Picture: Gartennelke (Dianthus caryophyllus)
Photo: Darkone (cc) Wikimedia Commons, some rights reserved
Soie Rouge starts with somthing like a dry fruity mess accompanied by a slight laudry/detergent smell. Fortunately this part is passing quickly and than a more pleasent note that seems familiar to the passionflower in MPG Fraiche Passiflore passes by. After fifteen to thirty minutes the carnation takes the centerplace and the fruity notes are tuned down to a supporting background. The carnation is without that mandatory clove which I find to be a great relief. A clean carnation supported by a soft, dimmed fruitiness and a something smooth, creamy, that reminds me of a rose note, even if it's not among the ingredients. All the notes are resting on a rather pale musky, sandalwoody base. Soie Rouge recalls memories from my childhood, from dinners in my grandmothers beautiful Jugendhaus. Probably handsome aunt Birgit was the one that wore the carnation, maybe Bellodgia. My own mother was even then faithful to Dior; mostly Diorissimo but also Miss Dior, Dioressence and Diorama. How I wish she hadn't use up those bottles....
Soie Rouge is a good carnation, the best tested so far to me. I like that it's not paired and soaked with clove and more true to the flower. The blend is soft and very polite to be a MPG of 1988, the sillage is very colse to the skin and there is some longevity issues. But on the other hand, I have put Soie Rouge on a hard test: Shuffling heavy snow during an hour in the cold swedish winter, it is probably not fair to judge.
Update August 2012: Fortunately the winter has not arrived yet here in the north, there is still summer :-) This review was written when I tested Soie Rouge last winter and has been waiting in the archives since then.
Rating: 3
Notes: Pineapple, dried fruits, carnation, iris, jasmine, heliotrophe, apricot, musk, sandalwood, amber