Unfortunately my Parisian trip didn't turn out to be very spectacular for many different reasons, but I had the opportunity to really quickly (and I mean really quickly) check out the boutiques/stores of Guerlain, Serge Lutens, Colette, Annick Goutal, and Montale.
Some observations:
- Guerlain's Rose Barbare is absolutely amazing and now find itself in the top 5 rose scents that I've ever smelled.
- MMK is nice, complex, dirty, weird, and undeniably sexy.
I had the most fun at the Le Labo booth, talking to the saleslady (Joanna?). I learned that the number after the name is the number of ingredients used in the formulation (I guess I missed the newsfeed on that one!). Vanille 44 - I wish I had more time to explore it and it wasn't near the end of my olfactory exhausting tour. Based on my memory, it started off with a burst of citrus (bergamot/mandarine) but it's fleeting. Then it's just this really constant incensy, woody, and ambery drydown (I just read the description and it's basically that) but the core of the scent is the vanilla. I need to emphasize that this scent is soft and not as sickenly sweet as one would think it to be. But it's really a vanilla that just never dies. Joanna told me that 26% of the formula is vanilla bourbon, and I'm not surprised. The end state of the scent is ambery but the vanilla is more prominent... it's something reminiscent, something that is familiar maybe late, late, stage of Musk Ravageur but I'm still wrapping my brain around this one.
I found this to be a rather linear scent and not a head turner (Le Labo Rose 31). But I admit that it is unique in the sense that it's a nice vanilla based scent that is neither too feminine or too masculine. Maybe I'm biased in this review because I haven't experienced many vanilla scents and when I do experience them, I never try to appreciate them. I need more time with this. Too bad they don't make or offer samples
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I had the opportunity to go to Montale's boutique. I missed the whole Montale train, so my nose was a Montale virgin going in but I had a whole lot of head knowledge thanks to the basenoters. I was welcomed by a lovely lady who showed me a good chunk of the collection. My first impression was that Montale's work is truly artistic. Many of the scents are just weird upon the initial sniff and I would believe that people who just sniff and buy would be turned off to many of Montale's scents. Anyway, at one point in the conversation, she called upstairs using French and I heard her mention the name "Pierre". I asked her if she was addressing the perfumer, "Pierre Montale", and she said yes and that his lab is upstairs. I kindly asked whether or not I could speak to him for several minutes, and down he came. Pierre Montale came down with his dark navy blazer and stylish squarish glasses. He's the first "nose" that I had ever met, and I was kindly reminded that perfumers are normal humans too. Exuding warmth and conviviality, we had a brief exchange about perfumery. He told me that his family was in the perfume business (and thus he got sucked into it) and he never received formal perfumery education. He said that travelling offers him some good inspiration. Leaving me back to the saleslady, I continued to explore several scents, including the two pure aouds that they offered. I was mesmerized by the shared doughy note of Red Aoud and Chocolate Greedy and it turns out that the core of it is vanilla. I found to love Roses Musk as well.
Despite the ups and downs, my little personal fragrance experience saved my sanity.
Some observations:
- Guerlain's Rose Barbare is absolutely amazing and now find itself in the top 5 rose scents that I've ever smelled.
- MMK is nice, complex, dirty, weird, and undeniably sexy.
I had the most fun at the Le Labo booth, talking to the saleslady (Joanna?). I learned that the number after the name is the number of ingredients used in the formulation (I guess I missed the newsfeed on that one!). Vanille 44 - I wish I had more time to explore it and it wasn't near the end of my olfactory exhausting tour. Based on my memory, it started off with a burst of citrus (bergamot/mandarine) but it's fleeting. Then it's just this really constant incensy, woody, and ambery drydown (I just read the description and it's basically that) but the core of the scent is the vanilla. I need to emphasize that this scent is soft and not as sickenly sweet as one would think it to be. But it's really a vanilla that just never dies. Joanna told me that 26% of the formula is vanilla bourbon, and I'm not surprised. The end state of the scent is ambery but the vanilla is more prominent... it's something reminiscent, something that is familiar maybe late, late, stage of Musk Ravageur but I'm still wrapping my brain around this one.
I found this to be a rather linear scent and not a head turner (Le Labo Rose 31). But I admit that it is unique in the sense that it's a nice vanilla based scent that is neither too feminine or too masculine. Maybe I'm biased in this review because I haven't experienced many vanilla scents and when I do experience them, I never try to appreciate them. I need more time with this. Too bad they don't make or offer samples
.-----
I had the opportunity to go to Montale's boutique. I missed the whole Montale train, so my nose was a Montale virgin going in but I had a whole lot of head knowledge thanks to the basenoters. I was welcomed by a lovely lady who showed me a good chunk of the collection. My first impression was that Montale's work is truly artistic. Many of the scents are just weird upon the initial sniff and I would believe that people who just sniff and buy would be turned off to many of Montale's scents. Anyway, at one point in the conversation, she called upstairs using French and I heard her mention the name "Pierre". I asked her if she was addressing the perfumer, "Pierre Montale", and she said yes and that his lab is upstairs. I kindly asked whether or not I could speak to him for several minutes, and down he came. Pierre Montale came down with his dark navy blazer and stylish squarish glasses. He's the first "nose" that I had ever met, and I was kindly reminded that perfumers are normal humans too. Exuding warmth and conviviality, we had a brief exchange about perfumery. He told me that his family was in the perfume business (and thus he got sucked into it) and he never received formal perfumery education. He said that travelling offers him some good inspiration. Leaving me back to the saleslady, I continued to explore several scents, including the two pure aouds that they offered. I was mesmerized by the shared doughy note of Red Aoud and Chocolate Greedy and it turns out that the core of it is vanilla. I found to love Roses Musk as well.
Despite the ups and downs, my little personal fragrance experience saved my sanity.
.
