Les Heures de Cartier

Scent Diary: 13.1-19.1.2020

/ AustralianPerfumeJunkies / 78 Comments

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Portia

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Hey there APJ Crew,

We FINALLY have rain. It’s good in Parramatta and has helped cool the bushfires elsewhere. Sadly it’s not enough. Also the ash being washed into the rivers has polluted them to the point of unlivability for the fish and other water creatures. The stories of dead, dying and injured wildlives are horrifying. BILLIONS of our native and feral creatures have died with many localised subspecies completely wiped out. A lot of it is due to poor governance and lack of resources for proper management.

Meanwhile, as the populace has been choking under a literal smokescreen the government rushes to put in new laws enacting religious rights to discriminate and giving the Adani mine unlimited water usage for the foreseeable future.

Continue reading →

L`Heure Diaphane VIII Cartier: Les Heures de Parfum by Mathilde Laurent for Cartier 2011

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

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Post by TinaG

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“Alice: How long is forever?
White Rabbit: Sometimes, just one second.”
Alice in Wonderland

Hi APJ,

Life can get hectic, whether it’s as a result of factors external or internal, work, family, home life – bring too many activities together without some space between, and everything starts to get compounded. When it’s all too much, I occasionally look for the immediacy of headspace which a beautiful fragrance can bring. Often these times lie in the realms of Hermès Hermessences, but I was given two samples of Cartier’s Les Heures de Parfum by the beautiful Tara of A Bottled Rose, and I found both to be just lovely.

screen-shot-2016-10-08-at-9-08-26-pmCartier

The Les Heures de Parfum line of fragrances have been created by Cartier’s perfumer, Mathilde Laurent. I knew so little about Cartier overall that I did a bit of research into the Les Heures collection, and their slimline bottles affixed with roman numerals. The samples I had to hand were of I L’Heure Promise (that prefix is a roman numeral “I”), and VIII L’Heure Diaphane. I thought my sources were sketchy when I couldn’t locate a V, and found a XIII which you won’t see on any regular clockface…. The fragrances themselves felt delicious, specifically chosen and placed at a point in time with purpose and not simply running up numerically for the sake of completeness. I liked it. Here’s a glimpse of Diaphane for you.

L`Heure Diaphane VIII Cartier by Cartier 2011

L`Heure Diaphane VIII Cartier: Les Heures de Parfum by Mathilde Laurent

lheure-diaphane-viii-cartier-fragranticaFragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Rose, peony, litchi

VIII L’Heure Diaphane spritzes on light and fresh, rose-centric underpinned with greenness. Uplifting and refreshing, its star attraction is a wonderful peony note. If you’ve never smelt peony, it is quite rose-like, but somewhat truncated from a full “rose” spectrum. There are some stronger pink-red rosy hints in here as well but seem selective. The notes for L’Heure Diaphane are peony, rose and lychee, simple and complimentary, but together create a fragrance which is profound and elegant. The overall effect is one of a shimmering fluid-like quality, not watery as such but has a subtle movement like spiders web in a breeze. I can detect a slight pepperiness which is most likely as aspect of the peony, and rose notes accentuate rather than overwhelm.

It makes me feel: languid, gentle, intelligent, cheeky, proud, caring, efficient – all the things which get pushed to one side to meet deadlines, deal with annoying people, get frustrated with news and world events – just for example. It might sound simplistic but it is clarity and breathing space, perfect for the workplace or a weekend at home. Almost totally linear and worn close to the skin it is both a diamond and silk all wrapped up together, which can either be shown off or held to the heart.

cartier-les-heures-de-parfum-viii-diaphane-cartier-diamond-cartierCartier

Further reading: What Men Should Smell Like and Grain de Musc
Saks Fifth Avenue has $285/75ml
Cartier stores and large department store counters also stock it.
Surrender To Chance have samples starting at $6/0.5ml

“You say, go slow…. I fall behind. The second hand unwinds….”
Cyndi Lauper

What fragrances have you found which provide an essential grounding in your daily life?

Till next time,
Tina G xx

L`Heure Mysterieuse XII by Mathilde Laurent for Cartier 2009

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 3 Comments

Hello my lovelies,

You may remember that last year in Prague I bought L’Heure Convoiteé II and at the time Jin quite liked L`Heure Brilliant VI and so I have been trying to get him a sample of it from a Cartier store for over a year now. Yes, I know I can buy a sample at Surrender To Chance but I really wanted him to have the full Cartier sample experience. In the hopes of finding a sample at the source Neela Vermeire took me to 13 Rue de la Paix, Paris on my recent visit. Sadly there were none but the gentleman who manages the store was extremely affable and gave me a couple of other samples, there was also the most gorgeous security guard I’ve ever seen, quite a movie star.

L`Heure Mysterieuse XII by Mathilde Laurent for Cartier 2009

Les Heures de Cartier

L`Heure Mysterieuse XII Cartier FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Jasmine, patchouli, coriander, elemi, incense, nutmeg

A patchouli bomb where the patchouli and nutmeg get together with everything else and make me smell bitter chocolate at the open, then the elemi and coriander take over giving me bitter, sour, green that is both intriguing and slightly disgusting, not like Secretions Magnifique but there is something mildly revolting that I can’t stop sniffing. You know when a fit and healthy person sweats at the gym? Though you know it’s sweat so kind of yucky, yet still to cuddle up with them if they’ve arrived home unshowered can be very darn sexy and it doesn’t matter if you muss them up because they are heading for the shower anyway. L`Heure Mysterieuse XII is that kind of scent, a nod to the sweetest of scents, healthy sweat. Before, during and after.

“An invitation into secrets, the scent of a whisper, heady and lascivious.” Mathilde Laurent, Cartier perfumer.

Yes, that’s what I’m getting, a breathy invitation to entanglement over coffee. This is a sexy scent that sometimes during its story can smell a bit ripe, over ripe even, humanity about to go nasty. Then not too far into the heart it changes completely, still humans in the picture but now the smell of a wood fire, the warmth and woods, smoke and cooking, the herbs & spices are playing lovely counterpoint and still this lovely sweatiness floating in and around. Do any of you get this clean skank? I would never have believed that L`Heure Mysterieuse XII was a Cartier if I didn’t get it straight from the shop in Paris. Amazing, fun and NAUGHTY! I have worn this now 3 times and every time I am astounded at the implied raunch.

L`Heure Mysterieuse XII stays pretty linear and does more of a fade than a change after it hits the smoky woods with spicy, sweaty humanity breath overtones except to add more patchouli and a hint of leather onto the pile. Lasting power is good at 9+ hours of fragrant, sillage soft and scent projection quite close but very discernible and towards the end it’s only the softest and most subtle suede, gorgeous. I think I now need to make Jin wear it to see if it has the same feral overtones on another body  that I’m not sniffing up so close to.

L`Heure Mysterieuse XII Cartier Cabin_fireplace WikiMediaPhoto Stolen WikiMedia

Further reading: Pink Manhattan and Bois de Jasmin
Cartier stand alone stores and some Cartier counters in department stores carry the range
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $6/.5ml

I have enjoyed my L`Heure Mysterieuse XII wearings immensely and if it wasn’t so damn expensive in Australia at AUD $405 I would have rushed down to Cartier and grabbed one already, maybe next holiday.

Have you yet tried any of Les Heures de Cartier? Did you have a favourite? What about the elegant aesthetic? Would you love a bottle?
Portia xx