Midnight In Paris by Van Cleef & Arpels, 2010

Midnight in Paris. The name is like a never-ending romantic cliché that has captured the imagination of artists from Hemmingway to Woody Allen. It is the cliché of love found and lost in the city where love learned to spell its name in French. It is beyond even that for, this midnight is something special. It is more than an evening in Paris; this is a religious conversion into all that is Parisian, a fall from grace into erotic abandon. And it all begins in church. There is the forbidden love where the lips of star crossed lovers can only meet on the rim of a communion cup. There is the lost love of the soul that can only find a quantum of fleeting comfort in a midnight prayer. There is the fever love that lives in the heart alone and untouched by reality. The unforgiven unrequited love that is so sweet and deadly that it is irresistible to some poor souls who know not how to love in any other way. This opiate of love is whispered in Gods ear in hopes of just one returned smile. It is a drug and there is no cure but to die. These loves hang heavy in the incensed air and swirl slowly just above the heads of the faithful in one church in Paris, L'église de la Madeleine, the church of the Madeleine. From the street it looks like a pagan temple to Venus. But when you enter in the late afternoon it is bathed in golden candle light of hope. The heavy perfume of the lingering incense from morning mass is oriental and comes up over the eons from ancient Rome. That very incense held over from the worship of the old gods and in it you can feel that it has embodied the intertwining war of lust and redemption for millennia. Lovers meet in this church, some to go off into the midnight in ethereal newness of love. Some meet here to marry love and some to burry a lover that is lost. And a few come to pray for an ending to love. No one leaves the Earth without dying a little from one touch of Venus. For me, this is Midnight in Paris by Van Cleef and Arpels. Opening with leather, ringed in holly, citrus, rosemary like a pagan wreath on a temple wall. This wreath of scent is set on fire as it touches the skin only to smolder with the incense that comes at once from the base to hold court throughout the life of the perfume. The mid notes of lily of the valley, tea and the balsamic smoky leather of the styrax only add to the soft powdered evolution of the incense. When the dry down comes the transformation is subtle on the wings of amber, benzoin, bitter almonds and a lingering of that pagan eastern incense that is supported by the vanillin charms of the Tonka bean. If you wear Midnight in Paris to church the nuns will notice for the silage is sinfully bold. The whole event from first spray to the death of this lovely thing is around seven hours. Some may say it leans toward the feminine but I say it is daringly oriental and deeply erotic. Be warned, wearing Midnight in Paris on a Friday night may land you in a confessional on Saturday morning.

I'm reviewing the EDT, not the EDP. I like this scent, but I can't honestly put my finger on why. It definitely smells unisex, I could see a woman wearing it (I got Shalimar with it today, and while the opening is more feminine the drydown of that supposedly women's fragrance is much more masculine than this is). That's not a bad thing. I often (though not always) find overly masculine fragrances not to be my style. Having said that I feel like this almost smells generic. I hate to say that because this smells REALLY GOOD but I can't pick out any prominent notes. Honestly, if you asked me what it smells like, I'd probably tell you "Uhhh... cologne?" I get some vanilla, which is odd since that's not a note. I get a little bit of leather. I get some kind fo aquatic almost beachiness in the opening. But I can't really put my finger on WHAT it smells like. Ergo, it's kind of generic. Having said THAT, this is the best executed fragrance for the money I've ever owned. For less than $40 (4.2 OZ) there isn't a better deal than the EDT on the market to my knowledge. It smells high class, almost like a niche as opposed to a designer. Any guy can wear it because it's so generic, because that makes it a bit versatile. And I'd be remiss not to mention the gorgeous bottle. Overall, I'd say it's worth a buy. It's a safe and affordable blind buy option.

What a disappointment! Unisex leaning on the feminine side. Reminds to me a bit  Dior Homme, a bit Bulgari Black ( a less interesting kind without the rubbery note) a bit Biagiotti Roma ( woman) and a bit Very Irresistible (woman). It's an ordinary talky floral a bit mentholated-aromatic concoction, inoffensive, slightly nutty and lacking of any trace of mystery (Paris is not the Gothic Prague but preserves a bit of mystery at night). The floral-fruity accord, watered by tea, is too pronounced ( despite the following presence of a single flower and not of a bouquet) mastering in the general dust. The top notes are citrusy and aromatic with an hint of leather. The leathery note is perceivable throughout the scent (being one of the few interesting elements) and tames a bit the general sweetness with its aftertaste together with rosemary which imprints a touch of bitter freshness. In the middle the tea note infuses a bit of fresh and watery masculinity (thanks to God) due to the presence of a single flower, lily of the valley, that hardly strains itself in order to impress darkness. The base is nothing than sweet powdery dust ,due to the incense and benzoin, with aromatic, herbal, slightly bitter undertones thanks to smoky tonka ( as usual in this kind of fragrances) and Styrax. The last one  is in my opinion the key element of the final outcome with its nearly mentholated balsamic undertone. Boring and a bit too synthetic.

I really smell the bergamot and lemon. After 30 minutes to an hour this citrus gives way to the leather and green tea.. which gradually is infused, then dominated by sweeter (but not overly sweet) and warm vanilla and benzoin aromas.... Here in the temperate cool climes of Australia, MiP works well on cooler days (15 Celsius or below) and also in winter in evenings. I find it a little astringent on my skin in the warmer months (over 20 Celsius) over the first hour or so. (It's just a personal thing. I don't eat Thai food with lemon grass in it... My palate/olfactory senses are very sensitive to some lemon oils). That being the case, I don't wear MiP at work where air con dictates around 20 Celsius. It lasts over 8 hours of an evening on a cooler night or a weekend daytime (under 15 Celsius). Not my favourite scent, because I have to be selective, rather than impulsive in it's use. But it does stand out from the crowd. I have used about 2/3rds of a 125ml bottle over 2 winters and use it over the cooler months (5 to 6 months of the year) . I am glad I bought it. The bottle is to die for. Will I buy it again? I have about 4 or 5 months to find another scent to replace it. Any suggestions on a replacement? I already us Idole de Lubin and Amouage Jubilation XXV and CDG2 in an evening (and at work too) and can use these 3 scents year round.