Tag Archives: Fig

Hermès – Un Jardin en Mediterranée

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Hermès – Un Jardin en Mediterranée

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No summer reveries of fig fragrances would be complete without the beauty of Jean-Claude Ellena’s 2003 Un Jardin en Mediterranée. While I would be loathe to try and select a favorite fig scent (or a favorite fragrance for that matter), Un Jardin en Mediterranée takes me the closest to a Mediterranean summer fantasy.

Un Jardin combines all the elements of my olfactory vacation in a bottle: the salty warmth of the sea air, the sparkling bite of citrus, the earthy green tang of figs and the subtle magic of a stroll through a grove of trees warmed by a day full of sunshine.

After!

Un Jardin en Mediterranée is fairly linear. The citrus opening has just a touch of sweetness, a hint of the juicy fig to come.  While one might expect all of this fruit to be cloying for a summer-themed fragrance, the overall effect is very light, true to Ellena’s style. All throughout, woods and light musk lend a subtle twilight quality to the fragrance which keep it subdued and elegant.

Un Jardin en Mediterranée wears close to the skin, lending a sense of intimacy to its character. It is light and fairly uncomplicated, making it a perfect companion for the carefree days of summer. I can almost feel the warm summer breeze blowing through my hair…

Fruity Woods

Notes: Citrus Notes, Orange Blossom, White Floral Notes, Fig, Woods, Musk.

 

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Diptyque – Philosykos

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Diptyque – Philosykos

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I love the Diptyque line for its ability to marry earthy, natural scents with a refined minimalist elegance. Most of the house’s fragrances work equally well on a man or a woman, and Philsykos is no exception.

Rather than creating an uber-fruity, over the top syrupy fig, Diptyque seems to draw its inspiration from the tree as a whole. From the earthy bark and woody stems, right to the green and slightly dusty fruit. Like other Diptyque fragrances it possesses a fairly realistic green note, reminiscent of wet blades of grass and takes me back to childhood summers spent outdoors.

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The drydown has Olivia Giacobetti written all over it, from the soft veiled layers of fig with coconut, with a gentle hint of sweetness which is never overpowering, even on the most humid of days. While Philosykos is a wonderful summertime scent, it works equally well in the winter months, a reminder of things to come. While I adore the extra sharp bite of the EdT, the EdP concentration is quite lovely, though perhaps a bit rounder than the original – think Sauvignon Blanc versus Chardonnay.

It’s astounding to think that this 1996 release is nearly twenty years old, but perhaps this timeless quality is what makes Diptyque fragrances so successful. Ironically, the Diptyque collection just showed up at my local Nordstrom’s, finally making this house available to a wider audience.

Woods

Notes: Fig Leaf, Fig, Coconut, Green Notes, Cedar, Woody Notes, Fig Tree.

 

 

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Guerlain – Aqua Allegoria Figue Iris

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Guerlain – Aqua Allegoria Figue Iris

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By now you have surely come to the conclusion that perfume is one of my guilty pleasures. The way other people reach for a cocktail when they get home to unwind, I grab a bottle of a different kind and apply liberally to melt away the stresses of my day. I am sure all perfumistas have some fragrance in their wardrobe that is a guiltier pleasure than they would like to admit to. For me, it’s Guerlain’s Aqua Allegoria Figue Iris.

While the Aqua Allegoria line started out as an exercise in minimalism, somewhere along the way (i.e. after the departure of Mathilde Laurent), the entire project went haywire, resulting in odd and sometimes abrasive compositions. With a few exceptions, such as this here, many of the fragrances had a light, delicate character that made them good introductory Guerlains.

Not so with Figue Iris. The first time I smelled it, I was slightly horrifed, as I was expecting a light green fig enhanced by magical iris dust. What I got instead was a dense, surreal impression of the inner pulp of a fig: juicy, ripe, heavy and pungent which segued into a very lush (and slightly plastic) iris, with a hint of violet deepened by a rich vanilla. No subtlety, no light romance, just FIG and IRIS in mile high pink letters.

A f ew months went by and I was sorting samples and came across it again, and applied it absent-mindedly. This time I liked it, almost in spite of myself. I admitted my bizarre newfound affection to a fellow collector who was slightly horrified as well, but we agreed that it was no worse than any other fruity floral on the market. I finished my sample and found myself longing for this plush, plastic fig.  Before I knew it, the search was on to try and track down a bottle because this 2008 release had long been discontinued.

While I cannot help but wish Guerlain would have served this up as a traditional perfume and invested the resources to make it more complex, when it comes down to it, it smells really good. While it lacks the sophistication of say a Diptyque or Hermes fig, ironically, this is one of the fragrances that I get the most compliments on when I wear it, which is on rare occasions given that I had to track my bottle down halfway around the world from a seller in Spain who had one to spare.

Fruity Floral

Notes: Citrus, Violet, Iris, Fig, Milky Notes, Wood Notes, Vanilla, Vetiver.

 

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