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Notes10/20/2020
Oriane
109 Reviews
Oriane
Have Not We Met Before?
Jasmine and ylang-ylang are two of my favourite floral notes, so I was eager to try Fils de Joie. I have only worn it once thus far, but my first impressions are as follows.
Whilst clove/carnation is not a listed note, the opening is a MASSIVE jasmine/ylang-ylang/peppery clove bomb. It smells festive and seductive to my nose. Perhaps the festive feeling is the "joie." The jasmine with a little help from the ylang-ylang creates the seduction.
I think FdJ is unisex, and, it has a definite old school vibe that personally I love. It reminds me of several fragrances I have enjoyed over the years including Caron's Nuit de Noel, Estee Lauder's Spellbound, a little of Bijan's Bijan, albeit not nearly as opulent and plush as Bijan, and not at all a little of Dana's Tabu. Whoever is the perfumer, s/he seems to have definitely taken a lesson or two from Tabu. Oh, yes, Nuit de Noel, Bijan, Spellbound, and Tabu are all FdJ's ancestors in my opinion.
In the top notes FdJ also has whatever it is in Parfumerie Generale's L'Ombre Fauve that "catches" in my throat. Could it be fur?? Then, as FdJ settles on my skin the gorgeous, seductive night blooming jasmine is definitely the star followed very, very closely by the warm, sweet ylang-ylang. I do not detect musk, thankfully. Musk is a tricky note for me. I like it if it is done very well as Lutens does it in MKK, but so often it is not done nearly so well; consequently, I generally avoid musk-prominent fragrances. Musk here must be a quiet supporter of the other notes.
Projection and sillage are stellar for the first hour and a half. Then, FdJ settles down a bit, but it continues to perform well. It is far from a mere skin scent 2 hours into the dry down, and I could still smell it quite distinctly, albeit with my nose to my arm, 18 hours after first application. I have not had any other Lutens give me this level of longevity before, but most of my bottles came from grey market sellers such as Fragrancenet, whilst this bottle came from Lutens directly. This could very well be death by jasmine, babies, but what a way to go!!!
Who would have worn this? Hmm, given the glamorous, festive, and seductive nature of FdJ, I can imagine old Hollywood sirens such as Marlene Dietrich, Hedy Lamarr, Ava Gardner, and Yvonne De Carlo would have worn this fragrance in another day and time. (Somehow to me FdJ seems more apropos to brunettes and red heads than to blondes.)
This is a lovely jasmine fragrance for Winter and the holiday season. I would say it is more of a dressy, evening fragrance worn to impress and to seduce. If you adore jasmine and ylang-ylang, and if spicy carnation/clove does not bother you, this might be full bottle worthy for you. FdJ is not groundbreaking; I have met many similar fragrances throughout my perfume journey. However, it is a very nice fragrance that is probably full bottle worthy for any jasmine worshipper who is not bothered by clove/carnation.
Fragrance: 7.5/10
Projection: 10/10 for the first few hours.
Sillage: 101/0 for the first few hours.
Longevity: 10/10
(Can anyone confirm who is the perfumer?)
Whilst clove/carnation is not a listed note, the opening is a MASSIVE jasmine/ylang-ylang/peppery clove bomb. It smells festive and seductive to my nose. Perhaps the festive feeling is the "joie." The jasmine with a little help from the ylang-ylang creates the seduction.
I think FdJ is unisex, and, it has a definite old school vibe that personally I love. It reminds me of several fragrances I have enjoyed over the years including Caron's Nuit de Noel, Estee Lauder's Spellbound, a little of Bijan's Bijan, albeit not nearly as opulent and plush as Bijan, and not at all a little of Dana's Tabu. Whoever is the perfumer, s/he seems to have definitely taken a lesson or two from Tabu. Oh, yes, Nuit de Noel, Bijan, Spellbound, and Tabu are all FdJ's ancestors in my opinion.
In the top notes FdJ also has whatever it is in Parfumerie Generale's L'Ombre Fauve that "catches" in my throat. Could it be fur?? Then, as FdJ settles on my skin the gorgeous, seductive night blooming jasmine is definitely the star followed very, very closely by the warm, sweet ylang-ylang. I do not detect musk, thankfully. Musk is a tricky note for me. I like it if it is done very well as Lutens does it in MKK, but so often it is not done nearly so well; consequently, I generally avoid musk-prominent fragrances. Musk here must be a quiet supporter of the other notes.
Projection and sillage are stellar for the first hour and a half. Then, FdJ settles down a bit, but it continues to perform well. It is far from a mere skin scent 2 hours into the dry down, and I could still smell it quite distinctly, albeit with my nose to my arm, 18 hours after first application. I have not had any other Lutens give me this level of longevity before, but most of my bottles came from grey market sellers such as Fragrancenet, whilst this bottle came from Lutens directly. This could very well be death by jasmine, babies, but what a way to go!!!
Who would have worn this? Hmm, given the glamorous, festive, and seductive nature of FdJ, I can imagine old Hollywood sirens such as Marlene Dietrich, Hedy Lamarr, Ava Gardner, and Yvonne De Carlo would have worn this fragrance in another day and time. (Somehow to me FdJ seems more apropos to brunettes and red heads than to blondes.)
This is a lovely jasmine fragrance for Winter and the holiday season. I would say it is more of a dressy, evening fragrance worn to impress and to seduce. If you adore jasmine and ylang-ylang, and if spicy carnation/clove does not bother you, this might be full bottle worthy for you. FdJ is not groundbreaking; I have met many similar fragrances throughout my perfume journey. However, it is a very nice fragrance that is probably full bottle worthy for any jasmine worshipper who is not bothered by clove/carnation.
Fragrance: 7.5/10
Projection: 10/10 for the first few hours.
Sillage: 101/0 for the first few hours.
Longevity: 10/10
(Can anyone confirm who is the perfumer?)
