MadameVizard
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MadameVizard
Green Ice
This review is based in a recent bottle of de Parfum de Toilette (green metal spray).
They say this perfume has been reformulated, that it is just a pale shadow of its former self... Honestly, I have never known the previous iteration of this fragance (and perhaps, I am very fortunate because of that: may be I wouldn not find the new one so enticing), but I find the current formulation fantastic. For me, it is like some sort of missing link between vintage YSL Rive Gauche and the current Sisley Eau du Soir. It is miles away from the ultra-sweet, simplistic and overly synthetic perfumes today in vogue. It smells classy, and yet not dated. It inmediately recalls some sort of expensive vintage herbal soap. It has the pressence and character that all the perfumes of good French maisons had thirtly years ago, and that today is just a memory.
Coriandre is cold, sparkly and demure, and yet brazen and direct. Floral, green, powdery and soapy. It opens with a huge blast of aldehydes, a tiny bit of coriandre, that, despite of the name, is not the main player, but a sort of constant chorus, and frosty angelica. Then comes the heart, a greenish and crisp rose surrounded by geranium and some iris, which is waxy like old lipsticks and Manley crayons. I love roses and iris when they are cold, wild and casual; I hate them when they seem to have come from Norma Desmond's dressing table. The roses and iris of Coriandre are somewhat in between. The background is a huge powdery cloud of white musks. I barely detect the patchouly and the civet.
The advertising, with a blonde, Grace Kelly-like lady sitting with one of the sleeves of her blouse torn is a very good summary of what this fragance is about. Coriandre, cool and yet warm, could have been the signature perfume of a Hitchcock's heroine, apparently unflappable and yet very passionate. It is ladylike and polite (but not stiff), but it is more that it shows. I can imagine this being worn by Scarlett O'Hara or Mina Harker in Coppola's Dracula, wrapped in green velvet cloth. It could be the signature fragance of Asís Taboada, the main character in Emilia Pardo Bazán's novella La insolación (The Sunstroke): a young, wealthy widow woman who longs for freedom and pleasures, but who is constricted by social conventions, although, in her conscience, feels she had done nothing wrong. A woman who only used iris perfumes, because all the others gave her headaches.
Sillage is moderate, lasting power is good.
Totally recommended for lovers of vintage fragances and green perfumes.
They say this perfume has been reformulated, that it is just a pale shadow of its former self... Honestly, I have never known the previous iteration of this fragance (and perhaps, I am very fortunate because of that: may be I wouldn not find the new one so enticing), but I find the current formulation fantastic. For me, it is like some sort of missing link between vintage YSL Rive Gauche and the current Sisley Eau du Soir. It is miles away from the ultra-sweet, simplistic and overly synthetic perfumes today in vogue. It smells classy, and yet not dated. It inmediately recalls some sort of expensive vintage herbal soap. It has the pressence and character that all the perfumes of good French maisons had thirtly years ago, and that today is just a memory.
Coriandre is cold, sparkly and demure, and yet brazen and direct. Floral, green, powdery and soapy. It opens with a huge blast of aldehydes, a tiny bit of coriandre, that, despite of the name, is not the main player, but a sort of constant chorus, and frosty angelica. Then comes the heart, a greenish and crisp rose surrounded by geranium and some iris, which is waxy like old lipsticks and Manley crayons. I love roses and iris when they are cold, wild and casual; I hate them when they seem to have come from Norma Desmond's dressing table. The roses and iris of Coriandre are somewhat in between. The background is a huge powdery cloud of white musks. I barely detect the patchouly and the civet.
The advertising, with a blonde, Grace Kelly-like lady sitting with one of the sleeves of her blouse torn is a very good summary of what this fragance is about. Coriandre, cool and yet warm, could have been the signature perfume of a Hitchcock's heroine, apparently unflappable and yet very passionate. It is ladylike and polite (but not stiff), but it is more that it shows. I can imagine this being worn by Scarlett O'Hara or Mina Harker in Coppola's Dracula, wrapped in green velvet cloth. It could be the signature fragance of Asís Taboada, the main character in Emilia Pardo Bazán's novella La insolación (The Sunstroke): a young, wealthy widow woman who longs for freedom and pleasures, but who is constricted by social conventions, although, in her conscience, feels she had done nothing wrong. A woman who only used iris perfumes, because all the others gave her headaches.
Sillage is moderate, lasting power is good.
Totally recommended for lovers of vintage fragances and green perfumes.
Lord of Darkness
If you are looking for a truly magnificent oud perfume at a very afforadable price, you have to check this one. It has very little to envy to much more expensive niche and desingners oud perfumes.
Oud Touch is mostly about roses and oud. Dark, Eastern roses, almost boozy, with hints of leather and resines. The caramel, the orange and the raspberry are barely noticeable. This is a nocturne fragance, brooding and misterious, which leaves a smoky and woody trace of extreme beauty that linges for ages. It could be the perfume of a vampire king. It could be the perfume of Coppolas Dracula. Something from East which becomes westernized.
Oud Touch is mostly about roses and oud. Dark, Eastern roses, almost boozy, with hints of leather and resines. The caramel, the orange and the raspberry are barely noticeable. This is a nocturne fragance, brooding and misterious, which leaves a smoky and woody trace of extreme beauty that linges for ages. It could be the perfume of a vampire king. It could be the perfume of Coppolas Dracula. Something from East which becomes westernized.
1 Comment
Après la Pluie
Silences Eau Sublime could have been the missing link between Chanel nº 19 and Clinique Wrappings.
It shares the same greeness of other ilustrious perfumes of the seventies: Chanel Nº 19, Alliage, Private Collection. However, Silences Eau Sublime has updated succesfully the edgy character of green chypres. It is smoother, less angular, less hard, and yet more misterious. It evokes a piece of serene, green nature, but with something dark and chaotic lurking from afar. It could have been like a summer garden just after a storm, or like deserted green house; it is cool, and yet warm, like something alive. All about it is spare and demure, and yet is far away from being lifeless. It brings to my mind ideas about pre-Columbian myths. The mysterious black bottle evokes the legend ot Tezcatlipoca, the Lord of the Smoky Mirror. It could be a beautiful Mayan jade -with is muted and relentless green- necklace turned into a perfume. It could be the smell of a rainforest, populated by ocelots and jaguars. In fact, if I had to translate this perfume into an image, that would be a magnificent black jaguar with green eyes. An imposing beast, which does not attack those ones who do not disturb it, but which is ruthless whit the intruders.
Absolutely stunning and beautiful.
It shares the same greeness of other ilustrious perfumes of the seventies: Chanel Nº 19, Alliage, Private Collection. However, Silences Eau Sublime has updated succesfully the edgy character of green chypres. It is smoother, less angular, less hard, and yet more misterious. It evokes a piece of serene, green nature, but with something dark and chaotic lurking from afar. It could have been like a summer garden just after a storm, or like deserted green house; it is cool, and yet warm, like something alive. All about it is spare and demure, and yet is far away from being lifeless. It brings to my mind ideas about pre-Columbian myths. The mysterious black bottle evokes the legend ot Tezcatlipoca, the Lord of the Smoky Mirror. It could be a beautiful Mayan jade -with is muted and relentless green- necklace turned into a perfume. It could be the smell of a rainforest, populated by ocelots and jaguars. In fact, if I had to translate this perfume into an image, that would be a magnificent black jaguar with green eyes. An imposing beast, which does not attack those ones who do not disturb it, but which is ruthless whit the intruders.
Absolutely stunning and beautiful.
La Crème de la Crème
It is a shame the poor success that this perfume, released in order to celebrate the 70 th annniversary of Lancanster, and supposely, based on the scent of its range of solar care. In the country in were I live, you find it already at the discount section.
And it is a pity, because Le Pafum Solaire is a truly beautiful perfume with a good quality. It is the ugly orange box? The plane bottle, that makes me to think about a celebrity perfume? Le Parfum Solaire has nothing to do with current solar oils. No coconut, no vanilla, no monoï. To my nose, it is like a sporty, casual sister of Estée Lauder White Linen or Chanel Nº 22. The same radiant aldehydic vibe, the same beautiful, conforting, delicate white florals. It is the apotheosis of the soap and the cold crème. Sheer and inmaculate, like a beauty of very fair skin without makeup and simply dressed. Its beauty is natural, and yet glamourous and sophisticated. It talks about freshly washed faces and Nivea Cream.
If you find it, give it a chance.
And it is a pity, because Le Pafum Solaire is a truly beautiful perfume with a good quality. It is the ugly orange box? The plane bottle, that makes me to think about a celebrity perfume? Le Parfum Solaire has nothing to do with current solar oils. No coconut, no vanilla, no monoï. To my nose, it is like a sporty, casual sister of Estée Lauder White Linen or Chanel Nº 22. The same radiant aldehydic vibe, the same beautiful, conforting, delicate white florals. It is the apotheosis of the soap and the cold crème. Sheer and inmaculate, like a beauty of very fair skin without makeup and simply dressed. Its beauty is natural, and yet glamourous and sophisticated. It talks about freshly washed faces and Nivea Cream.
If you find it, give it a chance.
American Tea
Tommy is usually dismissed as cheap, synthetical, boring... I remmeber a time in which it was ubiquitous. Along with Estée Lauder's Pleasures and Happy Clinique. This was the smell of the nice posh girls in the 90's.
I wore then, and I wear it now. A previous review stated this is some sort of evolution of the classic Eau de Cologne, and I can not agree more. It is said that Tommy was inspired by the Mariage Frères Boutique in Paris, a distinguished shop specialised in fine teas, and that her nose, Calice Brecker, wanted to reflect in this perfume her Russian heritage, the custom of the samovar and the Russian style tea. Although since its very begginning, Tommy has been promoted as the fragance of the "WASPs", the American rich kids, and it was presented as a conconction of genuinely American botanics (quite incongruously: I am pretty sure there is not such thing like Cherokee Rose). Probably we have never seen a fragance spoiled for such inadecuate/barely atractive name or advertising.
Tommy evokes, for me, the cooling/warm feeling of a delicious cup of jasmine green tea, along with a slice of lemon, some rose petals and some mint leaves. Surprisingly, there is no tea among its official notes, yet when it was for the first time released, it was a note very in fashion. It has something calming, soothing, yet very energetic and reassuring. It is one of the very few fragances that I can wear just out of the shower and before going to sleep. In spite its fresh feeling is very long-lasting and has a good sillage. I hope they will never discontinue it or ruin it through ruthless reformulations. A hidden gem. A underestimated fragance.
I wore then, and I wear it now. A previous review stated this is some sort of evolution of the classic Eau de Cologne, and I can not agree more. It is said that Tommy was inspired by the Mariage Frères Boutique in Paris, a distinguished shop specialised in fine teas, and that her nose, Calice Brecker, wanted to reflect in this perfume her Russian heritage, the custom of the samovar and the Russian style tea. Although since its very begginning, Tommy has been promoted as the fragance of the "WASPs", the American rich kids, and it was presented as a conconction of genuinely American botanics (quite incongruously: I am pretty sure there is not such thing like Cherokee Rose). Probably we have never seen a fragance spoiled for such inadecuate/barely atractive name or advertising.
Tommy evokes, for me, the cooling/warm feeling of a delicious cup of jasmine green tea, along with a slice of lemon, some rose petals and some mint leaves. Surprisingly, there is no tea among its official notes, yet when it was for the first time released, it was a note very in fashion. It has something calming, soothing, yet very energetic and reassuring. It is one of the very few fragances that I can wear just out of the shower and before going to sleep. In spite its fresh feeling is very long-lasting and has a good sillage. I hope they will never discontinue it or ruin it through ruthless reformulations. A hidden gem. A underestimated fragance.
