Ayala Moriel New Orleans Perfume review

New Orleans is a recent addition to the Ayala Moriel stable of natural perfumes. It's a fragrance to celebrate the unique character and smell of New Orleans, and is based on two or three years of correspondence and trial scents between Ayala and Paula Stratton, a perfume enthusiast and former resident of New Orleans. You can follow the evolution of the fragrance here on Ayalasmellyblog.blogspot.com.

New Orleans opens with a fresh lemon note on my skin. Ayala tinctured fresh Meyer Lemon peel herself as well as using lemon oil, which accounts for the clearness of the fresh lemon note, a lovely effect. Magnolia and other florals (tea rose, osmanthus, orange blossom) weave into the heart of the blend, and finally are supported by a mossy, salty base. Cypressmoss is used instead of the more ubiquitous oakmoss, and it does make the mossy base lighter although not in any way lacking in body (it's like finding a good unoaked chardonnay). There is vetiver and seaweed in the base, and although both of these notes give the salty sea and damp earth notes, neither overpowers the more delicate floral heart of the perfume. The earth, moss and salt convey decay and destruction, but the floral/citrus notes are wistfully hopeful. It's a beautiful scent and an interesting one that I love wearing.

I get at least three hours of wear from New Orleans, and I can extend that to five hours by using Gaia's (from thenonblonde.blogspot.com) trick of dabbing a dot of pure argan oil on my skin before applying the fragrance to my skin. The ghost of the perfume remains on my skin after it has mostly faded, but the sillage is always subtle and the fragrance wears very close to the skin.

I was curious about how New Orleans compares with Roxana Villa's GreenWitch (see my review of that here), also described as a marine chypre and one which has proved itself to be full bottle worthy for me (Mr London bought me a full-size 7ml flacon for our anniversary).  New Orleans is lighter and at the same time more summer/sultry; a hot and humid summer evening off the Gulf of Mexico, compared to GreenWitch's windy spring day on the edge of the Pacific or Atlantic. It's interesting to see how the characters of the two scents are both beautiful and yet entirely different. My love of sea and chypre means that I'm currently dithering over is whether to buy the 4ml mini size or the full 9ml flacon of New Orleans after I've finished my 1ml sample. New Orleans is a limited edition fragrance, and is available from www.ayalamoriel.com.