L'Eau de Circé 05 (2005)
by Parfumerie Generale

This was a very sweet, very fruity perfume, which is probably targeted at young women. The osmanthus accord is nothing more than peach, bolstered by tangerine. Really it is not floral, as osmanthus is. Plus there is a note called "honey balm" imparting extra sweetness.

It tickled my nose for 2-3 hours every time I smelled it. It's very sharp and floral, only much later do you get a hint of something more calm. I knew Circe was a wild girl turning men into pigs and whatnot, but please behave on my skin and leave my nose in peace!

L’eau de Circé is a quite nice fruity / floral. White peach dominates the opening with a touch of citrus – not too fruity sweet, which is important to me; and it certainly does not smell like so many of the other fruity / florals. The florals of the middle, too, are kept from becoming overbearing or cloying or ordinary. They present a smooth, even, long-lasting floral richness to the still-contained / controlled fruit notes. I get an excellent wood / patchouli dry down with a bit of honey for its only sweetness. Lasts beautifully and is legitimately unisex as far as I'm concerned: This is a quality fragrance. I’m not quite sure about the Circé reference, though. Perhaps L’eau de Circé turns men into pigs just as Circé did, but my ex would say that you don’t need a fragrance or magic for that to happen...

L'Eau de Circe starts out with a weird sour fruity note, but soon morphs into a sweet (and I mean SWEET) fruity floral. My immediate impression is not mushrooms, but bubblegum and lollipops and cheap perfume for teenage girls. Not nice.

The nasty synthetic fruit note goes away after a while, leaving an undistinguished white flower bouquet in its wake. Why bother?

Since chemistry is so different, I didn't detect mushrooms but rather osmanthus and other pleasant florals. Truly well-done, modern and very easy to wear.

Spontaneously, I'd say L'Eau de Circé smells like mushrooms. Like Demeter's Mushroom, to be exact. Perhaps it's really a sort of musty and kelpy saltwater smell. After that, mostly white florals.