La Petite Robe Noire Guerlain 2012 edition

 Desirability: Full bottle 

For those who were brought here by google or another search engine in hopes of finding enlightenment regarding LPRN, please do scroll down a few paragraphs and ignore my warbling here. For...

This is my first post in many years. YEARS! Wow. To all the people who have reached out since the birth of this blog, to tell me you enjoy reading what I wrote, a big THANK YOU. You are a big part of why I am back today. 

I’ve been enjoying my fragrance library which I obsessively collected between 2012-2017, without the feeding frenzy to obtain more and more new scents. Of course a couple of new bottles joined the gang here and there but that’s a fragrance lover for you- there’s no such thing as too much perfume. 

I’ve gone so far in my journey as to be able to part with fragrances I no longer jive with, regardless of whether they are deemed collectors’ items or not (to the joy of other fragrance lovers who picked up the bottles sold) and have trimmed my library done to something manageable like a few lifetimes’ worth instead of never ending. 

Anyway back to LPRN, my bottle being the re-release of the initial limited edition (which I’ve never smelt) in 2012. 

Isn’t it amazing how our senses evolve/mature along with the rest of our physical bodies and mentality? Well for most of us anyway. I remember loving LPRN when I first laid nose on it. Even eyes- I mean check the signature Guerlain top shared with hallmark scents such as Mitsouko and L’Heure Bleue. Picture Mitzy and LHB looking on indulgently at the capricious youth that is their niece. 

Uncork the bottle and cue the blast of sexy patchouli nesting in a generous bosom of dark luscious cherries. Layer on the subtly spicy vanilla (shades of Hypnotic Poison anyone?) and a bloom of roses (more Ce Soir ou Jamais than La filled de Berlin) in a 40/60 percentage and you have yourself a yummy trifle that lasts for days when applied to clothes and leaves the two metre radius around you floating in a delicious cloud of bliss. 

It's easy to dismiss LPRN as just another youth outreach program by a great perfume house but unlike the masses crowding the perfume counters out there, LPRN has a thing about it, just as all Guerlain fragrances do (full disclosure: Guerlain fangirl here, they can do almost no wrong in my eyes. Almost.). LPRN is the treasured painting at home, not a sketch on a cocktail napkin. In a world constantly saturated with distracting new offerings, LPRN was edged slowly towards the back of the collection but I'm thankful that I didn't part with my bottle during the Great Separation of 2020. Coincidentally one of the first scents I discovered as an early fragrance lover is the scent that brought me to write my first post in many years. 

If you have a bottle of this beauty knocking around somewhere, I hope you have an opportunity to revisit its beauty again. Or perhaps another beautiful scent that has been neglected for a while. 

New Haarlem Bond No 9

Desirability: Decant

Source: Fragrantica

I swapped for a half used bottle of New Haarlem, eagerly anticipating being drenched in coffee and maple syrup as others have experienced. In reality, this is what I got.

A burst of citrus greets you, its green and fresh self followed quickly by lavender and a dark woody smell, the combination of these three notes made me think immediately of male cologne. The citrus calms down and when it does I can smell the coffee and the maple syrup that many perfumistas have been gushing over. The coffee is a black bitter coffee but diluted or maybe overpowered by the thick maple syrup which conjured up images of a stack of golden brown pancakes drenched with the amber coloured syrup. So in proportions, I smell of: woody lavender>maple syrup>black coffee. On hindsight or smell I think I prefer this proportion rather than if it were an outright gourmand consisting only of maple syrup and coffee which might be a bit OTT. The cool, broody effect of the wood and aromatic lavender are a nice relief from the heavy gourmand side of New Haarlem. 

So instead of a hearty breakfast, I got an invigorating walk in the woods bordering lavender fields while dreaming of said breakfast and suffering olfactory hallucinations. 

Attar de Roses Keiko Mecheri

Desirability: Full bottle

Source: Luckyscent.com

I've liked a few that I've sampled from Keiko Mercheri, but Attar de Roses is the first to make me sit up and take notice. I feel like I've been sampling the wrong end of the spectrum from the house all this time. 

Leather and roses dominate in Attar de Roses on me at least. The leather is more apparent in the initial part, making the opening rather bitter, dark and animalic. Sweet velvety roses bloom out from the darkness throwing off the leathery shade, beautiful lush roses that create a warm and beguiling drydown with a creamy and woody amber base. The leather persists throughout although the initial bitterness is alleviated by the balmy resins in the drydown. There are quite a number of rose/leather combinations out there in varying proportions of the notes but I really like the balance in Attar de Roses between the romantic roses and the brusque leather. Very Beauty & The Beast. 

Attar de Roses is a little shy so you have to apply with a really liberal hand in order to "get" its true soul. Although Attar de Roses came out five years earlier, I think it is the olfactory interpretation of D&G's 2015 Spring/Summer line-up below. 

Dolce and Gabbana SS 15. Source: imgarcade.com

Lux Mona di Orio (re-release 2014)

Source: Fragrantica

Lux. Light (latin).

If Nuit Noire was an olfactory sex session in a dungeon, Lux would probably be the foreplay, well a lite version. To put it simply if crudely it smells like not very well washed (better than completely unwashed) nether regions and citrus. Sounds unappealing but smells very good.

First you get green floral notes and lots and lots of bright and happy citrus.Amongst the sour there is also the sweet, in the form of fruity notes and a lovely warm vanilla. As time passes the sharpness of the citrus disappears and the scent turns darker with the inclusion of dirty musk, leather and woody notes. The "unclean" aspect slowly fades away and in the drydown you are left with a cushy mix of wood, vanilla and some remnant citrus notes. Lux has an average projection and longevity on me and can easily be worn by either sex as long as animalic notes are your thing as there is no escaping from it in Lux despite the sunny citrus. 

Portrait of a Lady Frederic Malle

Desirability: Full Bottle

Source: Fragrantica

I have two important things to say. Firstly to the dear friend who traded me 10 ml of Portrait of a Lady, thank you for re-introducing me to this stunning Malle creation. Secondly I owe a big apology to Portrait of a Lady for having once said that I prefer Noir Epices to her. Not that I've changed my mind about Noir Epices but to the woe of my bank account both perfumes are now on my want list. 

Source: 

If Maison Francis Kurkdjian Lumiere Pour Femme is my heartbreakingly lovely rose/patchouli then Portrait of a Lady would be my rose/patchouli seduction tool if the occasion for one were to ever arise. 

Unlike in Noir Epices where the spices command the stage, here in Portrait of a Lady the spices are present but mild-tempered, showcasing a voluptuous heady rose that's practically pouting and dark smouldering patchouli with billows of incense undulating in their wake.

 If this be a lady, she is a lady by day only. This is not to say that Portrait of a Lady is a tramp for she isn't by far, lacking any animalic musks or sweaty spices which are my prerequisites for the label. Instead I would say that she issues a challenge to those who would dare. 

Although I've been calling the scent a "she" I find Portrait of a Lady to be comfortably unisex and would be alluring on anyone comfortable in wearing this chock-full of patchouli potent drug. A sultry rose and heady patchouli? All I need is a flick of eye-liner a la Bridget Bardot and the right black dress...I'm thinking of Bernie Dexter in the Super Spy dress by Heart of Haute and I'm ready to rumble. 

In bed with Mitsouko

Serge decided to stay in bed this morning instead of accompanying his mama while she went about her daily blitz about the bedroom before rushing to work. Since he was being unusually docile, I decided to use him as an unpaid model to pose with my Mitsouko EDP bottle. He seems to like the smell of it ( I had just spritzed some on before taking the photo) enough to jump off the bed and nuzzle me before going back to his snooze sans Mitsouko who was lounging in the safety of my bag.

Anyone with a passion for perfume knows Mitsouko whether they love her or not and even her admirers are divided amongst her various reformulations. Thankfully I have never felt the need to venture into vintage Mitsouko and apart from preferring the EDP to the EDT I am quite content with my bottle of EDP pre-2013 reformulation ( I think the batch code on my bottle points towards 2011, I used Raiders of the Lost Scent's "How to recognize Guerlain perfumes" to date mine). I do intend to get hold of a bottle of the 2013-thereafter Mitsouko since it's been widely acclaimed to have recaptured the old glory of Mitsouko and I am curious to know what the current formula smells like in comparison. 

I've never smelt oakmoss or tree moss dried or fresh and like many other ingredients I've not had the good fortune to come across in their natural state, I compare what I'm smelling to what it's meant to smell like according to various articles, blogs and whatever information source I can get my hands on. P.S: Dear Santa, I would really like to have  Steffen Arctander's Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin for Christmas this year please.

Mitsouko is hauntingly beautiful. I can't do justice in describing the experience but it's a melancholic beauty despite its name "Child of Light", a powdery haze, darkness, rich and earthy, a touch of ripe fuzzy peaches, spicy musk, all these elements blended seamlessly together to create a special fragrance that is distinct and unique with a soul of its own that carries cherished memories and hidden desires. Reformulated or not, still beautiful.

Like Serge is in the photo above, Mitsouko tends to leave me daydreaming and lost in its plot weaved with complexity, sophistication, romance and tragedy. 

Tendre Est La Nuit Majda Bekkali Sculptures Olfactives

Source: shinycreation.com

I took a quick look at the notes for Tendre Est La Nuit on Fragrantica, realised I haven't smelt quite a number of them and decided not to bother describing things I don't know and work out what I do smell even if it's not what's listed. 

I am strongly reminded of Parfum d`Empire Ambre Russe, likely strongly reminded, don't call me crazy. I dug out my sample of Ambre Russe to compare and I stand by what I say, well minus the vodka opening of Ambre Russe. Calling Tendre Est La Nuit a boozy oriental leather in a nutshell might be overly simplistic but that's the major part of the scent, something I didn't expect by its name but am quite enjoying. 

I smell boozy, syrup-engorged (immortelle maple syrup like) fruit like in Serge Lutens' Arabie but instead of the all-spice mix of Arabie there is pepper, smoky resins and balms which I can't tell apart but together with the pepper gives Tendre Est La Nuit it's oriental genes, a smooth tanned leather like in Anubis from Papillon Artisan Perfumes and a dark earthy patchouli. A thick, concentrated scent that seems to transform from its syrupy start to a dry fine dust over time, almost like musty old books that have been sprayed with the perfume. 

I prefer Tendre Est La Nuit to Ambre Russe for being an easier digestif to swallow, Tendre Est La Nuit imbibes but stops short of heavy drinking, while with Ambre Russe although being wearable art, one still has to be in the right mood to wear it without being worn out by the whole experience. Tendre Est La Nuit is a heavy scent with a big projection so I would be careful with applying this to avoid inducing headaches and/or nausea, but its strength fades out over time so that by the eighth hour it's a pleasant skin scent. P.S: I was putting clothes aside for laundry when I smelt a most gorgeous smoky, sweet and dark patchouli coming from the top I had used when wearing Tendre Est la Nuit more than 24 hours ago. Beautiful!

1969 Parfum de Revolte Histoires de Parfums

Source: www.ufgrangehall.com

1969 was the first perfume I owned from Histoires de Parfums and it entered my life around the beginning of my entry into the "niche" world of perfumes other than Serge Lutens. In contrast to some of my early buys, I've grown to enjoy and appreciate it more than my inexperienced nose ever did before. 

Where before my green self could only smell a fruity chocolate, I now think of it as alluring and spicy, the gourmand notes still present but intertwined with newly recognised notes, 1969 has grown in attraction, the good projection and longevity being plus points as well. Cloves, cardamom and licorice dominate the opening, spicy, herbal and thoroughly invigorating. A fuzzy soft peach and sweet, fresh roses appear after half an hour of wear, the spiciness abating with their appearance but the scent still retains its oriental nature, warm and sensual. 

After the fruit and floral notes are settled in, a dark semi-sweet chocolate emerges and 1969 becomes smoother and creamy, a spiced chocolate that smells different to Arquiste's Anima Dulcis, another spicy chocolate that I adore. The spice in Anima Dulcis smells like how chili tastes or smells, raw, sharp and fiery whereas the spiciness in 1969 are the unmistakeable cardamom and cloves, aromatic with a slightly peppery tickle to the nostrils, the combination of both spices makes me think of mulled wine and Turkish coffee! 

As 1969 dries further, the spices remain as a lingering pleasant aftertaste and leave a rosy sweet and musky dark chocolate behind. Anima Dulcis on the hand becomes a powdery chili chocolate in its drydown, the makings of a comforting mug of spiced cocoa. Both scents are utterly blissful in their own way but I find 1969 a tad seductive with her sweet bits and spicy muskiness, the earthy patchouli in the drydown adding some darkness to her already interesting nature. Anima Dulcis on the other hand is more like her name, a genuinely "sweet soul" that is relatively uncomplicated chili and chocolate, what you see (on the note list) is what you get. 

Lumière Noire Pour Femme Maison Francis Kurkdjian

Desirability: Full Bottle

Source:luckyscent

One of my great loves that I file under "nostalgic", Lumière Noire Pour Femme (LNPF) is a heartbreaking/melancholic scent that stirs emotions in a similar manner to Guerlain's L'Heure Bleue. 

LNPF starts like a sweet fruity floral when applied then quickly loses the fruity sweetness and a greenish floral bouquet appears, comprising of wild foliage surrounding a heart of roses and narcissus with a tad of powder. 

The green notes gradually slip away together with the powder and LNPF enters the part I love best and which lasts for a very long time. It takes a darker path, with sweaty saltiness and a darker, more earthy rose, as if the petals turned from a pink blush to a dark red. I adore this gloomy and sensual drydown that is part beast part rose with an added air of dry spiciness, that manages to remain presentable for polite company while leaving no doubt as to what could go on in her boudoir if you play your cards right.

There are many beautiful rose/patchouli combinations in the market, Amouage's Lyric Woman (personally I prefer the spicier Epic Woman), Frederic Malle/Dominique Ropion's Portrait of a Lady( a fantastically dirty rose/patchouli but I prefer Noir Epices the best from Malle's roses), Tom Ford's Noir de Noir( lost a sniff off with Portrait of a Lady), Ex Idolo's Thirty-three which is another great love, an animalic rose/oud/patchouli combination in equal measures and Juliette Has A Gun's Lady Vengeance(not as badass as the name suggests, quite sweet actually), just to name a few. Which is the best is a personal choice and I ended up with Lumière Noire Pour Femme...I guess you could say the perfume reached out and took a firm hold on my heartstrings. 

Lumière Noire Pour Femme creates an atmosphere like Kristen Barry in Ordinary Life. For me that is. 

Collection Rouge No. 2 M. Micallef

Source: boutique.osswaldnyc.com

A Micallef that I really enjoy, Rouge No. 2 was a bit of a surprise find. I was on the hunt for labdanum based scents and this opulent red bottle caught my eye. To put it simply Rouge No. 2 is a fancy mix of an oriental and fruity-floral, that's sweet enough in its initial stages to be ranked as a gourmand oriental but not tooth-achingly so. 

It starts with bushels of luscious ripe berries that are turned into a mouth-watering fruit and caramel dessert, the sweetness held in check by a tangy cassis. The scent leaves the gourmand territory as it dries and goes down a darker resinous path, ending as a powdery warm amber with a tinge of dark musk, that is suggestive without reeking of sex. 

Rouge No. 2 has a very potent opening which wanes to become a skin scent by around the fifth hour wearing it. After having sampled it a few times (and finally succumbing to a full bottle), I feel its aptly named, from the succulent berry opening, the intensely dark creme de cassis and its ending with a hint of carnal pleasures awaiting.  

Isparta 26 Parfumerie Generale

Isparta opens up with piquant red berries and sweet jammy roses that remind me of PG's Brulure de Rose or Tauer's Une Rose Vermeille. The sweetness level is up there with Juliette Has A Gun's Miss Charming, fruity rosy sweetness...like Montale's Roses Elixir but edit out the citrus opening and swap the strawberries for tangy red berries. Ok the resemblances stop there.

The bright sweetness dissipates quite quickly on me and Isparta takes an abrupt turn down the earthy, herbaceous path where it's darker, patchouli and oud being responsible for the change of mood. It's not all gloom and doom with the warm, jammy rose still going strong. It reminds me a lot of Ex Idolo's Thirty-three with the rose/patch/oud combination but the rose in Thirty-three is very much darker than in Isparta where it smells...pinkish-red? In Thirty-three the rose makes me think of dark almost black red roses, goth roses. The oud does not have the synthetic vibe some other "ouds" have, but it lacks the thick, oiliness I enjoy (that being said, even authentic oud has many different odours just as wines have bouquets).

Daiquiri

I enjoy the quick turnabout that Isparta took, from the initial cutie Strawberry Shortcake character type before fast forwarding ten years when Strawberry Shortcake got some tattoos and attitude. The scent projects in a major fashion on me even from a dab sample and it lasted the whole night into the morning and still going strong.

The rose is less syrupy sweet than Brulure de Rose or Une Rose Vermeille were on me and definitely has more character than the sweet and simple Miss Charming. Like others from the PG line, Isparta obviously comes from good stock but if we talk about interesting...the abrupt mood swing is about the only major difference that sets Isparta apart from other rose/oud/patchoulis.

Miel de Bois Serge Lutens

 "Let me thank all those whose labor contributed to making this fragrance.... in other words, the bees and flowers. 

From candied honey I made an ether to obtain the rich scent of the golden nectar."  

-- Serge Lutens

My signature scent if I had to name one. I have to thank Providence for my bottle actually, can you imagine the shop was going to throw their full tester in the trash since Miel de Bois was pulled from the export line and made a Palais Royale exclusive. I was in the right place at the right time to save the tester. Who throws away perfume, let alone a deity like Miel de Bois!! 

If you are looking for a gourmand honeyed scent along the lines of Tokyo Milk's Honey & The Moon, this isn't quite it.

Don't get me wrong, there is honey in Miel de Bois, but it's way more mysterious. It's a musty, musky and woody honey that is polarising, either you fall in lust and love or you think it smells like cats' piss/toilet spray/urinal cakes etc. Yup I said musty, it smells like an ages old bottle that was forgotten in an attic, musty that brings to mind antiques and marvellous relics of a different lifetime, moth eaten heavy curtains... a little like what Miss Havisham's room must have been like. 

It has a similar vintage and animalistic quality that Jean Desprez's Bal de Versailles or Schiaparelli's Shocking has on me and belongs in the category of scents that I feel require a "Danger" label for it's drug-like effects on the senses, or nausea-inducing if you can't handle indoles or  dark musks. Not forgetting that this stuff is potent and more than one spray can knock out a whole room so caution should be applied. 

I think if one gets past the initial blast of dark, dry woods and heavy sweetness, Miel de Bois dries down to the most addictive mildly spiced, sweet-woody musk, that smells like nothing else and stays with you for hours and hours like a most beguiling ambience. It's the dry down that has this heartrending quality I have only experienced otherwise with Guerlain's L'Heure Bleue, Mitsouko or Francis Kurkdjian's Lumiere Noir Pour Femme, once again a Lutens has gotten the better of my emotions.

Miel de Bois is controversial, unique, passionate and wild (I'll slide in the skank award here too)...please don't ever be discontinued, the withdrawal will be unbearable.

P.S: I don't advise blind-buying Miel de Bois as it's picky with which skin chemistry it gets along with. P.P.S: I'm always happy to adopt more bottles. I leave you here with a song that is as emotive as this scent. 

Datura Noir Serge Lutens

I have loved moonflowers since I was a child, when I would wait excitedly for the night-blooming cereus in the garden to unfurl its flowers and release their sweet heady scent in the still of the dark night. Datura and the night-blooming cereus share the common name moonflower, along with a few other vespertine flowers. Datura is also known as angel's trumpet and is confused with plants of the genus Brugmansia, a major difference between the two being that Brugmansia plants have pendulous flowers rather than erect like Datura.

Datura Inoxia

Datura Noir is a very creamy white floral, so creamy it almost wanders into the gourmand section, specifically full cream milk. 

Citrus tinged, tuberose and almonds are predominant, vanilla and coconut milk contributing to its rich texture, a little bitter, a little resinous as it dries, but ever retaining its luscious, milky texture. It is sweet but a sweetness that is drawn from botany not candy.

Datura Stramonium

I find it a bit much on hot, humid days when I'm running about outdoors, it can get rather cloying. Datura Noir is better appreciated in cooler temperatures, where it shows its romantic side without becoming suffocating. 

The scent radiates around me without being obnoxious and intrusive, plus it lasts a long time, I got through a twelve hour day with its company. Those who love tuberose and enjoy creamy scents bordering on gourmand, would probably enjoy Datura Noir. 

Trivia: Datura plants contain potentially toxic tropane alkaloids such as scopolamine, hyoscyamine, and atropine (used in resuscitation for bradycardia and certain patterns of heart block) which are anticholinergic agents (read more here).

A common mnemonic for the main features of anticholinergic syndrome is the following:

• Blind as a bat (dilated pupils)
• Red as a beet (vasodilation)
• Hot as a hare (hyperthermia)
• Dry as a bone (dry skin)
• Mad as a hatter (hallucinations/agitation)
• Bloated as a Toad (ileus, urinary retention)
• And the heart runs alone (tachycardia)

The drug physostigmine (cholinergic agent) is used to reverse the anticholinergic effects. Benzodiazepines can be given to curb the patient's agitation, and supportive care is indicated until the symptoms resolve, usually from 24–36 hours after ingestion of the Datura.

Daphne Comme des Garcons

Daphne Guinness collaborated with Comme des Garcons and released her signature fragrance in 2009, which she described as a "battle of contradictions". A battle or a bottle of contradictions? 

The description on the Comme des Garcons website is as such: "The fragrance DAPHNE gleans images from childhood memories in gardens, family houses and mysterious church rituals of an imaginative young girl."

Official listed notes lifted off the CDG page are: Bitter orange from Sicily, Incense, Saffron, Rose centifolia, Tunisian jasmine, Tuberose from India, Florentine iris, Indonesian patchouli, Oud wood, Amber, Vanilla from Madagascar. 

Comme des Garcons is all about the artsy and the experimental, from fashion to fragrances. As much as I like quirky, the clothing isn't wearable in my line of work nor does it quite gel with my personality i.e I'm not fashionably flexible enough. So I content myself with their their radical line of scents instead. My first ever CDG take home was their first and eponymous fragrance which has a very spicy and resinous unisex personality.

Daphne lives up to her name and the brand she is part of. I've admired Daphne Guinness for being fashionably eccentric and carrying it off with insouciance that cannot just be copied. It's something you are born with. Read more here. She's witty and I enjoy reading her quips. She was once quoted saying, "Nothing terrifies me more than being social."- ditto here. Other quotes I enjoy:

" I spend alot of time upside down. It increases the blood flow to the brain, so it really helps your creativity."

"Life is full of banana skins. You slip, you carry on."

So back to the scent. Bittersweet, more bitter than sweet, like the taste of Hédiard's bitter orange marmalade. A leathery, dusty saffron opens the scent with heady tuberose and spicy, smoky incense. They are followed by a metallic, powdery iris and an earthy patchouli. I smell the patchouli more obviously as time passes and it's paired with the oud, that's perceptible but not overpowering.

Daphne is elegantly dark and intoxicating on me, an interesting and unique take on one of my favorite flowers, here matching the narcotic white flower with equally potent partners, such that this tuberose scent is not just attractive, but intriguing as well.

Sillage and longevity are very good.

Mnemosyne was an art video created and directed by Daphne Guinness to accompany the perfume Daphne, a Web-released "anti-ad". 

A little trivia: Mnemosyne was the Greek goddess of memory and remembrance.  Memories are the influences behind the creation of Daphne, which was born from a personal blend she made out of tuberose, incense and oud. The tuberose and cedar take her back to her mother's garden in Cadaques, Spain, the incense sparks visions of High Church rituals during childhood and the oud speaks to her sense of adventure. 

"Fragrance takes you on a journey of time. You can walk down the street and pass someone and get taken back 20 years. It's very Proustian that way."- Daphne Guinness.