Twin Peaks Perfume Consulation: Audrey Horne is Robert Piguet's Visa

It is a joyful week: as Laura Palmer prophesied from the Black Lodge, Twin Peaks is fulfilling its destiny and returning to the air on Showtime in 2016, 25 years after the series finale.  On Vashon Island, not far from the shooting locations of Twin Peaks, Zola Jesus secluded herself to write Taiga, which was then recorded in Los Angeles with David Lynch's producer Dean Hurley and released this week.  To celebrate such a glorious confluence of artistry, I'm offering up another Twin Peaks perfume consultation, this time for one of my personal favorite characters: Audrey Horne.

Audrey Horne of Twin Peaks, played by Sherilyn Fenn

What scent clings to her sweater on this cool fall day, its sillage preceding her through the corridors of the Great Northern?  What bottle did she swipe from the Horne's Department store perfume counter while investigating Laura Palmer's connection to One Eyed Jacks?  What scent could evoke the sweetness of youth, yet also a timelessly classic femininity?  Undoubtably Robert Piguet's Visa:

Robert Piguet's Visa, vintage

Visa was composed in 1945 by iconoclast and French master perfumer Germaine Cellier, who is also responsible for Piguet's legendary femme Fracas and butch Bandit, as well as the original Vent Vert for the house of Balmain (Greta Garbo's signature scent).  Yet alas, but for this enticing image taken from a Turkish blog called Perfume Curiosity, I do not have access to a vintage bottle of the 1945 composition (Special Agent, if there's any way in the world that you can hear me right now- please help me find a bottle of vintage Visa).  Visa was re-released in 2007, adeptly re-imagined by Aurélien Guichard, and I was able to snag a bottle of pure parfum during a flash sale at Beauty Encounter.  The eau de parfum is also delightful and practical for a quick spritz, but the pure parfum oil has a luxurious softness that melds into my skin, remaining all day at the perfect volume, never too harsh nor too faint.  So let's imagine that in the late 80s, Audrey lifted an overstock bottle of this sublime scent, and perhaps by the 2016 season, she will be sporting the new composition (provided she is not deceased).

Robert Piguet's Visa, 2007 re-release

What many perfume enthusiasts define as classic, modern women may deem garish (or, god forbid, the dreaded derogatory phrase "old lady perfume").  Indeed, Tania Sanchez of Perfumes- The Guide, who had the luck to smell the original, insists that it is far closer to Jean Carles' Tabu and the reformation has more in common with Guichard's Chinatown for Bond No. 9.  That being said, the rerelease is not just a run of the mill fruity floral: it is a fruity chypre with a leather-and-wood drydown, receiving a four star review from Sanchez and almost entirely good reviews on Basenotes.  There's something about the mixture of sweet fruits and leathery chypre that even seduced the NonBlonde.

Audrey's dance at the Double R Diner

A youthful fruity-floral that is also a seductive classic chypre: what else could Audrey Horne wear?  I think what is so endearing about her character is that despite her clear sex appeal, her innocence has not been stolen as Laura Palmer's was.  Her teenage bluster and mischievous plans are ultimately motivated by her longing for true love, her hope for a career as glass-ceiling smashing FBI agent, and her honest intentions to help Agent Cooper solve the mystery of Laura Palmer's murder.  So it makes sense that the opening of Visa is filled with the sweetness of peaches, pears, and vanilla.  There is a hint of bergamot, creating an air of wealthy sophistication.  This bold opening evolves into the middle notes of lush, romantic florals, with roses at the heart, surrounded by ylang-ylang, violent leaf, and orange blossom.  It dries down to a warm base of leather, with accents of sandalwood, patchouli, and oakmoss.  Perhaps it is something about the combination of rich fruit and wood reminiscent of Christmas, but I swear that in the drydown I smell a hint of Douglas fir.

Zola Jesus- Dangerous Days

Audrey Horne is an old soul in a new vessel.  She has a wisdom beyond her years, alienating her from the other teenagers in Twin Peaks, but a youthful spirit that gets her into all kinds of trouble.  She wants to be grown already, an FBI agent already, in love already, but here she is in high school, learning algebra ("In real life, there is no algebra.").  There is something incredibly tender about that period in life, when you are so open and so ready for everything the world has to offer, both good and bad.  Visa's audacious romanticism captures that sensation, and perfectly timed, Zola Jesus' Dangerous Days is the ideal anthem for it.  Tim Saccenti's music video for Dangerous Days was shot in the forests of Washington, those same woods that hold the clues to Laura Palmer's death.

Tonight I'll be channeling Audrey Horne with a few liberal drops of Visa parfum for Zola Jesus' show at the El Rey, bringing to a close one of the best weeks ever.  À bientôt!