LaPerleNoire

For a long time my mother wore this fragrance, which is why it was out of the question for me, it was too strong for me, too grown up, too mummy. In the meantime, a few years have passed and I no longer automatically associate Casmir with her, so when I recently came across a bottle in the souk, I spontaneously struck it. I suddenly had a real "longing" for the fragrance that was always familiar to me as a child and teenager and gave me a homely feeling. I simply couldn't wait to hold it in my hands again.

When I applied it yesterday, the first thing that enveloped me was an (admittedly quite synthetic) peach note. In the first moment I was a bit disappointed and wondered if he was better in my memory than in reality (you can't always trust his memory after all)
Fortunately, the drydown was much nicer, which looks a bit like back vanilla, but still gets the curve to an elegant vanilla ;)
I can't clearly smell the listed floral notes (except for the lily of the valley), for me an overall gourmand impression prevails, reminiscent of vanilla plunder. Amber rounds off the composition and although it reminds of pastry it doesn't seem too "edible".
To my delight there are also no Christmas pastry notes (cinnamon, cloves etc.) represented, which I personally do not like at all.

Maybe Casmir would be given a vintage DNA by now, he still has nothing old-fashioned, "granny-like" to me.
An economical dosage is nevertheless strongly recommended, durability and Sillage are incredibly good - if you accidentally overdo it, it has a clear nerve potential :D

I can confirm that Ylang-ylang in gold is his scent twin. In direct comparison, they share the same fragrance character, while ylang in gold is much more floral and Casmir is more patisserie-like. Lovers of the one could definitely like the other one as well.

Of course, the nostalgia that rises in me when I sniff it does not play an insignificant role in my evaluation - apparently the spirits are divided on this fragrance.
Nevertheless a great sweet-warm oriental for lovers of this direction, simply a classic I would say.
Anyway, I have found the right time to let him move back in with me to reminisce a bit. A real feel-good scent :)

Maybe one of those fragrances that are simply misunderstood... admittedly - in my opinion it doesn't fit into the family of the Un-Jardin series.
Hermès, on the other hand, does - a very elegant fragrance, which is never intrusive and yet unique. I have fallen in love suddenly !
Synthetics, on the other hand, you have to like, otherwise you won't be happy here. Definitely he is not green, herbal, citric like his siblings.
Reminds me of holidays, before visiting the beach just to the café around the corner, before that a fragrance was put on. After the bath the salt is dried on the skin, with traces of the perfume applied in the morning. Somehow a lived-in scent, that smells as if it had been on the skin for so long that it has become a part of it. And all this with a distinct skin accord.
The durability is quite good for me, 6-8 h it is clearly perceptible and also projects properly. Absolutely unisex, I wear it myself as a woman and would like to smell it on a man.
I can understand the opinions about sultry, sweaty notes, but I find this sexy. And so that no wrong impression is created - when I say summer and holidays I am not talking about coconut and white flowers. There is no sun lotion here.
Rather a summer scent for people who like unconventional (maybe a bit strange) scents. After notes of saltwater rotten wood, seaweed and notes of fine flowers. As usual for Hermès, this is a luxury jetty - elegant and expensive ;)
When I think about it, the association with Venice fits quite well..

Granted - Soleil Blanc stood untouched around the cupboard for over two years. Why I don't know for sure, somehow I had smelled myself "fed up" with it.
After I intuitively reached for him again the last days, the old love flared up again immediately !
I immediately had to remember that I treated myself to it in 2017 from my first salary (nostalgia!) and was surprised then that there are "so expensive" fragrances (Little did i know).
But finally to the essential - how does it smell?
The citrusy, fruity top note (I mean there is pink pepper in it) is clearly perceptible at first sight, but fades away quite quickly. What remains is creamy, creamy coconut, pistachio, soft vanilla. Tuberose and Ylang-Ylang are admittedly notes I can't stand at all, and so I avoid them in my perfumes. Here, however, they balance the warm and sweet gourmand notes of the base and give the creation something airy, sparkling.
I am also not a fan of sweet sun milk headache coconut and tropical flowers. But Soleil Blanc is made so noble and elegant, even I deviate from my principles at times.

For me, the fragrance belongs in a luxury hotel, on tanned skin in a white swimsuit (a bit like the Rafaello ad ;) ). A fine but complex summer scent, which carries the DNA of sun milk, but much more sophisticated. The sillage is very neat, you can easily spray it over and from a few meters distance you can perceive it strongly for the first 3-4 hours. Especially the durability is unbeatable, I can still smell it clearly after 12 hours on clothes as well as skin and hair, it projects all day long when moving.
Accordingly, I would definitely not describe him as a light summer freshie. Nevertheless, Tom Ford manages to create a fragrance of summery light-heartedness that stands out from others of its kind through its sophistication. Absolutely noble, creamy and elegant. By the way, I also wear it in other seasons, because I find it very changeable.
Although Soleil Blanc is declared unisex, I find it clearly feminine.

After all this rapture now two negative points:
- Although I find the bottle to be really successful and luxurious, I find it absurd that the name of the fragrance is printed on a sticker (which in my case is also stuck on at an angle). My sticker is also slowly peeling off. The cap has a metal plate with a perforated TF logo on the top, so the question is: Wouldn't that have been possible on the bottle itself? In view of the not favourable price this looks unfortunately a little bit cheap and unattractive.


- In addition, I have the feeling that the scent is "tilted" extremely quickly. Sure, meanwhile I have it for 3 years and that can happen, but the colour of the juice became dark yellow (before transparent) already half a year after the purchase. In addition, it is hot immediately after spraying on, the citric top note has definitely changed and smells fermented.
Fortunately, the drydown is unchanged, so after about 15 minutes I can't see any difference from before. So I will continue to wear it, but I have read more and more about this phenomenon in reviews about the fragrance. So I'm probably not the only one who has had this experience. I don't seem to have this discovery despite it being disappointing, I have much older fragrances and nothing like this has ever happened to me before. Of course it could always have been a Monday product who knows...

All in all one of my favourite rediscoveries in my own collection, which will surely be published more often again.

I agree with the opinion that a freshly cut grapefruit blows into the nose, whereby on the one hand the tangy citrus juice as well as the bitter white skin of the fruit can be perceived.
Very authentic citrus scent for me is "only" the grapefruit perceptible, yet exciting because the scent of the fruit is composed of different components.
Not lemon-fresh WC cleaner at all, but tart, simple and yet effective. No cheaply smelling fruit water.
Has become an everyday favorite when I languish in the midday lull - with a splash I am awake and invigorated, looks like a refreshing shower and makes surprisingly good mood.
Durability - well... like so often with such freshies nothing great BUT at this price (40ml/16€ and there are other sizes available) spraying doesn't tear a hole in your wallet.
For me, it can definitely compete qualitatively with the other fragrances by Jo Malone (unfortunately, their durability is not very good either).
The bottle is also of high quality, beautifully simple with a very fine atomizer. The 40 ml also came in a small box to open, really pretty and noble.

All in all, I like this linear, clean scent very much, especially on days when I don't feel like more complex things. well done Zara !