Review

Gardenia by Aurelien Guichard for Robert Piguet 2014

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Post by Poodle

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The word gardenia strikes terror in the heart of many. For a flower that has no perfume essence of its own and must be replicated by using other flower essences it has many variations and strengths. Most of these are dependent on the perfumers interpretation of what gardenia is. For some it always a bit too much and they shy away from anything called gardenia. Other times, when people smell a gardenia perfume the first comment made is “that’s not gardenia”. In that respect Gardenia will be no different.

Gardenia by Aurelien Guichard for Robert Piguet 2014

Gardenia Robert Piguet FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Gardenia, lily, ylang ylang
Heart: Madagascar vanilla
Base: Black leather, cashmeran, spice, woods

Gardenia opens with lilies and ylang-ylang. There a certain freshness to the top notes, a watery green-ness that stops it from veering into the big white floral territory of Fracas. It makes me think of a bouquet of flowers cut in the early morning after a spring rain. My nose detects a hint of gardenia every now and then but it’s not the headlining act here. After the top notes settle Gardenia is not as bold as you might think. I wouldn’t call it a big white floral either.

Gardenia Robert Piguet gardenia Flower oom_endro PixabayPhoto Stolen Pixabay

The freshness gives way to warmth. Cashmeran and leather start to appear. They are soft and seem almost powdery combined with the vanilla. The lily notes linger throughout the development and now have a little spice to them. It’s not a huge hit of spice but just that tiny bit that you sometimes smell in real lilies. Gardenia reminds me most of gardenias early on and later in the dry down. When I was extremely young I’d take the spent blossoms from my grandmothers gardenia and smoosh the petals into my arm hoping to transfer the scent. Even at the age of 4 I had the makings or a perfume nerd. Anyway, that’s what I’m reminded of in the dry down. Salty sweet skin with the barest hint of a fleshy floral petals.

Gardenia Robert Piguet Creamy Nude ContemoraryArts PixabayPicture Stolen Pixabay

I wish they had named this something different because I fear the name will deter people from sniffing. Anyone who is gardenia shy will just pass it by. Those who are looking for a true to life gardenia will sniff but perhaps it won’t be enough gardenia for them. I think men who tend to like florals would like this as well because I don’t think it smells too girly. It’s a lovely scent though so please do sniff if you see it.

Further reading: Ca Fleure Bon and Australian Perfume Junkies
Libertine Parfumerie has $239/100ml (with FREE Australian shipping)
Harrods has £150/100ml
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $7/ml

What is your favourite gardenia scent?

Hugs,
Poodle

Rozy EdP + Voille d'Extrait by Vero Kern for Vero Profumo 2014

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Post by Val the Cookie Queen

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We are coming up to the launch of the Rozy Extrait. I have been smacking my head against a wall for the last year trying to come up with something to say about the Rozys – Edp and the Voile. Verges on the impossible. If we are familiar with a fragrance before we read about it, we can then do something with what has been written. However if we do not know the perfume of which we are reading, it is much more difficult, if not impossible to know how it will smell. Hands up those who have read about something, only to try it and wonder where it all went wrong.

Rozy Vero Profumo The_Night_Watch Rembrandt WikiCommonsPhoto Stolen WikiCommons

The Militia Company of District II under the Command of Frans Banninck Cocq (better known albeit incorrectly as Rembrandt´s “The Night Watch”) is a stunning piece of art, and one of the most famous paintings in the world. But until you have seen it you have no idea how awe inspiring it is. It is housed in it´s own room the “Nachtwachtzaal” in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. It is 363 cm x 437 cm (142.9 in x 172.0 in). You can try to describe it but the only way to be able to see the fine nuances of the painting’s complex colour palette is to go to the Rijksmuseum. The only way to smell the fine nuances in Vero Kern´s Rozys is to wear them.

Imagine that you need to describe honey to someone who has never tasted sweet.

Rozy EdP + Voille d’Extrait by Vero Kern for Vero Profumo 2014

Rozy Vero Profumo FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Oriental rose, tuberose, currant buds and leaves, honey, spices, sandalwood, labdanum, powdery notes, tarragon, peach, passionfruit, hyacinth

Both Rozys are objects of desire, lust and adoration, stains on the skin.

The Rozy EdP is hazy, peachy, rosy, sweet, divine, innocent and yet full of desire. Warm and erotic. It melts into the skin, thus becoming as one with the wearer. Bewitching. This perfume spills its secrets only over time. My most worn .vero.profumo..

Rozy Chilling Vero ProfumoPhoto Donated Val CQ

The Rozy Voile d’Extrait?

“Gather your wits and hold on fast,
Your mind must learn to roam.
Just as the Gypsy Queen must do
You´re gonna hit the road” (The Acid Queen. Pete Townsend)

Wearing this is making a pledge or a vow to hold on until the end. A cerise ocean with and honey-capped sandalwood waves. A blushing rosy pink, tangerine colored aura, as near to radio-active as a perfume can get, shockingly surreal, and yet in perfect harmony. Astounding.

Rozy Vero Profumo Bee_pollenating_a_rose WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

“The rose is the flower of virgins and women, but also of vice and prostitution. Thorns and roses symbolize the ambivalence of love and sorrow – the drama of finite love.” Vero Kern

How beautiful are the Rozys? How long is a piece of string?

Further re4ading: Bonkers About Perfume and Smelly Thoughts
LuckyScent has Rozy EdP $235/50ml
First In Fragrance has Rozy Voile d’Extrait €168/50ml
Surrender To Chance has Rozy EdP samples starting at $6/.5ml

The Rozy Extrait. March in Milan. My lips are sealed.

Kiss my Roses
CQ

Tiare Moana by Crystelle Darchicourt for L`Atelier Boheme 2009

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Heya Crew,

Right now we are doing a February Sample Challenge on Facebook’s Aussie Fragrance Network. It’s a very simple idea. We are trying to wear some of our never tried samples, we record our usage and give a little insight into what we wore and how it went. You have to do at least one sample a day, more if possible, and you don’t get disqualified if you just can’t help but break out a bottle. More about the fun and the using up of long owned and neglected samples, of which most of us have WAY TOO MANY! I am trying to use up my 1ml samples so I’m also going through a bunch of new mini atomisers because I believe that if it comes in a spritz bottle it should be spritzed for sampling.

I have no idea where this sample came from. It is beautifully carded and a 2ml sample vial. When researching where to buy it I only found Russian blogger reviews on the first 3 pages of Google other than Fragrantica which had only 2 loves and no reviews. Colour me intrigued…..

Tiare Moana by Crystelle Darchicourt for L`Atelier Boheme 2009

Tiare Moana L`Atelier Boheme FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Green banana, tangerine
Heart: Tiara, coconut
Base: Patchouli, hibiscus seeds

Wikipedia says: Gardenia taitensis (also called Tahitian Gardenia or Tiaré Flower) is a species of plant in the Rubiaceae family. It is an evergreen tropical shrub…. The flower is creamy white…. and very fragrant. Native to the highland shores of the South Pacific, it has the distinction of being one of the few cultivated plants native to Polynesia. It is the national flower of French Polynesia and the Cook Islands.

IMG_6074Photo Stolen WikiCommons

Sweet, tart and sizzling, Tiara Moana is a very juicy fruit and the opening is like biting into a mango that is so soft and juicy but you can tell that by tomorrow it will go nasty. Right now though it is heavenly, not a sugary sweetness in the modern fruitchouli experience but a sweetness with some depth and green-ness to it. It may even be green banana-ish.

Tiara, coconut and still a waft of dry greenery, like papyrus or vetiver, or maybe it is a dry, clean patchouli collide beautifully in the heart. Tiara Moana still manages to maintain it’s juiciness too and the heart is luscious and very reminiscent of a tropical island dream. Imagine if Annick Goutal’s Songes was both fruit-juicier and had a dry counterpoint, add this to the creamy texture of white flowers (without the vanilla) and you have a very good approximation of what Tiare Moana smells like.

Tiare Moana L`Atelier Boheme Les_Petits_Chanteurs_de_Sainte-Croix_-_The_Paris_Boys_Choir WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

This is not a sensual or sexual fragrance on me. I get no fecal, blue cheese, body or breath from Tiara Moana. While being gorgeous and glorious it is pure and clean. Attractive but aloof right through the heart with only a touch of earthiness in the dry down. If this fragrance were song it would be the young sporty tenor lead in a choir, all the divine exuberance of youth unsullied.

Good longevity and having sprayed myself completely with the whole 2ml I’m saying excellent projection. In fact I’m a little scared to leave the house in case I set of fire alarms, in the next suburb. I am completely and utterly engulfed in this glorious scent and enjoying the ride immensely. This would make a splendid Wedding Fragrance for both bride & groom.

Tiare Moana L`Atelier Boheme Bride_and_Groom FantasyStock DeviantArtPhoto Stolen DeviantArt

L`Atelier Boheme has €120/50ml

From L’Atelier Boheme: A perfume duet : two cross matters, two universes…mother-of-pearl and perfume.
For its 7th perfume, L’Atelier Bohème has chosen Rivières d’Océanie as a partner, specialized in the Tahiti black Pearl and polynesian jewellery : www.rivieresoceanie.com. Rivières d’Océanie Treasure pretty dressed the flask-jewel concealing in its heart the tiara with 7 petals in mother-of-pearl and perfume 

Have you tried Tiara Moana? Any of the L`Atelier Boheme line?
Portia xx

 

 

Tibetan Mountain Temple by Pacifica 2007

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Hi there Perfume Junkies,

Sometimes a cheap and cheerful fragrance grabs my attention. I know it’s not got the finest ingredients and am quite aware that its scent is probably more suited to product scenting than fine fragrance but the sheer joy I get from spritzing and wearing completely overshadows all else. The genuine snob in me sometimes grinds its teeth but to be honest I don’t give two hoots, this is the one I’m reaching for today.

Tibetan Mountain Temple by Pacifica 2007

Tibetan Mountain Temple Pacifica FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Patchouli, orange, vetiver, ginger, violet, incense

Sweet and spicy citrus pith and woods(?) open up Tibetan Mountain Temple, TOTALLY ginger-ific, and a fun Gingerbread Man accord. I’m surprised that clove isn’t one of the featured notes and that vanilla or sugar isn’t mentioned either.  I haven’t been to Tibet but have been to McLeodgang in the Himalayas of India where the Dali Lama lives a couple of times. I can smell nothing of my time there in this fragrance so please don’t go buying it for reminiscence sake. It’s like an American dream, totally Disney-ised, of what a Tibetan Mountain Temple might smell like. A lot of its lifespan smells like a heavily cinnamoned pumpkin pie.

Tibetan Mountain Temple Pacifica Pumpkin_Pie WikiMediaPhoto Stolen WikiMedia

Tibetan Mountain Temple becomes a sweet resinous incense that evolves through the wear and a delicious creaminess comes in through the heart that collides perfectly with the clean patchouli. This is a warming fragrance that smells a LOT more expensive than it is.

On Now Smell This the word sophisticated is used referring to Tibetan Mountain Temple and I agree. I bet in blind sniff that no one would guess that this is an uber cheapy, though they may guess it as a very expensive ambient scent.

oliban keiko mecheri Prayer Flags Shawn Allen FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

My longevity is really good, for fully fragrant I get about 1-2 hours and a very soft warm wash that is clearly discernible to me in the morning. It’s not in your face loud but you are fragrant with better sillage than projection. Once you sit for a while though it does fill the space slowly and you may be sitting next to someone for 15 or more minutes before they really notice your scent. Up close and personal though it is a wonderful additive to my own scent and quite delicious.

Further reading: Now Smell This and Female Daily
Scentiments has $30/29ml in Australia
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $4/2ml

Do you have a cheap and cheerful fragrance that you spritz regularly? One that almost none of the perfumistas ever talk about? Share, I love to find new budget loves.

Portia xx

Muguet Fleuri by Oriza L. Legrand 2014

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Hi there Happy Huffers,

Early in 2014 Michael B and I went and visited Hugo and Franck of Oriza L Legrand at their 18 Rue Saint-Augustin, Paris store. We had an excellent time going through their collection with them, having some laughs and I purchased some soaps and a bottle of Jardin d’Armide. The space is gorgeous and chock full of fabulous fragrant delights. Soaps, candles and fine fragrance. Did you know that Oriza L Legrand patented the idea of solid perfume?

Hugo is named as perfumer on Basenotes but I think he is a curator, overseeing the creation process. I may be wrong but that was my impression.

Muguet Fleuri by Hugo Lambert for Oriza L. Legrand 2014

Muguet Fleuri Oriza L. Legrand FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Green leaves, grass, lily-of-the-valley
Heart : Galbanum, angelica, violet leaf, lily-of-the-valley
Base: Lily-of-the-valley, oakmoss, lily

Firstly, what welcome relief, a new niche house that is affordable. Bravo to the boys that they’ve managed to recreate this beautiful old fragrance house and keep their prices down to a very reasonable level. I, and my wallet, thank you boys.

I love the wetness, the cooling and calming feeling of a Lily of the Valley fragrance, dewy and air conditioned. The opening so often feels slightly plastic to me, so perfect as to be unreal if you know what I mean? Cool and slightly mentholated, of grass I get nothing but I get the impression of squeezing the juice our of Aloe Vera plants, that soft, fresh, ultra green oiliness that smells like it could cool the world. Flore by Carolina Herrera has a very similar Lily of the Valley note but in Muguet Fleuri I find it subtle and refreshing, the angelica keeps everything soft focus green and of galbanum my skin throws it as a very background player here, a presence that helps lift and frame the Lily of the Valley.

Muguet Fleuri Oriza L. Legrand Lily_of_the_valley WikipediaPhoto Stolen Wikipedia

It’s excellent to me how they keep the focus so firmly on Lily of the Valley in Muguet Fleuri, one of my favourites in the Lily of the Valley lineup is Muguet de Bois by Coty (yes, I know it’s a shriveled, castrated, bastardised version of itself currently but I still like and wear it), I love the way that Oriza L Legrand makes the scent feel luxurious and refined while creating a thick and luscious fragrance that has a very nice silage for the first hour or so. Fairly linear througfhout its life, there are slight increments of difference and a gradual earthing of the scent towards the end.

Muguet Fleuri Oriza L. Legrand Lily_of_the_valley pots DailyMailUKPhoto Stolen DailyMailUK

If you often, or even sometimes, wish for a fragrance as true to cut Lily of the Valley stems from the florist as possible but still interesting and beautiful then I would send you immediately to try Muguet Fleuri. It does last but only the first two hours are super fragrant, then it hums along quietly as a wash. I find Muguet Fleuri serene, calm, cool and dewy: everything you’d hope for in a fragrance about Lily of the Valley.

Further reading: The Smelly Vagabond and Kafkaesque
First In Fragrance has 90/100ml
Oriza L Legrand has a 20/7 x 2ml Sample Set (delivered worldwide)

Are you a Lily of the Valley fan? Do you have a favourite?
Portia xx

Rosa sur Reuse by Liz Zorn for SOIVOHLE 2012

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Heya Perfume Junkies,

SOIVOHLE (pronounced See-Voh) is an acronym for Sending Out Inspired Vibrations Of Healthy Loving Energy. What an amazing place to start for a fragrance house! Liz Zorn, the nose and also a famous American artist brings a joyful, light filled exuberance to fragrance and being an independent has less regulation than the big boys. Translated, that means when Liz says there is oakmoss in her creation you are getting the good stuff. Many of her fragrances have an old school feel simply because she can use ingredients not seen in fragrance this decade in the retail chains.

Liz is selling off the Mixed Media section of the fragrance business and is going to concentrate on the naturals. I wrote recently about her Alpha Musc and how I was ordering back ups of my two special favourites Rosa sur Reuse and Jasmine Summer. Really I do not want to live without them so I now have an EXTRA backup of Rosa sur Reuse, and the prices are so cheap!!

Rosa sur Reuse by Liz Zorn for SOIVOHLE 2012

Rosa Sur Reuse SoivohlePhoto Stolen SOIVOHLE

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Tuberose, red rose, red berries, parma violet, jasmine, lily, lilac, orchid, oakmoss, vanilla, woody notes, musk

So I write about Rosa sur Reuse fairly regularly on the facebook fragrance boards (Aussie Fragrance Network (Aus) or Facebook Fragrance Friends (USA) are good ones) but haven’t reviewed it on APJ. I don’t know why but I thought I had done a review here…..

We have planted some lovely spicy and jammy smelling small floribunda yellow roses on mum’s grave that seem to need zero care to put forth enormous stems of flowers throughout the season. The brilliant flowers in front are everlasting silk ones that my Aunty changes every season but you can see the sprays growing up the back filled with rosebuds. We were the first at the cemetery to ask if we could plant a garden in mum’s grave in 2001 and since then it has become a bit of a thing. The newer graves all look so bright and lovely and though we would visit Mum regularly anyway it does give us an extra reason and a thing to do while we are there. I must look like a complete MADster doing the gardening, watering, burning incense and Hell Bank Notes and quietly chatting to my Mum the whole time.

Mum's Grave January 2015

Strawberry sweetness like a strawberry cola over a beautiful big jammy rose

The sweetness that opens is the most luscious stylisation of roses ever. Though it’s so much more than a rose smell, that kind of makes Rosa sur Reuse even more photo-realistic. You know when you are smelling roses in the garden? Even roses on the same bush at different times in their bloom or throughout the day will have quite distinctly different fragrances. So in my mind it says, “Maybe there is a moment when a real life rose smells EXACTLY like this.” Intoxicating and beautiful there is no mistaking that you’re wearing a perfume, even one spritz of this EdT is a dense scent, of course when I’m home I give it 2 on the chest and one on each wrist and then I am a WALL OF ROSES! Maybe this is what it smelled like in Sleeping Beauty’s enclosure?

The sleeping beauty (1921) oil on canvas 91.4 x 111.8 cmPhoto Stolen WikiCommons

After the initial fireworks burn off, around the one hour mark, I get a green-ness that speaks to me of fresh cut rose vegetation and maybe even the woody green scent of stem too. It bolsters the fruity rose and gives a new dimension to Rosa sur Reuse. As we head towards dry down, the woods and vanilla move in to replace the fruit with a soft focus warmth but my skin never lets me lose sight of the fact that this is first and foremost a rose soliflore. I get 5-7 hours of wear depending on the day and Rosa sur Reuse stays heavily fragrant until during its last hour it fades to nothing.

SOIVOHLE still has loads of the Clearance Sale items left and you can get 11ml of Rosa sur Reuse for $12.50! While you’re there check out Liz’s other magnificent stuff aty drop dead gorgeous prices.

Portia xx

 

Australian Jasmine Awards to be DISCONTINUED

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NEWS to hand this week. A very sad day for Australian Fragrance Journalism. We are so glad that our very own Ainslie Walker is a Jasmine Award Winner and hoped that some others in the crew could claim like status. Maybe we should start our own Awards APJ, what do you think?
Portia xx

Australian Jasmine Awards to be DISCONTINUED

PRESS RELEASE

January 2015

JASMINE AWARDS TO BE DISCONTINUED

After 10 years of recognising Excellence in Journalism about Fragrance, a decision has been made to discontinue the Australian Jasmine Awards.

Over the past decade, the Jasmine Awards have recognised very creative and distinctive fragrance features and articles from some of the Industry’s most respected journalists. While highly supported in years gone by, changes in the media landscape obligate a new direction
and a refreshed approach to fragrance communication strategies.

Ainslie Walker Jasmine Award 2014#4 cover

Ainslie Walker Jasmine Award 2014#1

The Australian Fragrance industry would like to thank all the former entrants and generous sponsors for their support and contribution to the success of the Jasmine Awards over many years. The industry will continue to work very actively and directly with the Beauty Media and Supporters from print, online and social media, as it always has, to promote the wonderful world of fragrance
and its unique properties for consumers.

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Passport à Paris by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz for DSH Perfumes 2013

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Hi there APJ Crew,

I have been slack, yes a slackard am I, but FINALLY I am getting to a beautiful set that Dawn Spencer Hurwitz sent to me through one of our fabulous APJ writers Willa Zheng. We had coffee and a sniff yesterday afternoon and she reminded me that I had to write up the DSH stuff immediately. So when I first sniffed the package here is the one that took my breath away immediately and I LOVE Paris, match made in heaven

Passport à Paris by Dawn Spencer Hurwitz for DSH Perfumes 2013

Passport à Paris DSH Perfumes FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Lemon, bergamot, lavender, palisander rosewood, mandarin orange, jasmine, Bulgarian rose, orris root, clover, Australian sandalwood, amber, vanilla, coumarin, ambergris, Indian patchouli, civet

From DSH Perfumes site: My fragrant ode to two perfume greats of Paris, circa 1885: Jicky and Fougere Royale. Inspired by Claude Monet’s “The Beach at Trouville”, this universal perfume could be worn by both men and women on their holiday as well as about town. Passport a` Paris utilizes aroma molecules vanillin and coumarin. considered quite modern at the time.

Sur les planches de Trouville oil on canvas 50 x 70 cmPhoto Stolen WikiCommons

Lovely, deep, burnished woods and resins lift off with a citrus side order. It must be Paris in spring or summer because while Passport à Paris is all of these beautiful things there is a dark and funky undertone. Through reading the notes I find that lavender is the component that I could smell but not identify, though now I know what it is I am smacking my head. Of course it is, a lightly sugared and vanilla’d lavender that is both charmingly warm and very slightly minty cool, a happy juxtaposition that keeps me on the edge of my nose wondering which way it will fall.

One of the lovely things Jin & I did in Paris in 2013 was have a hot chocolate banana waffle under the big Ferris Wheel, there is something here of that happy memory. The beauty, majesty, cool air and hot waffle: both cake and crispy caramelisation, the squished banana and drizzled chocolate. Jin was in heaven and when I had a little bit I could understand how happy he was in that instant, it was such a pure and unsullied moment that I had to capture it. One of those “God, I love him” snippets of time.

Jin Waffle ParisJin eating hot choc-banana waffle Paris Feb ’13

So while I can make out the correlation between Jicky and Fougere Royal what I smell when I’m wearing  Passport à Paris is my own special shared moment.

For those fiercely anti-natural you may find Passport à Paris, though full of courmarin and vanillin, to feel a little like the heft and deeper lay of a natural. This could never be confused with a mass market fragrance offering and I think Dawn never wanted it to. This is a beautiful, tonal, mesmerising fragrance that feels like it is still in touch with the earth and the power of natural perfumery. I love the soft, furry, powdery dry down too. What a beautiful ending, around 5-6 hours till I can smell no more…..

DSH Perffumes have EdP (which I reviewed) and Parfum strengths starting at only $5

Are you a Dawn Spencer Hurwitz fan? Do you have a favourite? Maybe you’ve tried Passport à Paris, what were your impressions?
Portia xxxx

Tubereuse Criminelle by Christopher Sheldrake for Serge Lutens 1999

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 17 Comments

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Post by Trésor

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Have you ever in your life encountered a fragrance which so emphatically mirrors your personality to the point that it seems to capture your very essence within those precious drops of sacred aromatic dew? I feel incredibly lucky to say that I have. From start to finish, this wicked brew embodies my identity in a way which no other fragrance I’ve experienced truly has. From the incipient beryl glow to depths of the exquisite drydown, it seems to manifest “me” and coincidentally enough was the very first bottle of niche fragrance I’ve ever bought for myself (unsniffed, no less!). You already know from the title which fragrance I am speaking of, the inimitable Tubereuse Criminelle from our dear friend, Uncle Serge Lutens.

Tubereuse Criminelle by Christopher Sheldrake for Serge Lutens 1999

Tubereuse Criminelle Serge Lutens FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords in one line:
Jasmine, orange blossom, hyacinth, tuberose, nutmeg, clove, styrax, musk, vanilla

The opening sequence of Tubereuse Criminelle is perhaps my favourite in the entirety of perfume and also what’s come to be one of the most polarizing among the fragrance community. On my skin the inaugural fusillade is a breathtakingly intense bravura of jasmine petals which have been profoundly doused in densely mentholated gasoline. I’m often told I am rather strange for this, but I absolutely adore the smell of gasoline so this entire progression is a bit euphoric to me. I relate to this genesis so deeply because I feel her and I are so much the same in this way, just a little off the beaten path.

Tubereuse Criminelle Serge Lutens Cold_Wind MizuSasori DeviantArtPhoto Stolen DeviantArt

Upon occasion I sense the slightest hologram of orange blossom but if I am being absolutely honest with you I have never been sure if it’s actually there or if I am imagining it simply because it’s included on the list of notes. Beneath the icy petrol fumes lay a tuberose, one who’s beauty beguiles me and leaves me breathless. You can detect every facet, every single atom of her velvet white petals and the narcotic ambrosia bleeding from within. This is, in my opinion, the most beautiful realization of tuberose I have found within a fragrance and worth every ounce of praise it receives.

Tubereuse Criminelle Serge Lutens Folson St Mendolous Shank FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

As the composition progresses something quite fascinating begins to happen, the tuberose seems to further and further meld with the skin but never loses the depth, splendour and unadulterated hypnotism that drew me in so close before. Around about the fifth hour on my skin I can detect just the most delicate tendrils of softly spiced vanilla rising off of my skin. The note is not confectionary in any way, shape or form but a beautifully Lutens-esque vision of a skinscent that leads the way into Tubereuse Criminelle’s final breath on the skin.

Tubereuse Criminelle Serge Lutens Flower Bomb Tree WikiCommonsPhoto Stolen WikiCommons

This isn’t a fragrance that wears a terribly long time on my skin, about 5-6 hours, usually and the sillage is quite moderate. Though not incredibly long, the journey is magnificent and I wouldn’t trade a second of it for the world. From the initial glacial zephyr which greets you to her intimate swan song, Tubereuse Criminelle remains a study in the paradoxical nature that defines the very best of the offerings from the house of Serge Lutens.

Further reading: Olfactoria’s Travels and Australian Perfume Junkies
MeccaCosmetica has $166/50ml (in Australia)
Serge Lutens had €166/75ml
My Perfume Samples start at $3.50/ml up to $10.50/5ml

Have you fallen under the Tubereuse Criminelle spell?
Trésor x

Fidji by Guy Laroche

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 26 Comments

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Post by Azar

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Hi APJ,

Sometimes it is difficult for me to keep an open mind about a new fragrance. I become so attached to my familiar favorites that I tend to create a set of almost moral value judgments regarding what is “good” or “bad” about a perfume. As a result I don’t step out of my fragrance comfort zone long enough to expand my horizons. Whenever this starts to happen I remind myself of the day I discovered Fidji.

Fidji by Josephine Catapano for Guy Laroche 1966

Fidji Guy Laroche FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Iris, galbanum, hyacinth, lemon, bergamot, tuberose
Heart: Carnation, rose, jasmine, violet, ylang-ylang, cloves, aldehydes, spices, orris
Base: Musk, patchouli, sandalwood, amber, vetiver, oakmoss, resins

In 1975 (or so) my ex and I arranged a ski vacation for the two of us and several friends to Cervinia, the resort on the Italian side of the Matterhorn (Monte Cervino). Our “crowd”, a group of skiers from Tehran, was used to the high and powdery slopes of Dezin (3,600 m) and to the steep, icy, difficult runs of nearby Shemshak. Cervinia, with its long, easy and open pistes at altitudes of up to 3,833 m, seemed like great fun and the perfect ski destination. Counter to expectations, we arrived to an unseasonably warm January in Italy. While the snow was abundant, if a bit soggy on the upper slopes, we had to negotiate rocks and even patches of grass as we approached the base. But all was not lost! We headed for the restaurants, discos and shops. It was there in the mountains, in a small boutique on a snow-covered corner of Cervinia that I met and fell madly for the perfume love of my life, Guy Laroche Fidji.

Fidji Guy Laroche Cervina Italy Fidji Guy Laroche Cervina Italy Leosetä FlickrPhoto Stolen Flickr

My first impression of Fidji was shocking and green. I had been brought up on various Lanvin, as well as on Shalimar and Jungle Gardenia. My Persian perfume oils were all roses, jasmine and musks from the bazaars of Tehran and Mashhad.

Fidji‘s top notes of galbanum and hyacinth, while totally Persian in character and production, combined with what I later learned was bergamot and lemon to create a scent so fresh and sharp that it was almost painful and nearly took my breath away. I was stunned and didn’t like it at all. I purchased a brown cashmere sweater and a ski “suit” and left the shop, compulsively sniffing my wrist.

As the perfume dried down in the cold mountain air I was warmed and seduced by jasmine, rose, ylang ylang and a spicy carnation. Later that afternoon I returned to the shop and purchased my first of many 14 ml Fidji parfums. As we danced the night away at the local clubs I could still detect the initial touch of my new fragrance lingering as musk and oakmoss.

Fidji Guy Laroche French Parfum Ad FragranticaPhoto Stolen Fragrantica

Further reading: Perfume Shrine and Yesterdays Perfume
FragranceNet has EdT $40/50ml before coupon
Surrender To Chance has samples starting at $3/ml

My initial reaction to and enjoyment of this scent has never faded. This morning when I opened my parfum, I was once again magically transported to Cervinia in the 1970’s. My romance with Fidji is created entirely from my own experience.

Which vintage fragrance has a story you remember every time you smell it?

Azar X

This is a revised, shorter version of a Fidji review Azar wrote for The Fragrant Man