Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle - Eau de Magnolia

Picture: Magnolia × wieseneri 
Photo: WibblyWibby (cc) Wikipedia commons,
some rights reserved

Almost everything is already said about the beautiful latest Malle release, Eau de Magnolia a creation of Carlos Beniam and I has little to add to the praise. Eau de Magnolia is inspired from a draft to an airy magnoliaperfume, created by the great Edomond Roudnitska. But in those days, we are talkning the late 19th century, the technology in pefumery (for example head-space), didn't left the same opportunities as today and Roudnitska had to set his magnolia idea aside.

To me Eau de Magnolia is quite linear but with some characteristics in different parts. It's starts crispy-airy, a bit chilly and I instantly think of the Roudnitska masterpiece Dior Diorissimo. Further in the drydown Eau de Magnolia becomes a bit warmer and turns from the initial cripsy white impression to a pale, yellow note with a light honeyed almost beerlike (malt) note. The light airy flowers are still there but the fragrance becomes sort of deeper in texture. Eau de Magnolia is more about at white and pale crispy flowers bouquet than of a soliflore of the "note de jour"; magnolia. There is also an almost bitter, dense citrusnote discretly following through the top and middleaccords, probably the bergamot. In the later stages I smell a wellbalanced vetiver and some moisty mossy notes. There is also the high, bright, airy, chemical note, typical for contemporary fragrances, present in both niche and mainstream releases. Besides Diorissimo fragrances such as Elie Saab L'Eau de Couture (even if emphasising other flowers and sweeter, the texture is similar fresh, airy and a bit chemical) and Serge Lutens La Vierge de Fer (even if this one is more formal and has an almost metallic vibe).

Picture: Eau de Magnolia
Photo: PR Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle (c)

Eau de Magnolia is a very feminine fragrance and it makes me think of cool, blonde, natural beauties such as Ingrid Bergman or a bit more styled ones as Grace Kelly/Princess Grace. The fragrance is very versatile, easy to like (I guess it will be a bestseller, a new Carnal Flower) and could be worn for any daytime occasion. Longevity is good for such a light fragrance, for more than a day liberally applied. Eau de Magnolia is relaxing, undemanding and just beautiful, something to wear when you not need to be challenged from your fragrance, just smell good. The unchallening nature of Eau de Magnolia is also the only drawback with the fragrance, just smelling divine is sometimes a bit booring.

Rating: 4

Notes: Bergamot, magnolia, vetiver, patchouli, cedar, moss, amber

Fragrance(s) of the week (11) - Mainstream week

Photo: Mr Parfumista (c)

Sometimes I'm just fed up wearing and analyzing all these pretentious nichefragrances. This week I felt I had to relax during the weekdays by wearing straightforward mainstream fragrances. And of course, I couldn't stop analyze....:-)

Monday: My new favorite for spring Elie Saab Le Parfum L'Eau Couture reminds me of lily of the valley, some greenery over vanilla. Springlike crispy but in the same time warm.

Tuesday: Miss Dior Edp current version (former Miss Dior Cherie). Don't understand all the compliments about this contemporary chypre, floral, musky and light fruity. I think it's a good representative of the genre and a perfume with it's own characteristics, which are still recognizable after reforumlations, even if the strawberryflowers and the popcornnote seems to be replaced compared to the original 2005 Miss Dior Cherie release. Not many niche fragrances has a personality like this modern classic.

Wednesday: My liking for Boucheron Place Vendôme is growing. An elegant contemporary floral with contrasting notes reminiscent of airy tobaccoleaves in the basenotes. Would be perfect for spring in companion with an ivory colored, elegant, light, wollen suit, worn with a smooth silk top.

Thursday: Chanel Coco Mademoiselle Edp is in the same contemporary chypre floral category (with the typical patchouli in the basenotes) as Miss Dior Edp but darker, more formal and grown up. Just as pleasant as Miss Dior to wear during a working day, but provides a more serious impression.

Friday: Nina Ricci  Nina L'Elixir is a candied version of the original Nina, sweeter with less of the uplifitng citrusy sparkle of its forerunner. Strangly, in the dry down, Nina L'Elixir suddenly starts to smell like a much sweeter, crystallized Frapin Speakeasy. Nothing wrong with this perfume but this was the let down during the week, Nina L'Elixir doesn't play in the same leauge as the other tested, or for that matter, the original Nina in in which I perceive the same comfort level as in the fragrances tested Monday-Thursday.

Now I have to plan my next "theme-week", a week in Guerlain could be something....

Springtime fragrances

Soon they're here!
Photo: Mr Parfumista (c)

This year spring is very early, or at least the late winter is springlike some of the days. Of course there was almost no winter this year which is a great relief in everyday life. Anyway, this brings out this brings out the craving after springfragrances, such as:

Foin Fraîchement Coupé (Oriza L.Legrand): Starts fizzy, light green over dry haynotes, clover and herbs. Deepens in a sweeter, almost anise-liqueur-like light musky note. Comnines rual, green freshness with a delicate, sweet. light gourmand accord. Excellent longevity, I can smell whiffs from this fragrance from the dept of my skin days after I worn FFC.

Le Parfum  L'Eau Couture (Elie Saab): From the very moment when the first molecules hit my skin when testing LPL'EC I knew this is a must have. Starts bright and springlike, with an accord reminiscent of an almondy and not so cold Lily of the Valley, even if the notelist says magnolia. The classical Kurkdjian/Saab orangeblossom accord is also there but not as highlighted as in the original Le Perfum. A light vanilla complements the flowers perfectly. This is a reminder: Never underestimate "the mainstreams". Many of them are much better than all of the anxious complicated fragrances which are too many in the tide of nicherealeases.

Forever and Ever Dior (Christian Dior): This is a fragrance which I have neglected to try for a decade because of its silly name. It was displayed when I passed through a perfumestore and I tested it and fell immadiately for its light, bright, pink, rosy and crisp flowery charm. An elegant and very wearable springfragrance for ladies of all ages.

L'Heure Bleue (Guerlain): I think I mentioned L'HB in my list of springfragrances last year too. Every late winter/early spring I long a bit extra for this magic velvet dark blue, dusty, iris-neroli-heliotrophe-tonka elixir in all of its concentrations. L'HB is a fragrance which never loses its interest and which I appreciate even better the more I sniff from the flood of new fragrances.

Onda (Vero Profumo): Like taking a walk over the fields when the snow just has melted. The smell of earth, mud and the grass of yesteryear with light animalic whiffs from the horses on the barnyard nearby. (Onda Extrait & Voile d'Extrait).

Which fragrances do you perfer for spring?

Oscar de la Renta - Granada

Picture: Patio de los Arrayanes, Alhambra, Granada.

Photo by Jan Zeschky, (cc) Wikimedia Commons, some rights reserved.

Granada is a beautiful orange/orangeblossom fragrance which is a part of the 2012 introduced exclusive line of Oscar de la Renta - Essential Luxuries. In Sweden the Essential Luxuries will be introduced in February 2013.

Granada starts with a juicy orangenote, very true to how a fresh cutted orange smells. Inch by inch, Granada settles into a flowery blend where the orangeblossom interacts with jasmine and rose. The flowery blend is creamy in texture and there is a  sort of balsamic note present. Now and then the juicy orange shows up in short glimps, even in the base this tempting note is present. Granada is sort of circular in it's dry down, the some notes appears, disappears and re-appears. Except from the juicy start, Granada is very close to Maison Francis Kurkdjian APOM pour Femme, in some stages they are almost equal. To my nose APOM poue Femme is a bit greener, woodier, sharper and with a light detergent note that is not present in Granada. Granada is the nice little sister to the tougher big sister APOM pour Femme. Granada could evoke images of the inner courtyards of the palace of Alhambra during the time of the Moors, the rippling water of the fountains and ponds, the voices and laughter of the girls of the harem.

Even if  not a complicated fragrance (or despite of that), Granada is very plesant to wear and it lightens up a grey and cold winterday with its warm and happy appearance. Perfect for work or pleasure year around, a fragrance to choose when it's hard to decide what to wear. Longevity is very good, about 24h and the sillage is medium.

Granada is highly recommended to those who like L'Artisan Seville à l'Aube, Elie Saab Le Parfum and both MFK APOM pour Femme and APOM pour Homme.

Rating: 4

(As a follower to APOM pour Femme, Granada falls sligthly in points. If Granada has been the first of the two fragrances, the same had happened to APOM pour Femme)

Notes: Jasmine, rose, orange blossom

The mainstream niche

As I strolled around in the local chain-perfumstore some perfumed insights just popped up. In these days when the launches of many nichelines becomes more and more bland and not distinguishable from other niche and mainstream offerings (we can call it "mainstremification" of the niche) an opposing movement occurs automatically when it comes to some "mainstream" parfumes or maybe better referred to "designer"parfumes. Just looking around in the ordinary assortment of the chainstore I visited, I came to some conclusions:

- The classics still remaining in the assortment  is way more interesting then the majority of the new niche realeases. A perfume that have survived five to ten years or more, even if gradually reformulated, has stood the test of time and is something special. Examples: Rive Gauche (YSL), No 5 & Coco (Chanel), Angel & Alien (Thierry Mugler), Infusion d'Iris (Prada), Aromatic Elixir (Clinique)

- There are good new releases too, even if increasingly rarer (in relative terms) i.e exactly the same phenomen as in the niche sector. From the latest two years: Esprit d'Oscar (Oscar de la Renta), Le Parfum (Elie Saab),  No 19 Poudre (Chanel), Body (Burberry), Candy (Prada).

- The, in some cases quite distinctive reformulations of some fragrances, with the new Dior policy as a hallmark, suddenly makes a ten year old bottle with an pre-reformulation formula to an almost niche fragrance. Examples are of course in particualar from the Dior range: Dior Addict, Dune, Miss Dior Cherie Edp. I will  definitely treasure my (not so) old Diors :-).

-This store had a tester of Miss Dior labled as that and not the new Miss Dior Originale. I bet the MDO version formula is somehow tweaked too.

When writing this I'm yearning for these and other distinctive "mainstream" fragrances. As I'm almost always  sampling different nichefragrances, a week or two in "mainstream" would be a great relief.

Reassessements May 2012

Yesterday a lovely, sunny May 1th, we made the first boat trip for this season ( this years boatlaunch was this weekend) together with some friends. Cruising around on the  water in the heart of Stockholm is something I really will recommend. But nevertheless no idleness when it comes to me and fragtesting, during the cruise I have reassessed two fragrances that havn't left my mind since I tested and reviewed them. Havn't left my mind is generally a good sign when it comes to fragrances and proved to be the case concerning both the re-tested fragrances. I smell quite different aspects than when I reviewed Elie Saab Le Parfum back in grey November and Opus VI in March. I have updated the reviews with my new findings.

Valentino - Valentina

Bild: Valentina reklambild från Valentino (c)

For an english version, scroll down.

Valentina är skapad för huset Valentino av välkända parfymörerna Alberto Morillas och Oliver Cresp. Den presenteras i en mycket vacker flaska. Själva doften är en typisk ung, modern à la 2011 vit blommig floral över en clean vanilj och träbas med lite skalad ambra.

Valentina inleds med lite dämpat, spritsigt, lätt citrusliknande med inslag av de vita blommorna. De vita blommorna, speciellt apelsinblomman blir sedan tydligare för att sedan mingla ihop och söta till sig med en lätt bärig not. När Valentina nått basen finns där lätt vanilj, ambra och lite trä, en snäll och mjäkig bas, en dussinvara. Valtentina påminner om många dofter i den ordinarie doftbilden lite light Miss Dior Cherie, lite Elie Saab blandad med allmän vanilj doft. I basen finns något som påminner om en skalad och pastellblek version av Diesel Loverdose.

Vad har jag då att säga om Valentina? Tja, smells najs aber überhaupt nicht intressant. Inte för en tant som jag i alla fall, men Valentina är också främst tänkt för en yngre generation damer.

Positivt är att Valentina inte har någon tydlig tvättmedelsnot även om den känns syntetisk och att den trots smultron inte är bärigt sötsliskig som så många dofter riktade till den yngre generationen. Valentina är inte heller, som så många dofter marknadsförda mot den yngre generationen, billigt vulgär och flamsigt fnissig utan den har faktiskt viss klass, är rätt diskret och lite posh.

Valentina is created for the italian fashionhouse Valentino by the famous perfumers Alberto Morillas and Oliver Cresp. It is presented in a beautiful bottle that fits the scent, a typical young, modern à la 2011 stripped down white floral over a clean vanilla and wood base with a little scaled amber.

Valentina begins a little muted, sparkling, slightly citruslike with hints of white flowers. The white flowers, especially orange flower then becomes clearer and then mingle together and sweetens with a light berry note. When Valentina reached the base there is a straight forward vanilla, amber and a hint of wood, a kind and almost meeky base, that could be recognized a variety of contemorary creations. The whole perfume also recalls many scents in the regular scentpicture a bit of a Miss Dior Cherie light, some Elie Saab mixed with a general vanilla scent. The base is somewhat reminiscent of a scaled and pastel pale version of Diesel Loverdose.

What do I have to say about Valentina? Well, smells nice aber nicht überhaupt interesting. Not for an old lady like me anyway, Valentina is primarily intended for a younger generation.

The good news is that Valentina, even if it smells smooth synthetic, has no obvious clean detergentnote. The wild strawberry note is not sharp sugary, as in the case of many fragrances targeted to the younger generation. Valentina is not, as so many fragrances marketed towards the young ones, cheap, vulgar and giggly, it actually has some class, it's quite subtle and a bit posh.

Rating: 3

Notes: Bergamot, truffle, orangeblossom, jasmine, tuberose, strawberry, cedarwood, amber, vanilla

Thanks to Escentual for the sample of Valentina 

Maison Francis Kurkdjian - APOM pour Femme

Bild: Satellite image of Lebanon in March 2002,

NASA (cc), Wikimedia commons

APOM eller "A Part Of Me" har fått sin olifactoriska inspiration från parfymören Francis Kurkdjians resor till sina förfäders hemland Libanon. I APOM har dofterna från apelsin- och cederträlundarna tolkats av mästerparfymören. APOM finns också i en herrversion där den stora skillnaden är att ylang-ylang ersatts av ambra.

APOM pour Femme är en doft som samtidigt som att den känns väldigt rent, modern, lite åt sköljmedelshållet men absolut inte stickigt eller billigt, har klara retrovibbar och ger associationer till trettiotalet. Apelsinblommenoten är frisk och klar samtidigt som den vilar i en kritig, kalkig nyans som ger en torr pudrighet till doften. Cederträet är lagom nedtonat och blir aldrig för skarpt eller stickigt som i bland är fallet. APOM är linjär i sin karaktär men ändå intressant då den pendlar fram och tillbaka under dagen mellan det moderna uttrycket med utflykter i retro inslaget. Doften är mycket starkare än det intryck man först får när den appliceras så varning för överdos.

APOM är en ren och elegant doft som passar till en krispigt vit skjorta särskilt vår och sommar men också för att pigga upp under den mörka årstiden. Perfekt för arbetsplatsen, den är inte svår eller påträngade, bara dosen hålls under kontroll. Jämfört med några andra ljusa apelsinblommedofter så är Pradas Infusion de Fleur d'Oranger sötare och mycket mer våt och tvålig, annars är dofterna ungefär lika ljusa i tonen och ungefär lika starka, Serge Lutens Fleurs d'Oranger mycket mer stort åttiotalsblommig och med större inslag av andra vita blommor som tuberrose och jasmin. Det är också något i stilen som påminner om en annan apelsinblommedominerad Kurkdjian-kreation, Fleur de Male för Jean Paul Gaultier men den senare är mer aromatisk och tyngre i strukturen. Sedan finns förstås också Elie Saab Le Parfum som är något av en budgettolkning av APOM. Recenserad i förra inlägget.

Sammanfattningsvis är APOM pour Femme väldigt användbar och en av de bästa apelsinblommedofterna i mitt tycke. En verklig favorit!

Betyg: 5

Noter: Apelsinblomma, ylang-ylang, cederträ.

Elie Saab - Le Parfum

Scroll down for a reassessement of Le Parfum in May 2012, in english.
Vem minns inte kronprinsessan Victorias vackra, tunga men ändå svepande sjöjungfruformade klänning som hon bar på konserten kvällen före sitt bröllop förra sommaren? Klänningen är en representant för den libanesiske designern Elie Saabs eleganta design. Tyvärr måste jag redan här avsölja att Elie Saabs första parfym Le Parfum inte lever upp till aftonblåsornas klass. Detta trots att Elie Saab Le Parfum är skapad av en av mina favoritparfymörer Francis Kurkdjian. Antagligen har budgeten för själva doften varit tight för Francis har tidigare skapat distinkta dofter även för designersortimentet som Jean Paul Gaultiers Fragile, Jean Paul Gaultier2 och Fleur de Male.

Elie Saab Le Parfum cirklar kring, i alla fall i starten, en av de blommor som Francis är som allra skickligast att tolka; apelsinblommorna från lundarna i Libanon, Francis släkt härstammar precis som Elie Saab därifrån. Ändå blir Le Parfum bara en ganska blek och alldaglig doft jämfört med vad han normalt åstadkommer. Särskilt ställd i kontrast till hans underbara apelsinblommetolkning APOM pour Femme för hans eget hus Maison Francis Kurkdjian (MFK). Review kommer i morgon av APOMpF.

Ellie Saab Le Parfum inleder med en kemisk, lite skarp apelsinblomma som för tankarna till doften av ett lyxigt tvättmedel. Ger associationer till tvättmedelsnoten i Absolue pour Matin från MFK men utan de örtiga och kallt blommiga inslag som finns i ApM. Sedan träder en grönaktig men samtidigt lite instängd, herrig not fram som en motvikt till de ljusare noterna. Strax följer också lätt spritsigt, peppriga noter som jag tror är cederträ tillsammans med de ganska urvattande apelsinblommenoterna ger det lite av en Fanta eller snarare Zingo-effekt (för unga läsare: Zingo=en apelsinläsk från det förra årtusendet). Apelsinnoterna är rätt vaga i det här stadiet och de blandas upp med jasmin och ackompanjeras av en rosenton. Blommixen är rundare och mjukare än toppnoternas mer skarpa ackord. Kanske är det inslagen av honungsnot som ger den ganska mysiga effekten. Hela kompositionen vilar på em myskig bas med ett lätt inslag av patchoulli.

Även om Ellie Saab i basnoterna är en riktigt mysig doft så är den på intet sätt originell. I det här stadiet infinner sig av och till en doftassociation som påminner om parfymerat rengöringsmedel de Luxe. Men doften är trots allt komfortabel även om den komponentmässigt känns lite som en budgetparfym, vilket retar mig med tanke på husets aftonkreationsdesign och att det ändå är Francis Kurkdjian som komponerat doften. Jag tycker att man kan kräva mer och på grund av irritationsmomenten kämpar sig Le Parfum inte riktigt ända fram till godkänt.

Betyg: 2+ (november 2011)

Rating 4+ (May 2012) Le Parfum havn't left my mind during the long and cold winter. Today, May 2012 I can't figure out how I was thinking last autumn. The only conclusion is that I was to influenced of the large number of negative reviews and assessements in the parfumblogosphere. Now, smelling it unaffected I just think it is great. Slight laudery detergent in the typical classy Francis Kurkdjian style, slight soapy, musky, green, patchy orangeblossom. Mingles perfectly to my skinchemistry, delicious. To be honest, today I like Le Parfum as much as APOM pour Femme, different takes on the same contemprary orangeblossom theme, some common traits but nevertheless different caracters. Le Parfum more urban lady like and APOM more casual chic appropriate for the weekend at the countryside.

Noter: Apelsinblomma, jasmin, ros, cederträ, patchoulli, honung,