Christine Nagel: 21 posts

The rose is wrapped in amber and warm balsamic notes, but the start is fruity and bright. Although Rose Absolute has a classical rose character, it is  a modern flower. The roses are rendered in vivid and rich hues. Smelling the perfume on skin, I keep craving rose jam; Rose Absolute evokes crystallized petals suspended in translucent honey. The sweetness, on the other hand, is tempered by woods and patchouli. As Rose Absolute develops, it becomes darker, earthier and warmer. It never loses its sophisticated aura, but the character is lighthearted and vivacious. Wearing it is a pleasure.

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Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

The perfume branch of the famous jewelry house Cartier has produced a number of unusual fragrances, from the animalic elegance of Must de Cartier to the ambery sensuality of Panthère. With Délices de Cartier, Cartier has entered the fruity-floral, gourmand domain previously underexplored by the house. As can be expected, the presentation is stunning, especially for the parfum. Inspired by one of Cartier’s Art Deco brooches from the 1920s, the dark red flacon glistens like a precious jewel in its white satin lined box.

Created by perfumer Christine Nagel (who is also responsible for the crisp refinement of Eau de Cartier), the perfume is well- made; its gently ambered base balancing the fruity-floral accord, never allowing the syrupy sweetness of cherry to obscure the rest of the arrangement. Délices exists in two concentrations, the eau de toilette and the parfum. …

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Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

Chypre category with its strong accord based on the interplay of hesperidic, floral, woody and mossy facets has gathered popularity since 1917, when Coty Chypre intriguingly explored the extremes of olfactory spectrum to create a memorable and unusual fragrance weaving bergamot, oak moss, labdanum, and patchouli . Subsequently, the affinity of the chypre accord with the voluptuous fruity and floral notes has been discovered, resulting in the orchestrations that fused various flowers, peach (Guerlain Mitsouko, Rochas Femme), plum (Guerlain Parure, Shiseido Féminité Du Bois), as well as exotic fruit (Jean Patou Colony) with the classical chypre accords. The marriage of chypre with other notes is likewise fascinating, with fragrances like Grès Cabochard and Robert Piguet Bandit being examples of the animalic leather chypres, and Dior Diorella, Clinique Aromatics Elixir and Couturier Coriandre exhibiting the beautiful interplay of chypre accords with modern synthetics such as hedione.

While the popularity of the classical chypre has waned, the chypre category is hardly ignored. Ralph Lauren Pure Turquoise, Lulu Guiness Cast a Spell, Dior Miss Dior Cherie, Chanel Chance, Coco Mademoiselle EDT are the examples of the fragrances released in the past couple of years and classified as posssessing chypre accords. The very definition of the chypre seems to be changing, with the emphasis made on the transparent and fruity notes combined with the chypre facets, and many fragrances classified as chypre these days do not even seem to be related to the classical chypre accords. Narciso Rodriguez for Her and Sarah Jessica Parker Lovely are two examples of the classification that would consider them as floral oriental compositions with chypre accords and they are often compared. The main similarity between them is in their luxurious musk accords touched with the ambery warmth that makes these compositions melt beautifully on the skin, and while the fragrances are by no means identical, they create a similar effect of warm, sensual softness.  Now, whether chypre classification might applicable here is a whole another story. …

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Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

The rose is indelibly associated with Lancôme, given its founder Armand Petitjean’s strong passion for this flower. An avid rosarian, he cultivated roses in his garden in Ville d’Avray, outside of Paris and as a result, not only has the rose become an important symbolic representation of the house, but it has also found a central place in the Lancôme fragrances from Conquête (1935) to Trésor (1990). To commemorate the millennium, Lancôme chose its symbol to shine in a fragrance composed of several different types of roses, such as dune rose, musk rose and Bulgarian rose. The fragrance was named 2000 et Une Rôse (now called Mille et Une Rôse).

The task of creating an outstanding rose fragrance is complicated by the fact that the theme has seen many variations, from the dark chypric to the light citrusy roses, from the languidly seductive to the coyly delicate interpretations. Composed by Christine Nagel, Mille et Une Rôse is a rose that tantalizingly straddles the line between natural and abstract. …

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Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

Armani Prive Ambre Soie conjures a sensation of bittersweet chocolate melting on the skin, as the composition warms up after the initial scattering of sweet and earthy anise notes. It alternates between hot velvety and dry powdery aspects, underscored by cinnamony sweetness.

Created by Christine Nagel in 2004 for Giorgio Armani’s exclusive collection Armani Prive, the composition presents several facets at once. Its sheer darkness is juxtaposed with spice dusted flower petals, without being evident whether one is feeling a sweet bite of clove or peppery warmth of carnation. Creamy, almost lactonic note smoothes sharp spicy edges into a soft mélange. However, there is an element of candy-like sweetness that strikes me as somewhat stilted, lending an opaque quality to the middle notes. It lightens as time goes on, losing the candy-like simplicity and revealing a chocolate touched by incense aspect of benzoin.

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