On the day that Emma and I finally got to try the Tonkotsu at Ichi Ban Boshi (I really need to post that soon) we also got to try the Fragrance Booths at the Frederic Malle counter at Mecca Cosmetica, Myer.
Frederic Malle is the grandson of Serge Heftler, founder of Dior Perfumes. Monsieur Malle gave free rein to some of the most famous noses in the business, such as Maurice Roucel (starting his career at Chanel’s Fragrance Laboratory), Dominique Ropion, Jean-Claude Ellena and
Olivia Giacobetti, to create their own scents from the highest quality materials available, to make Editions de Parfums. All of the scents are intensely lush.I have to admit, at first glance the fragrance booths gave rise to the thought of one of those money grabbing machines. Malle's booths though are much sleeker, fancier, and the fans inside are for a completely different use.
I still thought the idea was a tad silly...they want me to stand in that thing? How is it better to sniffing it on your skin or on a card?
The sales assistant noted us pondering all this and came over to tell us all about it. He was quite knowledgeable so we discussed the perfumes for a wee bit before getting to the booth.
The perfume is sprayed liberally inside the booth (the previous scent is cleared by the overhead fan), then the door is closed, and opened again. You now pop your head inside. By doing this you are able to get the scent as if it were in the air, like the sillage around someone wearing it, but in its purest form.
I think it was Le Parfum de Thérèse which we tried in the booth. A gorgeous floral created by Edmond Roudnitska in the early 1950's, which is considered a masterpiece because its water fruit accord (tangerine and melon) is said to be 40 years ahead of its time. The fragrance had not been realeased until a few years ago due to it being created for Roudnitska's wife Thérèse, and she was the only one to wear it. Unfortunately for me, there is a note in this perfume which is reminiscent of Etat Libre d'Orange's Secretions Magnifique which I have not so good relations. Nonetheless, it was an excellent way to experience a scent, albeit a novelty.
There are a few other Malles I would like to try properly on my skin, those being: Angéliques sous la pluie (wax floors, clean sheets, skin, an old sweater - a comfy clean one I imagine), Iris Poudre (tonka bean, musk and vanilla and a base of sandalwood and vetiver), and Dans Tes Bras (bergamot, clove, violet, jasmine, sandalwood, patchouli, salicylates, incense, Cashmeran, heliotrope, and white musk).
I am lucky to own a few small 5ml sprays which I received gratis a few years back:
~ Lipstick Rose ~ which really does smell like lipstick, specifially Lancome's to my nose, all violet and rose and powder.
~ L'Eau D'Hiver ~ smells of spring, powdery heliotrope, hazelnuts, almonds and oats on me, and unfortunately at other times, a tad reminiscent of Aeroguard...this does fade after a short while though.
~ and Musc Ravageur which I have reviewed previously in
this post
I also own Noir Epices which I've been trying to write a review of for a while...
I'm not quite as enamored with Noir Epices as I was when I originally bought it. Maybe it was the romance of being in Paris and my determination to bring home a fragrant part of it which was difficult for me to get by other means. It's not that I don't love it though, I do. And I still find myself wanting to wear it when the mood strikes.
Besides dark, smooth and spicy, I had to think about what it smelt like as despite orange being a top note, the note didn't pounce on me at first sniff. Although on subsequent sniffings, I could smell it and discovered it plays a large part in the scent, as does geranium which plays a part of being a little rosy.
The perfume begins as a very dark baked orange, studded with cloves and dusted with nutmeg, cinnamon and black pepper. I am now thinking of a pomander, I've never smelt a handmade one so cannot say for sure if that's what it does resemble, but it would be quite close. And the notes would certainly point to a pomander's ingredients; but mixed with dark scented woods (with the patchouli being a dark aged one rather than sharp) and an inky red, velvet rose.
I'm now seeing a femme fatale's lingerie drawer. The drawer pulled open, the contents strewn about and falling over the rim...the scent of the fragranced garments permeating the air. It is fresh though, and not at all stale.
At first I thought such a spicy scent would be suited more to cooler weather, but Noir Epices seems to suit warmer (though not hot) weather as well, as first on the spices have a coldness to them. It's quite dense, yet the spices are very smooth and well-blended. And since Roudnitska has omitted vanilla, the dark spices are allowed to revel in their own rich, powdery sweetness. Because of this, it can be quite cloying and over-spraying will quite likely mean offending any poor soul within a block of you, (and yourself!). Indeed, too much sniffing of it can make me sneeze and sometimes, if I apply it twice in a day because I think it's faded too much, I find it further compounds and this can be a bad thing, like a heavy shroud covering me.
Noir Epices is neither overtly feminine nor masculine to me, but sits between the two. If pressed, I would say it's ever so slightly more feminine and definitely worth a try if you like richer, incensey fragrances.
The rainy day, and the street on which I bought Noir Epices.
