1969 Parfum De Révolte by Histoire de Parfums

I was born in 1964 and the year 1969 seems like arcadia to me, a time I was too young to understand and appreciate. As a decade, as a phenomenon, the 1960s has come to represent many things, from naiveté to revolution, but I assume in this case 1969 refers to the expansiveness, freedom-seeking and questioning of authority that flowed forth after the 1967 Summer of Love.  You know, the hippy thing. ("Parfume de Révolte") To my nose, though, 1969 seems far more contemporary. It takes the fruity floral to school, demonstrating that even a genre as threadbare as the contemporary fruity floral can be beautiful and complex in the right hands.  Where the hoard of trashy fruitchoulis are glaring, as if highlighted by mercury vapor street lights, 1969 is professionally lit and ready for the camera. Hoard? Whats the collective noun for fruitchoulis? A host? A murder? A gaggle? A cast? Lets appropriate from the collective noun for the no-longer-used maidens. A rage of fruitchoulis. 1969 has a combination of softness, urgency and definition that gives a depth of tone that I would expect in a classic chypre but am startled by in a fruitchouli.  It balances intensity and austerity as a chypre would (think YSLs Y) but still has a bit of that puppy energy of a fruitchouli. Quite sexy, really.

This olfactory creation opens up with a wonderful note of peach. This peach is round, juicy, with a sun-kissed peel. Smells deliious right from the beginning. At this point I have to admit that peach is in my opinion a difficult perfume ingredient. It's really hard to get a nice potential out of this fruit and to combine in with other notes so that peach can play it nice. Here, Gerald Ghislain did a good job. Few minutes later peachy accord weakens a little bit and we get to smell some great spices. We have here some cardamom and cloves. After another additional few minutes warm patchouli reveals it's presence. At this stage, about 15 minutes from the start this mexican chocolate takes over the whole creation. It smells yummy! Rich, dark chocolate. Patchouli gives it some depth while rose, which stands right next to chocolate gives you a more sweet sensation without sugar overdose. It's like a rose chocolate I've never eaten but have heard it's deliciously divine. One hour after application I got to smell some nice roasted coffee with some chocolate traces left. And this eau de parfum remained in this state most of the day, but from time to time I get the feeling that some notes quietly try to remind about themselves before they completely effuse. If you're looking for a spicy oriental fragrance that can be considered to be somewhat gourmand, 1969 is a thing you must try!

I purchased this in the wrong season after doing a full testing of the Histoires line, and have kept it hiddent away through the European Fall and Winter. With the Spring, it has emerged and it is exactly what I would imagine it to be in this new climate: Hippy-Sweet Sunshine in a bottle. Only the initial fruit-bomb of synthetic peach kind of makes me question what is to come, but it blends nicely within 5 minutes. I hope it will not be cloying and overly-synthetic after an hour or so of wear when the humidity really kicks in - ironically the same warm, sticky weather that it so perfectly tries to capture in its beachy sexiness. But still good if you dare to venture into sweet, summery territory with a margarita or caipirinha in hand. Unlike a review I read of this in the LT/TS guide... I find the fruit and vanilla opening to last forever, with the awaited base of softer coffee, white musc, and patchouli to be barely perceptible. No need to "replay" this opening... it lasts and lasts. Probably a good candidate for a summer scent in high rotation in 2011, alongside Noir Patchouli from the same house (which is not nearly as Noir as its name suggests, and all the better for it). I'm traveling a lot in the coming months, so adobting the backpacker vibe, and open to all things trashy and festive, will put me in the spirit of warmer things to come.