Tag Archives: rose

Gucci – Rush

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Gucci Rush

Gucci Rush

Like many dedicated perfumistas, my fragrance collection spans a wide variety of genres: from the ultra-rare and “très cher” to the timeless and chic, without discrimination for cost, high or low as it may be. After all there are still bargain fragrances out there, and while the folks at Chanel would have us forget, there was a time when Chanel No 5 could be found in drugstores.

All of this by way of introduction. While some fragrances are no doubt contemplative à la Serge Lutens or intellectual (here’s looking at you Guerlain), we must all leave a bit of room for pure, unadultered joy.

No fragrance lends itself better to this category in my opinion than Gucci Rush. Though it has references to some of the great classics, like Mitsouko and Diorella, they are delivered with the tongue in cheek, larger-than-could-possibly-be-tasteful style of Gucci under Tom Ford’s reign.

Gucci Rush starts off with a blast reminiscent of hairspray and fruit – in fact it feels like poking your head into a young woman’s room as she is preparing for a fun night out with friends: scented bath gel, fruity shampoo, hairspray, perfume and body lotion. Rush is like a cacophony of scents that should not work together but absolutely do, as evidenced by the number of suitors this young woman has attracted after a night of dancing.

Rush’s white florals are sparkling and playful, leaving the heavier indoles to its more serious floral sisters. A hint of coriander lends dry spice and drama to the fragrance and keeps it from veering into a traditional fruity floral. The drydown is pure, if not strange, olfactory heaven.

Rush morphs into a synthetic milky peach which lacks Mitsouko’s solemnity but is nevertheless beautiful. Similar to Dior’s Diorella, Rush’s peach is warmed and mellowed by patchouli, but Rush manages to maintain a modern, slightly plasticky edge.

Rush is a terrific fragrance for going out, or for those days when the gravity of life is too much to handle. Despite the beauty and elegance of its composition, Rush does not take itself too seriously (as evidenced by it’s plastic, cassette-like flacon) and maintains a joyful edge.

While with most posts I search for an image to convey the visual equivalent of the olfactory sensation, Rush couldn’t be contained to a two-dimensional image. Embedded then is a link to a remix of French singer Yelle’s “A Cause de Garçons” – the perfect combination of fun, trash, brash and the simple joy of movement. What a genius Michel Almairac has proven to be.

Notes: Gardenia, Freesia, Jasmine, Rose, Coriander, Vanilla, Patchouli, Vetiver.

 

Nina Ricci – Farouche

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Nina Ricci – Farouche

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The Nina Ricci fragrance line is one that I did not traditionally have much exposure to growing up, as none of the women in my family wore it. I did have a distant aunt who sometimes wore L’Air du Temps, but we’ll save that for another post. No wonder then that the house’s 1973 release Farouche failed to catch my attention until now (there were after all plenty of other fragrances to keep me busy).

I recently purchased an assortment of vintage perfume minis, and one fragrance included in the assortment was Nina Ricci’s Farouche in the Eau de Toilette concentration. While I have a decent knowledge of French, I will admit that I was not familiar with the word “Farouche”. Interestingly, I did not look it up until after I had tested the fragrance several times, fearing it might skew my impression. In that vein, I will keep its meaning silent until the end of the post.

Farouche opens with some fizzy aldehydes adding lift to a soft orange and galbanum melange. While galbanum fragrances generally make weak in the knees, Farouche comes on like a whisper. The heart unfolds to a gentle floral bouquet of jasmine, lily-of-the-valley and geranium, to which iris lends a hint of powder, While carnation and clary sage add a bit of a twist, Farouche’s overall character remains moderate. The fragrance wafts up again after a about an hour or so, revealing a mossy, vetiver base, reminiscent of classics such as Ma Griffe, but executed with a subtle hand.

In fact, my main issue with Farouche was its faint presence, which made an otherwise lovely fragrance with all of the hallmarks of a classic, slightly forgettable in the face of other mossy, green giants. That being said, this lightness of character would make it a perfect scent for someone just starting to explore the genre, as it touches on all of the aspects of a mossy green floral. I can only imagine how lovely the parfum concentration must be, though I have heard that is subtle as well. The Eau de Toilette bottle is lovely, with its slender neck is reminiscent of a swan, while the flacon for the parfum (reportedly made by Lalique) resembles a heart.

And in case you are still wondering (and have not searched for it yourself), Farouche translates as shy. Perfect.

Floral Aldehyde

Notes: Aldehydes, Mandarin, Bergamot, Galbanum, Peach, Honeysuckle, Carnation, Iris, Lily, Clary Sage, Jasmine, Lily-of-the-Valley, Rose, Geranium, Cardamom, Sandalwood, Amber, Musk, Oakmoss, Vetiver.

 

Caron – Parfum Sacré

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Caron – Parfum Sacré

caron Perfumes Parfum Sacre There are those loves which we know will endure forever. Such is the beauty of this peppery rose-inspired fragrance by Caron. But where Caron’s Rose is simple and Marni is sheer and evanescent, Parfum Sacré positively smolders, bringing new depths to the pepper-rose combination.

As the vintage advertisement for Caron perfumes at left attests “What is seduction if not a man, a woman and a Caron perfume?” While the fragrance’s name references the sacred, Parfum Sacré is nothing if not sensual.

Though Parfum Sacré opens with a burst of lively, citrusy pepper and spices, like many Caron fragrances, it is perfectly blended to create an more of an overall impression. Despite its spicy opening, Parfum Sacré is as warm and enveloping as a lover’s embrace. The presence of rose lends a velvety texture to the underlying woods and spices, elements which on their own can often be perceived as dry.

Though vanilla and floral notes make an appearance, it is only to support the romance between rose and spices. While the distinct Caron drydown is recognizable, it remains enrobed in the warm, dark rose, adding a hint a smoky drama.

While both the extrait and Eau de Parfum have impressive lasting power, they wear fairly close to the skin, making for an intimate yet luxurious fragrance experience. While the vintage versions have more complexity and depth (especially the extrait which is truly magical) the reformulated version available today is a reasonably close facsimile and worth seeking out for those seeking an elegant and unusual rose-tinged oriental.

Notes: Vanilla, Myrrh, Civet, Cedarwood, Lemon, Pepper, Mace, Cardamom, Orange Blossom, Rose, Jasmine, Rosewood

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Guerlain – Nahéma

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Guerlain – Nahéma

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Still from Benjamin ou les Mémoires d’un Puceau”

“Mon grand-père Jacques m’a dit un jour:

‘Mon petit, n’oublie jamais que l’on crée toujours des parfums pour les femmes qu’on aime, qu’on admire et avec lesquelles on vit’

Et c’est comme cela que tout a commencé.”

 

“One day my grandfather Jacques said to me

‘My little one, never forget that one always creates perfumes for the women one loves, admires and those with whom one lives.’

And that is how it all began.”

So begins the book “Parfums d’Amour” by Jean-Paul Guerlain, in which he describes the journeys, both literal and figurative, he undertook to arrive at his fragrant creations and the women who inspired him. Although the story behind the inspiration for Nahéma does not appear in Parfums d’Amour, this introduction could not more perfectly describe the fragrance, which along with Jicky, is perhaps among the more well-known of Jean-Paul’s amorous anecdotes.

What would a perfume inspired by the paragon of beauty, Catherine Deneuve, smell of? For Jean-Paul Guerlain, whose 1979 fragrance Nahema was inspired by the award-winning, supremely talented and breathtakingly beautiful actress, the answer was simple. The archetypal symbol of romantic love: the rose. And what a rose he created.

Legend has it that Jean-Paul made 138 attempts at the creation before reaching perfection. Nahéma, which translates as “born of fire” or the “fiery one” is an incredibly ripe, lush rose.  With its plummy and peachy facets, which give the fragrance a fullness and ripeness well beyond a simple soliflore, he achieved a rose so compelling that it takes on a nearly three-dimensional aspect. While rose fragrances are often dismissed as being “old-fashioned”, Hyacinth adds a delicious tension to the fragrance, making this a rose that could never be mistaken for anything less than a sexpot.

catherine deneuve benjamin 1

While I do not find Nahema to be particularly “fiery”, there are oriental aspects which when combined with the ripe fruit notes and Ylang-Ylang suggest a degree of feminine intimacy, not unlike Rochas Femme. Much like a young Catherine Deneuve, Nahéma is inexplicably lush and sensual, like a woman in a crimson velvet gown full of voluptuous curves.

Notes: Peach, Bergamot, Citrus Notes, Aldehydes, Green Notes, Rose, Jasmine, Lilac, Hyacinth, Lily of the Valley, Ylang-Ylang, Peru Balsam, Vanilla, Vetiver, Sandalwood

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Robert Piguet – Baghari

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Robert Piguet – Baghari

Woman in Fur

While we often have a mental picture of the 1950s as a time of feminine restraint, the fragrances of that era paint a different picture altogether. Perhaps due to the fact that woman essentially inhabited a different sphere than men, far away from stuffy office corridors with their recycled air, their perfumes seemed to have some lifeblood in them. Even the airy aldehydic florals had something hefty lurking within to give them a backbone.

When Francis Fabron’s vintage Baghari walks into a room, she commands attention. The opening aldehydes have a kick to them, as they heave rather than sparkle. The waxy, tallow-like opening has an orange-amber richness similar to Caron’s Nocturnes and Givenchy’s L’Interdit, interestingly another fragrance created by Fabron.

Baghari Robert Piguet

The opening is suggestive of the animalic undercurrent of the fragrance to follow, and while Baghari reveals a bosomy floral bouquet, it shares a complexity with Piguet’s Bandit by Germaine Cellier – the hint of something beneath the surface.

The fragrance, like others of its time, is remarkably well-constructed and gives an impression of roundness and depth, like an embrace from an old friend on a cold night, the scent of her fur tinged with perfume and smoke to create a scent that is more than the sum of its parts, the scent of a woman.

Baghari was reformulated by Aurélien Guichard and while the fragrance is suggestive of the original Baghari, it lacks its driving force and personality. Still, it makes a lovely daytime companion for stuffy office corridors.

Notes: Aldehydes, Bergamot, Citrus, Rose, Lilac, Ylang-Ylang, Lily of the Valley, Jasmine, Vetiver, Benzoin, Musk, Amber, Vanilla.

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Caron – Bellodgia

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Caron – Bellodgia

caron bellodgia

There are certain fragrances which are like a revelation for us, sending our senses reeling as our minds attempt to catalogue all of the myriad impressions they inspire. Bellodgia, created in 1927 by the perfumer Ernest Daltroff, the nose behind such classics as Tabac Blond and Nuit de Noel, is truly revolutionary. While it is often referred to as a study of carnation in all of its spicy glory, and meant to invoke all the beauty of the lovely, sunny seaside town of Bellagio, Italy, Bellodgia’s beauty runs much deeper.

The carnation certainly takes center stage during the opening, and its vibrancy nearly blinds us to the other important figures arranging themselves onstage. The piquant spice of the carnation and lily of the valley is enhanced by a smoky facet with such intensity that it reminds me of the charcoal trail fireworks leave behind. The carnation begins to smolder with the spice of clove, which melts and softens into a creamy, powdery cloud.

In fact, this combination of carnation and clove works so well that it found its way into another incredibly successful fragrance which I shall post about soon. For those few of you fortunate enough to have smelled Guerlain’s Bouquet de Faunes, the clove in Bellodgia takes on a similar character, miles away from its interpretation in Diptyque’s L’Eau.

While with its exotic name, Bellodgia is meant to transport us to summery climes, for me Bellodgia is all about winter. It possesses a deep and embracing character which feels perfect with cashmere and thick, plush scarves and while I can imagine it being worn by elegant women with fur stoles and opera length gloves, it just as beautifully dresses up a pair of blue jeans.

Bellagio Italy

Unlike some of the other vintage Carons, the vintage extrait version of Bellodgia can be found online for a reasonable price. If you are a carnation or clove lover, the vintage is worth seeking out. Unfortunately, I cannot much recommend the modern reformulation which is dissimilar to the original, due in great part to restrictions on many of the original ingredients.

Notes: Carnation, Rose, Jasmine, Violet, Lily of the Valley, Clove, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Musk.   

Clinique – Aromatics Elixir

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Clinique – Aromatics Elixir

aromatics elixir limited edition bottle

Aromatics Elixir 2011 Limited Edition Flacon

Perfumistas are nothing if not passionate. Researching fragrances and scouring stores and the internet for treasure requires dedication and persistence. As we all know, negative passions can be equally strong, if not more so, and many perfume boards are filled with rants against one or another fragrance.

With its bold lemony opening and bitter, slightly medicinal herbal quality, Aromatics Elixir is often the subject of vitriol. Its minimalist flacon and sunny packaging are somewhat misleading, as this elixir has deep and dark undercurrents. This 1971 creation by the masterful Bertrand Chant is clearly a product of its times with its emphasis on earthy oakmoss and patchouli, though its potent sillage seems to foreshadow the oversized perfumes of the 1980s.

And yet, smelled today, Aromatics Elixir feels new and compelling. Where fragrance after fragrance in today’s market copy Angel’s groundbreaking patchouli theme to play out variations of the sweet, fluffy gourmand, Aromatics Elixir seems austere and intelligent – a sort of bookish brunette. The fragrance delivers a bit of everything: citrus, florals, herbs and woods and yet is so masterfully blended as to create a seamless impression. If some creations shower their wearer in a veil of scent, Aromatics Elixir wraps them in a thick tapestry.

aromatics elixir

While the opening is bold and brash, as the fragrance starts to unfold, the more subtle interplay of rose and patchouli become apparent and this is where love strikes. The volume comes down to more muted tones, allowing the beauty of patchouli-tinged woods to shine through.  While many complain of the fragrance’s volume, Aromatics Elixir maintains a crisp, dry quality that prevents the patchouli from becoming overly earthy and heavy. Indeed, it is a wonder how Bertrand Chant was able to create a fragrance that is at once both supremely rich and yet light. 

The bottle shown above was a limited edition issued in 2011 to commemorate the fragrance’s 40th birthday. For those not brave enough to try the original, an update called Aromatics Elixir Perfumer’s Reserve was issued which focused on modernizing (and lightening) the original. For what constitutes a reasonably priced fragrance in today’s market, the quality of materials seems superb – perhaps a byproduct of the simple packaging and minimal marketing.

Notes: Rose, Chamomile, Oakmoss, Jasmine, Lily of the Valley, Ylang Ylang, Patchouli, Musk, Amber, Sandalwood.

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Etat Libre d’Orange – The Afternoon of a Faun

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The Afternoon of a Faun by Etat Libre d’Orange

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L’Aprés Midi D’un Faun or The Afternoon of a Faun was composed by the French poet Stéphane Mallarmé in 1865. The poem recounts the erotic imaginings of a Faun which comes upon two nymphs in the forest. Mallarmé was one of France’s four major poets of the second half of the 19th century, along with Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, and Arthur Rimbaud. He is noted as one of the pioneers of symbolism in poetry, and while critics argue that he often used obscure imagery to express emotional experience, The Afternoon of a Faun is very much to the point as illustrated below. Given the sexual content of the poem, one can only imagine what the “less sorrowful vapors” represent.

I adore it, the wrath of virgins, the wild

Delight of the sacred nude burden which slips

To escape from my hot lips drinking, as lightning

Flashes! the secret terror of the flesh:

From the feet of the cruel one to the heart of the timid

Who together lose an innocence, humid

With wild tears or less sorrowful vapours.

Mallarmé’s poems inspired Debussy’s tone poem (1894) of the same name, which was later interpreted into a ballet by Vaslav Nijinsky for the Ballet Russes. The 1912 ballet proved exceptionally scandalous for its unconventional choreography and graphic sexual depictions. Obviously, the use of this name for a perfume is meant to convey an entire catalog of associations and points to a highly animalic and sensual creation, and yet I cannot help but find that the perfume, while lovely, does not live up to the connotations.

The fragrance opens with a sharp and distinctly woody, herbaceous character, which is made somewhat opulent by the introduction of immortelle. Immortelle can manifest itself quite differently in different compositions, and here it takes on a sweet, tobacco-like character. At first application, I imagine myself to be in the woods with the Faun as he awakes from his slumber, but this is where the similarity to the tale ends.

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As the fragrance progresses, it is punctuated by rose and the woody notes take on a more floral character, with a spicy, leathery aspect. While The Afternoon of a Faun does contain moss and leather notes suggestive of an animalic perfume, it does not reach the same depths as the vintage fragrances previously reviewed. Justin Vivian Bond and Ralf Schwieger’s creation for Etat Libre d’Orange is a decidedly modern interpretation on the Faun/Fur theme, one which touches on the lighter aspects of the forest, as opposed to the deeply sensual activities of the Faun. The perfume has an incredible sillage and potent lasting power, so a light application is suggested.

Spicy Woods

Notes: Bergamot, Pepper, Cinnamon, Incense, Rose, Immortal Flower, Orris, Jasmine, Myrrh of Namibia, Moss, Leather, Benzoin.

 

Guerlain – Samsara

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Guerlain – Samsara

samsara-msm

If you are a perfume afficionada, one of the benefits of going to an all-women’s college is the rather obvious proximity of many young women wearing many different fragrances. In my hallway alone, I was greeted each morning by a variety of freshly-showered Chanels and Calvin Kleins as they made their way to morning classes. Into the melange of perfumed heads making their way down Broadway in 1989, came a stunning new creature. She had a cascading mane of beautiful curls atop her slender figure, wore a tiny nose-ring balanced with a huge scarf (which seemed to perfectly match her studies in comparative religion and art), smoked Camels like there was no tomorrow, and was French Canadian to boot. She cut quite an impressive figure in the sea of Eternity, because, of course, she wore Samsara.

Named for the continuous cycle of birth, death and rebirth, she railed against the ironic name choice for what was such a simply beautiful fragrance (though given the state of Guerlain’s current output, I find myself desperately wishing for rebirth at this point). As a child of the 1980s, Samsara wove an exotic tale, this time of India, with its references to sandalwood and its stylized, deep red bottle. Indeed, vintage Samsara is legendary for containing some of the highest quality sandalwood, in unprecedented amounts.

Into this rich, delicately sweet wood, Jean-Paul Guerlain had the brilliance of introducing a rich jasmine note. While Samsara is certainly recognizable from a distance, unlike many other fragrances of the 1980s, it was never cloying, as the equally demanding notes of sandalwood and jasmine worked in perfect harmony, rather than competing for top billing. The rich rose and ylang notes imparted a nearly palpable creaminess to the fragrance, lending it soft edges and voluptuousness. Perhaps I have been tainted by the intense sillage of other fragrances in my collection, but I find that Samsara wears fairly close to the skin.

The drydown hints at Guerlain heritage, with vanilla and tonka making their symbolic appearance, warming the jasmine petals and woods into a warm skin scent. The EdT places emphasis on the jasmine, while the EdP and Parfum highlights the beauty of sandalwood. While Samsara makes perfect sense (and even appears subtle) in today’s fragrance environment, at the time it was released it was instantly recognizable and larger than life. An intriguing and sophisticated choice for a woman barely in her twenties. Whenever I reach for it, I am reminded of of her unique, indomitable spirit.

Notes: Bergamot, Jasmine, Narcissus, Rose, Ylang Ylang, Sandalwood, Iris, Tonka, Vanilla.

*A further note on the fragrance – as I commenced writing this review, I instantly realized why Jasmin et Cigarette had failed to hit the spot for me. The perfect combination of jasmine, tobacco and smoke had already been achieved (albeit unintentionally) by my Samsara wearing friend.

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Guerlain – Mitsouko

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Guerlain – Mitsouko

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Despite being named after the heroine in Claude Farrère’s novel “La Bataille”, if each perfume symbolizes a woman, Mitsouko would have to be the mythological Eve, the first woman and mother of all. For it is in her composition that we can find the DNA for many beloved and wildly successful perfumes including Rochas Femme, Diorama, Youth Dew, Opium and Coco Chanel. Mitsouko was the astounding creation of Jacques Guerlain. Reflecting the world’s fascination with Chypre by Coty, a ground-breaking creation which combined the somewhat odd bedfellows of bergamot, jasmine, labdanum and oakmoss into what would ultimately become a new fragrance category, Guerlain took this novel concept one step further with the introduction of a warm, creamy, ripe peach note. The original Chypre is often described as being a bit rough around the edges, a quandary solved by Guerlain with the introduction of the newly-discovered Gamma-Undecalactone, also known as Aldehyde C-14. Without getting overly technical, there is some debate over the use of the aldehyde reference to C-14, which is technically a lactone, a term which refers both to the molecule’s structure as well as to its fragrance which often has a creamy (milky) scent. Aldehydes are often used to give a fragrance that special opening “sparkle” (imagine the first moments of Chanel No 5), whereas C 14 has a very specific golden peach tone. Nomenclature aside, the introduction of this molecule beautifully rounded out the more angular structure of Chypre into an unforgettable masterpiece.

Mitsouko is at once bold and soft, womanly and earthy. It is the smell of the fall, the warmth and spice of cinnamon and the odd sweetness of decomposing leaves. Its beauty is, quite simply, astounding. While Mitsouko is perhaps one of the most beloved and written about fragrances, it can often be a difficult one to approach if one is just developing their appreciation of vintage or more complex scents. Thanks in part to the inclusion of oakmoss, a popular perfume fixative before restrictions limited its use, Mitsouko has a certain musty smell reminiscent of library books which some find challenging upon first sniff. Ironically, it is the diminution of this same note in the modern, reformulated version, that many perfume enthusiasts bemoan the loss of.

Approaching perfume is not unlike learning about wine: at first, one’s palate can more readily appreciate simpler, sweeter wines, but with time, one is able to appreciate the dry and more complex varieties. So it is with Mitsouko, so be sure to give it some time if you are unable to love it right away – this is one of the perfumes most worth knowing. While many have followed in her steps, Mitsouko is perhaps the finest example of the Chypre genre, if not one of the greatest perfumes of all time.

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While I have various examples of Mitsouko in my collection, each with a slightly different scent due in large part to varying ages, the new reformulated version is in some respects a distinct departure from the original vintage. While the lasting power matches that of the original (my scent strip still held scent 48 hours later) the unfolding of the fragrance was decidedly different. While it is definitely still recognizable as Mitsouko, there were aspects throughout the drydown that seemed quite foreign to my nose, and at one point I thought I had mixed up my samples. Overall the fragrance seemed thinner and while I was comparing a modern EdP to a vintage parfum, I attribute the lack of depth more to the absence of oakmoss than to the concentration, as vintage versions of the EdT or even EdC seemed to have more weight than the modern EdP.

Indeed, an overall note on the vintage EdT and EdC Guerlains (and Chanels as well) – these are often excellent and substantial renditions of the parfum (with the exception perhaps of Chant D’Aromes). While they are often a touch more powdery than the parfum (especially true for L’Heure Bleue) they are a wonderful option if one is looking for a more affordable alternative to a vintage parfum.

Fruity Chypre

Notes: Bergamot, Lemon, Mandarin, Neroli, Peach, Rose, Clove, Ylang-Ylang, Cinnamon, Oakmoss, Labdanum, Patchouli, Benzoin, Vetiver.