Jean-Claude Ellena

Eau d`Orange Verte by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2009

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Post by Trésor

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I am a self professed cologne hater, I hate colognes…or at least that’s what I like to tell myself. “I am HARDCORE” I say, convincing myself that the only potions I care to anoint myself with are those so dense with utter depth and debaucherous subversion that they practically have fangs. This is all, of course, an incredible delusion because the truth of the matter is that of all the fragrances I own it tends to be the bottles of eau de cologne that I find myself emptying first. I’ve had my fair share of undisclosed affairs with an eau de cologne, a splash of Eau Sauvage here and a another of Eau de Coq there but there is one I return to each and every time: Eau d’Orange Verte from Hermès. A true study in how a fragrance can be so much more than just the sum of its parts.

Eau d`Orange Verte by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2009

Eau d`Orange Verte Hermes FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Amalfi lemon, orange, mandarin, cassis, mint, patchouli, oakmoss

Eau d’Orange Verte opens with the most extraordinarily effulgent lightshow of photorealistic orange, so vivid in its juicy titian hue that you are left with the visceral impression of smelling a orange that has just been cut in half. I find this to be at the same time both inimitably refreshing and also a gentle act of hypnotism, leaving you entranced and transported into a dimension of glorious and gleaming sunbeams. It’s a powerful experience, mores than in any eau de cologne I have experienced.

There is an assertiveness and charisma in how Eau d’Orange Verte takes charge of your senses in its incipience but also a confident and effortless elegance. You wouldn’t imagine an orange to be the most particularly sexy note, but there is something I find so terribly seductive about this interplay of power and geniality. As the verdancy of the orange begins to diffuse the composition draws itself closer to the skin and the incredible sparkling radiance of the opening becomes a gleaming aurora of mandarin inflected with a delicate whisper velvet jasmine petals, not petals of a present reality but the tendrils of aroma encapsulated within a precious memory; blurry and fleeting but deeply beautiful.

Eau d'Orange VertePhoto Donated Trésor

The dry down of Eau d’Orange Verte is one of silken emerald moss and the most graceful kiss of delicate patchouli, a chypre hologram; the traditional density stripped away but the spirit remaining in breathtaking entirety. It’s shortly after this that Eau d’Orange Verte finally fades into nothing and you are left with but a beloved recollection of the time you’d spent together.

The longevity on Eau d’Orange Verte is rather short. This time of year, when it is still rather cold where I reside I can get about 30 minutes though in the sweltering heat of the summertime an hour or two is not unheard of. The projection is very delicate as well, a treat for yourself and those you draw incredibly close. I urge you to give this precious little potion a whirl if you are looking to experience a proper, incredibly refined eau de cologne or just so happen to be in need of a little sunshine.

Eau d'Orange Verte Hermes Vincent_van_Gogh_-_Green_Wheat_Field_with_Cypress WikiCommonsPhoto Stolen WikiCommons

Further reading: Perfume Smellin’ Things and Perfume Posse
FragranceNet has $56/50ml before Coupon
My Perfume Samples start at $2/ml

Now tell me, what are your favourite eau de colognes?

Until next time, kittens.
Trésor xx

Hermès Cuir d’Ange by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2014

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Hello my lovelies,

The other day I was in town to get shouted at by my accountant. Luckily for both of us he didn’t shout but he did get quite sober a couple of times and gave me dry looks of disbelief and incomprehension. He is generally quite genial and full of bonhomie and we did have a few laughs but still I felt like a very naughty boy. Aside from that I was lucky enough to get a motor bike parking space right in the center of Sydney’s CBD (Central Business District) and trotted into Hermès to see my favourite SA there Jean. Jean of the sexiest voice known to woman, the friendliest smile and the most elegant figure. I was on a mission, having tried (and adored) Cuir d’Ange at the Hermès store in the Bellagio, Las Vegas because my mate and co-contributor here Val the Cookie Queen had raved, it was time to get myself a sample and really come to terms with it.

Hermès Cuir d’Ange by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2014

Hermessence No 12

Cuir d`Ange Hermes FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica give these featured accords in one line:
Heliotrope, hawthorn, violet, narcissus, musk and leather

Now, Cuir d’Ange is so Jean Claude Ellena, from the opening fireworks and can can girls squealing their lungs out in brand new chorus heels, slightly sweaty and a trifle tannery, their corsets silk all musty and a little dank from years of wear and poor ventilation in the store room, ripe with their yearnings and disappointments. Really, this is exactly what I smell in Cuir d’Ange’s first 15 minutes, the story unfolds and I even get whiffs of the resins they use to give their chorus shoes grip and slide. There is also something of feet in Cuir d’Ange, a worn shoe, a well loved leather jacket or a vintage leather and fur purse.

Hermès Cuir d’Ange Toulouse-Lautrec WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

Having spent some time with CB I Hate Perfumes Narcissus I really can smell its disgustingly gorgeous ripeness, over ripe ness that has me both retching and reaching for more. It really brings that shoe/bag worn and loved feel and I am enjoying it immensely. It could even be the scent of a ballet shoe after a show, maybe the next day. Though now Cuir d’Ange has softened considerable and I think it would be only slightly noticeable sillage if I walked past you in the office, certainly hardly noticeable at all in a bar until you got very close to me. We are at about the one hour mark and I really love how this extremely soft, highly nuanced concoction keeps surprising me.

Hermès Cuir d’Ange Ballet Shoes MinasCreativeExpressionsPhoto Stolen MinasCeativeExpression

It’s a very circular fragrance, the notes seem to return at odd intervals, darting out and back to keep your nose on its toes. A lovely ride. You could easily wear Cuir d’Ange in a work situation and it will be killer for date night, a real stealth bomber through the movie and not overpowering for dinner. I can feel a 15ml bottle coming on, at least. I might even wear the rest of my sample on New Years Eve.

Further reading: Australian Perfume Junkies, Bois de Jasmin and Grain de Musc
If your city doesn’t have a Hermès store you should probably move
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/ml

Do you like the Hermèssence range? Is Jean Claude Ellena to your liking or are you meh?
Portia xx

Kelly Calèche by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2007

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Hey Perfume Junkies,

Do you remember when Kelly Calèche was released in 2007? It was a huge kerfuffle, and it seems both a million years ago and yesterday. There was a while that it was the fragrance de jour in the clubs and I think about one in five young women of a certain cadre were sporting it day and night and smelling so young, hip and fresh, even (dare I say it?) GROOVY! I think that many Sydney girls will have fond memories of fun times in Kelly Calèche,

Kelly Caleche Hermes FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Grapefruit, narcissus, lily of the valley
Heart: Mimosa, rose, tuberose
Base: Leather, iris

The opening of Kelly Calèche is a dry, green, astringent burst that shocks you awake and into the here and now. This fun high octane fizz only lasts a few moments but it is an excellent mind refresher. Then the whole fragrance changes into a surprising leather that smells on my skin like the leather, glue, colours and stitchery inside the back of brand new high heels, never worn, straight from box and tissue paper. The flowers and fruits big moment are all over for me so quickly, around 15 minutes, and then play a light backing track to this almost patent leather smell. (From Hermès, Hermès, Hermès in 2012)

Kelly Caleche Hermes pink leather norulesstock DeviantARTPhoto Stolen DeviantART

So fun, light and yet very present, that oh so soft suede-ish iris dry down is my favourite part, though other reviewers find it not so good. A whisper of fragrance that huffs out at you every so often to remind you that you’re fragrant. It’s just for you and your nearest and dearest friends. It’s no wonder that Kelly Calèche was such a hit at the time, I wonder if those pretty young things still wander round in a soft fog of sweet iris leather or if they’ve moved on?

I grabbed my 15ml mini bottle from Birgit of Olfactoria’s Travels wardrobe clean-out back in 2012. To be honest it doesn’t see a LOT of wear but I have made decent inroads into it, there is some good air in the bottle. I like to wear it when I need a pick me up, have to be somewhere that a loud or hefty frag would be inappropriate or to remember the lovely girls who wore Kelly Calèche when it was released.

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and Now Smell This
Beauty Encounter has $52/50ml EdT
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $3/ml

Are you a fan? Has Kelly Calèche ever been your go to or does its quiet, refined leather waft leave you bored and stone cold?
Portia xx

Dia Pour Femme by Jean-Claude Ellena for Amouage 2002

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Post by Gabriella

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Hello perfumed peeps,
Today I want to delve into the perfume archives and revisit a fragrance that I featured in my very first post here on APJ. This fragrance captured my heart all those years ago, then other sniffing fests and bottles came my way, so it then got put on the backburner and largely forgotten. Last weekend, I spritzed some again and it’s had me swooning ever since. That perfumed delight is Amouage Dia.

Dia Pour Femme by Jean-Claude Ellena for Amouage 2002

Dia pour Femme Amouage FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Fig, cyclamen, bergamot, tarragon, sage, violet leaves
Heart: Precious and fresh flowers: peach blossom, rose oil, orange flower, peony. orris
Base: White musk, mysterious incense, vanilla, heliotrope, cedarwood, sandalwood, Guaiac wood

On my skin, Dia opens up with the gentlest of aldehydes and the subtle juicy warmth of fig, tempered by a fresh burst of cyclamen and the gentle greenness of violet leaves. I can’t really detect the herbs here, they’re more playing a supportive role to give the fig and the floral notes some depth. The heart of Dia is all floral richness, there’s definitely rose and peony which are just smooth and warm. It then segues gently into the woody base.

Dia pour Femme Amouage peony pixabayPhoto Stolen Pixabay

Overall, the notes are so well-blended that Dia presents as a whole picture of a fragrance rather than a simple sum of the notes. The overall feeling is one of staid elegance and sophistication, something I noted in my original review:
Dia is all about a refined wool sheath dress, pearls and leather ballet flats.

Dia is something I’d imagine that Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn or Jackie Onassis wearing with ease. For me, because of its inherent chicness, it’s also very much an aspirational fragrance. It makes me feel calm, put together and above all supremely beautiful, even when I’m feeling anything but. At a time when I have been working all hours of the day and weekends too, it’s been both a tremendously uplifting and calming companion. I feel like I could wear it any day at any time and just feel like a million bucks.

Dia pour Femme Amouage Audrey_Hepburn WikipediaPhoto Stolen Pixabay

As for the staying power, what on earth was I thinking when I wrote my original review?:
My only complaint is that it lasts barely two hours on me.

Let me eat my words! Dia’s lasting power is well over eight hours from one or two small spritzes. The other morning, I put on a cardigan which had the remnants of a Dia application from a couple of days before. I then proceeded to spray myself lavishly with Le Parfum de Therese, and let me tell you, the remnants of Dia outshone the latter.

Dia pour Femme Amouage Alice-Pasquini MrPilgrimPhoto Stolen MrPilgrim

Dia is a classical beauty and one that I just can’t afford to ignore again.

Further reading: The Non Blonde and Suzanne’s Perfume Journal
First in Fragrance has €240/50ml
Libertine Parfumerie has $387/100ml
Posh peasant has samples starting at $7/ml

What fragrances have you ignored and come back to love? What fragrance makes you feel a million bucks?
With much love till next time!

M x

Hermès Cuir d'Ange by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2014

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Post by Val the Cookie Queen

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Hermès, Hairdressers, and a Touch of Leather

Hermès Cuir d’Ange by Jean-Claude Ellena for Hermès 2014

Hermessence No 12

Cuir d’Ange really does smell like the inside of a soft leather bag. The kind that I will never own. I am not going to dissect Cuir d’Ange. Why would I? I learned on my recent trip to Florence that many of the perfumers want to stop “note lists” as it can take the wearer away from the beauty of the creation. Suffice it to say that there are layers of notes as with all perfume. Cuir d’Ange starts just sweet enough, and not overly flowery, the cool, elegant leather is detectable immediately. It has more of a suede feel, soft as a powder-puff. It smells exquisitely expensive, smooth and flawless. A whispy touch of warm caramel hovering, a soft muskiness. Subtle. It feels beautiful on the skin. A good generous spraying gave me hours of pleasure. I know that for some, the Hermès longevity is an issue. They are eau de toilette strength, but who cares? No law against reapplication.

Cuir d`Ange Hermes FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica give these featured accords in one line:
Heliotrope, hawthorn, violet, narcissus, musk and leather

Jean-Claude Ellena is 67. It took him 10 years to create Cuir d’Ange. When asked why he explained that it is a slow and very demanding process. Taking a concept that is in the mind and translating the concept into a physical thing is hard.

Cuir d`Ange Hermes Jon Rawlinson FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

Cuir d’Ange was named referencing the words of an early 20th century French author Jean Giono. Giono has inspired Ellena for over thirty years. (Although I know of Giono, I am not familiar with anything that he wrote. I better remedy that!) Ellena describes himself as “a writer of smells”. That applies to all great perfumers.

My hairdresser has a leather fetish. He thinks I don´t know. I plan very careful which perfume I wear each time I go. Today I wore Cuir d’Ange.
Result.

Cuir d`Ange Hermes Leather Hector Garcia FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

I went to the Hermès store in Vienna last week. Their customer service is amazing. The SA gave me 8mls of Cuir d’Ange to “try properly”. Which I have done. It will be my next purchase. Much thanks to my two perfumista girlfriends in Vienna for introducing me to Hermès. I have given my bank manager their contact details.

Further reading: Bois de Jasmin and Grain de Musc
Cuir d’Ange is number 12 in Hermès’ Hermessence collection of perfumes. It is available exclusively in Hermès stores. It costs about 185 Euros for 100 mls.
Which is 92.50 Euros for 50 mls which is not expensive compared to some of those over priced supposed big hitters out there.
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/ml

Cuir d’Ange is graceful and refined. No mean feat for a leather perfume. Sublime.

Bussis
CQ

La Haie Fleurie du Hameau by L`Artisan Parfumeur 1982

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Hey All you Fragrance Lovers,

GOSH! 1982, this frag came out while I was still in school. 1982 was the last year I was in the Top 10 of my year and just before I went seriously “Off The Rails” as they called it back then. I think by then my Mum had bought me an Aramis and a mini of VC&A Pour Homme, maybe by then I had even had Polo. That doesn’t count wearing all my Mum & sister’s fragrances though.

La Haie Fleurie du Hameau by L`Artisan Parfumeur 1982

La Haie Fleurie du Hameau by Jean Claude Ellena

La Haie Fleurie L`Artisan Parfumeur FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Jasmine, orange blossom, narcissus, ylang-ylang, honeysuckle, vanilla, oakmoss

It’s been super busy around here lately. The house has a For Sale sign out the front and we have been working like House Elves to have it super schmick for the auction. I feel as though I’ve neglected you all a little this weekend, sorry, my head is full to overflowing with stuff and I can’t find a damn thing in the house because so much is packed away in storage. So while I am wearing as much fragrance as ever I am wearing it to forget thought, as a mini mental holiday rather than to run through notes and journey while wearing it. There has been a LOT of gardening going on and every time I work in the front I am completely engulfed in the glorious scents of Erlicher jonquils and King Alfred daffodils.

La Haie Fleurie L`Artisan King Alfred Daffodils WikipediaPhoto Stolen WikipediaLa Haie Fleurie L`Artisan Erlicheer jonquils AusGardenerPhoto Stolen AusGardener

Here is another of my lucky gifts from Michael Edwards, and when I spritzed it tonight it was exactly that gorgeous heady, narcotic and indolic magic that I smell while working in the garden. Mesmerisingly beautiful, as I was driving to work and the few first minutes before I was swept up in Trivia I was absolutely gobsmacked by how lovely. An older bottle with the round cap I think the flowers are totally gorgeous and opulent.

What an excellent rendition of narcissus, I can easily smell how this young man could have fallen so deeply in love with his own beautiful perfection and wanted to smell only that until he wasted away, engulfed or perhaps became merely a breath of indolic air.

La Haie Fleurie L`Artisan Benczur-narcissus WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

While it is not terrible long lasting, at about 2 hours fragrant and maybe another 2 of very quiet floral vanilla wisps, I found it a wonderful fragrant ride. Extremely pretty and I felt lovely, sometimes a fragrance can make me think I am quite gorgeous. Transportive. Suddenly I am a girlish waif, happy and carefree on a sunlit hill covered in daffodils. It’s like the scene in Death Becomes Her when Meryl Streep takes the potion, except I spritz it.

Further reading: Perfume Smellin’ Things and Perfume Shrine
Surrender To Chance has samples that start at $4/ml

Did you ever get to smell this lovely white and yellow floral?
Portia xx

Bigarade Concentree by Jean-Claude Ellena for Frederic Malle 2002

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Hey Hey APJ,

Yes, I know I’ve said it before but I love the crossover months, where it is cool and crisp morning and evening but warms through the day. I love the mid seasons, warm enough for a t-shirt but cool enough that you need a jumper tied around your waist in case. These are the seasons in Australia when we usually get the most rain too. There are metal rooves both front and back of my house and I love to hear rain drumming on them, right outside my office I hear it on the back verandah roof and splashing in the pool. HEAVEN!

Bigarade Concentree by Jean-Claude Ellena for Frederic Malle 2002

Bigarade concentree Frederic Malle FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bitter orange
Heart: Rose
Base: Cedar, grass, hay

Bigarade Concentree was one of the first of the Frederic Malle line that I studied in any depth because my BFF Kath has a bottle. we went together with EmmaKate who used to manage a niche & fine fragrance store in Sydney and she spent an hour taking us through the range, we had every scent on a card and all of the cards locked in greaseproof paper and cellophane. We were allowed pick three samples each to take away but Kath had decided there and then that she wanted Bigarade Concentree in her life for good. I have been lucky enough to smell it on her for a few years now and it is irrevocably entwined with her for me. I will try to be objective.

Bigarade concentree Frederic Malle orange tree PixabayPhoto Stolen Pixabay

I tell you what, when I spray Bigarade Concentree on myself I am transported to my childhood. We always had an orange and a lemon tree, I think Mum had planted them when they finished building the house. My two main memories of the orange tree are Mum grousing over the trouble it was and the orange juice we used to drink made of the oranges from the tree. At the start of the season the orange juice would taste like the bitter orange smell of the opening of Bigarade Concentree and Mum would add sugar to sweeten it enough for us to drink. JCE has captured my memory and bottled it, there is even the smell of the taste of the pith from eating the orange quarters down into the white.

Once the main orange note has calmed, though it never leaves completely, something rose-ish moves across my nostril-vision but it’s a hint towards rose note like a rose I’ve ever smelled, maybe a rose in an orange grove? The orange still walks all over the rose. Pounds the life out of it leaving me with a grassy? Still kinda grassy/pithy/animal/zesty citrus, the citrus still front and center, HOW have they done this. Incredible use of a note that usually is gone in two minutes. 5+ hours of citric goodness and still more almost fragrance before it leaves me completely, my ability to smell it anyway.

Bigarade Concentree Frederic Malle Oranges Gunther Hagleitner FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

Further reading: Scent For Thought and Scentrist
Frederic Malle has €75/3 x 10ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $6/ml

Have you tried Bigarade Concentree? How was your experience? What did you think of it and why?

Thanks for taking a moment to wander through my fragrant thoughts,
Portia xx

 

Santal Massoïa by Jean Claude Ellena for Hermès 2011

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Hey Hey APJ,

While out in London with the mad London Frag Crew a bunch of us that just couldn’t let the day finish went to Selfridges in the evening and ran amok. It was bittersweet fun because we all knew the day was coming to a close and it felt that we’d made some really great new friends who GOT us. Know what I mean? Anyway, I think it was the beautiful Tara of Olfactoria’s Travels who came to Hermès with me because I wanted to try Epice Marine (FABULOUS BTW) but annoyingly they had no samples left for me to take and review. The SA was so embarrassed at their lack that she gave me two samples of other things and today we’ll look at the first. I have decanted to a spritz so I get the same ride as you would from a bottle. Just for fun today I thought I’d let you travel through my mind on a first wearing of a fragrance…….

Santal Massoïa by Jean Claude Ellena for Hermès 2011

Santal Massoïa Hermes FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Massoïa wood resin from New Guinea, coconut, peach, butterscotch, sandalwood, sugar, milk, dried fruits, floral notes

Well, Santal Massoia is a bit of a surprise. Now that I look at the notes it makes sense but I was not expecting a tropical alcoholic drink out of a coconut, with a paper umbrella, in a freshly made wood and thatch bar by the pool. Honestly I am smiling broadly and feel as if the holiday is at day 5 when you just realise you are away and can relax for another 5 glorious days.

Santal Massoia Hermes Evening Beach Matt Rudge FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

Something that I often feel about Jean Claude Ellena’s work and here in Santal Massoia especially is that the notes are part of a chorus, though there is a buttery, waxy, fatty wood at the centre it is not really about that so much as it’s about a feeling of quietly luxuriating in the sun, having a silly drink for the hell of it and either reading a trashy novel or playing meaningless games on your phone. It has been a long time since I’ve had a holiday like that, I don’t think in the last 25 years, but my childhood and early adulthood was full of exactly those kind of holidays, it was ONLY trashy novels then as the internet was still being used only for governmental/war games. We did used to get those great puzzle books though like find trhe word, crosswords or other game type books. There were also cards, canasta was the family game of choice and it was used as a tool to show good game play behaviours and how life was often ready to throw a curve ball. OH MY GOD! I am lost in a complete memory cycle and all through two spritzes of a fragrance.

 _MG_6220rPhoto Stolen Flickr

Yes, I can pick the woods, fruits, coconut, mmmm sort of get the butterscotch but in a Schnappsy kind of way and if you asked me to pick some flowers I would say a fruity/boozy rose and the buttery fat of ylang, is there fig? Maybe the milk and fruit are giving me a fig reference? I could understand if you were to complain that Santal Massoia is linear, the story is more a rotating of notes that become more pronounced than a change in fragrance per se. After the first hour to two hours Santal Massoia softens to a nimbus of soft focus fragrance, very close to the skin and you really need to be hugging someone for them to notice how lovely you smell, that is no bad thing especially at work or in confined spaces. By the 3 hour mark I’m finding it difficult to smell anything but I think anosmia has set in because Jin still smells something nutty.

Santal Massoïa HermesPhoto Stolen Hermès

 

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and Perfume Shrine
Hermessence are only available at Hermès stores or very rarely they come up at auction sites
You can buy in Australia from the Hermès site $665/100ml with leather cover
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/.5ml

Which of the Hermessence range have you tried? Do you like Jean Claude Ellena’s style?

Portia xx

L’Eau d’Hiver by Jean Claude Ellena for Frederic Malle 2003

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Post by Gabriella

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Hello perfumed Peeps!

I’ve loved the Frederic Malle range ever since it launched here in Sydney years ago but Jean Claude Ellena’s pared down aesthetic has never really been my cup of tea. It therefore took me some time to first appreciate and then fall in love with his masterpiece for the Malle line. And it’s been well worth the wait.

L’Eau d’Hiver by Jean Claude Ellena for Frederic Malle 2003

Picture 308Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Bergamot, heliotrope, jasmine, iris, honey, angelica, white musk.

The real beauty of this scent is its enigmatic quality. It manages to feel both cool and warm at the same time and the gentle unfolding of these polar opposites is what makes L’Eau d’Hiver so magical. There’s the slight cool tang of the bergamot in the opening underscored with the piquant pepperiness of angelica.

The addition of iris exacerbates the detached coolness and earthiness before the soft powderiness of heliotrope is joined by sweetness of honey. Even as the scent warms up, the angelica and iris continue to peek through the layers like soft droplets of snow or sparkling white ice.

L'Eau d'Hiver Frederic Malle angel_desnudo_ DeviantArtPhoto Stolen DeviantArt

L’Eau d’Hiver is somewhat of a mesmerising drug of a fragrance. Under its spell, I manage to detach from my normal frazzled self and become a calm, serene, contemplative being. It also makes me feel completely elegant. It is the olfactory equivalent of a white silk blouse, fluid and graceful and something that just makes you feel “put together”.

And as Dionne noted in her much more comprehensive APJ L’Eau d’Hiver review, despite its name, L’Eau d’Hiver works in all sorts of temperatures and seasons. I’ve been enjoying wearing it recently on temperate summer’s days.

L'Eau d'Hiver Frederic Malle Harkness_Tower WikiMediaPhoto Stolen WikiMedia

Further reading: Chemist in the Bottle and Olfactoria’s Travels
Mecca Cosmetica starts at $124/3 x 10ml
Surrender to Chance has samples starting at $6/ml

Have you tried L’Eau D’Hiver? What are your I-just-feel-complete fragrances?

With much love till next time!

M x