Perfume Reviews: 873 posts

Patricia’s reading of Tender is the Night via scent, Majda Bekkali’s Tendre Est la Nuit.

F. Scott Fitzgerald was one of my favorite authors in high school and later as an English major in college. Tender Is the Night, begun in 1925 but not published until 1934, is the story of Dick Diver, an eminent psychiatrist, and his wife and former patient Nicole. Nicole was modeled after Fitzgerald’s wife Zelda, who suffered from alcoholism and recurrent bouts of mental illness. Fitzgerald himself wrote, “Gatsby was a tour de force, but this [Tender Is the Night] is a confession of faith.”

Tendre Est la Nuit by Majda Bekkali was created with perfumer Delphine Thierry as homage to Zelda, who lived in the shadows, first of her famous husband, then of her own deteriorating mental state and subsequent institutionalization. Majda Bekkali “wanted to tell what may be the opposite of the noisy and turbulent world where we live…but when we extract ourselves from the noisy world, some danger lurks around and reason falters, the animality emerges.”

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If I were to select the best fruity floral perfume, it would be Cacharel Amor Amor. Of course, the best may be debatable, as is the true fruity-floral character–Amor Amor veers into the oriental family with its notes of vanilla, sandalwood and amber, but it’s such a good example of fun and bubbly that I find it hard to avoid overstatement. Amor Amor is both lighthearted and sophisticated, a simple shift dress made out of shocking pink fabric.

As a fashion brand, Cacharel is often described as French Girl chic–quirky prints and designs, minus the studied elegance of the more venerable couture houses. The perfume collection was designed to match the same spirit, but Amor Amor released in 2003 is its most successful embodiment.

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Andy dreams of finding a fragrance that smells of jasmine tea.  

In concept, L’Artisan Parfumeur’s Thé pour un Été sounds like the perfect perfume for a tea lover like myself. Created in 1995 by Olivia Giacobetti, Thé pour un Été is meant to evoke the experience of sipping an icy glass of jasmine tea on a hot day. Unfortunately, my experience of repeatedly trying this perfume has felt more like sweating it out in the sun, still waiting for that glass of iced tea to come my way.

Soon after applying Thé pour un Été though, I am quickly reminded of its more interesting older cousin, Bulgari’s Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert. Where Thé Vert seems fresh and original, I don’t find nearly as much creativity in Thé pour un Été, which embellishes a familiar green tea accord with citrus, gauzy jasmine, and crisp herbs.

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Although I make accords of various materials as part of my work, they’re not what I would call “perfume.” Most of them are meant to explore combinations of specific ingredients or to showcase a raw material. Even so, I often return to some of my favorites well after the project is over to add a little touch here or there. Imagine how much more tempting it must be for a perfumer to revisit her creations down the line, but also more frustrating, since loyal clients don’t want their fragrances to change.

For indie perfumer Vero Kern the solution was to present Rubj, Mito, Kiki and Onda, the quartet that makes up her Vero Profumo collection, as three different concentrations–Eau de Parfum, Extrait de Parfum, and now Voile d’Extrait. As I quickly discovered, they could easily be different perfumes, and so I’ve waited with anticipation for Les Voiles d’Extrait.

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There are perfume novels and perfume short stories. Guerlain Mitsouko will take you on a long journey with many subplots and supporting characters, while Estée Lauder White Linen will reveal it all within the first few musk and rose lines of its composition. But what if you want something even more succinct for days when you crave an effortless, pleasant scented accompaniment? On such occasions, Roger & Gallet Thé Vert comes in handy.

Thé Vert is a citrusy green tea  cologne. If you take a cup of green tea and dilute it with lemon juice, you’ll get something close to this Roger & Gallet number. It starts out tart and sharp, but the musk makes it sweeter as it dries down. A posy of white flowers softens the lemon, and the rest of the story doesn’t change much until Thé Vert fades. It’s not even a full story; it’s more like a Facebook status update. 

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