Goats and Lavender

Lavender bokeh, originally uploaded by borealnz.

While Pan perfume takes its inspiration from the fascinating tale of Pan as it’s told over the magical pages of Jitterbug Perfume – the fragrance itself is not as inspirational as it could have been. If the perfume in Jitterbug was designed to mask the carnal, throaty aroma of the goat god with beet blossoms, citron and patchouli - in Pan it is an extract from that exact animal itself that lends the perfume a glimpse of a godly nature.

Pan can be credited to be the first perfume to employ goat-hair tincture (a cruelty-free animal note). Aside from that, it is a straight-forward ambery-fougere, employing the berry-like Seville lavender absolute as an anchoring note, and the required oakmoss absolute as the base to create a fougere reaction. Other notes include cedar, white lotus, beeswax, patchouli and labdanum, and create a smooth ambery-fougere with hints of suede-like leatheriness, mostly resulting from the presence of the above mentioned Seville lavender and labdanum.

Pan is a rather simple, yet very pleasing natural fougere. Aside from the animalic herding-goat note, there are no surprises or turning points within its evolution. This is precisely why it provides a redeeming point from the tropical clutter of Fairchild or the muddy vanilla-citrus of Riverside (now discontinued) from the same perfume house. In the end, it must be its goaty charm that appeals to me the most – growing in the countryside amongst herding goats gave me no option but to take into liking anything remotely goatly. And now only one question remains: will goat hair tincture become a staple on the natural perfumer's organ? And even if it doesn't - what else can be achieved using this unusual raw material?

To read other reviews and opinions of Pan, visit:
Anya's Garden
Perfume Shrine