04/28/2021
MonsieurTest
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This is Nuts! Or: Headless Sandalvanilla Musk Milk with a Weak Heart
In the past, there was the circus or revue number 'The lady without abdomen'. Is not my genre. Am in the wild also never met one. Now, however, came to me as an enclosed sample of an Internet order a fragrance in the house, which promised the opposite, so to speak. A perfume consisting only of base, buttocks, abdomen: Wow?! :)
Even more so from a brand that had long interested me because of its so witty-sounding name. Zadig & Voltaire makes you dream of enlightening tales of the sharp-tongued French grand critic, or more precisely: of the colorful adventures and happy endings of his Zadig.
But what does the fragrance 'This is us' tell us? The title might suggest some kind of key or signature fragrance from the Parisian fashion brand, but arguably points more to the unisex nature of this perfume - for there have been 'This is her' and 'This is him' marketed by Shisheido, the French fashion chain's licensees, for some years before that; both sound pyramidally interesting and are not badly reviewed here.
If you look a little closer at the text printed on the new bottles (as a word person, I tend to like that sort of thing already), you get the sense that unisex isn't the end of the story here. Intergenerationality is proclaimed: a fragrance for the whole family. Whereby everyone has to be 'forever young'. In addition to this transgenerational and universal-sexual US fragrance, a second new release, 'This is me', was launched on the market, which apparently ONLY addresses boys or even children ("kids"). Its pyramid reads quite similarly: sandal vanilla on musk. Whereby in the exclusive little ones the (in fact barely perceptible) patchouli of the family fragrance is replaced by 'cashmere' (presumably the softness pretending synth wood musk Cashmeran).
25 years after the unisex revival herald and decades mega-seller CK One seem yes first of all refreshing, sympathetic, to welcome reformatting of target groups, which here admittedly strangely flat fragrance pyramids were superimposed. An integrative overall fragrance from kindergarten children to great-grandmothers? Which possibly also integrates dogs, cats and hamsters into the fragrant us-scent-team (as far as they promise to smell and stay forever young!)? That would save space in the bathroom, which with the real estate price increases soon anyway hardly anyone will be able to afford.
The problem (benevolently formulated: the charmingly interesting, minimalist...) is now: this we-scent does not want to tell quite. After spraying it shows up, unfortunately, rather as a jumble fragrance. This is Us has no plot and hardly comes from the place.
Already the note sequence, as it is given here, made me raise my eyebrows: a pyramid without top and heart notes? All classic, heavy and long-lasting base notes combined? Without anything on top or around it? The pyramid as a bungalow or as an underground car park? As a deep bunker of a comfortably wrapped up large family even?
Well, what says the nose: Because even if nothing citrus, fruity or floral is indicated, with something such a fragrance must probably start. He does, he can not help it: sweetish, vanilla and with a typical sandalwood cream note it goes off. It doesn't smell bad, but it doesn't seem fresh or distinctive at all. With the following regular Nasentiefflug over the wrist, one would like to think to sense in this fairly constant (stubborn!) Sandelvanille a few nuances of fuzzy milky fruits: CoconutFigPeach or FigPearMandarin something like that.
And so it sandalvanillates, about as contoured or indifferent as a better suntan lotion or skincare product on and on. Towards the back, everything remains largely the same: a serious appearance of patchouli, spiciness or earthiness even, I did not encounter. A completely toned-down feel-good musk probably always underpins this kind of fluffy, flat wellness cream scent, so here too. Against this four-generations-rich (pureed and touched for two generations without and two with teeth...) was the naturally also rounded, soft, all-embracing integrative CK One a fresh-spicy aroma canon.
None of this is directly unpleasant, not bad, not exciting. Kind of lulling; numbing, even?
I'm not sad that revue numbers of ladies without underbellies seem to be dying out. I wouldn't be sad if this underground garage base note combo scent with little (milk-fruity) heart and no brains, eventually died out again.
Voltaire is here to stay. And so will Zadig. Stories will be told as long as there will be people: in stories, novels, contes philosophiques; or here in comments now called reviews. Or in scents, music, images, which are capable of telling.
Whether Zadig & Voltaire will stay - or, closer to home, that milky mediocre flat scent 'This is us' - I don't know. It probably doesn't matter either. Here they have told me in any case, in my three test runs, nothing exciting, stimulating or ravishing. At any rate, certainly: too little.
And a poppig printed flacon along with a thought-provoking, universally integrative we-concept triggers even in a receptive word person and collector yet no desire to own and wear.
I still prefer to live out minimalist whims with fresh chevrefeuille or verveine soliflors, earthy patchouli or vetiver solos, or lavender solo sonatas, such as those of Monastère de Ganagobie. All of which go through more transformations and have more to tell than 'This is Nuts'.unisex
Or, why not, again with CK One. The go all but actually also transgenerational?!
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