Parfums MDCI La Belle Helene : Fragrance Review
Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.
I love the idea of an abstract gourmand, a fragrance that subtly suggests an illusion of something delicious and tantalizing without making its gustatory references overly obvious. Parfums MDCI La Belle Helene starts from this premise: a hint of mouthwatering dessert woven into an elegant oriental composition. La Belle Helene is a perfume inspired by a classical dessert, Poires Belle-Hélène, which was in turn inspired by Offenbach’s operetta La belle Hélène. Just as the great chef Auguste Escoffier interpreted Offenbach’s lighthearted parody in his own manner, perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour pays his personal homage to Escoffier’s sublime combination of poached pears paired with vanilla ice-cream, chocolate sauce and candied violets. La Belle Helene is a story of rosewater poached pear set into an elegant oriental backdrop of amber, incense and vetiver.
noturfave in Why Green Fragrances Are Difficult and Yet Fascinating?: Vent Vert is back, but no idea if the new reformulation is worth it. The new edition is also quite expensive. February 13, 2025 at 8:37pm