Getting to know Baghari was like falling in love with someone who looked a little like a person you adored years ago, like recognizing familiar, beloved features on an entirely new face. The moment I smelled the sparkly powder of Baghari's aldehydes, I felt at ease and at home. I knew this scent even if I have never encountered it before. It wasn't the familiarity of a derivative fragrance, no, the scent had the recognizable feel of a classic. Baghari, with its sugared violets and roses, adds a touch of gourmand-craving modernity to the elegant lines of a time-honored floral-aldehydic, but does so judiciously and tastefully, adopting the new scent for the slightly sweeter tastes of a great-granddaughter of the woman who used to wear Chanel No 22 (which was the beloved I recognized in Baghari), Liu and the original Baghari.
Concerning the latter, I own and treasure a sample, which is quite old. Time practically erased the supposedly bright top notes of aldehydes and citruses, and started its inexorable process on the creamy heart, so what I am left with is the dark, dirty base. But it seems to me that to know that base alone is to know one of the main differences between the old and the new Baghari. The reissued composition lacks the earthiness and the animalic muskiness of its more sensual predecessor. Still, unlike some of the recent re-releases, the new Baghari is recognizable if not as an exact replica (let's face it, with different materials and different - or more! - guidelines, that is practically impossible) then at least as a direct descendant of the 1950 creation. With its sumptuous bouquet of sunny neroli, ripe, nectarous rose and jasmine and sweet, powdery violet and iris, and a languid, expansive feel of the composition, Baghari stays true to the grand and insolent spirit of the rest of the Piguet collection. I imagine the glamorous Fracas and the daring, impossibly sophisticated Bandit surprising themselves by feeling unexpectedly fond and strangely protective of this youthful reincarnation of their long-gone sister.I will review the latest additions to the Piguet line, the newly reissued Visa and Cravache, on Friday.
Baghari is available on Amazon
, among other places, $65.00 for 1.7oz, $95.00 for 3.4oz.Image sources, imgmodels.com (the picture of the beautiful Sasha Pivovarova), amazon.com.
I can't wait to hear your thought on Friday. I remember liking Baghari very much when I tried it last year (in passing at Neiman's). Must try it again! I can see owning all three Piguet fragrances...or perhaps all five? ;-)
ReplyDeleteP,
ReplyDeleteAll 5! 4 for you, 1, Cravache, for Mr Greeneyes (and for you to borrow) :-)
You know what I'm gonna do now, right? I'm gonna go sniff it tomorrow and will report later.
ReplyDeleteIna,
ReplyDeleteAnd you know what I think will eventually happen :-P
I hope you do re-sniff it tomorrow and that you do love it too!
You have Visa and Cravache!?! Soooo jealous!!
ReplyDeleteI just wish it would zoom straight to the basenotes - as March'll testify, this is one scent that makes my face wrinkle up... Too many aldehydes... It's not a judgement; it's a much more primitive reaction than that.
ReplyDeleteHowever, very excited to hear about the re-releases...
Oh, Marina, this one sounds so me. Bandit sounded so me too, and it IS.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I'm wearing MPG Magnolia Pourpre, which I love, and it's all your fault. :-)
I think the new Baghari is lovely, if not quite "me." I have a decant and dab it on periodically. I can imagine the base in the old one -- swoon!
ReplyDeleteI can't remember which, but one of the new rereleases sounds great.
And yes, Lee made a TERRIBLE face when smelling it in London. Clearly not his cup of tea.
Tom,
ReplyDeleteYou will too :-)
Lee,
ReplyDeleteHow do you feel about other aldehydes, like Chanel No 5 or 22? Same reaction or is it just Baghari?
Maria,
ReplyDeleteI can't accept the blame for Magnolia Pourpre, I've never reviewed it :-) But I am so glad you like it, it is so gorgeous.
March,
ReplyDeleteI am trying to think which one of the new ones you might like...hard to tell, Cravache would be a safer bet, I think, but you never know.
I never tried the original of this. The reissue was absolutely lovely on a friend of mine (who bought it, as she should have), but didn't quite work on me. It came out too citrusy (as many things do):(. I have tried--and liked--the original Visa and Cravache, so I am eager to read your review. Not as eager, however, as I am to hear what happened to Lancome Cuir. Any news on that?
ReplyDeleteJudith,
ReplyDeleteI wrote to Lancome, asking when Cuir will come to the States. Here is the response:
"Lancôme does not currently have plans to reintroduce the fragrance "Cuir"."
:-D
I guess OsMoz and others dreamed up the information and the pictures:
http://tinyurl.com/2wcc8k
I struggle with aldehydes though I do like White Linen, Arpege and Caleche which I think I'm right in saying have aldehydes? I don't get along with Chanel No 5 but can see the beauty in No 22. I suspect this might not rock my boat but I am eagerly awaiting both your review and the scent itself - Visa! Has my name on it! Like Bandit does.
ReplyDeleteI know someone who compares the aldehydes of of Baghari being most similar to Caleche. This really is a lovely winner and is on my to buy list. The dry has a strange faint hint of cinnamon on me that I think must come from the combination of amber and something else. On me this takes on on an almost heliotrope quality that I love mixed with the gentle aldehydes. So far the Piguet I can wear.
ReplyDeleteNicola,
ReplyDeleteIf you are fine with the scents you listed, then you don't struggle with aldehydes, I think. :-) Because those 3 are quite aldehyde-y. But because Baghari reminds me a little of No 22 and I suppose of No 5 too, maybe it won't be to your liking.
Jenavira,
ReplyDeleteThen (re: likeness to Caleche), maybe Nicola (comment above yours) will like Baghari too.
So far I've liked every Piguet I've smelled, but it might be that I like this one the most, more even than Fracas...
Well, those Osmoz people have a lot of imagination. They showed us in Paris how they have an island on one of those virtual reality sites (I am too old to remember the name:) So maybe this is a virtual perfume!:)
ReplyDeleteJudith,
ReplyDeleteA virtual perfume...that would an ultimate exclusive :-)
hahaa! Maybe I am on the verge of another conversion then! (I had one over white flowers). Thanks Marina and Jenavira, very interesting. And btw, I was so looking forward to Lancome's Cuir - now like a lot of folks I guess I'm confused.
ReplyDeleteNicola,
ReplyDeleteWhat Cuir? :-) According to Lancome, there is no reissued Cuir. Tee hee.
I've never smelled the original version of this, but when I tried Baghari last year at NM, I fell for it immediately. Of course, I have a "thing" for floral aldehydes in general, but this one was a real winner for me. It feels quite elegant, but not *too* well-bred - somehow I feel ready to have a good time when I wear it. :-D
ReplyDeleteA,
ReplyDelete"not too well-bred" is Piguet's thing perfume-wise, isn't it? And I mean it as a huge compliment. That's what makes them alluring. I so need a bottle of this too :-)
PS. OK, well Cravache is actually rather well-bred.
Baghari is so beautifully done, and I feel guilty that it just does absolutely nothing whatsoever for me. The two new ones may turn out the same way, can't decide yet, although so far I do like Visa better than Baghari. But nothing can top Fracas & Bandit in my affections...
ReplyDeleteR,
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you like Visa! It might be too sweet and robust even for me, I haven't made up my mind yet. It is certainly very beautiful.
Oh...I crave sugared violets,lavender buds and rose petals....My sister brings them home for me from a la Reine Astrid in Paris on occasion, and they are truly intoxicating. A fragrance with those notes is far too tempting for me to ever resist! I love Fracas, and am looking forward to meeting Baghari. Thank you Marina for so generously feeding my perfume addiction with your ever gorgeous prose!
ReplyDeleteBeth,
ReplyDeleteThank YOU so much for you kid words!
I hope you love Baghari too. I think you will.