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capriciousness
Volage! What a name! Surely selected at random from a French-English dictionary by a Neiman Marcus executive in Dallas. Volage translates as "flighty" or perhaps "capricious." The scent is neither, and I know no one who aspires to be either.
Anyway, it's a fabulous scent. It is the definition of an oriental. Spicy, melodramatic, and velvety. Oakmoss isn't a listed note but I feel it's there. There is a lot about this fragrance that is "delicious," and yes it is a little creamy, but if it were released today, it would be marketed to MEN, not women. It has a luscious, smokey, and subtly green feeling.
I find this fragrance just grows and grows in its presence: the sillage and projection just get stronger as you wear it. It can creep up on you!
Original note pyramid listed below.
Top notes: cinnamon, cloves, carnation, pepper, mandarin orange, bay leaf, bergamot
Middle notes: opoponax, tolu balsam, labdanum, orris, patchouli, rose
Base notes: castoreum, amber, myrrh, cedar, incense, vetiver, vanilla, benzoin, sandalwood
Anyway, it's a fabulous scent. It is the definition of an oriental. Spicy, melodramatic, and velvety. Oakmoss isn't a listed note but I feel it's there. There is a lot about this fragrance that is "delicious," and yes it is a little creamy, but if it were released today, it would be marketed to MEN, not women. It has a luscious, smokey, and subtly green feeling.
I find this fragrance just grows and grows in its presence: the sillage and projection just get stronger as you wear it. It can creep up on you!
Original note pyramid listed below.
Top notes: cinnamon, cloves, carnation, pepper, mandarin orange, bay leaf, bergamot
Middle notes: opoponax, tolu balsam, labdanum, orris, patchouli, rose
Base notes: castoreum, amber, myrrh, cedar, incense, vetiver, vanilla, benzoin, sandalwood
Aloof, chic vanilla
vanille exquise feels natural, airy, nutty, and musky.
When I tested at home, it was a gauzy, cozy, vanilla-almond just short of gourmand. Today, I wore it to the office, and after 3 hours, the vanilla was hand-in-hand with a green, musky, almost mentholated tinge - maybe the angelica? could also be described as anise or absinthe.
i would not describe it as either dry or sweet. unisex. all seasons.
lovely.
When I tested at home, it was a gauzy, cozy, vanilla-almond just short of gourmand. Today, I wore it to the office, and after 3 hours, the vanilla was hand-in-hand with a green, musky, almost mentholated tinge - maybe the angelica? could also be described as anise or absinthe.
i would not describe it as either dry or sweet. unisex. all seasons.
lovely.
elevated, musky gourmand
I had a sample of this laying around and decided to put it on after my shower today. I just went and ran errands and I felt *blushes* so pretty!
This is a very light, bright, almost dainty perfume. It is sort of chai tea, sort of carrot cake, but doesn't wear like a typical gourmand. Powdery but not old lady. A little herbal sum' sumthin' lies underneath.
Oh and it projects like hell! I was walking around in a constant cloud of Lost Alice for hours, and standing three feet away from people because I was worried I would choke them out. I believe the ambrette is the culprit, as I am particularly sensitive to musks - in the best way!
Love this but not convinced it is masculine enough for me to have on the shelf - even as a man who loves women's fragrances.
This is a very light, bright, almost dainty perfume. It is sort of chai tea, sort of carrot cake, but doesn't wear like a typical gourmand. Powdery but not old lady. A little herbal sum' sumthin' lies underneath.
Oh and it projects like hell! I was walking around in a constant cloud of Lost Alice for hours, and standing three feet away from people because I was worried I would choke them out. I believe the ambrette is the culprit, as I am particularly sensitive to musks - in the best way!
Love this but not convinced it is masculine enough for me to have on the shelf - even as a man who loves women's fragrances.
Needlessly poetic review
The year is 1919. The setting is London; a members only club. There is a gymnasium. The ceiling of the cavernous room is double height, and bright white light pours in from clerestory windows. The walls are plaster, the floors oak, and here and there are rudimentary fitness tools and machines, all cast iron.
An athlete sits on a bench facing a pommel horse, its leather worn and patinated with sweat. The athlete wears a white cotton vest tucked into white cotton pants. The athlete wraps his hands with linen bandages. He is tired from training, and sweat drips from his brow on to the dusty floor.
His coach, smelling of fresh pipe smoke, approaches from the side. He reaches out and smears the athlete’s neck and shoulders with a greasy salve. The athlete’s head drops forward as the room fills with the smell of hot, icy camphor from Siam.
An athlete sits on a bench facing a pommel horse, its leather worn and patinated with sweat. The athlete wears a white cotton vest tucked into white cotton pants. The athlete wraps his hands with linen bandages. He is tired from training, and sweat drips from his brow on to the dusty floor.
His coach, smelling of fresh pipe smoke, approaches from the side. He reaches out and smears the athlete’s neck and shoulders with a greasy salve. The athlete’s head drops forward as the room fills with the smell of hot, icy camphor from Siam.
Boring Noir
I'm a man, and I love many of Narcriso Rodriguez's scents for women. Narciso Rodriguez For Her EDT (created by Francis Kurkdjian [!] AND Christine Nagel [!!] ) is a bonafide masterpiece, and many others in the women's collection are simultaneously well-crafted, unusual, sexy, and crowd-pleasing.
I keep buying men's fragrances from NR, hoping to like one. With Bleu Noir Parfum I am, once again, disappointed.
Bleu Noir Parfum is a let down because it SHOULD be where this house shines: A gender-bending, understated but sexy take on a well known perfume genre (in this case, the recent "iris for men" trend). It fails to achieve any of that, and is instead mediocre, very butch, very sweet, and very linear.
Other notes:
- Has very little to do with the original Bleu Noir (which I liked but found too masculine for myself)
- Contrary to hype, it is not even faintly reminiscent of Dior Homme Intense
- Performance is good, as expected from NR
- Anyone else annoyed that across designer perfumery, "parfum" has no technical meaning? There is no noticeable difference in quality, projection, or longevity between the various Bleu Noirs (EDT, EDP, Extreme(?), and Parfum.) It would be nice if these words actually referred to concentration.
- To the marketers at Narciso/ Shiseido: We've had enough Bleu Noir flankers. The world is ready for a new, daring Narciso Rodriguez for Men.
I keep buying men's fragrances from NR, hoping to like one. With Bleu Noir Parfum I am, once again, disappointed.
Bleu Noir Parfum is a let down because it SHOULD be where this house shines: A gender-bending, understated but sexy take on a well known perfume genre (in this case, the recent "iris for men" trend). It fails to achieve any of that, and is instead mediocre, very butch, very sweet, and very linear.
Other notes:
- Has very little to do with the original Bleu Noir (which I liked but found too masculine for myself)
- Contrary to hype, it is not even faintly reminiscent of Dior Homme Intense
- Performance is good, as expected from NR
- Anyone else annoyed that across designer perfumery, "parfum" has no technical meaning? There is no noticeable difference in quality, projection, or longevity between the various Bleu Noirs (EDT, EDP, Extreme(?), and Parfum.) It would be nice if these words actually referred to concentration.
- To the marketers at Narciso/ Shiseido: We've had enough Bleu Noir flankers. The world is ready for a new, daring Narciso Rodriguez for Men.
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