Tag Archives: Tuberose

Creed – Fleurissimo

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Creed – Fleurissimo

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There are few women who have walked this earth that come close to possessing the elegance, beauty and talent of Grace Kelly. A shining star of American film and theater until her fairytale marriage to Prince Rainier III of Monaco, she conducted herself with such finesse that she truly lived up to both her name and her title.

Small wonder then that the perfume house of Creed consented to Prince Rainier III’s wish to commission a fragrance for his young bride’s wedding day.  The result, Fleurissimo, was a floral bouquet centered around tuberose, the heady, white flower responsible for the likes of Fracas.

While tuberose can be a difficult note for some, it is most successful in fragrances that harness its lush, buttery quality and use it to bring depth to a fragrance. Unfortunately, Fleurissimo accomplishes none of this. After a promising bergamot opening, Fleurissimo, which translates roughly to “extreme flower” is anything but. Instead, it is a pinched, slightly synthetic-smelling white floral which (thankfully) dissipates quickly.

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I wish I could transport myself back to 1956 and smell James Henry Creed the Fifth’s original creation. I have to imagine that the vintage fragrance privileged enough to grace the Princess’s wrist must have been superior to what is produced today. Sadly, the modern Fleurissimo does not do justice to the beauty and decorum of its muse.

Notes: Bergamot, Tuberose, Bulgarian Rose, Violet, Iris, Ambergris.

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Robert Piguet – Bandit

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Robert Piguet – Bandit

Leather scents rank highly in my top fragrance choices, but they can be difficult for some, especially as the weather turns warmer.  On days when I want the daring, provocative rebellion that only a leather can deliver, but without the heaviness, Robert Piguet’s Bandit is my fragrance of choice. Created by the fragrance mastermind Germaine Cellier, the woman responsible for Fracas and Balmain’s Vent Vert, Bandit is a fine balance between bracing leather and green florals.

Legend has it that the perfume was inspired by a symbolic post-war runway show, with models dressed up in masks and carrying toy weapons, like cross-dressed outlaws. Whether or not this legend is true, Bandit clearly has a foot squarely in each the masculine and feminine realms, giving the fragrance a subtle androgynous character and driving home its bad-boy image.bonnie-and-clyde-faye-dunaway

While the post-2012 reformulation is surely miles away from the 1944 original, the magic of Bandit lies in the interplay of leather and chypre, smokiness and green depths, masculine and feminine. From the first moments of its sharp galbanum opening until its rich smoky roots, Bandit is a beautiful marriage of opposites, like a tussle between James Dean and Marilyn Monroe. It’s elegant, bitter and beautifully unconventional.

Notes: galbanum, artemisia, neroli, orange, ylang ylang, jasmine, rose, tuberose, carnation, leather, vetiver, oakmoss, musk, patchouli.

2012 reformulation sample courtesy of Bergdorf Goodman.

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Robert Piguet – Fracas

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Robert Piguet – Fracas

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There are some fragrances which are love at first sniff, as though the scent satisfied some intense longing we never knew we had. And there are those which we struggle with, knowing conceptually that they are the stuff of legacy, but which we are nevertheless unable to embrace. While most would pass on a perfume that failed to capture their immediate attention, many perfumistas have confessed to a struggle with one classic or another until either the relationship ended, or a lifetime romance began. For me, it was Fracas.

Perhaps it was not the fragrance itself as much as it was tuberose, the heady white flower which when used injudiciously can evoke images of a Hawaiian luau. The name also befuddled me, as fracas implies a noisy conflict or quarrel and I found none of that here. I had a vintage bottle which I kept for reference purposes mostly, taking it out every now and then to re-test, which I did regularly over the years. Perhaps there was some half-forgotten association from childhood, but whatever the reason, the lovely little bottle went unloved for many years.

And then something magical happened. The way an old friend who has waited patiently in the wings while you date the more flashy suitors, I found myself thinking of Fracas and wondering if there might be something there, some magic spark. Magic indeed. Fracas was created by Germaine Cellier in 1948, one of the few female noses and a master of her craft. In addition to other memorable Piguet fragrances, she was the genius behind Balmain’s Vent Vert.

Fracas

While Cellier used a perfume base in her creation of Fracas, a dense, luscious tuberose dominates the landscape and indeed, it appears that any other flowers are there to support tuberose in its leading role. Upon application, one notices immediately that Fracas is like no other. The citrus opening is miles away from the ordinary, lush and rich, rather than sparkling.  As the tuberose unfolds, it seems impossibly large, buoyed by the presence of jasmine and violet, which lend to the fragrance’s deep indolic quality. There is an unctuous sensation to the fragrance, as though the tuberose had turned to syrup.  While iris helps to temper the creation slightly, Fracas envelops you in a thick velvety haze that is indolic one moment and pure butter the next. Fracas is tuberose on the point of turning, with animalic references throughout enforced by the depths of oakmoss and woods.

Fracas feels both sophisticated and sensual. It is a fragrance which one must give oneself over to, as it is completely enveloping, to the point of rapture. And now that I have given myself over, there is no turning back.

Floral

Notes: bergamot, orange blossom, greens, peach, tuberose, jasmine, violet, iris, lily of the valley, carnation, sandalwood, musk, oakmoss, and cedar.

 

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Guerlain – Chant D’Aromes

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Guerlain – Chant D’Aromes

chant-daromes21Chant D’Aromes was the first solo creation of Jean-Paul Guerlain after the retirement of his grandfather Jacques. Chant D’Aromes was released in 1962, before much of the social and political upheaval which would come to define the era. The name, roughly translated as “Song of Scents” is especially revealing for me, because within Chant D’Aromes, I detect the seedlings of all of the magnificent creations Jean-Paul would cultivate throughout his illustrious career. If Aime Guerlain was innovation, and Jacques contemplation, Jean-Paul would soon prove to be flirtation.

While overall, Chant D’Aromes gives the impression of a light-hearted floral bouquet with rich peachy undertones, within the opening notes, I detect the slightest sharpness that would be the unforgettable introduction to Chamade. As the seedlings begin to unfurl out of their sharp green hyacinth cases, the radiant fruity warmth of what would become Nahema is apparent. Chant D’Aromes also has a slight animalic note that would re-appear in many of Jean-Paul’s creations, subtle enough not to cloud the overall innocent impression of the composition, yet an unmistakable nod to the scent of the woman whom these flowers adorn.

While Chant is a lovely fragrance in its own right, it conveys all of the exuberance of youth not yet tempered by long years of experience. Chant is jubilant and smells of a celebration, as though Jean-Paul was able to distill a thousand disparate thoughts about love and perfume and harmonize them into a glorious nectar. While his later fragrances would achieve a level of sophistication comparable to that of his predecessors, Chant is a beautiful creation that captures the excitement and passion of a young man in love. This by no means is meant to imply that Chant is an amateurish creation – on the contrary, Chant D’Aromes reflects a level of craftsmanship that surpasses many of the perfumes available today.

chant_daromes_color_ad I am fortunate enough to have vintage versions of the extrait and eau de cologne which are similar in character, with the eau de cologne being slightly more powdery. I have not sampled the most recent reformulation, but understand that it bears a closer resemblance to Chant D’Aromes than prior attempts.

Floral Chypre

Notes: bergamot, mandarin, peach, tuberose, ylang ylang, , gardenia, honeysuckle, jasmine, helichrysum, iris, cedar and sandalwood, musk, oakmoss, frankincense, vetiver, and tonka bean.

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Coty – Les Muses

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Coty – Les Muses
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Continuing with the Coty theme this week, the last Coty fragrance that I was fortunate enough to obtain a sample of was Les Muses. Based on the research I did, it appears that Les Muses is the 1986 adaptation of an earlier Coty fragrance known simply as “Muse” which was released in 1945. Unfortunately, I do not have a copy of the pre-1980s release to compare it to, but it is my understanding that Coty reissues are not always necessarily true to original form. Les Muses was re-released along with Le Rose Jacqueminot and Chypre.
My overall impression of Les Muses is of a sweet, fruity, floral underpinned by a slight animalic and woody base. While I could not locate any official notes for the fragrance, most prominent is a melange of peach, tuberose and jasmine, supported by heady white florals. While Les Muses had the potential to be a terrific fragrance, this one unfortunately failed to fully capture my heart. While the white floral notes had a nice phenolic aspect (tar-like smell), once the base set in and the revealed a vanilla and amber duo, the fragrance had simply become too sweet. The fragrance seemed top-heavy and lacking in a stabilizing force. While animalic notes in a fragrance can often serve to offset sweetness, the amber (and perhaps musk) utilized were not of sufficient quality to balance the fragrance. If you, like me, enjoy the odd sweet tar-like smell of certain florals, the Shiseido’s Zen is a better option.
Fruity Floral
Notes: Peach, Jasmine, Tuberose, White Florals, Vanilla, Amber, Woods and Musk
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