Balearic Berlin by Luca Turin

Visiting Bloom Perfumery’s vast new shop with my grown-up kids was fun. The owner, Oksana Polyakova, and I made a swap; I handed over the Möbius and Shennong fragrances from China in exchange for a grab bag of samples. She then went round picking up bottles for us to smell. 

Oksana reminds me of Russian concert announcers who, just before the performance, walk to the front of the stage and pronounce “Chopin…” in a resigned voice, before describing who’s playing and what, when she sprays strips, hands them over, stands erect and impassive, and says the name of the brand just as the stuff hits our nostrils. I dare say some of the stuff she showed us was more Mal and the Primitives, but she could have said Chopin as we smelled D:SOL. 

D:SOL, self-described as Mediterranean Niche Perfumes, is a German brand run by people who appear to be in love with Maiorca. My tally of Germans bonkers about the Balearics has reached such a level that I’m starting to suspect I should go. 

After having smelled a dozen dismal little things aimed at a demographic I would describe as “clueless but affluent,” the quality of these was intoxicating. Perfumes properly art directed and put together by serious perfumers can bring tears to your eyes. I have four (SOMBRA, LÁDANO,TERRAM AND ISLETA) of the D:SOL fragrances and will ask for more. In the meantime…

Read the full review on Luca Turin's Substack →