Anima Dulcis
Arquiste (2011)

If Anima Dulcis is a gourmand, it's an unusually savory one.

On my skin, this is all dry, smoky spices over a hazy background of an enigmatic floral note, sandalwood, and vanilla. It's more akin to a masala curry than it is a dessert (in that way, we might think of Anima Dulcis as an avant-garde reimagining of Jaïpur Homme.)

That opening is certainly odd: aromatic, dusty cacao, cinnamon, chili spice atop a sensual, animalic floral note. The spices eventually subside and the sandalwood-vanilla rises up to smooth things out with some sweetness, but that dirty floral edge still lurks in its midst, accented with something like oregano.

It feels hot, like a gust of spicy air from a kitchen. That's a concept not everyone can abide, but it deserves points for uniqueness. It's a good example of a niche fragrance being properly niche-y.

Pimento and red hot chili pepper opening, dries down extremely sweet. But I can’t smell the cocoa or vanilla.

I've been interested in the concept of "hot" perfumes, in the sense of a chili pepper is hot. A sensation of something warmer than warm.
I'm frankly not quite sure heat is something that can be portrayed with aromachemicals, but this perfume is probably the closest i've experienced. So i bought it without much further thinking just because i enjoyed that aspect of it.

After placing it on my perfume shelf i realized though; i'm not a big fan of sweet perfumes (and this one is super sweet). And so there it has been standing, pretty much unused for a year or two.

But recently i had one of those days that i wanted to smell something new, so i picked it up and took a spray on my chest before leaving for work.

And while i'm not quite sure this is "me", it is a intoxicatingly uplifting fragrance. Extremely warm, energizing and comforting at the same time. The olfactory equivalent of being surrounded by candlelight.

As many before me, i get more fruit than cocoa. A ripe plummy red note dominates over vanilla and soft spices, finished with a dusting of sharp cocoa powder.

Longevity is excellent. Give it a chance. Or two, i'm glad i did.

A soft, round gourmand-ish opening based on a cocoa note that on my skin is not like the aroma of a cup of cocoa, but more like old cocoa powder with dusty undertone. The other constituent is a cinnamon that is a bit more convincing, although the latter is a bit subdued and tired initially. The drydown adds reminiscences of dried fruit, with hints of cumin and pepper evident later on in the base notes.

It is actually towards the end that the notes become a bit stronger and work together more harmoniously, with the cinnamon increasingly richer, enhanced by a mildy sweet vanilla impression, and blending in nicely with the dusty cocoa and the cumin - discretely dulcis.

The perfomance is very good, with moderate sillage, good projection and a brilliant twelve hours of longevity.

This scent is nice in autumn, and I am hovering between a neutral and a positive score, but the better later phases as well as the excellent perfomance push it across the line - albeit just. 3/5.

Anima Dulcis could be an honorary member of Serge Lutens' range – at least the section that is located in a Moroccan bazaar. The listed notes are unhelpful – the prominent vibe is of dried fruit and spice, underlaid with polite sweat (immortelle? cumin?). Sure one can smell the cocoa and chili if one really tries but what's the point of really trying with a perfume...?
Like most of the Arquiste line-up it is a restrained thing, never quite bursting into full-throated song, placing its somewhat challenging ingredients neatly within a small compass like a child laying out the miniature pots and pans of their toy kitchen.

A spicy fragrance with a velvety dusty base, brownish, sweet, with a herbal side vaguely reminding Ambre Sultan, a juicy heart of red pepper (or pimiento?) cinnamon and vanilla rounding the base – also helped by a slightly metallic aldehydes note. Foggy smoky-talcum aftertaste. Pretty much it, a spicy Oriental blend with a brown dust all over and a sweet base. Quite short-lasting and frankly a bit dull and simplistic in my opinion, but nice.

6/10