Excluding Tabac Blond, which is your preferred female Caron?

[Sorcery of Scent]

Generally, which is your preferred Caron for women, past or present from the list below?

Im not entirely sure which are still available from the Caron Boutiques, as we havent any near where I live, but Ive thrown a few names up in the poll.

If you care to elaborate on your faves, please do so, as it will give me a good deal of information upon which I can base my sampling. Thanks

[JON RODGERS]

Dimi. I've personally always loved Narcisse Blanc. Always found Noir somewhat challenging but Blanc (to my nose at least) seems generally lighter and overall the more wearable of the two. Thankfully the floral incense accord I DO like in Noir is still present but the crowning glory is the Iris note that reveals itself in the latter stages (I'm a bit of an Iris nut). Noir also tends to turn a little skanky on me in it's drydown whereas Blanc remains far more acceptable. Gets my vote !.

[kewart]

I love Parfum Sacre and Bellodgia, but neither of these is in your poll, so my next favourite
would have to be POIVRE - spicy (cloves), sexy and beautifully
blended. I am talking about the original parfum (not the re-formulation.)

[donna255]

I own five of your list in full bottles worth, the others I have in decants or samples. I have rarely met a Caron I did not at the very least like but generally its love.

Now Tabac Blond and I do not get along so it would have not got my vote anyway.

En Avion is TB but smoother leather.

My vote went for Alpona. I don't do fruit but the opening is like juicy mouth watering fruits. lush and divine. The dry down is warm oriental(I know Alpona is classed as a chypre), but there are so many oriental notes in the base.

If Alpona was dropped or threw on the ground I would roll in it and purr like a cat.

[tigrushka]

Poivre and N'Aimez Que Moi.

[scent]

I went through an serious infatuation phase last year in which I emptied my bottle of Tabac Blond by spritzing it on my pillow 15 minutes before I go to bed, every single night. Since then I've purchased a 100ml bottle of the EDP. So excluding Tabac Blond, I'll say I love En Avion as much as Tabac Blond. Every single time I've worn it, I've gotten loads of compliments. There's something truly magical about the composition. It somehow manages to merge all the classics of Guerlain and Caron into one scent. I also have the vintage parfum and while it is smoother than the current, they are very similar. PS: Or et Noir's drydown is what Caron is all about. Pure marron glace.

[cacio]

I need to smell En Avion next time, but I wish TB had a stronger drydown. My fave then should be Nuit de Noel. I have the edt. Although fleeting, at least it has some nice animalics here and there.

Btw, perfumeshrine has a link to a silly Caron ad. Which however allows nice views of their beautiful store (not the avenue montaigne one, though they are decorated in the same style. This one actually looks bigger than the Montaigne one).

And did I also mention that a CVS here in DC carries many Carons EDTs? One never knows where things are to be found.

cacio

[Madame du Barry]

Dimi: why oh why isn't Bellodgia on the list?
It will have to be Narcisse Blanc.

[Sorcery of Scent]

Thanks for the responses so far

Im sorry if my list seems vastly incomplete, but it reflects those scents that are more accessible to me at the moment.
Id dearly love to try En Avion, as it sounds as if it smells "right up my alley", and I am a fan of the whole 1930s Air travel genre of perfumes. Jon Rodgers and Madame du Barry have given me the wish to sample Narcisse Blanc too.

Poivre I just found amongst my samples (a 6ml decant of the extrait actually)... its rather gothic/vampish in style. Kind of hyper-real.

[Madame du Barry]

I think that you will like Narcisse Blanc, Dimi.
There is also Narcisse Noir, which isn't "dark" at all imo - it's a jasmine bomb, and not Caron-esque at all.

[Sorcery of Scent]

I think that you will like Narcisse Blanc, Dimi.
There is also Narcisse Noir, which isn't "dark" at all imo - it's a jasmine bomb, and not Caron-esque at all.

Im familiar with the Narcisse Noir, but the Blanc has got me very intrigued

[Sugandaraja]

After the reformulations, none of them really rank higher than a 3.5 out of 5 for me, which is sad, as many were five star frags for me. Perhaps oddly, Caron is one of the few houses where I prefer the masculines. Of that list the best for me is Acaciosa, but ever since I found a local Meesk that does the drydown better, I have no urge to own it.

There is one not on your list that is pretty good, though: Tubereuse. Unlike the rest which are mostly very old and very reformulated, Tubereuse is fairly recent and shows their in-house perfumer has some talent. It's a very introverted and peculiar rendition of that note, with some odd herbal and animal facets.

[Larimar]

My vote certainly went to En Avion, which I absolutely adore. The others that I find interesting are Farnesiana with its interesting development and Or et Noir for a real quality rose, but it does a bit too little as a perfume. The others - including Narcisse Blanc, which I have sampled twice - did not impress me too much.

[alfarom]

where's Parfum Sacre?

[Mimi Gardenia]

I love Narcisse Noir but as it's not in the poll I went for Narcisse Blanc which I adore too.
I also love Poivre , Farnesiana and En Avion .

Alpona I think - is discontinued.

[Brielle87]

I adore and worship all things Caron, with a passion. Love Caron far more than Guelain even. I voted for Alpona, which is absolutely my favorite of the above listed scents.
Another one, which is rarely mentioned is Coup de Fouet, which is the sister scent of Poivre. I would say younger sister, less intense and a bit lighter and carefree.
Goodness how I adore all things Caron. Goodness, there I go repeating myself. Je deviens complétement folle de Caron/ I become crazy for Caron.
I even adore their face powders, which are divinely parfumed.

[gido]

the best -vintage- ones aren't on your list!

narcisse noir, nuit de noel, farnesiana, etc..

[Sorcery of Scent]

where's Parfum Sacre?

the best -vintage- ones aren't on your list!

narcisse noir, nuit de noel, farnesiana, etc..

See my post (#9) as to why they're not on the list

[Hillaire]

Or et Noir is my favorite Caron, including Tabac Blond. Sadly, it's one of the more overlooked in Caron Urn scent discussions.

[Zibeline]

Poivre is splendid. It does start out "hyper-real" but I think it settles down a bit into true bliss.

[ComDiva]

It's a two-way tie for me: Poivre and Alpona, which are pretty much polar opposites, but both delightful... Poivre, spicy and richly decadent (and yes, vampy )without being too heavy; Alpona, a citrus-chypre full of light, but with *layers* to it. Of the two, I find Alpona to be more sophisticated (okay, complex), even though the notes are fairly forthright. Of course, my other Caron favorites (not on the list) include Pour Une Femme de Caron (a hyper-French floral-opoponax powerhouse) and Parfum Sacre, though there are several other incense fragrances I prefer. Still, it's hard to go wrong with most of the ones on Dimi's list.

[teardrop]

l am perhaps not really well qualified to comment, as l have only tried two Carons, from samples sent to me by the lovely Suga; French Can Can & Acaciosa. My vote goes to Acaciosa for it's wonderfully smooth, creamy, ambery white floral drydown, which lasts for aeons on me. A decant is on my shopping list!

French Can Can is, for me, an oddly-named scent; l find it a pleasant but introverted floral, with prominent violet & leafy notes. lt grew on me after a couple of wears, but l didn't feel the urge to investigate further.

[Mrs H]

Parfum Sacre, definitely. A lot of the other Carons leave me cold

[jacona]

I haven't been able to make the pilgrimage to a Caron boutique, but Parfum Sacre is my favorite and was my first Caron blind buy. I own others and love them too: Aimez Moi, Nuit de noel, Farnesiana, Montaigne, Pour Une femme, Eau de Reglisse, Royal Bain, Nocturnes, Narcisse Noir, Le 3e homme, Yatagan, L'Anarchiste. Mostly, this house just works on my skin.

[Primrose]

It's a cross for me of Narcisse Noir and Aimez-Moi.