When I first moved to the NYC area, I ended up going perfume sniffing. It was like some twisted way of convincing myself that moving would be “worth it”. Even though I should have been doing things to make the apartment feel more like a home, I was out and about wearing two leather jackets on top of each other because I didn’t have a warm enough coat. I started at Christopher Street and ended up in Brooklyn (Twisted Lily). I spotted this line, Apoteker Tepe. I had never heard of it before. So, this meant that I had to immediately spray them on. I was surprised. They were refined, sophisticated with that certain “airy” quality that I’m attracted to¹. I asked whomever working there if they had any info on the brand. And all I got was an “Oh, somebody in Brooklyn“. And really that was sufficient enough for me…at the time.
These were good. I wanted to know more. Later at home, I looked the brand up. I couldn’t find anything. There was a site of the perfumes that gave no info on the perfumer, but the Brooklyn thing was on point. There were some sort of complicated backstories and pretty pictures. That was all I knew. Now to Anabasis.
Anabasis opens with a perfect cool, green shiso with a squeeze of lemon juice. What I love about shiso is that it’s like “chalky green”. It’s one of those notes that I wish was used more in perfumery. In Anabasis, shiso balances the sharp acidity of citrus while keeping the scent “fresh”. Anabasis starts to smell like a garden of mint surrounded by freshly cut grass. It’s cool, green and herbal. The heart is like an evergreen forest with frigid mountain air. The dry down is like evergreens, a crystal clear musk and lemon-y resins. It’s not really incense. It’s not really woods. It’s somewhere between the two, like a fog of dry woods and incense resins.
After wearing Anabasis, I was like, “Why isn’t Perfumeworld talking about this brand more?” And the answer is that it’s because of exposure and distribution; the same issues for all indies. I see this line appealing to folks that like brands like Comme des Garçons or CB I Hate Perfume. I’ll tell you one thing, if I was out there making perfumes like this, you better believe I’d have my name out there. I understand keeping private but my name would plastered on everything. I’d be so proud of myself if I were making things this good.
Notes listed include citrus, shiso, birch, mint, pine, frankincense, cedar and musk. Launched in 2015. PERFUMER – Holladay Saltz
Give Anabasis a try if you like cool, green scents. Or if you like perfumes like The Different Company De Bachmakov, DI SER Kaze, Cartier Roadster, Comme des Garçons PLAY Green and/or HEELEY Menthe Fraiche.
Anabasis wears more like an EDT concentration. But, I like that. It adds to the misty, fogginess of it all. It has a nice little tricky thing going on that makes it appear almost nebulous. I like that. It’s not close to the skin but it doesn’t really project either.
The 1.7 oz retails for $110 at Twisted Lily and Apoteker Tepe. Samples are also available for purchase.
Victoria’s Final EauPINION – Shiso and a cool evergreen forest. I’ll probably end up buying a bottle even though I have De Bachmakov. It’s just that I have to have all the shiso things.
¹I like “airy” scents like the entire Hermèssence line and a few of the Mikmoi perfumes.
Want more reviews? Try…
Basenotes – Member reviews
Ça Fleure Bon – Interview with the perfumer
Design*Sponge – Just in case you’re curious. It’s the perfumer’s living/working space.
*Sample purchased by me. Product pic from Twisted Lily. Byra Hemingway circa 1947 from Condé Nast.
Twisted Lily sent me samples of this collection in London, and I really fell for it. I think my favourite of the four was The Peradam. I quite like a dirty jasmine.
It’s a cool line. I think they’re all good. I liked Peradam a lot and hope to review it one of these days. I think this one and Peradam stood out the most to me.
I’m glad you reviewed this one. I drained my decant in record time (actually, there’s a tiiiiny bit left just in case I have a craving). The Paradam is pretty good too, and while I enjoyed Holy Mountain and After the Flood, Anabasis is the one on my FB list. Actually, I should probably order it soon because I don’t know how permanent their collections are. I know the previous releases are no longer available and I somehow got the impression that they release three or four and d/c the older ones. I may be wrong about that though.
I think the entire line is good but the ones that stood out the most to me included this one and Paradam.
Thanks for the head’s up! I don’t know much about the line but it’s not uncommon for indies to exercise their freedom and do stuff like limited run editions before moving on to a new collection (vs. more financially backed lines that can launch and keep dozens of scents in production). I’m really serious about picking up a bottle of this one. It’s fresh without being stereotypically fresh. And I’d like to spend more time with the other 3. I may want a bottle of one of those too.
So many perfumes, so little time. It’s good to see pationate bloggers which write about the things they like and not only about the things they receive in the mail.
Geek trivia of the day: anabasis / Ανάβασις is Greek for ascension, ascent
Auto correct jumps in in Greek as well. Ανάβασις is the correct spelling. Copy paste it if you want and delete this comment
FYI – I updated the text to the correct spelling in your original comment. I hate when autocorrect makes us sound stupid.
Nice to know! I need to do a post of all the things perfume has taught me from mythology to history to linguistics 🙂
This collection of fragrances is too lovely, I love it!
Thank you for sharing. I’d like to try it. Hope to hear more from you.
How long did you find that Anabasis wears? I love how it smells, and I feel like the first time I wore it, it disappeared after a few hours. I’m trying it again today, and am interested in a FB, but usually go for things that last the day.
Thanks!
In the review, I said that it wears more like an EDT than the labeled EDP. Typically an EDT concentration lasts about 3-6 hours on skin. And that’s about what I got from it. In warmer weather, it was closer to 3 hours of wear. And in cooler weather, closer to 6 hours. Honestly, I just don’t these sort of notes can last on the skin all day. The things that I’ve tried that are similar have the same sort of issues with longevity.
Try it again. Use what’s left in your sample before making a decision 🙂