Sunday, 26 October 2014

Fracas versus Carnal Flower



There are endless debates on whether Robert Piguet's (Germaine Cellier) Fracas (I bought mine in 2011) and Frederic Malle's (Dominique Ropion) Carnal Flower smell similar and I thought they did but then I never tested them side by side till now. 

Fracas opens with a bigger blast than Carnal Flower but that's definitely not alluding that Carnal Flower is in any way weak, it's not. Fracas is a buttery and creamy big white floral featuring tuberose as the main actress, with supporting roles going to gardenia, orange blossom and jasmine. Carnal Flower is greener and fresher than Fracas by far but strangely I'm only noticing that now when I compare them next to each other. In Carnal Flower I smell the ylang ylang and a just ripe melon as the supporting notes and not so much the gardenia as I do in Fracas.

Although both Fracas and Carnal Flower are laden with tuberose, Profumum Roma's Tuberosa takes the award for the most fulsome tuberose perfume ever, it's tuberose and nothing else for hours on end and at only one volume, super loud. Next to Tuberosa, both Fracas and Carnal Flower are practically tame.

Fracas smells "older" than Carnal Flower due to the dewiness of the tuberose in Carnal Flower.  Both are sexy beasts but Fracas has this heavy on syrup factor that makes her seem like a perennially boozed up lush that has seen too much before her age, whereas Carnal Flower doesn't flaunt her sexuality while remaining alluring. Think of Elizabeth Taylor as Fracas and Greta Garbo as Carnal Flower. 

Both are monsters that project forever, so I won't worry about either under-performing. I think the only tuberose that doesn't stick on me is L'Artisan's La Chasse aux Papillons, most other tuberose-based perfumes that I've tried are tenacious creatures. 

So the verdict is, no they don't smell similar and yes if you adore tuberose, you would want both in your life. 




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