Michael Storer's the Monk

My foreign friends told me that I should write reviews in English and Russian languages. It’s exciting but also somewhat chilling idea cause I'm a real "grammar Nazi" concerning Russian language, and maybe it's true for the English as well. I work as translator from English to Russian every day but each business e-mail is a real challenge for me…

(Oh, my husband already found and corrected a lot of mistakes!..)

So, about Michael Storer’s Monk

Michael Storer says in his interview that he “got really tired of smelling "cool water this" and "fresh air that"... everything smells so ozonic (airy or watery) to me in the department stores. I thought others might be getting tired of this, too". That's a good boy! I only misunderstood why MS defines target audience for Monk as “young people into the goth lifestyle". Perhaps all the world sets up a boycott to all the fragrances except Cool Water? God bless me!

Monk is not an accessory scent. Maybe young goths will use it in such a way, but Monk is more like an olfactory journey in monastery. Perhaps it is an Orthodox monastery – I saw a couple dozen of them in my September's tour of the Golden Ring (the most great and wonderful ancient cities of Old Russia - Vladimir, Yaroslavl, Suzdal). Maybe all the religious houses are alike.

It starts as a church interior with all these candles in big golden candlesticks in front of icons and burning incense lampades. Candle wax cries for joy and its tears are clear and bright. Even plaster is smelling frankincense and myrrh. In the beginning Monk is great as a cathedral, luscious, ceremonial and affectionate. This smell will hang in old religious houses until the end of time.

Then we are leaving the dim temple but still stay within the monastery. There are blossoming limes in alleys, smoke of burning leafage, scent of trimmed wood boards heated by sunlight. The light wind of spring blows with smells of a monastery garden - healing herbs and flowers. A light touch of a birch bark oil and leather. Golden bells in a wonderful blue sky. The echo of the same incenses goes along with you like the echoing chorals. 

In the sillage Monk is like a visit to the monastery outhouses. The sillage reminds of a mix of dairy cream and beeswax, wool and linen, syrup and muffin, cask wood and soft suede. And monks will pour into your glass fresh whole milk and give you a full porringer of white honey at parting…

Monk is the wonderful olfactory journey!

MS lists the notes as: Top: Acacia flower, bergamot orange, bitter orange, galbanum.

Middle: Linden blossom absolute, blond tobacco absolute, frankincense resin, beeswax absolute cysts oil, ambrette seed, cocoa absolute, Bulgarian rose absolute.

Base: Aged Indonesian vanilla, tonka bean absolute, civet, sandalwood, Texas cedarwood, benzoin tincture, jasmine absolute, birch tar.

Michael Storer’s site.

Monk on the ThePoshPeasant (alas, already sold).

Photos are mine, that's Yaroslavl (except the photo from theposhpeasant.com).