Harmonious Notes Bottled; New Thameen Perfume

 Jimi Hendrix in a colourful purple costume, this musician with his colourful lifestyle and colourful music may not be an obvious inspiration for a scent, yet the latest elixir from Thameen has been brought to life via this amazing American musician who did, in fact, live in London for a short time. Find out more in Harmonious Notes Get Bottled; New Thameen Perfume.

James Marshall “Jimi” Hendrix,  Johnny Allen Hendrix born November 27, 1942, was an American guitarist, songwriter and singer. Hendrix’s music and on-stage antics, loud, turbulent and sexual, very much symbolised the 1960s counter-culture.

Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most innovative and influential electric guitarists in history. One of the most celebrated musicians of the 20th century and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes him as “arguably the greatest instrumentalist in the history of rock music.”

His visual style was also of note, his behaviour like playing the guitar with his teeth or behind his back, setting fire to it was only part of the display. The clothes he wore established him to be right on trend in the swing 60s.

A clothing boutique owner named Colette Mimram sold funky clothes of her own designs to Jimi and he asked her to design some of his stage clothes. When he was in the U.K. he bought his funky outfits at places like Granny Takes A Trip and I Was Lord Kitchener’s Valet like all the cool cats in the city at that time.

And it is a purple outfit in a photograph of Hendrick seen by creative director Christopher Chong of perfume house Thameen, that set off a new Frarganced idea for him. Bold as Love is new from the Britologne Collection. The Britologne Collection pays homage to the heritage of fine British

 “As I was creating Bold As Love, I found an image of Jimi Hendrix in a purple costume. I was immediately attracted to it as it’s my favourite colour. To capture the atmosphere of this image, I crafted a fragrance with smoky leather notes to convey the raw and beastly energy he exuded on stage and his unique sense of style. The smoky notes of the fragrance also mirror Hendrix’s colourful lifestyle. This perfume pays tribute to an extraordinary and inspiring genius whom I found truly innovative.” 

Christopher Chong

It is fair to say that Chong is not a fan of popular music but it’s the London living location of Hendricks that started this journey. 23 Brook Street, London, was not only the home of Jimmy Henricks but 200 years before it was the home of George Frideric Handel, well next door at 25 Brook Street. It was Handel who proved the inspiration for the spring perfume release Chords.

Master Perfumer Nathalie Lorson begins the construction of Chords with Bergamot, echoing British Earl Grey tea with Neroli, with the green and floral richness of Orange Blossom. Ylang Ylang, Honey Accord and Tobacco diffuse a suave, warm and addictive sensation in the heart that then melds into a base of Cedarwood Atlas and Woodleather revealing a woody and animalic facet.

With Bold As Love, Christopher worked with evaluator Maxime Paul and Master Perfumer Pierre Negrin, who was sympathetic to the fact that Chong was very out of his comfort zone. Chong talked about needing to challenge his approach forcing himself to embrace discomfort and tension. Therefore working with a nose he has collaborated with before made for an exciting combination of creativity.

And of course, creativity in London was alive and swinging with fashion, music and cultural nuances at this point and gave a platform for this new creation.

Understandably this is a complex yet lively fragrance, a Cologne Elixir at 25% concentration with a classical structure of cologne yet of Eau de Parfum spirit projecting memorable sillage and longevity.

The scent opens unsurprisingly fruity and vivid, with bright Mandarin, Ginger, and a rich Fruity Accord of Apple & Pineapple. Its centre brings unexpected yet very English notes of Lavender, Juniper Berry, and earthy-green-woody floral of Geranium. 

This all culminates with notes that represent the rock and roll of Jimi Hendricks and his colourful life with Smoky Leather, earthy Patchouli and delicious dry grass and roots of Vetiver. 

As Choing explained the perfume created was about capturing the

“raw and beastly energy he exuded on stage and his unique sense of style”. 

For Chong, in many ways, it is also the scent of the colour purple, his favourite colour and part of the starting point of this fragranced journey, wanting to capture the atmosphere of the image. And of course one of Hendricks’s most important songs was, of course, Purple Haze. In March 2005, Q magazine ranked “Purple Haze” at number one in its list of the “100 Greatest Guitar Tracks Ever

Purple Haze written by Hendrix and released was the second single by the Jimi Hendrix Experience on March 17, 1967, UK. The song features his inventive guitar playing, which uses the signature Hendrix chord and a mix of blues and Eastern modalities, shaped by novel sound processing techniques. Much post his death has been considered about the meaning of the song.

He explained later that the idea for the words came to him in a dream after he had read a science fiction novel. Fans and critics have spent years trying to decipher the song’s meaning, including ideas that it may have been linked to his use of psychedelic drugs.

Yet in interviews, Hendrix often gave different answers about the development of the song’s lyrics. Biographer Harry Shapiro points out that “Purple Haze” is most likely “a pot-pourri of ideas”. As a fan of science fiction, Hendrix frequently incorporated its imagery in his songwriting.  An early handwritten draft by Hendrix, titled “Purple Haze – Jesus Saves”, uses dream-like imagery where the sense of direction and time is distorted.

“You know the song we had named ‘Purple Haze’? [It] had about a thousand, thousand words … I had it all written out. It was about going through, through this land. This mythical … because that’s what I like to do is write a lot of mythical scenes”.

Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix was quoted as once saying that when he died he wanted people to just play his music, go wild, freak out and do anything they wanted. This remarkable musician who changed rock music forever albeit with a funky edge will be forever remembered by lovers of his music but now in a perfumed form, thanks to this new elixir.

Bold As Love is presented in Thameen London’s signature bottle in clear frosted glass with a magnetic silver cap. The campaign image and sleeve are inspired by 1967’s British pop culture and aesthetic movement. Part of the Britologne Collection which is an amalgamation of the words British and Cologne. As memorable as a Jimi Hendrix song the fragrance has such a memorable sillage and longevity. 

To find out all about Bold as Love Visit ThameenFragrance/collections/britologne.com and to find all their fragrances Thameenfragrance.com

If you enjoyed reading Harmonious Notes Bottled; New Thameen Perfume why not read Open Ended Film We Love here

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