Right now we are in the hottest part of the year. It's a time for lazy afternoons sipping iced tea on the porch, watching fireflies at dusk and not doing anything too taxing. I have previously written about rose scents and today I want to talk about big white summer florals. In particular, the intoxicating smells of jasmine, gardenia, orange blossom and honeysuckle.
JASMIN et CIGARETTE by Etat Libre d'Orange
My favorite jasmine. I have gone through about five samples of this. I really ought to just buy a bottle. I love this perfume, but I do believe the tobacco note is merely a hallucination. Maybe there is a dryness from the hay or the cedar, a very slight crisp paper smell. What I get is less cigarette and more jasmine, jasmine, jasmine. It's a lovely green, cool jasmine... not just the blossoms but the entire tree, leaves and branches and all. This feels aloof and intellectual to me. I like wearing it when I need to feel superior because there is something about it that says "I know what I'm doing. You just shut up, watch and learn."
ALIEN by Thierry Mugler
Two listed notes. Jasmine and amber. But when I tried to recreate it using jasmine and amber perfume oils, something was missing. Thierry Mugler is known for his oddball creations and I am certain he's added some kind of solar accord to Alien. My first impression was the color purple and the adjective "meaty". It's a somewhat dirty, salty jasmine with monster sillage. I think it takes a certain type of personality to pull this off. The person who wears Alien should have confidence, wisdom and life experience.
J'ADORE by Christian Dior
This is a very popular fragrance, although I personally did not care for it. It's quite strong and sweet. If you love fruity perfumes you will probably enjoy J'Adore and see it as your fancy dress up scent. J'adore is full of pear notes and intense hits of peach and tuberose are wrapped around a jasmine with the volume turned up to 11. It's a decent perfume for someone that isn't me.
FLORENCE by Tocca
I once lamented to my child that because I wore so many different fragrances, he would never have a scent association for his mom the way most people do. He replied "Actually, whatever you are wearing today smells like you!" I was wearing Tocca Florence, which is a dead ringer for Marc Jacobs. I purchased a bottle of Marc Jacobs when my son was a baby and wore it nearly every day. So I suppose for him, the "mom smell" is gardenia. I am okay with that because it is my favorite flower. Florence is a long lasting gardenia with green notes and decent sillage. I always get compliments when I wear it. A colleague remarked "Smells like my wedding bouquet".
MICHAEL by Michael Kors
Gardenia for grown ass women. In reality, this is a tuberose perfume but I like to refer to tuberose as the poor man's gardenia. It's a nearly identical smell but a much cheaper extract to produce. This reminds me of cashmere sweaters, cars with leather interiors, women who get alimony. It's plush and creamy and reeks of luxury. A drop will do ya.
FRACAS by Robert Piguet
The perfume I reach for when I don't give a f*$k what anyone thinks and I'd rather punish those around me. This has enormous sillage, enough to fill the room. A tuberose/gardenia hand grenade, Fracas was first launched in 1948. This speaks of an era when women were not concerned with smelling "office appropriate". If overapplied this fragrance makes me slightly nauseous, but when I use the tiniest amount it is gorgeous. Fracas reminds me of an ornate diamond necklace... a dazzling statement maker but certainly not for every day. A real diva scent. If this were a person it would be opera singer Maria Callas.
LE PARFUM by Elie Saab
A divine orange blossom and jasmine. This sweet perfume generates so many compliments. It is so feminine it begs to be worn with a flowing chiffon dress and high heels. Breathing this essence slows down my heart rate and makes me feel at peace with the world. Orange blossom has a tendency to remind me of grapes and this is indolic enough to do that without turning syrupy. It dries down to a clean soapy cedar with a trace of honey. This is pure class in a bottle. I need it!
LE CHEVREFEUILLE by Annick Goutal
One of the best summer scents ever. This is a very realistic honeysuckle supported with citrus and green leaf notes. This one conjures up images of walking barefoot across a dew soaked lawn on an early summer morning when the air is still cool. But like a summer morning it disappears all too soon. If you want a fragrance to help you relive childhood this would be perfect. I credit Le Chevrefeuille for making me research honeysuckle and subsequently learning how to pull out the stems and eat that drop of sweet nectar contained within the blossom. Annick Goutal might be a pricey niche line of perfume but there is nothing pretentious about the scent of Le Chevrefeuille. If sunrise had a scent it would be this one.
