Just give him the oh-la-la... Frederic Malle French Lover

Review by Denyse Beaulieu (Carmencanada). This week, Denyse's new book, Sex Game Book: A Cultural History of Sexuality, is coming out in France and the United States. To read more about it, please visit assoulineusa.com. French readers, please go to assoulinefrance.com. His dark, brooding looks. His slightly scruffy, might-have-tumbled-out-of-bed chic. His argumentative intellectualism. His consummate mastery of the art of the “cinq-à-sept”, the late afternoon assignation for a “sieste crapuleuse” (the English translation, “dirty siesta”, doesn’t quite convey its charm)… There’s nothing like a French lover – take it from a girl who’s spent the last twenty misspent years of her life in Paris, and sampled an extensive number of nationalities from several continents. Even in a professional context, a French man will never let you forget you’re a woman, and he fully expects the courtesy to be reciprocated. Somehow this seldom slides into the discomfort zone: the French language allows considerable finesse in the seduction game. It is to this subtle subtext of erotic tension that Frédéric Malle’s new scent, French Lover, pays tribute. Pierre Bourdon’s extra-dry, aromatic chypre, touted as “the ultimate man fragrance”, never quite forgets its virility, without ever straying into macho after-shave territory. Which isn’t to say it can’t be pulled off by a woman. But from the first, warm burst of pimento and clove notes, this just says “man”. Its inspiration is meant to be the archetypal Gallic seducer portrayed by the French 60s actor Maurice Ronet, seen in the classic film noir Ascenseur pour l’échafaud (known as Elevator to the Scaffold or Frantic in the USA), directed by Frédéric Malle’s own uncle, Louis Malle, in 1958, to a chic score by Miles Davis. The name itself, which has already drawn a fair amount of flak, was reportedly uttered by an American woman friend of Frédéric Malle’s, when she smelled a try-out formula: “Oh. French Lover.” Take it with a smile, a grain of salt and, as Cole Porter would say, “just give him the oh-la-la”… Despite its having been initially conceived as an amped-up version of Jean-Claude Ellena’s slightly melancholy Angéliques sous la pluie — the delicate nature of the scent, says Malle, couldn’t withstand such treatment — French Lover’s angelica note isn’t prominent; its marriage to incense doesn’t recall Creed’s sexually ambiguous Angélique Encens (1933). Unlike other classic masculine chypres, such as Chanel pour Monsieur (1955), with its neroli opening, and Guerlain Derby (1985) with its floral, carnation-laden heart, French Lover is totally devoid of floral notes: even its iris, which Pierre Bourdon treated masterfully in Iris Poudre, hasn’t got a speck of powder. The pimento-incense accord, infused with a touch of tobacco, pervades the scent from start to finish: on the spray card, it’s still going strong after 48 hours. Galbanum, vetiver and tree moss lend a green, earthy undercurrent; after several hours’ wear, the drydown settles into a slightly ambery, still peppery skin scent that would lend itself better to feminine wear… Though the Frédéric Malle website lists musks in the notes, Osmoz lists several ambergris substitutes such as trimofix, ambroxan and karanal. Googling « karanal », one learns that it is either “the epitome of power on Gaeleth” or a synthetic amber: Luca Turin likens it to Saint-Elmo’s fire, “the smell of high tension”. Trimofix, according to our fellow blogger Mimi Froufrou from The Scented Salamander, is an “amber woody note with vetiver and smoky tobacco nuances”. Ambroxan is yet another ambergris substitute with overtones of labdanum, wet paper and cedar. Blended cedar wood and patchouli, also listed as notes, lend their dark-brown depth to the base, yet somehow never conjure an oriental composition. Though this is indeed the scent of a man, I would consider wearing French Lover in searing heat – fighting fire with fire, as it were, with the hot pimento and the fierce dryness of vetiver. I would also consider carrying a bit off the skin of the eponymous French lover after a tussle… Did I say fighting fire with fire? Image: Maurice Ronet, from festival-larochelle.org

Perfume Review: Parfums MDCI

Just when one thinks that the concept of Exclusivity has been taken to the level of impossible, along comes a company and proves that nothing is impossible in the world of très chic and ultra-niche. Today Ina and I are talking about Parfums MDCI. MDCI is a small French company built on the excellent idea that “fine fragrances should be an art more than an industry, a source of pleasure, pride and beauty more than a commodity.” MDCI finds its inspiration in the period of Renaissance and strives to create “modern evocations” of the precious objects kept in Galerie d’Apollon in the Louvre, in Musei dei Uffizzi, in the Schatzkammer in Vienna, in the collections of the Medicis and the Sun King. The exquisite flacons contain fragrances created by Pierre Bourdon, Stéphanie Bakouche and Francis Kurdjian, who were given absolute freedom of creation and no cost limit (“only the very highest quality, the best origins have been used, none of controversial animal origin implying suffering or fragilization of a specie”). The only requirement was not “to try to please the greatest possible number, never to imitate or follow the day’s trend or fashion.” Pierre Bourdon and Stéphanie Bakouche created the two masculine scents and Francis Kurkdjian the three feminine scents in the collection. Pierre Bourdon’s scent, PB2241, was meant “to incarnate strength, power, wealth, and the conflicting feelings inspired by the severe but beautiful portrait crowning the men's flacon”. It starts bracing and strong, as forceful and audacious as the man who can afford to wear MDCI most probably should be to be able to afford it. The beginning is bright with bergamot, tangy with ginger, it has a cool, herbal-green undertone, the chilliness of lavender and on the whole is undeniably Manly and rather reminiscent of quite a lot of traditionally, powerfully masculine fragrances. After a while, the cold freshness subsides and I can smell some leather and lots of gorgeous, sweet sandalwood. Ginger, vanilla, lavender and amber ornament the wood beautifully, making the blend somewhat evocative of Chanel’s Egoiste, only less sweet, less “exotic”. I can’t believe I dare to say such a thing about a scent created by the legendary Bourdon, but PB2241, as luxurious as it smells, lacks some sort of a twist, something “modern” to balance the “traditional”. Notes: bergamot, grapefruit, pineapple, melon, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg ginger, basil, thyme, lavender, oak moss, vetiver, sandalwood, rosewood, leather, Darjeeling tea, amber, musk, vanilla, jasmine and violet. I was very curious about SB1, a masculine scent created by Stéphanie Bakouche. A young woman perfumer was given a carte blanche to create a men’s scent, what would she do, what would be her dream masculine fragrance? It turns out, Mlle Bakouche and yours truly day-dream about the same sort of man. He has elegance, warmth and depth. Unlike the man of Bourdon’s creation, he is understated, he does not emanate power and obvious wealth, but his charisma is undeniable. The scent juxtaposes the freshness of citrus fruits, lavender and spices with the warmth of vanilla and wood…a concept similar to Bourdon’s, yet resulting in an entirely different fragrance. This is a quiet, cuddly composition, slightly powdery with violet, sweetly piquant with cardamom. A beautiful scent for a soulful, sensitive (and probably non-existent) man, it can very easily be worn by a woman. Notes: grapefruit, bergamot, violet leaves, white thyme, cardamom, lavender, ginger, cedarwood, vanilla and musk. Francis Kurkdjian’s first creation for MDCI, 1182/K1, is a scent "Pour le jour", “a classical and refined "oriental floral”. On my skin, it is surprisingly reminiscent of my beloved Attrape-Coeur, only fresher, with less of that dirty amber I love in the Guerlain’s creation and with a pleasantly candied, vaguely fruity undertone. The citrusy top is juicy and playful, a sunny accord of sugary citrus fruits. From there the blend moves on in the floral direction, into the creamy embrace of ylang-ylang balanced by the airy headiness of jasmine. The base is still fairly Attrape-Coeur-esque, its sandalwood velvety and sweetened by vanilla. A wonderfully pretty scent that smells like it would be a somewhat cheaper alternative to Attrape-Coeur but is actually way, way more expensive. Notes: mandarin, lemon, ylang-ylang, jasmine, sandalwood, tonka bean and vanilla. 1096/FK2 is, according to MDCI, “all pink” or “all rose”, a woodsy floral for soft moments ("moments doux”). This is the scent for the young daughter of the man from PB2241. The heiress is surprisingly unspoiled, sweet-natured, and still a little childish. With her wavy blonde hair, big blue eyes and porcelain skin, she is as pretty as a picture on a vintage ad for lipsticks and powder. The perfume is tender and fresh, truly the vision in all pink: pink peonies, pink roses, and pink fruits, with just a hint of purple from soft violets. It is as far removed from the kind of scents that I like as it can possibly be, but it is undeniably attractive. The fans of romantic, airy, girly florals would adore FK2. Notes: litchi, peony, hawthorn, Moroccan and Turkish roses, violet, cedar, musk and vetiver. 0442/FK3, described as an oriental floral, "Parure pour le soir” (ornament for the evening) is my favorite from the line. It is just the kind of floral that I love, the floral with a spicy twist, with the woody warmth, with the dark depth of patchouli. Jasmine is the star note in the composition; it is evident in the top notes, where it is made sweetly-piquant by the blend of citrus and what I would swear is cardamom; in the heart it is indolent, luxurious, aided and abetted by the sensual tuberose and the languid ylang-ylang… and in the base it is the most attractive of all, its dazzling beauty shining the brightest on the nocturnal background of patchouli, vetiver and sandalwood. I find FK3 to be somewhat similar to Indult Isvaraya; Kurkdjian seems to like the contrast of white florals, woods and spices as much as I do. Since there is no chance at all that I will ever be able to afford FK3, I will be pinning my hopes on eventually getting a bottle of Isvaraya instead. FK3 notes: bergamot, mandarin, ylang-ylang, jasmine sambac, tuberose, rose, wallflower, patchouli, sandalwood, vanilla and vetiver. I must confess that I don’t know the cost of MDCI scents. The site is discreetly silent on the subject and I felt it would be just too obviously un-chic of me to actually raise the question in my email exchange with the very charming Claude Marchal. The rumor has it that we talking of thousands of euros for crystal flacons (eat your heart out, Jar) and of hundreds for refills. According to the site, “the crystal flacons are presented empty in a hand-made, silk-lined jewel-box” and come with two 60 ml aluminum refills holding the fragrance chosen by a customer from the five scents I described above. Refills are also available to order, however you would have to be a registered holder of at least one crystal flacon or a “legitimate person expressly designated by one” to buy a refill. MDCI flacons are signed, numbered and accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. Each flacon is decorated with a gilded bronze ring, which by special order can be made of solid 18 carat gold or engraved. In other words, the flacons seem to be as -or perhaps even more- important as the juice they contain. I have not had the pleasure to see one in real life, but they do look like they are worth the price. The scents on their own…probably not. For more information on the perfumes, flacons and on how to order, contact Parfums MDCI, Tel.: 01 41 44 01 93, E-mail: ParfumsMDCIparis@free.fr Please visit Aromascope to read Ina’s impressions of the scents! The images are from parfumsmdci.free.fr.

Perfume Review: Shiseido Feminite du Bois

Created for Shiseido by Serge Lutens, Christopher Sheldrake and Pierre Bourdon in 1992, Féminité du Bois revived the interest in woody notes in women's perfumes and launched a thousand other woody-oriental fragrances, including Les Eaux Boisées from Serge Lutens’s Les Salons du Palais Royal collection*. Féminité du Bois is centered around a cedarwood note that stays present from the top to the base notes. Combined with the dark fruitiness of peach and plum, the sweetness of honey, the ripeness of roses, the spiciness of cinnamon and clove, and the smoothness of sandalwood, cedar shows its feminine, warm, extremely sensual side. Like Bois des Iles, this is one of those scents in which I feel most “at home”, and I suppose in a way it is a comfort scent for me. Having said that, Féminité du Bois is not soft and cuddly. It is a hearty scent, darkly sweet and robust. It makes me think of Painting, 1944 by Clyfford Still, with its black vastness slashed by a serrated red line. Féminité du Bois has the same abstract forcefulness; like the colors in Painting, the notes here are applied “thickly”, like slabs of paint thrown at the canvas with a palette knife. I can only describe Féminité du Bois as “exquisitely robust”; generous and full-bodied as it is, the fragrance is incredibly well blended, and is one of the most sophisticated scents that I know. Féminité du Bois is available in a variety of forms, including Parfum, Eau de Parfum, Eau Timide (a more delicate version of the scent which “softens your skin with water-fresh moisture”, a good option if you find the regular version a little too intense), Parfum Stylo, Too Heavenly Body Cream (indeed a heavenly treat, moisturizing and very true to the scent, I would recommend to all the fans of Féminité, if you can find it), Mist Emulsion Body Veil, and Deodorant Body Spray…And now the bad news…As far as I understand, Shiseido does not export Féminité du Bois to the US, consequently, it is rather hard to find. Right now it seems to be available at Perfumemart.com, $90.00 for 1.6oz of Eau de Parfum. It also sometimes pops up on eBay, but is never cheap even there. *Apart from Les Eaux Boisées (Bois et Fruits, Bois et Musc, Bois Oriental, Bois de Violette), among other scents undoubtedly inspired by Féminité du Bois are Miller & Bertaux Eau de Parfum # 1 For You, Guerlain Aromaparfum Exaltant, and Delrae Bois de Paradis. **The painting is Painting, 1944 by Clyfford Still, Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Féminité du Bois ad is from shiseido.co.jp.

Pinup No 2: Iris Poudre by Frederic Malle

The description on Frederic Malle site portrays Iris Poudre as a "raw classical beauty"; I respectfully disagree. Beauty- undoubtedly, classical- yes, perhaps more classical than modern, raw- not at all. For raw, rooty iris may I recommend you try Jean-Claude Ellena's Bois d'Iris. Iris Poudre is a pampered iris, grown in the most luxurious surroundings, a spoiled, coddled and cherished belle. Iris Poudre is a warm, sweet, dark-golden scent; aldehydes don't bother me here at all, I will go so far as to say that they are practically a no-show, to my nose’s delight. I love the musk note in the drydown, it brings a hint of “animalic” to the whole composition, adding a certain sensuality and a risqué feel to what otherwise could have been a rather tame albeit imposing perfume. I must add that, despite the name, the fragrance is not powdery at all, on my skin. Iris Poudre demands to be worn in cold weather, accessorized with cashmere (but of course!), or in any weather at all for a posh evening out. It may also deign to help you out and make you feel like you are comfortably sitting in the very lap of luxury, even if you are at the moment dressed in your old pajamas. Then again, it may not. In an interview, Pierre Bourdon revealed that his favorite artistic style is the period between impressionism and fauvism, characterized by a balance between figurative interpretation and transcendental reality. I apologize to M. Bourdon for not perceiving his wonderful Iris Poudre as one of the paintings of that period. To me, this scent is an idealized version of what a beautiful woman should look like, a stunning pinup. To illustrate my point, please take a closer look at these paintings by Elvgren, Vargas and Runci. Each of those stunners looks the way Iris Poudre smells. Iris Poudre is available from Editions de Parfum or Barneys, $160.00 for 100ml *Painting No 1 - Suzette by Gil Elvgren; Painting No 2 – Beauty by Alberto Vargas; Painting No 3 – Sheer Delight by Edward Runci