Few would argue that 2020 was a difficult year, the perfume industry included. Between mandated lockdowns, brick-and-mortar retail closures, and the logistical nightmare of moving product in the midst of a global pandemic, most brands hunkered down choosing to delay planned new releases until 2021 or beyond. I say most brands though, because there were a few exceptions; one of the more notable being Argentinian brand Frassaï whose owner, Natalia Outeda, launched a triad of fragrances inspired, fittingly given the circumstances, by her homeland of Argentina.
I first discovered Frassaï some years ago after tracing the work of one of my favourite contemporary perfumers, Yann Vasnier, and unearthing Blondine, the French pâtisserie accented white floral launched by the brand in 2017. Since then, Natalia and I have kept in touch, and it was in casual conversation during the early days of the pandemic that she first hinted at the release of a new collection. Fast forward to November 2020 and true to her word, the triptych El Sur collection joined the Frassaï line-up, celebrating the beauty of the Argentine landscape and raw materials.
“Moved by the rhythms of the natural world, El Sur celebrates the purity and simple elegance of Argentine leather, bran, palo santo and rose. Live your experience in the vastness of nature. Wander from the lush Yungas in Northern Argentina to the wild gaucho pampa lands.”
Created with perfumer Irina Burlakova and composed to be worn alone or layered with one another, the perfumes and their inspiration are: Frassaï Rosa Sacra, an exploration of paolo santo and rose forested slopes of Northern Argentina’s mountainous ranges; Frassaï Cuir Pampas, the early morning calm of a gaucho camp – smouldering embers, suede and warm maté; and, Frassaï El Descanso, the almost limitless extent and abundance of southern Argentina’s golden wheat fields. But how does this translate on skin, I hear you ask. Well, having spent the past couple of months enjoying each of the El Sur perfumes, my thoughts are below.
Rosa Sacra (2020) – True to its forest inspiration, Rosa Sacra sets the delicate beauty of budding roses against a backdrop of fecund greenery. Wet, herbaceous chamomile alongside berries and pepper in the opening part to reveal a radiant heart of Turkish and Rose di Mai before settling into a weightless woody base of South America’s paolo santo, oakmoss and vetiver. Light, bright and green, this is a refreshing counter to the more typical walled-rose-garden and brooding rose-patchouli styles of rose perfume that seem so popular at the moment.
Cuir Pampas (2020) – A gaucho’s suede riding chaps, the smouldering embers of last night’s campfire, and the bitterness of green maté tea; Cuir Pampas is an exercise in the arid bitterness of perfumed leather. Warm, smoky and bone dry, Burlakova has quite masterfully set the usual leather suspects of hide, black pepper, vetiver, hay and labdanum against the novel savoury greenness of curry leaves and maté. Odd, but intriguingly so.
El Descanso (2020) – Nutty, moreish, green and solar at once, I find El Descanso to be the most unique of the trio. In the opening, lemon and galbanum convey an air of petrichor-esque haziness in direct countenance to the radiance of sunny mimosa, while the heart sandwiches coumarin rich bran absolute between the skyward-looking opening and wholly earthly base of ombú leaves, ambrette and sandalwood. My favourite.
The El Sur perfumes are available at www.frassai.com for US$175, 50ml.