Coeur de Parfum / Parfum Rare (1987)
by Jacomo

I always get nervous when I peruse a scent's notes and see my favorites, as I do here. My fear is that it will turn into a stinker, and the disappointment would be too great.

But no disappointment with Parfum Rare. What a surprising find this is! I've never heard of Jacomo until it came by way of a swap

Parfum rare jumps right into its stride with me, not changing much over the entire wearing. So what does it smell like?

A promiscuous worker bee.

This is a warm, golden fragrance dusted with a buzz of spice. It has a strong powdery vibe that reminds me of bee pollen (that golden yellow dust that is heavy and sweet). This powder note is a smidge stronger than I would like, and is the only aspect that gives me pause to buy.

You may want to try this if you are a fan of Organza Indecence, Parfum Sacre, or general Amber scents. This is a sunset fragrance, warm, red, and breath taking. I'll play with my sample over a few weeks and see if my opinion changes at all.

8th December, 2010.

Parfum Rare starts out beautifully and disappoints terribly. I have this and when I give this a "cold smelling" right from the bottle, what I get is a classic woody floral, deep and womanly. It exudes confidence: mink, vicuna wool and diamonds. When worn, the floral smoothness quickly dissipates, and what evolves is a great, upscale and impeccable woody aura. It is not overly warm but crisp and elegant. It smells expensive.

Sadly, dry down goes south. What this fragrance deteriorates into is an oily smelling twin to Arpege, thick and heavy and opressive. I cannot describe how bad the dry down is. It is actually offensive.

19th December, 2009.

A scent of exquisite beauty. A shame that it's not better known.

30th July, 2009.

If one is looking for a truly "elegant" classicly styled fragrance, this is it. It is strong, but not a hard hitting scent. The notes meld so well into each other, I rarely feel them transitioning. With this scent, the carnation and oakmoss embrace my skin and warm it up so nicely.
A scent well worth the hunting.

23rd July, 2009.

Acquired a bottle of EDT of this now discontinued frag and am having a happy affair. Right out of the bottle I got hit with alcohol and the Vetiver (go figure) and my first impression was Wow! another big "signature" scent, but within minutes the heady geranium showed forth and then it settled into a warm rosy, sandalwoody Persian nights kind of glow. Good longevity. Nice for a nippy Southern Autumn - "nippy" being 70 F!

14th October, 2006.