1889 Moulin Rouge (2010)
by Histoire de Parfums

I have a hard time taking this scent seriously, but not because it is a bad scent. It is just because it is so darn fun! The name is fitting for the occasion of wearing this, as you feel like you have just attended a hooting, lively, cat calling festive event. Almost lewd, but mostly just good fun.

The spicy plum opening leads into a great iris background, and that is where the fun starts. Jumping off of this iris is first a candied, syrupy cinnamon. Then the lipstick iris blooms fuller, leaving you wondering what act is next. Well, following no logic is an absinthe note. The powdery, lipstick iris slowly transitions to a powdered rose. More fun, and worthy of a full on whistle or two.

The closing act is a slow fade into a soft, faint leather. The curtains close, and you feel like you have just spent a lively evening full of twists and turns, a show that you will remember long after the smells have faded.

Two thumbs up for a great time, and certainly a thumbs up for the fragrance itself, which managed the impossible - a serious perfume with a full on sense of humor and spunk. I love this stuff!

30th September, 2011.

This scent lives up to its inspiration: the fin-de-siecle nightlife of Paris, c. 1889, and the Moulin Rouge cabaret.

The ad copy states feathers and sweetness, and that is what I manage to get. I also get a "lipstick" note. The leather supplies the animalic note (anyone ever smell feathers or fur?) and the sweet plum opens up the composition with a very slightly spicy undertone.

The floral center of rose and iris, with the all-important note of absinthe (think Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec) provide a nice transition to the deeper notes. This has good longevity and sillage. I can even catch a whiff six hours after wearing.

This is surely a unisex scent, and can be comfortably worn by both men and women.

At $185 a bottle, this might sound steep, but the bottle is a generous 120 ml in the EDP.

6th April, 2011. (Last Edited: 16th April, 2011.)