They call me Lola.
Lola Lola (Marlen Dietrich),
Der Blaue Engel
Lola Lola (Marlen Dietrich),
Der Blaue Engel
Whenever I smell Fracas, the line from Raymond Chandler's Farewell My Lovely comes to my mind: "It was a blonde. A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained glass window." Fracas is an olfactory equivalent of a stunning, strong-willed, supremely confident, sharply dressed blonde; to me, it is one of the olfactory portraits of Marlene Dietrich who, according to Jan Moran, did in fact wear Fracas.
Fracas starts deceivingly low-key on my skin, almost citrusy, gradually the scents becomes sweeter and sweeter, the fragrance gathers momentum, with the orange blossom note heralding the arrival of the queen tuberose…and suddenly there she is, immense tubéreuse rose à bandes orange (Luca Turin), in all her carnal glory. Tuberose takes the limelight and puts all other notes into the shade, even the usually equally ferocious ones, jasmine and gardenia. The only note able to stand up to tuberose is, unexpectedly, lily of the valley, that note is like a cold silvery streak running through the creamy, luscious middle stage of the perfume. The drydown is vaguely mossy and slightly animalic (musky) to my nose.
I am a self-confessed white floral hater, but I adore Fracas. It is a grand scent, a diva, a heady, incredibly sensual perfume, tuberose extraordinaire, and yet it fails to intimidate me. I feel I can actually pull it off. Granted, I need an occasion to wear it, and I have to be dressed to the nines, in an uncluttered and flamboyant Piguet style, but when I do… just call me Lola.
Fracas is available at Nordstom Online, $65.00-$190.00
Fracas starts deceivingly low-key on my skin, almost citrusy, gradually the scents becomes sweeter and sweeter, the fragrance gathers momentum, with the orange blossom note heralding the arrival of the queen tuberose…and suddenly there she is, immense tubéreuse rose à bandes orange (Luca Turin), in all her carnal glory. Tuberose takes the limelight and puts all other notes into the shade, even the usually equally ferocious ones, jasmine and gardenia. The only note able to stand up to tuberose is, unexpectedly, lily of the valley, that note is like a cold silvery streak running through the creamy, luscious middle stage of the perfume. The drydown is vaguely mossy and slightly animalic (musky) to my nose.I am a self-confessed white floral hater, but I adore Fracas. It is a grand scent, a diva, a heady, incredibly sensual perfume, tuberose extraordinaire, and yet it fails to intimidate me. I feel I can actually pull it off. Granted, I need an occasion to wear it, and I have to be dressed to the nines, in an uncluttered and flamboyant Piguet style, but when I do… just call me Lola.
Fracas is available at Nordstom Online, $65.00-$190.00
Fracas is one of my absolute favorite fragrances, and the one that really reconciled me to white florals in general & tuberose more specifically. Even La Chasse had too much tuberose for me the first time I smelled it, but after Fracas, I can take anything ;-)
ReplyDeleteWould you believe it, R, if I said that I find it more werable than La Chasse too? :-) But I do. Fracas is so over the top and everything, but it is a great composition and surpsisingly very smooth one. I heart Fracas :-)
ReplyDeleteN, you are so right, it *is* a red lipstick of the perfume world, how well said!!
ReplyDeleteVikochka, we aim to please :-))
ReplyDeleteHow I loved your review of Bois de Paradis!
Well, if I wasn't all covered in wonderful DSH oil samples, I would have worn Bois de Paradis in honor, V. :-)
ReplyDeleteDear Shychai, when you do try Fracas, please let me know what is it like in comparison to tuberose concrete. As for the solid Fracas at Lusciouscargo *covers ears* I am not listening, lead me not into temptation...:-)
ReplyDeleteI used to live in the city and wear Fracas everyday, even to the gym (I'm sure to the horror of other gym goers). I wore it so much that I forgot how powerful of a scent it is. I live in the country now and am attracted to mellower perfumes like Musc Maori, Monyette and Kai. I kinda miss the Fracas girl. I should bust it out one night and give these mountain hippies a run for their money!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I got to try Fracas, because I finally understand how people can hate PoTL Luctor et Emergo. See, LeE is one of my all-time favorites, and I could never quite understand how anyone wouldn't love it. And then I tried on Fracas. Twice, just to be sure I wasn't crazy. But no, sure enough, I smell like the world's most potent, headache-inducing gardenia bush. There's some sort of cleaning product sitting nearby, and I think there might be a funeral parlor in the picture too. I'm not quite sure because I had to wash it off after 1.5 hours both times. (And I only sprayed once! I didn't even overspray like I usually do.)
ReplyDeleteBut it's helpful, because I get it now! Fracas is one of those perfumes where I sadly just don't get the swoon everyone else seems to. :(