Jardenia
by JAR

Swoon and double swoon. Creamy rounded gardenia. Not at all like Velvet gardenia to me. Simliar to Ajne Fleur Blanche but brighter . Gorgeous with a capital G. Now to rake up the capital to buy it !

25th June, 2010.

After dozens of different fragrances, I've found "it"; "the one"; the gardenia fragrance that is my holy grail gardenia. Alas, it's extravagantly expensive and difficult to obtain, and I'll probably never own a bottle. But, I can dream.

Jardenia opens with a complex accord that's indolic and somewhat reservedly floral, a slight brie-like cheese note adding authenticity to the gardenia accord without becoming overbearing ( I found Tom Ford's Velvet Gardenia intolerable, but Jardenia understands subtlety ). As it develops, it becomes an intoxicatingly beautiful honeyed gardenia, with a faint hint of dark spiciness in the background, and hints of lilac developing into orange blossom deep in the base. From top to base, it is always gardenia, and it is always beautiful and natural smelling, but it has a very nuanced development.

It lasts decently, but it's actually on the softer side of things overall, and after the first hour becomes a skin scent. If it wasn't glorious in every other way I'd count this against it, but while this is rich, it's also quite light, wearing a lot like a number of all-natural fragrances I've tried.

18th June, 2010.

Deep, rich, creamy and devoid of any of the sharpness often found in "brighter" gardenia scents. The bleu cheese/mushroom note provides a bit of dissonance and depth and is so well blended into the gardenia that it becomes part of it, as it is in nature. It also assures that the scent is beautiful without being "too pretty" (i.e., boring).

2nd December, 2009.

I really liked Jardenia and wish I could come up with a bunch of fancy notes and adjectives to describe it but to me, it is basically a creamy gardenia perfume with a touch of blue cheese at the beginning. Which may sound gross but it isn't. I think it actually helps frame the gardenia note and keeps it from becoming too one-dimensional. It also acts like a hook later on in the development as it keeps you coming back to see if the cheese note will suddenly re-remerge (sadly, it doesn't). Another way to explain Jardenia is that Jardenia is to gardenias what Serge Lutens' Un Lys is to lilies. Well done, Mr. Rosenthal!

After sampling this, I just had to visit the JAR store in Paris (not affiliated). The following is a brief account of my visit:

No appointments to smell the JAR perfumes at the JAR store on rue Castiglione are necessary, unlike the rules to view JAR’s jewelry line which is sold at a different location. Anyways, you arrive at the JAR store, ring a bell to request entrance and then are ushered by an immaculately dressed man into a silent room which has one small round table and two chairs. The room is sparsely decorated in the French ancien regime style and is painted a dark aubergine. The ceiling has an elaborate crystal chandelier and, as a touch of whimsy, a mural of a thunderous dark sky with a giant lightning bolt. Bottles of each JAR perfume sit nearby on an elevated lighted stand which seems like an untouchable shrine. I did not dare go near them. Once you are seated, you notice that on the table are a number of glass containers which look like covered petri dishes and each contain a piece of crumpled fabric doused in scent. The JAR representative’s role is to silently open each glass container one at a time and hold it up to you for a sniff of the saturated fabric. He is extremely courteous even though he will ONLY tell you the name of each perfume and nothing else. JAR’s policy is that they do not reveal any notes or comments about their fragrances. It is all meant to be a big secret, I suppose. So there you are, sniffing the contents of each glass container and you want to have a conversation about what you smell with your companion but somehow you get the feeling that it would be uncouth to say anything in the presence of the JAR representative about the perfumes.

On the whole, the JAR fragrances are extremely idiosyncratic and very expensive (for a 30 ml bottle, they range from 220 - 530 euros), and would not appeal to the mainstream consumer. For example, I cannot imagine what the average person would think of the distinct dill pickle notes in “Shadow”. However, I get the impression that the weirdness and cult-like secrecy is by design. It is almost as if the JAR perfume line is a side hobby for Joel Arthur Rosenthal and he really doesn’t care if his perfumes sell or not. There is certainly no pressure to buy anything but given the silence and somewhat forbidding atmosphere, you do not feel like lingering either. We thanked the JAR gentleman who graciously shook our hands and then left the strange little world of JAR perfumes.

17th April, 2008.