Possessional Obsessions - In Flagranti - Der Duft -2023. Anselm Skogstad and Antonio Alessandria.
Lucretia Borgia - Franck Cadogan Cooper, Unsplash, Johannes Bosschaert , Ann Co Tran - Dark Beauty Magazine.
Pure, unadultered fascination rises up from my skin, I am enamoured beyond reason, In Flagranti is the newest addition to the collection of Der Duft, a perfume brand based in Germany, the creation of Anselm Skogstad. In this stroke of creative genuis, Anselm collaborated with sicilian perfumer Antonio Alessandria, a perfumer of unique style and depth, his perfumes are no fragile, quivering demoiselles but striking divas that exude a darkened sensuality of baroque proportions. In flagranti conjures, by the name alone, a certain indiscretion, slight or immense, hidden within its formulaic folds is an essence of possession, an addiction so extreme as to overcome all sense and rationale. Haunting and profound, In Flagranti is an envelopment of the sensual, amid a fevered desire for more, an insatiable appetite for your own personal addiction, coveting and risking all for its acquistion.
Semper Augustus - Jacob van Hulsdonck
A tale of obsession and rivalry, a tulip, Semper Augustus, rare and so sought after as to entice wealthy and poor alike to covet and acquire by any means possible. Drenched in history, here is a woman of certain talents, a boudoir of exquisite brocade and her company sought by those who could afford it. Her only stipulation was that by way of exchange, enormous vases of Semper Augustus be their gift to her…. In that place of desire and satiety she revels in priceless abandon..Edges of secrecy interleave with its sophorific intensity, the scent of newly placed tulips in a vase, all draped in an abandon, the greenest facade lacing the room, Basil and galbanum entrance, weaving an initial spell, the twilight airs heavy and laden with the flowers pulse.
Keith Miller. Unsplash. 3. Detail Of Botanical Drawing - Unsplash - 3. Detail - Domenico Fetti - 1620 4.Hans Bollongier 1639
The room is saturated with a sophorific and juicy vegetal, imitating anticipation and opulent latent desires, vases overflowing with ripening fruits and tulips fully opened, yielding in sensual abandon, their scent released to impregnante the brocaded room. White floral hedonic voluptousness, the intoxicating veils of jasmine, tuberose, lily of the valley, lilies, orange blossom, a maddening concoction envelops, mimics the porcelain flesh hinted at through finery. A nest of tumbling brocades, richly embellished, the quivering, lingering candlelight darts glances to the darkened extremities of the room, searching to illuminate the lust and night blooming edges of ecstatic mania. Moral boundaries disintegrate and are sublimated by far more powerful urges.
Unsplash 2. Ambrosius Bossachaert the Elder 1573 3. Vase of Flowers - Margareta Haverman 1716 4. Rembrandt
A luxurious melange of silken sandalwood vestments carouse gently with sweetened edges of satisfaction replete with musks and warmed caramel, a flush of radiant flesh.
What will you risk to satisfy this craving, so all consuming. To obtain what you desire demands a sacrifice, a sacrifice of all principles, morals left at the gasping threshold. Make the move to cross the line and there is no going back, no return to sanity. Once flesh or flower is grasped, there is no redemption only the certainty to drown in the pleasure of possession, always fleeting and leaving us forever altered in its wake, each tense moment the chance of discovery in ‘blazing offence’. In Flagranti is a magnum opus of risk, all is offered up in exchange for the most coveted, the scent of compulsive attraction out well beyond the edges of reasoning.
Anselm Skogstad - Der Duft 2. Bartholomeus van der Helst, 3. Antonio Alessandria - Perfumer 4. In Flagranti - Der Duft 5. Domenico Fetti - 1620
To love, to desire intensely is an addiction, a force that consumes, constantly coveting the other, moments apart stretched into intolerable vast abysses. So it was with the tulip obsession of the reanissance, a beauty so sought after as to verge on uncontrollable obession. In Flagranti is one of the most realistic captures of Tulip, in all her facets I have encountered but beyond that it is a brilliant distillation of all-consuming desire.
Basil, Galbanum, Strawberry, Raspberry, Apricot, Peach, Lily of the valley, White lily, Orange blossom, Jasmine, Tuberose, Vanilla, Caramel, Sandalwood, Musk, Amber
“In Flagranti" is a rich fragrance that opens up with a burst of humid basil and crisp galbanum. In a while the green starts fading in a luscious and mellow triumph of fruits. Strawberries and raspberries confer a tart facet to a silky velvet of peaches and apricots, preparing the stage to the key player of the fragrance, a white floral bouquet where tuberose, jasmine, orange blossom and white lilies sing all together in a single voice. This choir of divas lies down on a comfortable bed of caramelised sandalwood and vanilla, intertwined with milky musks and radiant amber.
"In Flagranti" is a sophisticated and luxurious interpretation of a floral-gourmand theme.” — Antonio Alessandria
My thanks to Anselm for my bottle of In Flagranti and his trust in my words, also to Antonio for his friendship and beautiful creations.
Der Duft In Flagranti can be found here -
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