Puredistance is a luxury perfume house based in Holland, and they use perfumers/noses from all over the world. They are uber exclusive, and, being only parfum or extrait concentration, the entire experience with Puredistance is about luxury. I wrote about their very first release, Puredistance 1, which was released in 2007, and I must say, I am somewhat reminded of that opulent green floral when I smell their latest release, WHITE. Not that they smell the same, but they have the same dense, unrelentingly luxe vibe. There is simply nothing about WHITE that doesn’t say luxury. I sampled BLACK when it came out, and it was also gorgeous, but in a darker, woodsy and leathery way. Gorgeous, but not for me, and somewhat masculine to my nose, which is just my take. It would smell equally incredible on a woman or a man, but I use terms like masculine to refer to what I perceive as a masculine scent. That does not mean a woman should not wear it! On the contrary, most women I know actually rock deep dark fragrances beautifully. I feel like an odd old fashioned duck sometimes, only loving the traditionally “pretty” and “feminine” perfumes….but I digress. Back to WHITE.

Back to white. This is a curious one as it develops. At first it is so white and luxurious, it’s like a princess, getting married, in a castle, maybe in heaven, surrounded by heavenly flowers bursting forth into bloom. And all of those flowers are white roses. Then, a soft cloud of the fluffiest white musk and cleanest white woods I’ve ever smelled rises off the skin. It’s quite incredible how the image of pure whiteness is conveyed in this fragrance.

The best part is the dry down, in my humble opinion. There is a perfect and powdery, yummy, soft sweetness that rises from the tonka bean and it is so seamlessly blended with the woodsy white roses and musk that one cannot really pick out this note or that. Smooth is the word that comes to mind. The vetiver, sandalwood and patchouli are so beautifully velvety, and there is not a single rough spot to be found. Like white velvet, or polished crystal with the sun shining through it. Wow.

I spritzed a tiny bit of silk and left it on my desk. Hours later as I would walk back into my office I kept encountering a scent that can only be described as delicious. Not in a dessert way – it’s too sophisticated and airy to be described as foody. It defies description. You just have to trust me when I tell you if these notes appeal to you, this may be your ultimate perfume. It is powerful stuff, and a tiny drop will do just fine. Puredistance makes it’s scents in pure parfum concentrations only, so no eau de toilettes here.

From their site:

PUREDISTANCE is the one Perfume House in the world that offers only Pure Perfume Extrait: the most precious version of fragrances with the highest concentration of perfume oil. We put all our passion and energy into the making of one truly beautiful Perfume at a time. Not just another perfume, but a Perfume with a soul and a signature. At Puredistance we don’t follow trends, but focus on creating timelessly beautiful Perfumes and packaging. If you fall in love with one of our Perfumes it could be for life! Another essential component of our brand is true exclusivity. The Puredistance Master Perfume Collection is sold only in a very limited number of specialised perfumeries in more than 30 countries. All Puredistance products are assembled by hand with great care and a strong eye for detail. The finishing work of all products and all design is still done in-house.

WHITE was created by the same perfumer that created BLACK, Antoine Lie. He has an impressive resumé of fragrances, from Elizabeth Arden to Etat Libre d’Orange to Comme de Garcons to Kenzo. One can only imagine that he was given carte blanche (pardon the pun) to use the finest of whatever he wanted to create his Puredistance perfumes. What a joy that must be! For some reason, and not just the name, although it does sum things up perfectly here, I see Puredistance WHITE as an ideal wedding fragrance. Or any grand occasion that demands a memorable, gorgeous and beautiful perfume, when mainstream (not that there is anything wrong with mainstream!) just won’t do.

A 17.5ml bottle of 38% concentrate Puredistance WHITE perfume is $170 USD, and 32% is $160USD.  They are only sold on their site, Luckyscent in the US and a few boutiques around the world.   You can purchase a Puredistance sample set of their six scents, remember these are pure perfumes, not eau de anything, for around $69 USD.