Gerald Ghislain

1889 Moulin Rouge by Gérald Ghislain, Sylvie Jourdet for Histoires de Parfums 2010

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Portia

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Hey there Niche Nerds,

A while back my mate Sonya was having a clear out. One of the fragrances that I loved when I first smelled it but never came back to again is today’s scent. You know how that happens yeah? You’re MADLY in love with it when you spritz it in store, you buy a 2ml decant and use it up but before you pull the trigger on your credit card something else gets you excited and you move on. TBH I wish that would play out a bit more often for me, HA! I’d have 1/3 the collection currently in this house.

1889 Moulin Rouge by Histoires de Parfums 2010

1889 Moulin Rouge by Gérald Ghislain, Sylvie Jourdet

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Mandarin, Plum, Cinnamon
Heart: Absinth, Damascus rose
Base: Iris, Patchouli, Musk, Fur

Plum and cardboardy iris are my first whiff, it’s VERY stage make up smelling. We used to use pots of carmine lipstick and they smelled remarkably like this. The rose waltzes in underneath the radar and gradually makes itself known. Personally I think of absinth as far more herbal and astringent than the soft focus booziness in Moulin Rouge, it feels more creamy cocktail-ish or even that drink that you have at Harry’s bar in Venice; the Bellini. Sweet and lightly sparkling.

Moulin Rouge by Histoires de Parfums Bellini_at_Harry's_Bar WikiMediaWikiMedia

Iris though is king in Moulin Rouge, from top to bottom it dominates, quietly but insistent. One of the things I really love about Moulin Rouge is its understated smellability. Though you are fragrant and people can smell you it does not feel intrusive or overpowering, somehow it manages that fine line of smelling fabulous but not intrusive.

Skewed towards what we think of as a feminine fragrance I think it an excellent choice for the guys as well. I can easily imagine it being a signature scented point of difference for a man in an office.

Moulin Rouge by Histoires de Parfums Quadrille_at_the_Moulin_Rouge WikiMediaWikiMedia

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and Non Blonde
ParfuMaria has €95/60ml

What is your favourite olde world makeup scent?
Portia xx

Vidi by Gérald Ghislain for Histoires de Parfums 2013

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Post by Portia

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Hey Fragrance Family,

It seems we are getting more and more ozone in our fragrances over the last couple of years. I’m glad because I quite like the new ways perfumers are incorporating the fresh air into scent. Gérald Ghislain does some really interesting stuff; I loved his Scent Of Departure range and have quite a few decants but by the time I decided the one I wanted it was gone GRRRRRR. He also has done some of the Alice & Peter fragrances in the cupcake bottles. It would be really interesting to one day meet him and have a chat, if he is as interesting as his fragrances and some of the ideas behind them then I think it would be a wonderful chat.

Vidi by Gérald Ghislain for Histoires de Parfums 2013

Vidi Histoires de Parfums FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Cardamom, cucumber, ozonic notes
Heart: Rose, cyclamen, saffron
Base: Immortelle, musk, amber, vanilla, blonde woods

It’s 2013 and I am sitting here wearing the remnants of last nights hefty spritzing of Vidi. I have spent the waking parts of the last 14 hours trying to find a different way of putting this but then I realised I should just blurt it out and then we can move forward with the review.

This is exactly how my last partner smelled when he wore L’Eau d’Issey Man. It is unbelievable how well Gérald Ghislain has married one of the iconic scents of the 20th century and my exes chemistry. Varun is a subcontinental Indian and has very spicy skin, it makes fragrance take on completely different hues. We could wear the same fragrance, and often did, and they would smell utterly different. Interestingly if we’d been out boozing and partying and went home to make love the smell of him wearing L’Eau d’Issey Man would so overwhelm me that I would be sick, yes you read right I would need to go and do a technicolour yawn, drive the porcelain bus, spew or chunder (whichever idiom your area uses). It was a damper indeed and it happened a few times before we worked out the root cause.

Nevertheless it is a happy smell for me, so reminiscent of a super fun part of my life…….

vidi-histoires-de-parfums Cäsar WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Anyway, Vidi is supposed to smell like air that Caesar smelled when he said his immortal, and I’ve always thought pre-prepared in advance for such an outcome, words Veni, Vidi, Vici. On me it smells like water, or the dream of water. It’s cool and refreshing. The cucumber and ozone are particularly appealing together and when I spritz it’s like the first dip in the pool on the 25th September each year. Thrilling and terrifying. The flowers are a complete abstract and as such don’t really register as themselves but I do get a twang of iced water in a metal vase and air conditioning in a florist. Of warmth I get very little, it’s more a lessening of the cool and the immortelle has been shorn of all its lovely natural weirdness.

The jolt was so real and so potent in my fragrant memory bulb that I had to call Varun and tell him. I think that I’ll buy him a bottle and take it to him, any excuse to visit him and India.

Further reading: Chemist In A Bottle and Ca Fleure Bon
LuckyScent has $175/60ml + Samples
First In Fragrance has €125/60ml + Samples

What have you smelled lately that reminds you of the past?
Portia xx

 

Tubereuse 3 Animale by Gérald Ghislain for Histoires de Parfums 2010

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Hey Hey APJ,

Not long ago I bought this 15ml travel size off one of the FaceBook pages. It’s been sitting here awaiting my attention ever since. I think a few things arrived that day and it got shunted aside. Lately I have been searching out some skank and the word animal when applied to fragrance is a high def pointer for me too, add that to tuberose and……..

Tubereuse 3 Animale by Histoires de Parfums 2010

Tubereuse 3 Animale by Gérald Ghislain

Tubereuse 3 Animale Histoires de Parfums FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Kumquat, Neroli, Tuberose
Heart: Herbs, Plum, Tuberose
Base: Immortelle, Blond tobacco, Tuberose

How come the notes list for Tubereuse 3 Animale doesn’t say honey? What I am hit with immediately is an incredibly rich honeyed tobacco that sits like a big ole can of molasses in the same room as a vase of tuberose. Front and centre is this rich viscous scent that is absolutely beautiful, mesmerisingly so. It’s hard to focus myself to write this piece and not get caught up in the magic. Citrus I get none, maybe a little way in I get some sweetish fruit but it’s only a very soft side dish. I get the feeling of thick, hot, molten amber-glass before it gets made into stuff.

Tubereuse 3 Animale Histoires de Parfums Catherine Bee Plum Blossom FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

Later I get a lovely dry whiff of immortelle, that strangely dry green sapless dessicated scent that is both raspy and smooth, like the point where sandpaper scours pebbles into smooth, shiny, cool nuggets. Tubereuse 3 Animale also has a furry something that is what I think of as a perfumers version of a very old mink coat, dry and dusty but still with the faintest whiff of the poor creature it was stolen from.

Tubereuse 3 Animale Histoires de Parfums Helichrysum_indicum WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

This is what I imagine the screen sirens of yesteryear would have LOVED to smell like and I can see some of the more famous 21st century cougars getting a thrill from the overt sensuality that Tubereuse 3 Animale displays. What I did not expect was the general size of Tubereuse 3 Animale, it is a sillage and projection monster compared to most other modern offerings and it has a sweetness bordering on urinous, definately skirting the edges of downwind from junkie alley.

Who would and when could Tubereuse 3 Animale be worn? Well let’s just say straight up that for most work situations it is completely over the top, especially for the first hour or two. I think you would have to be careful to use a light hand if food is involved or confined spaces. Personally, I will wear it to my Turbo Trivia work and definitely for my own selfish pleasure at home, it may even get a spritz for the grocery shopping.

Tubereuse 3 Animale Histoires de Parfums supermarket larsen9236 PixabayPhoto Stolen Pixabay

Further reading: Smelly Thoughts and Perfume Polytechnic
Parfum1 has $36/15ml
Posh Peasant has samples starting at $4.75/ml

Do you DO tuberose? What about tobacco? Are there fragrances with these lovelies that you wear? Share.
Portia xx

1725 Casanova by Magali Senequier and Gérald Ghislain for Histoires de Parfums 2001

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Post by TinaG

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So, who is Casanova? If you follow the story in this scent, Casanova doesn’t stand out in a crowd. He’s the type of person you’d easily walk past in the street and not notice directly. But he knows himself – he is cool, calm, and confident. Dressed immaculately, the quality material of his suit and shirt shows that he has a refined taste and attention to detail. But it’s more than that. He has a subtle charisma which is alluring – once noticed. And he knows it. Catch his eye, and you’ll find a deep, challenging sparkle which you’ve taken a few steps towards involuntarily, drawn in like a house mouse to candy.

1725 Casanova by Histoires de Parfums 2001

1725 Casanova by Magali Senequier and Gérald Ghislain

1725 Casanova Histoires de Parfums FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, citruses, grapefruit, licorice
Heart: Lavender, star anise
Base: Vanilla, almond, sandalwood, cedar, amber

1725 Casanova opens with lavender and multi-citrus top notes, primarily smoky bergamot and grapefruit, with a fleeting touch of amber. After 15 minutes a dark green, moist, sticky liquorice joins the lavender. The impression I get from the liquorice is that of a thick glossy black stick which has been snapped in half exposing the softer centre.

The oily fresh lavender mingles with the liquorice and lifts it up, preventing it from being too overpowering. At half an hour an almond comes through – thankfully only lasting to the hour mark before it subsides back to lavender/liquorice, and the bergamot which has lost its smokiness and become much more orange in nature.

1725 Casanova Histoires de Parfums MCAD Library FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

The fragrance has an air of alcohol about it, which I can’t quite place until I realise it is just like basic aftershave. The absence of any herbaceous notes in 1725 brings a grey, austere effect to the fragrance. The effect is a smoothness of a well-cut good quality men’s suit. There is an almost transparent cedar in the background, which gives an anthropogenic slant to the scent. The cedar is refined, dead, cut and shaved into a cupboard or a set of draws in a room, almost undetectable but providing a sense of presence to the room.

I originally felt that 1725 had a longevity of around 5 hours, but I realised later that after that time the remaining skin scent sticks around for about 12 hours. This base still contains the lavender but gains vanilla. The combination of vanilla and lavender in the dry down has an oddly gourmand feel to it. So, overall, this feels like a relatively ordinary scent. But who ever said ordinary can’t be interesting? I wore this on a warm summers day, respritzed quite a few times, and the combination of lavender, bit of dust and residual oils from my skin created a clean muskiness that neither my skin nor the fragrance alone would have shown.

 1725 Casanova Histoires de Parfums man_in_bar WikiMediaPhoto Stolen WikiMedia

Casanova is the man you’ll find standing quietly at a bar, watching a group of young men acting up and playing the fool to try and get the attention of a group of young women. He doesn’t need to do anything – just smiles and watches whilst stirring the ice in his drink. Slowly, one of the women notices him, and starts watching back. And another. Who is this silent stranger? They move over to chat. Eventually, the group of guys have given up, and Casanova is still standing at the end of the bar, which is now lined with ladies all talking quietly, sipping on their own drinks, and waiting for their chance to get closer to him…

Further reading: Chemist in a Bottle and Olfactoria’s Travels
Parfum1 has $36/15ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $5/ml

Have you tried 1725 Casanova by Histoires de Parfums? Is it on your list?

Tina G xx

VIE Vienna by Gérald Ghislain for The Scent of Departure 2011

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Hi there Perfume Junkies,

There are a few brands that I have looked at occasionally and wondered if they would suit me, or work for me. My interest is tweaked but still I never quite get around to trying their wares. No reason except I don’t come across them in my life and forget to order them when sample/decant shopping. While we were in Korea recently I stumbled across a store that sold The Scent Of Departure range, I love their idea, the fun packaging, the relation to travel and the price point. At the time I spritzed myself with Bali and enjoyed the 100% artificial feeling ride immensely, it was a fun, plastic version of what I imagine Bali to be and I was sad that I’d not purchased. Now I can’t seem to find it online from anywhere that sends to Australia for less than the asking price. Even IndieScents has none left, though they do have others.

VIE Vienna by Gérald Ghislain for The Scent of Departure 2011

Vienna VIE The Scent of Departure FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Mint, cut grass, floral notes, lemon, bergamot
Heart: Lotus, tarragon, anise, cinnamon, rhubarb, clove
Base: Mexican chocolate, vanilla, coffee, licorice, patchouli, woodsy notes, Guaiac wood

Imagine lemon balm dipped in chocolate and with a side of ice cream. That’s how Vienna opens for me. A fizzy, fun, citrus extravaganza that is both cool and warm. The note list seems quite arbitrary and bears only the most nodding acquaintance with what I smell. Mint, kinda, cut grass, ummmm no, anise, yes, something flowery and slightly wet and some spices that are not particularly cinnamon or clove. Patchouli I get once the opening notes blow off and the anise could be construed as licorice. Chocolate is most pronounced at opening but makes interesting re-appearances throughout pairing with this or that note. Tarragon slides in surreptitiously and sweetens the mix with its lovely green warmth. YUMMY! Next day I am still softly but noticeably fragrant, it’s a woody sweet remnant.

ViennaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

So how does this tie in with Vienna? One of my favourite cities in the world where Empress Sisi once lived, the heart of the Austrian empire. Where in 1994/5 I used to visit my childhood friend David C who was dancing in the Vienna State Opera Ballet. Where I have been visiting Birgit, Dr O & Sandra (and Sean) from Olfactoria’s Travels, staying at the central but fading majesty of the Royal Hotel. It’s reasonable priced, around the corner from St Stephen’s Cathedral and in the heart of the Vienna shopping and historical district.

Vienna VIE The Scent of Departure St Stephen's Cathedral Roof LuckySilver1 PixabayPhoto Stolen Pixabay

What does this fragrance have to do with the Schonnbrunn, Hoffburg, Belvedere or any of the nearby historical monuments? To be honest I think very little. Unless you take the fizzy opening as cold snow covered Vienna, which is my favourite way to view it. Then the spicy, stark heart could be the beauty and interest of the architecture, artists, cathedrals and parklands. If we can stretch the analogy then the slightly freaky gourmand base is the people. Underneath their reserve they are a warm people to strangers, friendly and welcoming and when you hit their funny bone they are quick to laugh and enjoy themselves.

Vienna VIE The Scent of Departure Schnnbrunn Roger Wallstadt FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

Further reading: EauMG and Ca Fleure Bon
LookFantastic has £27.20/50ml (ONLY UK shoppers though)
IndieScents has some samples

Are these discontinued? Is there a shortage? Have you tried any of them and what did you think?
Portia xx

1740 Marquis De Sade by Gérald Ghislain for Histoires de Parfums 2008

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Guest Post by Michael

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Hello fellow Fragaholics

For a kick off I thought I’d review one of my favourite fragrances and, dare I say it, a modern masterpiece –

1740 Marquis De Sade by Histoires de Parfums 2008

1740 is part of the Library of Scents range of Histoires de Parfums and inspired by the: “Birth year of a Parisian gentleman, named Donatien-Alphonse-François, which posterity remembers as the Marquis de Sade. For this man, whose licentious morals had him imprisoned many times, luxury rhymes with literature. The libertine writer would undoubtedly have enjoyed the audacity of this spiced wooded scent, an invitation to pleasure with its bergamot and Davana Sensualis hints, rounded with patchouli and everlasting flower.”

MarquisDeSade FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords::
Top: Bergamot, Davana Sensualis
Heart: Patchouli, Coriander, Cardamom
Base: Cedar, Birch, Labdanum, Leather, Vanilla, Elemi, Immortelle

This fragrance has wonderful depth and volume. The opening combines bergamot, coriander and the high register notes of cedre – you could not call this “fresh” however as sweetness, booziness, leather and naughty spices form the opening too. Cumin and cardamom play they’re dirty little games while the birch and woody notes support the leather undertones. I can understand why some might call out incense however it seems to be more of a fleeting impression than an actual part of the composition. There is a slight persistence of the softer bergamot elements between the opening and the mid offering a soft tone to the dryer spicy woody aspects.

Orgy, Illustration from Histoire de Juliette by the Marquis de Sade, 1797 art.comPhoto of Marquis de Sade Illustration Stolen art.com

The sweetness is a little syrupy but not cloying despite being reminiscent of maple syrup or molasses. The booziness is not entirely specific but it does give off a somewhat dry sweet liquor impression; something akin to oak aged rum or port pipe aged whisky.

1740 does not change drastically during wearing but the middle phase does see some development. The little there is of fresh notes retreat and the spices are turned down allowing a greater overall balance. The sweetness loses its syrupy edge and moves into a subtle amber accord. The tobacco and leather are still there in dryer incarnations. There is a slightly peppered note but I’m not sure if it’s black pepper or an aspect of the patchouli combining with the cumin and dry woods. Certainly it helps add to the perception of tobacco’s presence. This is where the fragrance is at its best– the warm Indian spices, immortelle , tobacco, dry leather and amber swim and dance on the skin and it smells oh so wonderful and comforting. It’s the olfactory equivalent of a big warm hug from your SO or burying your nose and forehead into the nape of your lover as you cuddle up at night.

LS008465Photo Stolen developmentagezim

The drydown sees a further drying of the composition. A somewhat gritty but non head shop patchouli has been at play all the way through but it seems more prominent now with the immortelle, spices, tobacco and leather still rumbling along, albeit at a lower volume. All in all a masterful unisex masculine; hah!

1740 has moderate projection and excellent longevity.

Further reading KatiePuckrikSmells and Olfactoria’sTravels
LuckyScent has 60ml/$125
SurrenderToChance starts at $5/ml

See you soon,
Michael

Noir Patchouli by Gerald Ghislain for Histoires de Parfums

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Hey Hey Fellow Fumies,

I am finally getting to some things I’ve had for ages but haven’t had the time to enjoy fully because life has been hectic. Happily hectic. Then I got the dreaded sinus lurgy and my nose went on strike so it’s nice to be fully functioning again. One of the frags that slipped through the cracks when it arrived but is now getting a bit of skin time is

Noir Patchouli by Histoires de Parfums

NoirPatchouli frsagranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Patchouli, coriander, cardamom
Heart: Patchouli, bouquet of flowers, juniper berries
Base: Patchouli, musk, vetiver, foam, leather, vanilla

Histoires de Parfums site says: The patchouli flower, grown in the East, exhales an intense and bewitching scent from its leaves. Wooded, Chypre like, this elixir stimulates the senses. A breath of mystery, as deep as black absorbing the light.

Called a Woody Chypre but I though there should be a citric opening, labdanum middle and mossy base? Is the modern take allowed to do away with all three? The very first whiff I get here is vanilla, it is fleeting but immediately comforting. Following closely come the herbs making an interesting green melange with the patchouli; green and rural like a healthy, freshly turned compost heap, earthy. The juniper berries soon add a sharp sparkling counterpoint and I think the rooty/salty vetiver is already showing its colours. My body completely eats all floral traces, there is nothing pretty here, though the whole fragrance is entrancing. I’ve been sitting here happily huffing away at myself and staring into space while my hand backs alternately and then simultaneously waft past my nose. Rich, rugged and raunchy are the three words I am constantly saying in my head, and powerhouse.

Noir Patchouli’s heart is a beautiful mixture of patchouli, healthy young mans hot day and hard work sweat and a cologne-ish brightness above it all. Maybe there’s a hint of lavender? Perhaps a little something bovine and flatulent, that sweet muggy fragrance of an animal barn in the morning sunlight. The leather is creamy as we wander, or meander rather, back to inedible soft vanilla, but Noir Patchouli remains a hefty unsuburban, free and wild fragrance till the end.

I get really good life of about 6 hours very noticeable scent before it turns skin-ish and combines beautifully with my own body scent, giving the impression that this is how I smell in real life for another 4 hours. I really would LOVE to smell this on a couple of my girl friends because though aimed at the boys I think Noir Patchouli would be devastatingly killer on a woman. Far too fragrant for close proximity work or anywhere fragrance phobic, super great for date night. I’m going to wear it for wrapping Christmas presents.

DarkLady gayatriforumPhoto Stolen gayatriforum

Further reading TheNonBlonde and OlfactoriasTravels
Histoires de Parfums site has 60ml €87
SurrenderToChance starts at $5/ml

Do you have a favourite patchouli fragrance? Have you tried this? Tell us about it in the comments because we love to converse.

Do you ever stop and take 3 really deep breathes to clear your mind? Do it now. I find it lets heaps of stress go in about 10 seconds.
Till tomorrow,
Portia xx