to smell this way, so it must be appealing to some folks. But I prefer perfumes that with their fragrance, put me in a good mood, and this is certainly not one of them.

But at least it lasts forever.