Omni

This perfume is discontinued as it was a limited edition anyway, so remaining stocks only, people. I bought it on a one day online special therefore I am not much out of pocket. Hanae Mori No 3 is very close to Madonna's Truth Dare Naked. It could easily be worn by a man as there is a masculine aspect to it that I interpret as a sweat smell. I don't mind a touch of the animalic, but it's that pushy male component you find in a lot of macho fragrances like 'Jazz' The orange is dominant in this, almost to the point of orange cordial, and way past the gentle, so bear that in mind. It doesn't speak to me as a fragrance but if you like orange, say Prada's D'Oranger, this would be a great alternative at a budget price and the aspects that I don't like do fade away with wearing to a creamy skin scent.Not for me.

It's the Goldilocks syndrome, it has to be 'just right' So, if we're preaching to the converted and you're familiar with 'For Her' Black or Pink, or 'In Colour' or 'Musc Intense' or Narciso 'White' then you are programmed to be quite receptive anyway.
Goldilocks went to the Bears house and tried their porridge, came back the next day and tried their armchairs and finally, third time lucky, (or not so) when the little bear's bed was 'just right' she fell asleep. My battle with NR is not with the perfumes, but the naming of them. As with Lolita Lempicka you can't just throw a name at your friends who might enquire after your perfume....ah yes, it's the pink bottle that has a black box, no, no, I've got it wrong, it's the black bottle that has a pink box, oh dear, it's the eau de parfum with the lovely sillage, but no, hang on, it's the EDT that wafts around??? Isn't that right? Confused? It's soap, but not as we know it.

Narciso 'Black' EDT benefits from a generous application, more sprays than you would normally use, but suitably nuked it will last many hours. Another reviewer (Christianne on Fragrantica) says she wants to hoard it and I have to confess I do too. It's gong to be at your perfume counter, easily sampled, so I won't go into the fragrance notes. My husband loves these summertime musks when I wear them and sometimes in my perfume memory a candle strength of Houbigant White Musk flickers through them and makes me feel young again, now that's got to be worth the money.

I have a back up bottle of Cabaret and Lumiere Noire is in regular rotation on my dresser, it was time I ventured to connect with 'Madame Gres'
My pineapple references are 'Courtesan' (Worth) and Amor Amor (Cacharel) and Madame Gres is superior to both, for the pineapple is controlled by a clean magnolia and wasn't as sweet as I was led to believe. In my quest for great cheap and cheery perfumes Maurice Roucel's 'Tocade' is points leader but all of the perfumes mentioned here exhibit classy elements whilst being inexpensive.
The dry down is quite sudden and the perfume lacks duration but the base, slight as it is, is well behaved and doesn't leave a nasty musk. I like that in a perfume.
Madame Gres is probably best suited to women over twenty five but qualifies as a good day time perfume. Others have commented on a resemblance to Miss Dior, but if I had to compare it to that of a well known house I'd veer towards Chanel's 'Allure'.

Highly commended by Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez as an underrated gem composed by Maurice Roucel I finally bought a bottle in my Xmas order and am pleased to report that Tocade is just wonderful. That I didn't have to part with a great many dollars for it was a Xmas present in itself. And it slotted in to the festive season with great aplomb, the Turkish delight blending with vanilla and geranium rose that in turn blended with Xmas mince pies and egg nog. Tocade's use of magnolia reminded me of what Un Matin D'Orage should have been at a fraction of the price. Included here is a little excerpt of Maurice Roucel talking to Cafleurlebon on his favourite note.

"MR: It certainly is not michelia centifloria…where did that come from. Who said that? You can’t trust everything you read :) But I did discover a species of magnolia that is not my signature, but I am very proud of finding and creating, it’s an extraction from a Chinese magnolia. Ambergris is my favorite"

I believe the magnolia in Tocade is this invention of Roucel's. Mine is the reformulated perfume, which I am led to believe did not suffer much and may have had a compensatory factor added for goodwill.

Christine Nagel has, in my opinion, tried to create an 'eau' that isn't mind numbingly same-as. I can mention eau de jade, eau France, rochas, du sud, savage, orlane, ad infinitum, that all claim to be the South of France in a bottle. What have we here? Yuzu, and youzz will love it when you get used to it. Something akin to the Jean Claude Ellena grapefruit opening but more masculine, a little metallic, (Coriander?) then there's a distinct lemon, or is it quince? Have you ever let a platter of quince fruit, the entire piece of fruit, not cut in any way, sit in a warm room. It's scent is quite divine. It is rivalled by the Bhudda's Hand Citrus, a real head turner. There are nuances of unusual fruit in Eau de Cartier concentree and they aren't girly, paleo princess ones. It achieved its objective, I think, to be truly unisex with a very pleasant dry down. Great for the tropics.