Chevalier D'Orsay by D'Orsay, 1911

Beautiful opening composed of highly refined complex accords of citrus, berries, lavender, and herbs, with florals rising up from the middle. A very attractive beginning: full, balanced, sweet, and done with the artistic delicacy that is so typical of dOrsays fragrances. As the citrus fades, the florals take more and more prominence, until the rather sweet floral / herbal heart is achieved. Again it is a beautifully delicate and refined accord that, I think, gets less masculine as the lavender disappears. I get a mixed floral with the Lily of the Valley taking precedence over a touch of both Neroli and Angelique. Its not long before the base shows up with the pine, iris, and amber showing themselves with confidence. At this point, the iris and amber seem to seal the fragrances fate of living in the condition of borderline masculinity Chevalier is truly unisex. This fragrance can work anywherequiet enough for the office and romantic enough for romancecasual enough for jeans and refined enough for a tuxedo. It has acceptable longevity. An excellent fragrance: It is so solid in its beauty and delicacy it is a scent that can be trusted. Originally submitted 06 April 2007, Taiwan

Mixed feelings. I doused my shirt and two folded tissues with the whole mL+...the juice was in a non-resealable plastic blister-type sample (what a remarkably stupid way to package it!). Because of this, I'm writing a very stream-of-consciousness review because this is the only shot I get, and I suspect that I got fatigued to the scent in the process.

It's a light greenish citrus, with some subtle florals mixed in...they appear where it got on skin but not until later on fabric. It has that bright shiny golden feel contributed by certain sharp herbs, as in AdP Intensa, Burberry original, Dolce and Gabbana, or Platinum Egoiste. For a while, it seems to be getting sharper in its herbiness, approaching Villoresi Uomo, and the lemon peel really starts to stand out. It would almost be a perfectly natural lemon peel, but the herbs give it a disappointingly wilted mustiness that approaches Joy, or a similar lemon dishsoap. Soon, on cloth but not on the tissues, the mustiness of the lemon peel starts to clear up, leaving only the good parts. Eventually, it's down to a vague but classy floral lemon residue on cloth (even though I used 3-4 times my usual SOTD amount), and it reeks horrendously of fetid dishsoap on the tissues (too much lavender!).

As a frequent tissue-tester, I can safely say that this scent varies more between cloth and tissue than anything else I've ever tried, and I really don't appreciate that. (I know, I know, "it will only smell proper on skin, etc, etc...", spare me the dogma!) Still, what's intriguing is that, like AdP Intensa, it leaves on cloth a transparent but very persistent aura of refinement, which I can never assign to a particluar plant note, but simply smells expensive, albeit dull. A gentle cloud of golden fleece, perhaps?