In Which I Am Hard to Please

It is difficult to please me with fruity scents, because, and I will freely admit it, my set of rules keeps changing. Ordinarily, I would maintain that the less fruit the better. So I feel bad saying what I am about to say regarding Parfums Delrae's new perfume, Emotionelle...It is too perfumey, and the "perfumey" part does not let me enjoy the delicious juiciness of melon in full. Don't get me wrong, I think, the scent is sublime. It is gracefully delicate and intense at the same time. The "perfumey" part is, I suppose, constituted of cedar, vetiver, labdanum and spices...I was tempted to write, cumin, but I might be making it up. Imagine Diorama, Diorella or Le Parfum de Therese, imagine that very specific, very recognizable something that most if not all Edmond Roudnitska's creations have. Something perfumey and dirty, and I mean both as a compliment. And add to that E. Roundnitska base a lot of melon. A LOT of melon. (Yes, the three scents I mentioned already have some anyway.) Basically, I would describe Michele Roudnitska's Emotionelle as equal parts melon and Edmond Roudnistka. And - it pains me to type this - in this particular instance, I wish there was less of the latter here. So much perfumey-ness just does not go with so much melon, in my humble opinion. SOME melon, as in Le Parfum de Therese, for example, is a perfect, playful, joie de vivre twist that puts a smile on a chic face of the maitre's compositions. But when there is a lot of both the fruit and the chic perfuminess, it just does not work for me. I guess, because I love melon so, if there is a lot of it in a fragrance, that is ALL I want to smell in a fragrance. Not so with peaches. Having gone on about how there is too much perfume in Emotionelle, I feel awkward criticizing MDCI's Peche Cardinal for not being perfumey enough. But there you have it. It is not. It is too peachy. Peachy is childish, too girly, invariably smells too chemical in such quantities, and it makes me uncomfortable. Especially when it is blended with coconut. I love the slight booziness of davana in Peche Cardinal and I enjoy the elegance of the musky-woody base. I am guessing, the creators were aiming for a modern take on a peachy chypre, trying to do a playful take on a classic. For me, they might need to do take two. Having said that, I was trying to come up with a single name of a peach fragrance I love, and failed. So it is actually unfair of me to critisize Peche Cardinal at all. When it comes to peach, I am not just hard but impossible to please. Both available at Luckyscent, Emotionelle for $135.00, Peche Cardinal for $235.00-$610.00.

Hilde Soliani Mangiamo Dopo Teatro: Perfume Review...and a Prize Draw

It seems to me, upon reading reviews, comments and forums, than melon and watermelon notes are not particularly popular among perfume connoisseurs, and their presence in a scent is more often than not a turn off. Correct me if my impression is wrong. Personally I have a weakness for all things melon in perfume. Perhaps because what I consider to be my formative years were spent wearing fairly melony Marina de Bourbon. Having said that I like melon in perfume, I must specify that a melon has to be ripe and sweet and a perfume non-aquatic. Just like Mangiamo Dopo Teatro. Inspired by Hilde Soliani's memories of eating out with her friends and colleagues after theatrical performances, it is most definitely delicious. It is honeyed melon and pretty much nothing else, but boy oh boy is it enjoyable. Wearing it makes me want to cut a melon (ambrosia, canary, honeydew, cantaloupe...I don't care, any will do!) in half and bite into its flesh, without minding my manners and appearance, to let the juices run and make my face all sticky. The scent arouses in me the kind of craving and the kind of greed that is borderline obscene. As any melon fragrance, it does have a certain fresh quality, just like the smell of actual melons combines syrupy sweetness with wateriness. Having said that, Mangiamo Dopo Teatro is not the dreaded aquatic at all. So if you are aquatic-phobic, have no fear. But if you are afraid of melons in perfume, stay far away and leave more for me. Available at New London Pharmacy and Luckyscent. If you would like to be in a prize draw please say so in your comment. One lucky commenter will receive samples of Bell'Antonio, Il Tuo Tulipano, Mangiamo Dopo Teatro, Sipario, Stecca and Vecchi Rossetti. The winner will be announced next Monday. Image source, corbis.

Perfume Review: Jean Patou Forever

Ever since Tom mentioned macaroons in his review of Kiki, I have been on a hunt for something elegantly sweet to eat and something sophisticatedly sweet to wear. I have yet to find the former but I happily recognized the latter in Patou's fairly obscure gem of a scent, Forever. With its leisurely, indolent, joyous vibe, the perfume also hit the right spot in that it reminded me that vacation is just around the corner. The fruity accord of pineapple, raspberry and melon is creamy, ripe, with a distinct boozy undertone. These are fruits gone bad, i.e into the liquor territory. And when fruits go bad, I go right after them. A very subtle floral undertone attempts to create a ladylike appearance but fails. Vetiver prevents the fragrance from being too sweet and adds a certain breezy feel to the blend, a certain salty freshness. Forever makes me think of sun reflected on the dazzling blue surface of an ocean, of barely-there bikinis, of white sand, of exotic cocktails, of skin smelling faintly of sea water and sunscreen ...it makes me long for the state of happy oblivion that is a perfect vacation. This escapist fragrance can be found online for as cheaply as $19.99 for EDT. Parfum, which is what I reviewed, is harder to find but is very much worth the effort.

Le Parfum de Therese by Frederic Malle

If a perfume could have a face, Le Parfum de Thérèse’s would be one of those non-conforming faces described by Adorno and Horkheimer, faces that, like Greta Garbo's, do not look as if you could say "Hello sister!'' to them. Le Parfum de Thérèse was created in the early 1950s by Edmond Roudnitska for his wife Thérèse, who at that time was the only person allowed to wear it; in my mind, Le Parfum de Thérèse is associated with Greta Garbo. This perfume has Garbo’s husky voice, perfect bone structure and mesmerizing, impenetrable eyes. I file it, along with Chanel’s Bois des Iles and Guerlain’s Chamade, under the category of "Golden Perfumes”, because the image of shimmering warm gold is the one they evoke in my adoring mind. Le Parfum de Thérèse is vivid, but it is still an intimate perfume; to borrow Luca Turin’s phrase, it is full of shadowy recesses, as if illuminated by a candle (“Des parfums intimes, pleins de recoins sombres, comme éclairés à la bougie,“ from Le Guide). I would have never thought that a fragrance containing melon and jasmine could work so well on my skin, but it does; the blend is so smooth, not a single note stands out as too loud, yet the perfume keeps developing, changing from the darkly ripe fruity beginning to lovely understated green jasmine, to stunning rose, to the elegant woody- leathery drydown. “The face of Garbo is an idea”, said Roland Barthes. Le Parfum de Thérèse is Edmond Roudnitska’s concept of olfactory beauty, incandescent, ever-changing composition that is both soulful and awe-inspiring. Le Parfum de Thérèse is available from Editions de Parfum or from Barneys, $160.00 for 3,4oz.