Poivre (1954)
by Caron

I understand that Poivre was once a peppery carnation, but given that carnation is most often approximated by a blend of rose and clove, and that eugenol (the principal “clove” compound,) is now highly regulated, the current Poivre Parfum is basically a woody rose doused in black pepper. Unfortunately, the soapy rose at Poivre Parfum’s core rates among the most vile and impoverished I’ve encountered.

Indeed, in light of Caron’s own incense-laden, peppered rose masterpiece, Parfum Sacré, Poivre’s existence is inexplicable. Is it retained merely to demonstrate the brilliance of Parfum Sacré? Or is it offered as an alternative for those who admire the woody rose-and-pepper idea, but want something much less good than Parfum Sacré? Beats me.

The drydown, by the way, is simply putrid. Do yourself a favor, and avoid it.

21st December, 2011.

Cloves! Clove gum, clove cigarettes (though there's no smoke in this scent), and yes - red hots as other reviewers have said. And the peppery floral note of carnation, too. Poivre opens with a spicy, peppery bang - a big red-gold wallop of scent, very vintage and lush in character.

For all its brass and trumpets at the start, Poivre's dry down is very mellow, warm and familiar. Soothing, even. Makes me think of cinnamon sticks (and again, cloves) in a kitchen spice cabinet.

It strikes me as quite unisex, and I think a man could wear it easily.

Neutral rating simply because it's not something I think I would reach to wear again. But if you are looking for cloves, pepper and spice in a fragrance - this fits the bill.

Hanunani - thanks to you for sending me a decant to try!

3rd November, 2010.

Oh well, I got a sample of this with my Tabac Blond. Upon application I get slight shifts from clove and pepper to only clove, later clove and a hint of incense, but mainly clove as the main star. It is certainly nicely done and I can compare it with the essential oil of clove (bud), which I have at home, which is on the other hand CHEAP to buy.
Coincidently, one day after sampling this, we were invited to a bbq in the middle of the wood and in order to repel mosquitos I made a solution half clove oil and half almond oil (clove oil alone is too aggressive on the skin). It worked very efficiently, but also smelled very similar. Is this how you want to smell when wearing perfume? I also think it smells VEEEERY outdated.

30th June, 2010.

I have to admit one thing for this perfume!!!It's a clover-spiced dynamite!!!Long-Long lasting scent with deep warm aroma!The most unique and unusual woody spiced perfume i have ever tried!It deserves to be in the top five list of Oriental woodies of all time!!!
*I sampled this scent thanks to MiMi Gardenia *

28th May, 2010.

Poivre parfum is a strong, brave and a bracing scent. Totally unisex. On application, there's the strong blast of black peper and clove - it glorious. Not at all off putting. This is a hero or heroine's scent. The scent of the brave. As with most Caron's I know - you need just a touch of parfum on your skin for it to bloom .This is warm and spicey scent of all goodness ,it gets a little sweeter as it approaches the drydown. Quite linear on me, avante garde, unique,so different,non conformist. I love it.
Again, Haunani is my angel and now my heroine - as she wears Poivre and gifted me a precious sample.

17th April, 2010.

True story; I was in the kitchen making a dish of rice pudding from scratch for kicks. The recipe called for ground cloves. I got the spice jar of ground clove off from our designated "spice" cabinet and smelled it. Clovey, naturally, and strong. Something about raw clove is kind of off putting to me, not my favorite. I tapped a little bit in, the last tap was strong and I ended up putting a good dose of clove into the pudding. Not too much of a problem though, stirred it, put it in the oven. Both my mom and brother said when it was baking that it smelled good whatever it was I was making.

To be exact, Poivre on my wrist smells like that rice pudding , or more direct the ground clove pre baking with perhaps an underlying actual floral other than supposed carnation, it mellows out sweeter and does and into, as someone suggests something like a bandage or maybe some sort of cosmetic, something you'd smell in the drugstore or on a girl sometimes. Perhaps this is the Caron base? This is otherwise all about cloves.

11th February, 2009.