Awesomeness
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Awesomeness
gleaming light
I usually have difficulty with white florals and with over-the-top aldehydes. Based on the description & notes, this was what I was expecting out of Lumiere. Thankfully, it's not. Lumiere is all about roses & woods, and it wears like a crystalline, rose woody on me.
Lumiere opens clean, smooth, almost smokey, and just a bit sweet. The floral mix is quite unusual & extremely subdued. In the heart, I get rose, iris, & violet on a predominately vanilla & tonka bean base. The woods really come out of hiding in the 2nd hour or so. Very long lasting for an EdT (6+ hour range) that continually changes and evolves over the entire wear. Lumiere is a wrist inhaler that wears close to the skin.
I think Lumiere is best on cold, wet days when it wears soft & smooth. I think of it as my Winter Solstice perfume, because it seems strangely appropriate when the days are short, the sun low in the sky, and light takes on an ephemeral character. If I lived in Scandinavia, I would wear it at night during the Summer Solstice because Lumiere has that quality of light.
Lumiere also shares qualities with Gres Cabaret. Not only do Lumiere & Cabaret share notes, they share the same nose - Michel Almairac. These two perfumes are definitely smell-alikes, not the same, but similar rose woody scents with crystalline characteristics.
The new Lumiere is exactly that - gleaming light. I own the original, yes I do, but love this one new more!
Oct
12
2010
Lumiere opens clean, smooth, almost smokey, and just a bit sweet. The floral mix is quite unusual & extremely subdued. In the heart, I get rose, iris, & violet on a predominately vanilla & tonka bean base. The woods really come out of hiding in the 2nd hour or so. Very long lasting for an EdT (6+ hour range) that continually changes and evolves over the entire wear. Lumiere is a wrist inhaler that wears close to the skin.
I think Lumiere is best on cold, wet days when it wears soft & smooth. I think of it as my Winter Solstice perfume, because it seems strangely appropriate when the days are short, the sun low in the sky, and light takes on an ephemeral character. If I lived in Scandinavia, I would wear it at night during the Summer Solstice because Lumiere has that quality of light.
Lumiere also shares qualities with Gres Cabaret. Not only do Lumiere & Cabaret share notes, they share the same nose - Michel Almairac. These two perfumes are definitely smell-alikes, not the same, but similar rose woody scents with crystalline characteristics.
The new Lumiere is exactly that - gleaming light. I own the original, yes I do, but love this one new more!
Oct
12
2010
Light? Meh!
I love the new Lumiere, which is 80% Gres Cabaret to me. I just had to try the original, which so many pine for. I managed to buy a part bottle of the edp -- The purple Femme-silhouetted bottle, now with orange juice. My exhilaration of this find turned into Meh! on my first test.
If the new Lumiere is 80% Gres Cabaret, then the old Lumiere is 80% Madame Rochas.
The old Lumiere opens with a classic aldehyde blast, along the lines of Madame Rochas but not as shrill. The opening gives way to a nice floral green. Pretty & long-lasting, with the Spring bulbs (hyacinths and daffodils) taking the stage, but hardly unique. It does sweeten through the wear, but I don't get the glorious woods that others report. It dries down to a soapy muck that softly lingers. The EdP wears close to the skin but for 6-8 hours.
Overall, on my skin it's very much like Madame Rochas, which is not a surprise given the shared notes. Sometimes there is a reason a fragrance is reformulated. I would have to say Lumiere was reformulated because it's not luminated. Light? Meh!
On a *brighter* note, I tested Azuree on the other arm today while testing this one. Azuree *outshines* Lumiere.
Puns intended.
Dec
29
2010
If the new Lumiere is 80% Gres Cabaret, then the old Lumiere is 80% Madame Rochas.
The old Lumiere opens with a classic aldehyde blast, along the lines of Madame Rochas but not as shrill. The opening gives way to a nice floral green. Pretty & long-lasting, with the Spring bulbs (hyacinths and daffodils) taking the stage, but hardly unique. It does sweeten through the wear, but I don't get the glorious woods that others report. It dries down to a soapy muck that softly lingers. The EdP wears close to the skin but for 6-8 hours.
Overall, on my skin it's very much like Madame Rochas, which is not a surprise given the shared notes. Sometimes there is a reason a fragrance is reformulated. I would have to say Lumiere was reformulated because it's not luminated. Light? Meh!
On a *brighter* note, I tested Azuree on the other arm today while testing this one. Azuree *outshines* Lumiere.
Puns intended.
Dec
29
2010
Not without merit
Washington Square opens with rose & geranium, and it's is a tad sweet. The opening is quite nice, and each time I try it I immediately think, "I've got to get a bottle." However, it's everything after the opening that doesn't work for me. As it dries, there's an astringent, almost aftershave like quality to it. It trends to an aromatic for a while before settling in as a pillowy amber musk.
I know many say it's on the feminine side of unisex, but I disagree. The opening is most certainly feminine. But for the rest of the life of the scent, I'd say it's on the masculine side of unisex. There are many masculine accords which I don't wear well, and Washington Square seems to have some of them.
It's interesting & unusual, and not without merit. However, Washington Square is simply not wearable for me. Ironically, Washington Square is probably the Bond which best works for me personally, and I've gone through a number of bon-tons. I appreciate the fragrances & the quality of the ingredients, but the Bond line-up is just not for me.
I know many say it's on the feminine side of unisex, but I disagree. The opening is most certainly feminine. But for the rest of the life of the scent, I'd say it's on the masculine side of unisex. There are many masculine accords which I don't wear well, and Washington Square seems to have some of them.
It's interesting & unusual, and not without merit. However, Washington Square is simply not wearable for me. Ironically, Washington Square is probably the Bond which best works for me personally, and I've gone through a number of bon-tons. I appreciate the fragrances & the quality of the ingredients, but the Bond line-up is just not for me.
Scrubber.
For me, Notorious is a scrubber.
Like others, I thought Notorious would be scent fit for a screen siren. NOT! Instead, Notorious is more like a 767 airplane coming in for a landing, over & over again ... right above your house. The first time you're interested & a bit thrilled. But after that you only become annoyed & irritated, more so as it continues.
Notorious is a heavy, suffocating, cloying, white floral bomb on me. Although not listed, I am most certain there is a lot of jasmine, very little peony & absolutely no carnation in Notorious. I have problems with the cheap jasmine accord in mass market fragrances. Notorious has a white jasmine accord which my skin amplifies. My skin makes a mess of this scent. Actually, I think the scent was a mess before it hit my skin.
Like others, I thought Notorious would be scent fit for a screen siren. NOT! Instead, Notorious is more like a 767 airplane coming in for a landing, over & over again ... right above your house. The first time you're interested & a bit thrilled. But after that you only become annoyed & irritated, more so as it continues.
Notorious is a heavy, suffocating, cloying, white floral bomb on me. Although not listed, I am most certain there is a lot of jasmine, very little peony & absolutely no carnation in Notorious. I have problems with the cheap jasmine accord in mass market fragrances. Notorious has a white jasmine accord which my skin amplifies. My skin makes a mess of this scent. Actually, I think the scent was a mess before it hit my skin.
1 Comment
Reformulated?
This review is for what I believe to be the reformulated Nirmala. It strikes me as a copy of Angel by Thierry Mugler. It's nice but there are better quality fragrances in my opinion ... like the original Nirmala or Mugler's Angel.
