Top 5 Winterfrgrances 2018

Photo: Parfumista (c)

It seems as the major perfumeblogs have posted the Top10 Winterfragrances 2018 lists. Here five fumes I enjoy during the colder months:

Volutes (Diptyque): Calming, comforting, warm aromatic with resins, spices, honey and tobacco. Close silage and de-stressing, a fragrance that could be worn even when feeling ill. My most worn frag this winter.

Tubéreuse (Maître Parfumeur et Gantier): A very green and dry tubereuse with grassy almost herbal nuances and a glimpse of a dill note in the first accords. A fragrance for sunny winterdays.

Magnolia Pourpre (Maître Parfumeur et Gantier): More of a soft powdery cold orchid than magnolia. Both seemless mixed with iris and rose. An excellent, elegant and retro fragrance.

Shalimar Edp (Guerlain): Current formula. What could be better a cold day than to wrap in the warm veil of vanilla, bergamot, iris, powder, leather and all the other wonderful notes of Shalimar.

Amber Mystique (Esteé Lauder): A balsamic rose with incense, light glimpses of oud, spices and berrys. Like a dark bourdeaux velvet cloak warming a cold winter evening.

Maître Parfumeur et Gantier - Tubéreuse

Picture: Polianthes tuberosa
Source: Wikimedia commons

The tuberose interpretation of Maitre Parfumeur et Gantier Tubéreuse starts with topnotes that reminds me of powdery lipstick. The tuby-note are evident even if embedded in lipstick. As the top notes fades and the perfume reach it's heart, a more polished version of the typical dirty "stable-like" jasmine note of MPG matsterly interpreted in the MPG soliflore Jasmine, appears accompaning the tuberose. There are a lot of similarities between Jasmine and Tubéreuse but the latter is more well modulated and polished even if some skankiness lurking behind it's elegant exterior. The former is straight forward, it smells as it has just left the stable. In both Tubereuse and Jasmine the top-and mid-range are infused with green notes that accentuates that respective flower. The green notes are slightly harsh, galbanum comes in mind but without the typical crispiness of that stuff. Just as Jasmine, Tubéreuse is grounded in the special MPG musc that contribute to the retro-like impression of their fragrances.

To summon all up, MPG Tubéreuse is a green floral scent accented by tuberose although there is a hefty dose of jasmine too. The scent is not an equally distinct and compact tuberose frag such as Annick Goutals Tubéreuse or Frederic Malle Carnal Flower. As Tubereuse is not very powerful and it is almost percived as thin in the projection. But it fills its place as a retro scent with a clearly nostalgic vibe. Tubéreuse is an EDT that fits well  wearing during daytime especially for spring and summer. 

Rating: 4

Notes: Green notes, tuberose, jasmine, rose, musc, amber

5 Early summerfragrances 2016

Picture: Ulriksdal Palace, one of the Royal Castles,
a morning in early May 2016
Photo: Parfumista (c)

Today it's Swedens nationalday! Early June with it's fresh, fragile flowers and greenery is, just as May, the most beautiful time of the year in this northen part of the globe. Flowery and light, sparkling fragrances are comforting and easy to wear. Below five reaible favourites:

Fleurissimo (Creed): This post continues in a royal setting: The wonderful green bouquet with tubereuse, violet, iris over a light ambergrisbase, was according to the storytelling from Creed, the fragrance made for and worn by Grace Kelly on her wedding with Prince Rainer of Monaco. My skin amplifies the violet/iris and the tubereuse here performs as a supporter, not the star of the show as in most fragrances with tubereuse as one of the main notes. Surprisingly there is a pleasant bananalike note contrasting and smoothing the blend, the nuance shows the tropical side of the tubereuse which is present in warm and lush tubereuse fragrances as in Le Galion Tuberéuse

Rose Essentielle Edp (Bvlgari): A sparkling blend of violet and rose in (to my nose) almost equal propotions. The violet is dominating on my skin most wearings, but sometimes the rose comes through more. Sweet, with a texture like hard candy but in the same time sort of fresh. The base is musky, slight earthy. After more then ten years on the market, Rose Essentielle is still an intriguing and very wearable fragrance.

Photo: Parfumista (c)

Jour d'Hermès Gardenia (Hermès): A tart, clean, minimalistic gardenia without the moist, earty smell of mushroom as in the heavier examples in the genre. Elegant, inoffensive and very easy to wear in most daytime ocasions. Not as grassy as the original Jour d'Hermès Edt .

Magnolia Romana (Eau d'Italie): Sharp green with almost rubbery, juicy white and yellow flowers. Sounds strange but smells so good. This is a fragrance for sunny and windy days, as there is sort of a natural flow in Magnolia Romana. An intriguing, contemporary floral.

Cristalle Edt (Chanel): A day in Cristalle is like a day in a cloud of sparkling Champagne, even if a regular workday. Retro bergamot-citrus fresh but at the same time with a distictive green, mossy body with hints of bulbfowers. A timeless creation, allways right to wear, true casual chic.