Sunday, August 18, 2013

White Silk

Home :) by Iro {Ivy style33}
Home :), a photo by Iro {Ivy style33} on Flickr.
Though the idea can fuel the imagination profusely - even in my wildest dreams never did I imagine an independent natural perfumer in Russia. Is her apothecary facing the vast tundra? Or hidden in an abandoned shed in the kolchoz? Maybe it's a posh Moscow boutique, with checkered marble floor, where ladies in Russian furs and Chinese silk tafetta marvel at her new creations over caviar and black tea drizzled with sour cherry preserves... Either way, I was intrigued. And lo and behold, not only does such a person exist - she is also talented and adds a fantastic dimension to the international indie perfumers scene. Her name is Anna Zworykina, and her eponymus line is not very known (probably due to the fact that her marketing is done entirely in Russian. 

I can't find much information about the perfumer or most of the perfumes I have samples of, as it is mostly in Russian and I can't read the Kirillian alphabet - so I don't even know what most of the names mean.  A couple of the labels were in English though, so that makes it a tad easier to at least differentiate between the several vials... All the perfumes of hers that I've smelled were of a similar style and character: sophisticated, intriguing, purely natural, with depth and complexity that is usually achieved by incorporating house-made botanical tinctures.

White Silk is complex yet not suffocating. Like a silk moth seems to orbit around its Chinese inspiration, with juicy citrus top notes of blood orange. The gorgeous, full-bodied osmanthus flower heart notes fade into a suave, mellow base of sandalwood powder, reminiscent of the burning incense sticks in a Buddhist temple. It is luxurious yet subtle; smooth yet with a certain rough texture. It truly reminds me of raw white silk, which is fine and rustic; simultaneously mat with shimmering light running through its threads. Beautiful. 

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5 Comments:

At August 25, 2013 1:48 AM, Blogger Anna Zworykina said...

Ayala, thank you for rewie!
English version of my site is in work now, I hope to open it this autumn.
I love botanical tinctures and sometimes even animal components, for example, in White silk I use ambergris tincture to make it more diffusive.
White Silk top notes - lemon, bergamot, neroli; heart notes - jasmin (sambac and grandiflorum), roses, rose suprime attar, ylang ylang, osmantus, tuberose, rosewood, and in base- vanilla co2, sandal co2 and e.o.; labdanum, orris.
I was inspired by vintage Samsara, when create this perfume.

 
At August 26, 2013 1:39 AM, Blogger Ayala Moriel said...

Thank you for sharing your inspiration for White Silk! Havne't had the honour to smell vintage Samsara, but I liked it a lot back in the early 2000's, when there was still real sandalwood around...
White Silk is very well blended and I was only able to detect the most dominant components. Beautiful experience to wear it on the skin :-)
I look forward to the English version of your site - and eve more so, to experiencing more of your creations - Anastasia sent me 4 in total (My Vanilla, White Silk, Ветер с Кайласа and Зеленое Безумие); and I was fortunate to smell a sample of New Suede when I met with another perfume lover in Tel Aviv earlier this summer. I still dream about it.

 
At August 26, 2013 9:52 AM, Blogger Anna Zworykina said...

о, that vintage Samsara was just like narcotic :)
New Suede - I like it, suede side of leather theme, with clove, choya loban, neroli, carnacion, lavender, roses, clary sage, osmantus, white cedar absolute, cedar moss and labdanum.
I wrote you about "Зеленое Безумие"- green madness in facebook - classical chypre, and Ветер с Кайласа - Wind from Kailash, balsamic fougere with frankincense, sage and oregano.
If you like New Suede - I would be glad to sent a samples ( of this perfume and may be some others, wish English descriptions, sure) for you as a present. And consider the idea about interview for russian site about natural perfumery ;)

 
At September 06, 2013 1:26 AM, Blogger Ayala Moriel said...

Anna -
Thank you for your generousity!
Based on the names alone (and the very loose translations I could gather from online) - these sound very intriguing:
Вторая кожа
Кофе и шоколад
Жасмин и агаро
Джемовый жасмин
Лимонный кадмий
Табачная тубероза
Шелковая шаль

 
At September 08, 2013 3:46 AM, Blogger Anna Zworykina said...

Hi, Ayala!
Please, send me shipping adress via email (lasgunna@gmail.com)
Лимонный кадмий is out of stok, so, I'll replace it with something :)

 

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