Spending Valentine's Day 2017 with a new love... Le Beau Parfum Maison Francis Kurkdjian

Desirability: Full bottle

Source: Fragrantica.com

Valentine's Day 2017, which lucky scent is sharing today with you? I recently caved in and ordered Baccarat Rouge 540 off the Francis Kurkdjian website, together with a bottle of Lumiere Noire Pour Femme body lotion as a gift to myself. I received as samples, the new Aqua Celestia in a travel size (which I haven't tried yet), Le Beau Parfum and Lumiere Noire Pour Homme (tinkling with the idea of gifting this in the future).

Back to Le Beau Parfum. Must, MUST love big fat white florals to enjoy this. It's not a diva like Fracas but it's definitely not a shrinking violet (although I love my violets and I don't think it's quite fair to the flower, but origins of the quote here). As Savage Garden cheesily crooned " I knew I loved you before I met you", I guessed correctly that I would love Le Beau Parfum once I read the notes and I mean it is a Kurkdjian creation...digressing a little here but there is a fellow perfumehead who wrote in a forum that she wants to have his babies...I totally understand that sentiment. 

With tuberose, orange blossom, ylang ylang and jasmine arranged according to the intensity that I perceive of each note, Le Beau Parfum is a classy floral that is seamless and uncomplicated. Candid as well as rather candied (not toothachingly sweet but it is sweet), it stays constant from start to finish, starting strong and remaining clearly noticeable even after the end of a work day and a vigorous gym session on top of that. Terms that come to mind when describing Le Beau Parfum would include: decidedly feminine, elegant, sweetly innocent, lush, exotic...oh just think Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday and you'll get my drift! 

Le Beau Parfum is the answer to my recent craving for new undiscovered white florals. I tried Creed's Love In White which is a lovely mix of zesty and creamy, less sweet than Le Beau Parfum but similarly innocent and unaffected. I also tried Les Exclusifs de Chanel Beige...I had hoped to enjoy this but it's so....prosaic? Like a person whom one can have neither good nor bad things to describe. Kudos to those who love Beige and can relate to its beauty but it's just not for me. Taste and colours as they say...Anyway I know exactly what I'm ordering next from the MFK website. What about you? What lovely florals have you been craving recently?

Happy Valentine's Day to one and all! I leave you with a perennial favourite poem...

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,

or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.

I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,

in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms

but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;

thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,

risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.

I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;

so I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,

so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,

so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep. 

Pablo Neruda

L'Aimant Coty

Desirability: Full bottle

Source: Amazon.com

Suffering withdrawal symptoms from my month long holiday, one thing that revived me was the many parcels I accumulated while away. All of them were swaps with other fragrance lovers and many of them were blind swaps, including L'Aimant (the version I have is pictured above). 

A generous yet smooth and gentle dose of aldehydes, fuzzy peaches, dusty florals drying down to baby powder if it is possible to find baby powder smelling of musk and sandalwood. Elegant, warm and so lovely from beginning to end, L'Aimant would appeal to lovers of scents with a vintage flair. L'Aimant doesn't feel like the pink colour it is boxed in but more of a hazy peachy colour, like being enveloped in a loving hug. 

L'Aimant has been compared and contrasted to Chanel No. 5 but personally I won't recommend it as a dupe or a replacement. L'Aimant is easier on the senses than No. 5, with a milder character than the demanding "look at me, look at me" personality of No. 5. I've always felt that No. 5 is a moody if glamorous scent with dark secrets ( well the No. 5 of my childhood that I smelt on my mother who wore the same scent over the years and reluctantly moved on to something else due in part to the reformulations of No. 5) as compared to L'Aimant which comes across bright and joyful. I can't say that this would ever be a favourite as it is more mellow than I like my fragrances to be, but it is a nice relief from the many over the top/sugary sweet perfumes we are overloaded with today.  

A scent that you can wear anytime and to any place in any weather, with decent sillage and OK longevity=Blind swap success! I hate to make negative remarks but L'Aimant as a cologne spray lasted longer than my No. 5 parfum which I bought in 2013 from a Chanel counter (just in case Chanel loyalists accuse me of buying off the grey market). Last but not least let's not forget how very affordable L'Aimant is! Highly recommend!

Ylang in Gold M. Micallef

Desirability: Decant

Source: perfume.org 

There's no denying that Micallef makes fine and pretty fragrances. You can't hate a Micallef, they are  quality fragrances and just too pleasant to inspire negativity but at the same time I find some too sweet and some others too...prosaic? Apart from the seductress Le Parfum Couture the other Micallef creations I have had the good fortune to sample are lovely if innocuous ladies.

Ylang in Gold would be welcomed into this society of ladies for like a Stepford wife she is perfectly groomed, decked out in luxury and...a conformist. Not a hair out of place nor a toe out of line, Ylang in Gold has no edges or surprises but is a seamlessly blended sweet and intoxicating (but of course) ylang ylang drenched in vanilla cream. Adding to the food theme is a smell of fruit, more like a fruit stall then a particular fruit but there are coconuts or rather coconut milk involved and overall has a tropical vibe but more an upper class resort in Tahiti than a beach hut somewhere less glamourous. 

Great projection and decent longevity, I would recommend Ylang in Gold to those who enjoy sweet fruity fragrances with an emphasis on the word sweet. Ylang ylang lovers might want to try this too for the ylang ylang note is gorgeous and realistic although engaged in a tug of war for domination with the sweet fruit. You will undoubtedly smell charming, obviously expensive and everyone will adore your scent but you won't make history. 

Sabbia Bianca Profumum Roma

Desirability: Decant

Source: www.travelviaitaly.com

Sabbia Bianca or White Sand had a limited release of 500 bottles (rumour or rather Google claims) in 2011 and there's so little about it on the internet that I couldn't even find a photograph, hence the white sandy beach above. I was very lucky to have been gifted a sample of Sabbia Bianca by a kind fellow fragrance traveller who knows well my love of white florals. 

Sabbia Bianca is a Big Fat White Floral (BFWF) born on a tropical beach. If there was a checklist for the perfect tropical white floral, Sabbia Bianca would have ticked off all the qualities on that list. Creamy as coconut milk, lush narcotic florals- tuberose, gardenia, ylang ylang, tiare, a little sweet vanilla and just a touch of green leaves- somehow the green bit makes me think of waxy banana leaves. Not complicated, linear and it's been done before but a sunny and joyful scent that smells natural and has some serious lasting power. 

I am quite relieved to say that although I adore BFWFs and am a fan of Profumum despite their prices, I do not crave a full bottle of this rarity. It's undoubtedly beautiful and would appeal to those who adore white floral scents or tropical island beauties, but there are alternatives and cheaper ones at that, even if they may not match up to the phenomenal longevity of Sabbia Bianca. I'm thinking Guerlain's Terracotta Le Parfum though there isn't tuberose in it but the tropical white florals more than make up for that loss, or maybe Isles Lointaines by Keiko Mercheri. 

L'Instant de Guerlain

Desirability: Full bottle

Source: www.osmoz.com

Milky sweet floral.

Despite the advertisement above, I don't find L'Instant to be seductive or wearing a little black dress. Instead L'Instant soothes me, it feels as relaxing as drinking a floral tea laced with milk and honey and smells like it too. Well if tea could be made out of a combination of the flowers ylang ylang, magnolia and jasmine. 

L'Instant is a strong scent but not suffocating, it's easy to wear even on the most humid days here thanks to its lightness. If it were a colour it would be the palest of pale honey and honey is definitely a major feature of L'Instant, proportional to the lush milky floral notes but despite all the flowers and honey the scent is not heavy on sugar, everything about L'Instant says delicate and feminine. In the drydown there is a wisp of clean musk that adds to the pillowy effect and L'Instant maintains its warm celestial glow until the very end many hours later.  

Ylang 49 Le Labo

Desirability: Decant

Source: Luckyscent

An acquired taste for intellectual days.

This isn't your regular ylang ylang perfume as in it's not about white/yellow floral notes, there's no candied vanilla and it has nothing to do with the beach or suntan lotion.

Chypre it is, there's tons of bitter green mossy woods on first applying. I feel like I'm hiking in a tropical jungle, the green foliage so dense and the humidity so thick you can almost cut it with a knife. I smell the ylang ylang which far from its potential to be cloying, here is ensnared by the heavy moss and earthy patchouli. The floral sweetness gives Ylang 49 some lightness in a complex and intense, almost broody character. 

It's not happy go lucky, it's definitely not stereotypically sexy (unless you dig the strait-laced librarian, not the adult entertainment librarian) but it has class and it commands attention like a lecturer inspiring you to put on your thinking cap instead of spoon-feeding you the answer. If Escada fruity florals are ditzes (I mean no offence, on occasion I smell ditzy too), then Ylang 49 is well not quite a valedictorian but at least an honours student. Comforting? Maybe. I would use this as a galvanization on pyjama-only days at home when I give up my chick literature for real books.  

Moon Dance Juliette Has A Gun

Desirability: Decant

Source: twitter.com

Dirt alert. 

Skin chemistry is a weird and wonderful thing isn't it? Where my boss got mostly flowers, on my skin Moon Dance emitted the ahem...organic fertilizer feeding the flower bushes. No complaints from me as I'm quite happy that JHAG has packaged a marvellously stinkiest of stinky musk, be it real or synthesized it's a job very well done. However if you prefer your flowers leached and light, I would probably advise not to try Moon Dance as it's not likely to be your cup of funky reek. 

Picture a grimy and sweaty (but Über hot) gardener shovelling fertilizer amongst bushes of huge, drooping blooms ( I smell the narcotic white flowers tuberose and ylang ylang). So the dirty musk off the gardener in need of a shower, the heady floral notes and the earthy scent from the compost. There you have Moon Dance. The initial pungency gradually gives way to the floral notes which come forward and shine but that dirty patchouli/musk effect is never far behind. So it feels a bit bipolar, one moment it's pretty sweet flowers and then it turns to faecal tinged flowers. It's crazy and I liked it, then the musk turned tamer towards the dry down, becoming more like a floral musk from the Narciso Rodriguez line as if the gardener did end up having a good scrub. Personally I found the foetid part more appealing than the cleaner musk.

Moon Dance has got a good scent trail so be careful with how much is applied, despite an attack of my chronic allergic rhinitis, one spray of Moon Dance was enough to issue wafts of something naughty within a one metre radius. 

Ylang Ylang Lorenzo Villoresi

Source: Fragrantica

I love the smell of ylang ylang and having read about its multiple uses in aromatherapy including being a relaxant and sedative, I managed to track down two young trees to plant beneath my dad's window. Despite being a tropical plant I haven't found it growing around this city island and it wasn't too easy finding the trees either. Anyway home they came and the scent of the flowers is so strong that the night breeze carries it up two floors to me and helps with my dad's insomnia.

Lorenzo Villoresi has bottled the exact smell of the flower in this scent. Ylang ylang has a distinctive scent that stands out amongst other floral notes although I find it hard to pin it down in words for like patchouli it can play so many characters from spicy green to heady narcotic and fits beautifully in a tropical garland. It's restrained and elegant in APOM Pour Femme but Ilang Ivohibé showcases its multiple personalities. In Lorenzo Villoresi's Ylang Ylang, it's ylang ylang all the way as if I am holding a few of the golden-yellow spidery blooms in my hands. Simple and linear but a very pleasurable scent that is soothing and uplifting. 

Source: herbalriot.tumblr.com

On a happy note, two good friends of mine are getting married today and Lorenzo Villoresi Ylang Ylang will accompany me for the day's festivities and I've chosen Tauer PHI Une Rose de Kandahar to dress in for the dinner tonight. 

I leave you with a lovely poem by W.H. Auden that I find to be precious, it has such honesty shining through the words that makes it incredibly touching. My most-loved line would be "if equal affection cannot be, let the more loving one be me." 

‘The More Loving One’ by W.H. Auden

Looking up at the stars, I know quite well

That, for all they care, I can go to hell,

But on earth indifference is the least

We have to dread from man or beast.

How should we like it were stars to burn

With a passion for us, we could not return?

If equal affection cannot be,

Let the more loving one be me.

Admirer as I think I am

Of stars that do not give a damn,

I cannot, now I see them, say

I missed one terribly all day.

Were all stars to disappear or die,

I should learn to look at an empty sky

And feel its total dark sublime,

Though this might take me a little time.

Narciso Rodriguez for Her Musc Eau de Parfum Intense

The opening of "Intense" is what persuaded me to add this Narciso Rodriguez to my wardrobe even though clean floral musk isn't quite my thing. It is a sweet and minty herbal experience that is similar to diluted Tiger Balm and it lingers around for about an hour before a delicate honeyed floral musk emerges and stays around like a pillowy cloud of comfort for a few hours with a moderate projection throughout. 

I pick up ylang ylang with its unique spicy floral sweetness and a soapy orange blossom from the floral bouquet but can't quite identify anything else. The honey note is a clear white honey, not too dense and with no animalic overtone. Despite being labelled "intense" the overall effect is of warm scented skin without being obviously perfumed, soothing yet sensual. 

I would say try before buying as looking at the online reviews, there are quite a few that are repulsed by the opening of "Intense" but that is exactly what I enjoy about it. 

Une Folie de Rose Les Parfums de Rosine

Source: Fragrantica

If you adore roses, Parfums de Rosine is one house that you must absolutely sample ( 25 Euro for 15 samples) as it is positively blooming with roses of all colours and scents! I was lucky to receive a bottle of Une Folie de Rose which stands as my number one from the range.

It opens with sharp and bright aldehydes, the rose flanked by citrus and green living notes as if one is standing in a huge garden with masses of flower blooms ( not just roses) everywhere. It dries to a darker rose with leathery patchouli and a musky mossy bed. Not a rose soliflore despite the advertisement above, I smell ylang ylang and other floral notes I am unable to identify separately, but compared to the first few sniffs the rose stands out more in the drydown both sweet and spicy with a splash of citrus. I like how the scent evolves over time, the rose playing peek-a-boo but finally showing its gorgeous self in the end, its scent becoming more obvious amongst the other notes towards the end as if Une Folie de Rose takes you on a ramble and rewards you with a bed of roses at the end.

Source: www.pinterest.com

Une Folie de Rose doesn't have a big projection but this classically elegant rose stays with you all day. Nothing experimental or stimulating (in general I feel Parfums de Rosine create more traditional scents as opposed to quirky) but an exquisitely beautiful and feminine rose that every rose lover must try, just don't expect roses only.  

Gardez Moi Jovoy

Source: www.nobaharshop.com

Gardez Moi. Keep me.

The name was the first thing that appealed to my romantic sensibilities and since it was touted to be a big fat white floral (BFWF) of which I am a huge fan, I went for a blind buy. No regrets. 

Gardez Moi is indeed a BFWF, not as grandiose as Fracas and obviously without tuberose, not creamy and fruity sweet like my other BFWF love, the intoxicating Isabey's Fleur Nocturne and although a classy white floral of tuberose/jasmine/gardenia, Estee Lauder's Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia was too light and straightforward for me and got swapped away. 

Gardez Moi is an enormous bouquet of freshly cut white florals, as if they have been brought in from a dew-laden garden that's just waking up. The opening is all about outdoorsy, words like "crisp", "green", "watery" come to mind. The aldehydes that enter after the white floral notes enhance the brightness with their powdery green citrus smell, giving Gardez Moi a vintage air. 

The base is a delicately powdered balmy musk, smelling faintly as if just a memory of the young and boisterous white florals.   

PG 15 Ilang Ivohibé Parfumerie Generale

Source: Fragrantica.

I haven't been the biggest fan of Parfumerie Generale, not for the want of trying or any fault of the scents I've tried, but we don't seem to mesh well. As Fate would have it, I had a better run of luck with this house of late and Ilang Ivohibé is the landmark first bottle I own, quickly followed by a volley of its siblings lol.

The Parfumerie Generale website lists the ingredients as such: 

"Born of a fairy-tale union of Madagascan ylang-ylang, Californian orange and Egyptian jasmine,

 the poetic fragrance of an imaginary flower releases its perfume against the exquisite sweetness of a forest of vanilla plants. 

Lavander, Vanilla, Ylang-ylang, Orris, Patchouli."

Strangely enough none of the online stores that carry the scent have the same list of ingredients, with most listing a variable combination of: ylang-ylang, citrus, jasmine, vanilla, woods and musk.

Ilang Ivohibé is not just another ylang ylang scent. Trust Pierre Guillaume to always jazz things up, wearable on me or not. In this case, it's a delightful floral woody vanilla that simultaneously hints at dense gourmand roots and yet channels a sprightly green vibe. A real shape-shifter, one moment I think of vanilla cake and the next it's all woods and nature. Add a dash of citrus and generous sprinkle of powder on top. 

Ylang ylang usually goes narcotic and smouldering on me but Ilang Ivohibé remains a young and joyful spirit throughout. It has good longevity but from the start it remains close to the skin without a trail so I keep thinking it's disappeared but no it's still there, just really subtle. That's about my only grumble about the scent and with a 100 ml bottle, the solution is spray and spray again ad infinitum. 

P.S: Am I the only one who isn't certain how to pronounce the name? I've been cautiously muttering " ee-lang ee-vo-hibe" and well the sales assistant handed me the right bottle.

Trivia: A quick Google search tells me that Ivohibe is a hilly rural town in central Madagascar. In the municipality is a nature reserve called Pic d'Ivohibe, you can read more here.

APOM Pour Femme Maison Francis Kurkdjian

Francis Kurkdjian introduced the orange blossom note to me. I was looking for another work of olfactory art to treat myself with, having fallen in love and lust with Lumiere Noire Pour Femme and Absolue Pour Le Soir. This was suggested to me and the name caught my attention. APOM. A Part Of Me. How romantic. How could I pass?

It opens with a tingle in your nostrils from the citrusy sweet and slightly soapy orange blossom, the scent trail from start to finish always remaining on the lighter scale of things but I prefer to enjoy APOM Pour Femme in its subtlety, it's easier to pick up the slight nuances as it changes over time rather than if the notes were all barraging towards you and clamouring for attention. 

The scent takes on a musky tone and the ylang ylang with its seductive creamy golden glamour slinks in, fully dressed by still oozing sex appeal. Ylang ylang can be overbearing sometimes but here it shows its character albeit with some restraint and does not drown out the orange blossom. The flowers prevail and join the cedar and amber in the dry down, both the wood and amber serving to enhance the floral scent by warming its golden yellow into a darker gold as time passes. 

This sweet musky floral lasts and lasts for hours on me, setting forth gentle wafts of its well-blended smooth self every now and then. It's feminine and refined, deceptively simple with its brief note pyramid but the notes engage in such sinuous play it suggests otherwise and owns a suggestive but not overtly sexual mien. Perfect for ladies who revel in their femininity and it accessorises as well as elegantly simple gold lariats for both the office and the evening after. For the days you wish to wear perfume without the perfume wearing you.

Nejma 4, Nejma

Nejma 4 introduces herself with a bright and zingy bergamot, geraniums adding a dash of spicy pepper to the otherwise piquant citrus top notes.

Settling down after the round of introductions which lasted about half an hour or so, she reveals a sweet-herbaceous, slightly powdery aspect of her character accompanied by florals that I am unable to differentiate as they are seamlessly blended together, however Nejma 4 is listed by Fragrantica to contain jasmine, rose, narcissus and ylang ylang.

The herbaceous aspect dissipates, the powder gradually becomes more obvious and the scent remains as a very floral powder till the end. An enjoyable powdery floral bouquet with a classic vibe, reminiscent of Yves Saint Laurent Paris EDP although Paris is more of a pink bouquet and Nejma 4 smells like a pale yellow arrangement.

Nejma 4 has a modest sillage and good longevity on me. 

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. 

Night Aoud M. Micallef

Possibly my favorite from Micallef so far. I wasn't too enamored of Mon Parfum (original and the Cristal version), I'm undecided about the bubble-gum note in Watch (Time for love) and Aoud Gourmet is nice but I prefer Night Aoud by far. Unfortunately I've read gossip that it's been discontinued but I managed to swap for an almost full bottle. 

It's a very pleasing oud/floral combination, warm, plush and has a gourmand feel to it, something akin to Aoud Gourmet, almost a fruity gourmand ( soft ripe peaches and vanilla). It opens with a blast of heady and sweet ylang ylang but the scent gradually mellows and settles into an woody-oudy-floral, touched by a glowing amber. Overall I smell approachable, even friendly.

Night Aoud projects very well the first hour or so and subsequently stays as a skin scent for about six to eight hours. Despite it's name, Night Aoud is suitable for day wear and for all occasions be it work, grocery runs or date nights. Oud based perfumes can be potent and almost overwhelming but not here where in spite of the oud, the scent remains light. I find it leaning towards the feminine side of the scale, in part due to the sweetness of the fruity-floral aspect but any self-assured male could carry this off very sexily too.