Happy Holidays from Christos of Memory of Scents
I have admitted to vanity before so I do not mind doing it again. It was a great surprise to find out through Dimi’s blog that there is a bottle somewhere out there with my name on it. Especially since my name is not very common outside Greece. The fragrance itself is also not very common so I had to wait for the right moment to find a bottle of it. Dimi spoke highly of it and the bottle itself is one of the most remarkable ones I have seen. Christianic connotations aside, it was very difficult to manufacture and it looks absolutely sacrilegious in its purple, gothic extravagance.
The scent is not as dark or gothic as I would have expected it to be. It opens with a bright, sweet citrus note from mandarin which meets directly lavender from the heart of the composition and tonka from the base. Spices add warmth and a sizzling sensation and vanilla makes the base sweet and oriental. There are definite associations with the now legendary Le Male and anyone who likes Le Male is going to like this. But Christos is a lot warmer, its sweetness is better incorporated to the composition with the help of mandarin notes, the spices marry lavender and tonka with harmony and vanilla makes the overall effect of lavender less medicinal. Not being a huge Le Male fan but appreciating its innovative composition, Christos is for me a pleasant variation. Although the bottle has my name on it this perfume is not me. I wear it from time to time and enjoy it but most of all I love the way this bottle looks and feels and I enjoy having a bottle with my name on it. Especially since this bottle is so rare.
With Christmas approaching, Christos has another meaning. Christmas is the day I celebrate my name day. Because in Greece we get to have our special celebration days twice a year! Birthdays are big but name days are more social. Everybody knows when our name days are celebrated (there is a caption with celebrating name days for each day in a Greek calendar) and traditionally they are open house celebrations. So everybody is welcome to drop by and say “Happy Name Day!” My name day is on Christmas day and it seemed only fit to give everyone my wishes for Happy Holidays with a post about Christos by Christopher Chronis. After all the bottle looks so beautiful!
Notes from Sorcery of Scent: tangerine, green leaves, dewfruit, cardamom, lavender, rose, sandalwood, cedar, tonka, amber, vanilla
Notes from my nose: mandarin, lavender, cinammon, tonka, vanilla
Dearest Christos! On Christmas day, I’m going to lift a little glass of wine and send a sweet thought your way, wishing you a Happy Name Day and the most beautiful Christmas.
And that bottle with your name on it? So fitting and perfect. I can see why you sought it out. Off to read Dmitri’s review…!
You are so kind Suzanne. Which you could drop by.
Happy nameday Christos, και χρονια πολλα απο Λονδινο!
Σ’ευχαριστώ πολύ Αλεξάνδρα. Χρόνια Πολλά κι ό,τι επιθυμείς.
Being one who also has the privilege (tssss) of having his name on an unusual fragrance bottle, however not so rare as yours and of course with a much less interesting content, I can understand the feeling of possessing a more personalized (in a way) fragrance. Christos is worth your effort finding it and I m sure it’s creator would have been proud if he knew that a real fragrance enthusiast as you are has a copy of it! Χρόνια πολλά!
That bottle is cool! Now I’m going to drive myself crazy trying to find it! See what you did? Thanks for your great review!
I love this bottle too. I think Dimitri of Sorcery of Scent might know where you can find one.
I hope you had a happy name day and a wonderful holiday!
Thank you Natalie. A Happy New Year to you!
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Nice! Gorgeous purple bottle and what a lovely tradition…Happy Belated Name Day, Christos!
Thank you so much! The bottle is absolutely amazing! I feel very lucky that I found this as it is very hard to find.
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