Affinessence, or Affinescence as we say here in the United States, is a really interesting brand. It was created by Sophie Bruno. She'd been working in the perfume world, specializing in niche and luxury fragrances for quite a number of years before she decided to start her own brand.
The focus of this brand is on base notes. You know what base notes are, things like musk, sandalwood, patchouli. Those are the notes that kind of hum quietly at the base of a fragrance, the longest lasting notes on skin, and they really provide the anchor of the perfume as opposed to top notes like citrus or some florals that give that sparkle in the beginning but then fade away as the perfume goes on its journey.
The two fragrances that have really come to the top of everyone's attention from the brand would be Santal Basmati, the sandalwood and basmati rice, and Kuya Kokuma. This is leather and turmeric. They're both outstanding fragrances. But honestly, from the brand, the one that I wear the most is the Vanilla Benzoin, or Vanille Bonjour.
Everyone knows what vanilla is. This one uses really high quality vanilla from Madagascar and Tahiti. But it also uses this gorgeous note which is benzoin. Benzoin is a gum resin, it's a plant resin, and it has this vanilla quality. So it resembles vanilla a little bit but has its own thing going on. Maybe imagine a touch of cinnamon in there as well in the dry down. So together these notes create this very comforting, very soft cocoon.
In fact, Sophie Bruno, the creator of the brand, calls this cashmere, like the feel of cashmere. And in addition, it has this fantastic tonka bean note. Tonka bean has this smell that resembles cherries and almonds, and it's just one of my favorite smells. I love it.
Now, I don't wear a lot of gourmands, and I suppose this would be classified as a gourmand
