Best Yacht Club by Gulf Orchid Alternatives & Similar Perfumes

This formula is a huge bergamot space heated by a resinous background.

It's a bit like a Greek island in August when the aromas of sweet citruses mix with the green balsamic smell of cypresses and incensy vibes of rockrose Everything gets lifted into the air by the heat reflected from the stony ground. You can almost hear the cicadas in tall dry grass in this perfume.

Ithaka is the first perfume in the Versi trilogy exploring the relationship between poetry and perfumery and how to appreciate it.

It's inspired by the poem Ithaka written by C. P. Cavafy, and first published in 1911.

Perfumer: Camille Chemardin

Genesis, Concept and Creative Design: Stefania Squeglia

***

Ithaka (the poem)

As you set out for Ithaka
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon — don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon — you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope your road is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you enter harbors you’re seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind —
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you’re old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn’t have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

***

P. Cavafy, fromC.P. Cavafy: Collected Poems.Translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard. Translation Copyright © 1975, 1992 by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard. Reproduced with permission of Princeton University Press.
Source: C.P. Cavafy: Collected Poems (Princeton University Press, 1975)

The floriental baroquesque parfum St. Paul's embodies an adoration and admiration to the spectacular era of Baroque. This style in architecture, music, art, sculpture demonstrates exalted movements, clear details, intense light and dark shadows, emotional exuberance, richness, extravaganza, which distinct baroque from other style. 

The English baroque represents iconic St. Paul's Cathedral, which dome has long dominated the London skyline. 

The perfume opens with the precious orange flower and jasmine absolutes with a hint of dried and juicy fruits, contrasting with the darker woody and balsamic base. 

The Nero collection

Nose: Pierre Guéros

“When I received the first samples of the fragrance that would later become Nektar, I was ravished by its personality and by the quality of its composition. Full of softness and creativity, Nektar recalls honey without being overwhelming, while drawing a distinctive character from its intense notes. Working with Pierre was a real pleasure. In little time, we gave life to a perfume that does not go unnoticed, now available in our flagship stores and at authorized retailers across the globe.”

Roberto Drago, LO's owner

‘All the soarings of my mind begin in my blood’

Rainer Maria Rilke

***

A perfumed celebration of saints and superstitions, centred around a fierce fenugreek absolute note lavished with singed pyrazines, sacrificial myrrh and mournful molten honey poured over everything like amber rain.  Meadow blooms, sticky dark resins, pungent balms and ashen clouds of iris swirl like dramatic weather.

An ancient king named Yuvanaswa had great wealth, good fortune and many queens. But no children, which he wanted more than anything. So the sages prepared a magic potion to bestow a mighty son upon whomever drank it, which awkwardly turned out to be the thirsty king, instead of the queens it was intended for. The baby was delivered by cutting a hole through the king’s thigh, and the breastfeeding conundrum was solved by the god Indra, who slit his own thumb to feed the child with life-giving nectar. And that’s why babies, born with the memory of their divine ancestors, still suck their thumbs.

Thumbsucker illuminates this legend with the narcotic flower power of narcissus, melding its dirty floral appeal with animalic honey. A vintage violet drifts through a comforting cloud of leathery styrax balsam and candle wax.

The never-ending war between what you “should” do and what you want to do. Where being loyal to your dreams and desires clashes with societal expectations. Well, here’s where the conflict ends. Inner War is an amber carnival of too-muchness, a stop at the candy floss stand, a ravenous kiss on the big wheel. This extrait is a billowing cloud of talcum powder and almond, suggesting delicate heliotrope. Curling like tendrils into the air is a phantom, licorice-like anise, adding freshness and subtle weirdness. Rose supplies the syrupy “mmmmm” that glues together ambroxan, vanilla and patchouli.

Olfactory opulance conjures the Palace of Versailles in its heyday when Louis XIV and his Court would amble the Grand Orangery to delight in the flowering orange trees warmed by bonfires. This is a bright orange blossom with a warm, woody background, with notes of orange blossom absolute, pomegranate, honey and firewood smoke.

A fragrant and floral dedication to emotions and the intricate patterns that shape and run through the structure of our brains. Liquid joy prepared with balsamic labdanum, leathery orange blossom and violet leaf absolutes and a drop of fruity coffee nuance.

Perfumer: Luca Maffei

Strength: 35% extrait de parfum

The origin of some materials in the formula:

pink pepper -> South America

arabica coffee -> South America

cinnamon -> Sri Lanka

galbanum -> Iran

jasmine sambac -> India

violet leaf absolute -> Egypt

orange blossom absolute -> Tunisia

Ylang Ylang -> Madagascar

guaiac -> Paraguay

Vetiver -> Haiti

Labdanum -> Spain

Rien ('nothing' in French) is a beautiful animalic chypre, with an aldehydic (rather than classic citrus) opening and seriously naughty leathery vibes provided by the cumin and labdanum duo.  Also check this perfume out if you like frankincense in bold oriental interpretation. 

Perfumer: Antoine Lie

Rien Intense is super concentrated (being an extrait at 33% fragrance) but compared to the original Rien (an EdP), it's more focused on the one theme which is incense.

It's a dark rich and diffusive blend of leathery orris, balsamic labdanum, exploding pepper, dusky oakmoss and sensual cumin.