Mademoiselle Guerlain, Guerlain

Desirability: Full bottle

Source: pinterest

Source: wethepeoplestyle.com

Whoever takes a cursory look at the notes for Mademoiselle Guerlain and dismisses it as a giddy adolescent's scent, I would advise to ignore the notes as well as the naysayers and give this a chance. Mademoiselle is a grown woman of independent means, who may be wearing a blushing pink dress for tea with her parents but she's since kicked off her demure Repettos in favour of spiked Louboutins, a matching leather jacket and a penchant for life that would make Jicky and Chamade proud. 

The last scent I owned that had marshmallow as a note was Don`t Get Me Wrong Baby ( I don't swallow) by Etat Libre d`Orange which despite its racy name was in reality a charming lily of the valley scent. I wasn't particularly entranced so that bottle got swapped away and every marshmallow scent thereafter just did not hit the spot. Well until I met Mademoiselle Guerlain.

I won't call Mademoiselle Guerlain a marshmallow-centred fragrance, in fact it doesn't smell particularly gourmand-ish to me. Sweet yes but not effusive, there is an interplay between the citrus-tinged nectar of the orange blossom, the confectionery sugar of the marshmallow against the cool green bitterness of the galbanum and violet leaves which creates the leathery aspect of the scent for me. The scent dries into a delicately sweet cloud of powdery musk laced with citrus and warm vanilla. 

Projection is good and longevity very good, Mademoiselle Guerlain danced the night away and walked home light-hearted but with sore bare feet having lost her leather heels and jacket somewhere in the party before passing out in her room that is artfully decorated with souvenirs from the Orient, the morning sun kept out by her violet curtains. 

Source: pinterest

La Violette Annick Goutal

Desirability: Full bottle and back up

After the excesses of the last three days thanks to the Lunar New Year festivities and gorging myself silly with all kinds of heavy traditional food, it is nice to cut back and what better way than with a beautiful soliflore like La Violette? 

I am not much of a green floral person but there's something about Annick Goutal's floral creations that are whimsical and appeal to the girly girl in me, particularly La Violette and Un Matin d'Orage. They share this similar DNA sequence that is unique to this house so much so that you could recognise an Annick Goutal floral blindfolded. 

Sweet violet flowers and tiny buds of roses balanced with the zing of fresh green leaves so realistic it is as if you are crushing a leaf between your fingers and smelling the green stain left upon them. La Violette truly smells like the promise of Spring in a bottle. Delicate and feminine, unpretentious yet polished, slightly shy yet welcoming, cool yet sunny disposition. 

I find La Violette to be a happier violet than the "bleue" Apres l'Ondee which is a gorgeous if subtle and ever so misty-eyed violet on me. Out of the two, La Violette has the bigger projection and also lasts longer although not above the four hour mark but for the time that it lingers around, it is a sheer comfort like letting all the stress out with a big sigh. 

Stephen Jones Comme des Garcons & Stephen Jones

Desirability: Full bottle

Source: www.notenom.com

An interesting and wearable violet.

I may find a scent interesting and original but that does not necessarily mean I would feel comfortable wearing it, instead preferring to treasure it as a piece of art. Comme des Garcons & Stephen Jones combine both the weird and wonderful in Stephen Jones making it wearable olfactory art, which is a trait that is seen in most of the creations from Comme des Garcons that I've had the pleasure to try. Intriguing and creative.

There's something tart and spicy about this violet, breaking away from the traditional mould of candied innocent violet flowers. It is partly airy with the violet flowers and leaves smelling natural and sweetly green but Stephen Jones isn't about a posy of violets. There's a snowstorm of aldehydes like sparkling diamond dust all over the violets, enough to tickle your nose and your fancies if you are into violets and aldehydes as a pair. Oh and back to the tart spiciness...reminiscent of aromatic herbs, they add a piquancy to the dusted violets. I smell incense and woody notes later on but the violet flowers and leaves along with the spiced powdery notes are the main players throughout. 

Original and charming from beginning to end, overall it feels dry, brisk and rather modern but yet there's an old-fashioned vibe from the gentle and sweet violet powder. Unisex and although it might not be everyone's cup of tea, I doubt anyone could say that Stephen Jones is staid or boring! 

L'Art de la Guerre Jovoy

L'Art de la Guerre. The Art of War.

It smells grey-green. Let me explain.

The opening is reminiscent of Mona di Orio's Violette Fumee's introduction on me, cold and astringent, an icy herbal. Thankfully like in Violette Fumee, the ice thaws quickly and a tart and sweet herbal scent arises through the cracks. I have never smelt fresh rhubarb but Ayala Moriel at SmellyBlog describes it as such:

 "It smelled like crisp grass, unripe berries or fruit and ozone. The latter element is what makes it every so slightly repulsive and ever so much more interesting and not at all like its earthly Swiss chard friends."

What does ozone smell like? Among my perfumed friends, it's taken to mean "airy" or "light" and interchanged with "aquatic", or as one of my more jaded friends calls it, "watered down". Besides residing as a layer above us in the atmosphere and protecting us from UV rays, ozone resides here on earth, produced by lightning strikes during storms and creating that "clean and fresh, after a rain" smell, that smells like nothing else and inspires creations such as Guerlain's Après L'Ondée, which celebrates the fine weather after a shower of rain, Arran Aromatics After the Rain, Hermes' Un Jardin après la Mousson and Annick Goutal's dewy floral Un Matin d'Orage.

So back to L'Art de la Guerre. Besides the strange tartly sweet herbaceous note that I assume is the rhubarb, I smell the unmistakable lavender and the metallic tinge of violet leaves...I was looking forward to a syrupy immortelle but I suspect it's portraying it's hay/straw-like trait here and not maple syrup, keeping L'Art de la Guerre in the style of aromatic fougère...grey-green!

It's dry down reminds me of another scent, this time Parfumerie Generale's Coze and its spiced boozy dark wood. L'Art de la Guerre has leather (lots of) instead of booze but is lightly spiced and earthy too. As the day goes on, L'Art de la Guerre becomes more mellow and easier for me to wear, I am afraid I have never been a fan of the Fougère family classic or modern, it's way too cool for a passionate soul.

Biases aside, L'Art de la Guerre smells like a thoughtfully crafted scent that comes across as sophisticated and elegant. It leaves a scent trail of about an arm's length and has a good longevity.