Ma Liberte

I have finally found the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle that was the acquisition of the Ma Collection. Recently, I found a bottle of Vacances and since I don't want Colony, I have the eleven I wanted. I'm waiting with great anticipation for my bottle and will do a series of reviews on the Ma Collection, as promised earlier.

In my net travels I came across Ma Liberte and was intrigued.

These days I rarely buy blind, so I found a mini and was sufficiently impressed to spring for a full bottle.This is a very distinctive perfume, only released in 1987 and now discontinued of course. The perfume by is Jean Kerleo, house nose at Patou in the 80s and also responsible for the re-orchestration of the Ma Collection in 1980.

In the same way that Divine Folie is dominated by a clove note which lends it a dry, almost austere feeling, Ma Liberte has a dominant herbal note, lavender. I've always felt that lavender in a perfume lent it at the very least a unisex feel, at most, gave it a masculine vibe. Yet this is both a wonderful rendition of lavender and still a feminine, thoroughly interesting perfume. After a day of wearing Ma Liberte for the first time, I am now quite besotted by lavender. It is not the cold, distant note I had regarded it, but a clean, beguiling, fresh one that brings great pleasure to those who appreciate it.

Ma Liberte is persuasive and alluring. The projection is lavender, but as the perfume experience continues, the closer one gets to it, the more the delicate florals in the heart shine. This is subtle and quite radiant. Notes are:
Lemon, heliotrope
Lavender, Rose, Jasmine, Cloves
Nutmeg, Sandalwood, Patchouli, Cinnamon,Musk, Vanilla, Vetiver, Cedar

The clove is by no means the dominant note that it is in some of the other Ma Collection. I find the carnation/clove note adds at least one of the things that often give that House of Patou vintage perfumes its character.

I do not detect any individual notes in the dry down, which is a smooth blend of fragrant notes, without it becoming too spicy, or herbal or woody. It provides a light counterpoint to the lavender dominated heart notes.

The more I have to do with vintage Patou, the more I am struck that both Henri Almeras and later Jean Kerleo were geniuses. With the continuing 'modernizing' has come a cheapening of the fine aesthetic that lay at the heart of their best work.

There just aren't any Ma Collection bottles, either full or used, that are affordable. I saw a 30ml pure parfum Chaldee the other day on Ebay for which he was asking $550. Methinks that bottle may have a few birthdays

I've accepted that to get a collection like mine, I have to be prepared to pay mid-range prices - from $75-near $200 for part bottles and the occasional brand new.

Attachment 19694Attachment 19695

I do love the look of the bottles so much. It's part of the pleasure of owning Patou and I know how fortunate I am to have found them.

Hi Twolf
It is only the pure parfum that comes with the scarf. I worked that out lately when I have seen the parfum on Ebay. My Vacances will come with its scarf. My Moment Supreme pure parfum was from an estate sale and was in the old traditional bottle, not the Ma Collection styled one. I think it may have predated the re-issue, so no scarf.