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Post by Azar
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Hello APJ,
La Comédie des Parfums is an indie perfume house based in Seattle and Paris. The multi-talented nose and CEO, Gabriel Abraham, currently offers seven perfumes on his website http://www.perfumescomedy.com, all but two inspired by the comic plays of Molière (AKA Jean-Baptiste Poqueline 1622-1673). Today’s review sniffs the EdP Femmes Savantes, Abraham’s fragrant take on Molière’s satire about the “learned” women of 17th century Paris – “Les Femmes Savantes”. These days this play is often described as overtly “sexist” but I read it simply as a commentary on humanity’s incredible capacity for pretension.
Femmes Savantes by Gabriel Abraham for La Comédie des Parfums
Photo Stolen La Comédie des Parfums
The listed notes for Femmes Savantes from the La Comédie des Parfums factory site are:
Top: Bergamot, lemon peel, green leaves
Heart: Osmanthus, sheer jasmine, muguet, cinnamon spice
Base: Cedar wood, balsamic, musk.
I adore the lemon top note of Femmes Savantes. It is not the dishwasher detergent lemon or the lemon meringue lemon but a light, powerful impression of the complete fruit including a whiff of the juice, pulp and the oily rind smelling much like the large, round, thin skinned Persian limoo shirin (C. limetta) that I love so much. This refreshing and pungent opening is reinforced by bergamot and a bouquet of green herbs resulting in a sparkling and sophisticated first impression, not at all pretentious, quite the opposite of the women in Molière’s comedy. As the lemon subsides the herbaceous floral heart blossoms into osmanthus, jasmine and a cool hint of muguet drying to a diaphanous (Ooo) cedar and musk. I have to admit that I don’t detect the cinnamon but perhaps you will?
Photo Stolen Perfumes Comedy
Femmes Savantes is probably the most skillfully composed lemon I’ve experienced in a long time. The opening is my favorite part of this fragrance. The light to moderate sillage and medium longevity (no more than five hours) make it possible for me to madly spray several times a day for the lemony rush I crave.
Photo Stolen Wikipedia
This year our PNW summer was particularly hot and dry. Femmes Savantes, Pirouette’s Wild Spruce and Tobacco, Borsari Parma Acqua Classica Cologne and EdT as well as another Abraham fragrance, V. Van Gogh, were all part of my summer strategy to beat the heat.
You can purchase Femmes Savantes at Perfumes Comedy
Be Cool.
Azar xx
Photo Stolen myprettypaints
Femmes Savantes GIVEAWAY
WHAT CAN YOU WIN?
This week we will have 1 Winner who will get:
For today’s drawing Mr. Abraham has generously provided a sample of Femmes Savantes for one lucky winner residing in the continental US.
P&H to the USA
HOW DO YOU WIN?
Open to everyone USA ONLY who follows AustralianPerfumeJunkies via eMail, WordPress, Bloglovin or RSS. Please leave how you follow in the comments to be eligible. I must be able to check that you follow so if you have an email address on your gravatar that’s different to your follow address then please email me so I know. Yes, you can start following to enter, in fact it’s encouraged.
You must tell me how you follow APJ
and
Please comment on any of the fragrances from La Comédie des Parfums or tell APJ about your favorite citrus perfume (or fruit).
Extra Chance?
Tweet: @OzPerfumeJunkie Femmes Savante: La Comédie des Parfums GIVEAWAY http://wp.me/p3PURw-3cx #Perfume #Giveaway
HOUSEKEEPING
Entries Close Thursday 25th September 2014 10pm Australian EST and winners will be announced in a separate post.
Winners will be chosen by random.org or a fun other way
The winners will have till Sunday 28th September 2014 to get in touch (portia underscore turbo at yahoo dot com dot au) with their address or the prize will go to someone else.
No responsibility taken for lost or damaged goods in transit.
Australian Perfume Junkies 
Hi Mom –
Femmes Savantes sounds really nice. I like citrus perfumes a lot. My favorite is Love and Toast Gin Blossom. I guess it’s not a designer or indie fragrance… but I love it anyway!
-Lauren
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Hey Lauren,
I have a long list of favorite citrus scents. I’ll pass it along to you sometime. You might even get to smell this one!
Mommy Azar xx and X
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I follow APJ mostly via e-mail. lemon is a favorite note of mine, never more so than in the heat of summer, but really all year round. It’s wonderful pick-me-up scent, and I adore it in a variety of eaux des colognes, including Chanel’s, and Eau des Minimes. Meon verbena is another favorite, mostly in soaps and lotions. I’ll be checking out this site for sure!
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Hello maggiecat
As a lover of all citrus, Eau de Minimes will be my next fragrance to try! Thank you for the tip. I also find the lemon flavor of verbena so refreshing in summer desserts! You are so IN the draw!
Azar xx
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Delectable review!
What a godsend the refreshing citrus spritz is in the warmer months. I reach for Guerlain’s Eau de Coq most often, but also enjoy the juicy orange juice in Seville a l’aube.
The citrus season is upon us here, I do love to eat a cut orange, the melange of orange oil, bitter pith and sweet juice smells that linger on the fingers is such a treat.
Sister Mary
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Thank you, Sister Mary!
Yes, warm weather is the season for these lighter citrus fragrances. Perhaps I love to blast myself with these lemon /grapefruit /orange delights in summer not only because I just get so HOT but also because the supply of decent organic citrus fruit to eat in the summer months is so scanty and sketchy in WA state USA. I must have my citrus in one form or another all year long. BTW I like orientals with plenty of tangerine in fall and winter.
Reading your reply triggered a real solution to my perfume storage issues. I’ll just organize by season! Thank you again, Sister!
Azar xx
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Hey Azar,
DNEM but I love the Pomelo. The way it tastes and its texture, the dry outside of the segments and the sweet juicy flesh inside. YUMMY!
Portia xx
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Hello there Portia,
There is nothing quite like a pomelo! Really big, like a softball with that not too sweet sparkly and slightly crunchy fruit. Totally YUM! I think that they are the best citrus for health too. Lots of new studies are out there on the amazing benefits of pomelos.
This time of year we don’t have the new crop in the stores yet. I have to wait for the good stuff until Nov/Dec. The produce guy at our local market gets tired of me asking when the new navels and pomelos will arrive. Last year he invited me to do a taste preview of the first citrus shipment. I’m sure he did that just to get me off his back and to stop me from nagging him!
Azar xx
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Azar, I am fascinated to read your post on this line, because it is not easy to come by or much talked about. I have a bottle of Ramses I and love to wear it in the winter. How did you discover this line?
I follow by email.
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Hello FeralJasmine,
I have a bottle of Ramses I as well. I like it a lot but B-Azar loves it and has taken it over as his own. We discovered La Comedie des Parfums at the first Seattle Artisan Fragrance Salon a couple of years ago. I took home a set of samples but it was B who was the one who was initially drawn to the line and kind of pulled me along with him. La Comedie fragrances really do deserve more press. They are all beautifully crafted and classically inspired. You are so IN, FeralJasmine…and BTW can you tell me where you discovered your Ramses?
Azar xx
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I got a sample of Ramses I in with some decants that somebody else sent me; can’t remember who. Then I tracked down the company online and bought a bottle. I intended it for my husband, but he found it too sweet and gave it back. Fine with me! I like it as a fall perfume.
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i love the way you bring the PNW to da house! 😉
another House i am unfamiliar with and again astonished so much has been brewing in the PNW!
i have to admit… the name… the concept… well, i thought certainly this must smell of classism, misogyny, with a touch of contempt. but, clearly you’ve stated they didn’t take the literal work literally. *whew*
citruses: Equipoise, Nerola, Novella – all discont. from Aveda, D’Orange Verte, Oranges & Lemons Say the Bells of St. Clements, and petitgrain essential oil in all it’s incarnations.
cheers Azar!
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whoa.
can’t leave Eau de Coq or JoAnne Bassett’s Le Voyage off the list. 😉
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What a great list, einsof! I love petitgrain oiI and am very familiar with a couple of the fragrances you mention. The others are new to me.
Regrading Moliere…I understand his work as comic satire, light but with a bite. I think that is where these fragrances are coming from too.
BTW…Is this draw for you?
Azar xx
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Looks like I “regraded” Moliere!
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of course i’d love to be in the draw. 😉 got to show my PNW’s support and love. thanks again!
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ugh. i follow by email. (and constant replies.)usa
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Hallo Azar!
Citrus – so many choices. My favorite is probably Cedrat Enivrant – I mean, lime AND bergamot! Although I very much like TDC’s Bergamote and Castile from Penhaligon as well. Bergamot in anything makes me happy – I’m easy.
Thanks for the draw.
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Hi Cynthia Mc!
Tell us how you follow and you will be IN!
And yes, you must be easy to please because bergamot seems to be in so many great perfumes. It keeps me smiling too.
Azar xx
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oops. Email.
Thanks for the heads up
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Just checked their website, and Van Gogh looks intriuging too. For citrus, I like Eau d’Hadrien, Mito and Miller Harris Tangerine Vert. I follow by email–thanks for the draw!
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Hello Caroline,
Van Gogh is a very “sunny” and somewhat sweet citrus. Your choice of fragrances makes me think you would really like Femmes Savantes as well as Van Gogh. Thank you so much for your comments! You are IN!
Azar xx
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I am new to APJ but reading on Perfume Posse! Love this site too. I can’t get enough of scents so my works keeps expanding. Glad I popped over Portia. I love citrus and find that during warm weather it seems to rule my nose and have many citrus based fragrances. Eau de Hadrian was a fave for a time. I have many though (sample crazy too) so often switch. I’m in US and would love to receive a sample. I hope I qualify properly!
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Hello Donna,
We are so happy you dropped by APJ! It seems that citrus works for you as it does for me. Thank you for commenting and I will put you name into the draw for the sample. Hope to see you here often.
Azar xx
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