Narcisco Rodiguez, Stunning Femininity....Bottled Up

Narciso Rodriguez for Her was created by Christine Nagel and Francis Kurkdjian for the fashion designer of the same name, renowned for his graceful, gently elegant and feminine trademark styling. The Narciso Rodriguez line might cause some confusion because there are three concentrations of Narciso Rodriguez for Her: the EDT packaged in black bottle, the EDP packaged in pink and the parfum in a rectangular clear vial with a dropper but one doesn’t encounter that format too often.

Some perfume companies make the EDT a simply lighter version of their EDP but Narciso Rodriguez is indeed almost two different scents. The notes of both overlap but the arrangement is slightly different as is what dominates. That said, I like both the EDP and the EDT and consider them a place of honour in my go-to perfume wardrobe.

Both have an amber, slightly vanilla and more dominant chypre accord which is artfully fused to tones of wood, musk and citrus, all kissed with a floral – mostly a sweet orange blossom. This makes NR almost a hybrid – it is at once Oriental Floral and then a woody Chypre with warm, sweet tones of musk and some citrus for good measure. In the EDP there is also rose and peach, a tiny accent of pink roses, along with a touch of honey.

If you like Lovely (Sarah Jessica Parker) or Guerlain’s Idylle, you will love Narciso Rodriguez’s EDP and EDT . Where it differs in a basic way from Lovely is it is a bit less earthy and scented of clean sweat and very much more complex. Where it differs from Idylle (which is a stunner) it is far more feminine. It is feminine in a clean but still mysterious way. If you wear it, you will cut a swathe through a room leaving an echo of quite womanliness. It’s a memorable scent and a signature scent if those who wear it but it’s knowing and poised –a less is more – totally nuanced perfume that is a true classic.

Feminine, Sweet and Sexy, Jean Paul Gaultier's Classique

http://www.jeanpaulgaultier.com/

Jean Paul Gaultier Classique

Eau de Parfum, Eau De Toilette


If packaging either very much repels or attracts you, you will not be unmoved by the fabulous female torso-bottle that is the iconic Jean Paul Gaultier bottle, that in turn houses the similarly iconic JPG Classique. I confess, for many years, I was a put off by the JPG bottle; my slight feminist bent a bit put out by the overt sexuality of the bottle. But then, feminist judgment left, and femininity took over. One day, after having dismissed the bottle (and scent inside) for being frivilous, I made a bee-line for Jean Paul Gaultier’s Classique. How could I have held off on this perfume for so long! What a treasure!  The nose behind this treasure, it must be said, is Jacques Cavallier

The famous glass torso housing this wondrous fragrance is available in two decants: Classique Eau Parfum and Classique Eau de Toilette although over the years (since the 1990’s), there’s been some 18 or so, variations on the theme but Classique is your best bet. Unless you know JPG you might not, having seen the perfume in its metallic packaging which looks very much like a can of salmon have a clue of what lies therein. But open it up and beyond the glass, buxom bottle is a world of dreamy femininity.

Purportedly created in memory of Jean Paul Gaulthier's chere Grand’Mere, Classique was mean to capture both raunch (inspired by said-grand mere’s pink corselet, discovered after she had departed to wherever mature femme fatales ultimately reside) and sweet vanilla comforts (inspired by the homier, nostalgic, and decidedly more maternal memories of grandmother).

Sweet, fruity, vanilla and musk are the main wafts and yet done, as only the French can do such combinations, with total sophistication. Classique is, if you pardon my audacity, as if you were indeed clutched to the bosom of a madonna/matron/showgirl –all at once. I would go as far as to say: motherly stripper but that’s too far in either direction. Suffice to say it’s sweet but not cloying, sexy but not tender – it’s a gentle sigh of a womanly woman who knows her strength lies in knowing who she is and what men like in that way French women seem born with. With Classique, you too, can aspire to this Eve-old wisdom.

The Fragrance Notes

What greets you Jean Paul Gaultier’s Classique are roses, tethered to orange blossom, musk, a tiny hint of ginger and star anise, the delicacy of orchid and a base note of amber and vanilla. This scent could be over the top or too sweet but it somehow offers a coquettish strut – rather than a heavy footed thud. It is a floral oriental in the best of ways. It comes on strong and settles in a powdery je-ne-sais quoi that is flirtatious, maturing to captivating. If you wanted a signature scent in the sea of signature scents, this is a good place to start

Younger Than Springtime .....White Lilac and Rhubarb from Jo Malone

http://www.jomalone.com

Jo Malone announced a new collection of limited fragrances named London Blooms, coming out in March 2012. London Blooms collection was inspired by the art of botanical gardening and beautiful English lawns. The collection presents three fragrances signed by Christine Nagel: Peony & Moss, White Lilac & Rhubarb and Iris & Lady Moore. Their floral compositions are created with the aim to provoke feelings of happiness, romance and good mood.
 
White Lilac & Rhubarb is a feminine and romantic fragrance composed of notes of rhubarb, white lilac, rose and heliotrope. Bottles and packaging of the collection are decorated with floral illustration of vintage vibe. The fragrances are available as colognes in bottles of 100 ml.

Trust Jo Malone to 'get' an English garden primal perfume (primal in an elegant English way of course) and bottle it. The scent of this perfume is all at once floral and earthy - almost as if you spent the day digging out tulip bulbs and were bathed in spring sunlight with and fallen lilac blossoms all around you and a basket of fresh cut rhubarb nearby.

This is one of the most romantic of all Jo Malone scents although being Jo Malone, it is fresh and feminine versus sultry and sweet. A great day time perfume and in a wonderful nod to one of my favorite scents:lilac and a favorite taste: rhubarb. Airy, light, and eventually, captivating if you give it a chance.

Love, Chloe: Feminity in a Sweet Bouquet

Love, ChloeSome scents remind you of things and times and some, instead remind you of feelings, moods and a sensibility of spirit. Chloe Love is one such perfume. It is a light, sweet and fresh but more an aura you wear than a perfume you spray on. The packaging itself is gorgeous, Chloe signature:  elegant, feminine – almost ravishing. The glass bottle is yesteryear and today, featuring a pinkish gold trim and a chain to attach the cap. It bespeaks wealth and a woman who has classic taste. In essence, the Love, Chloe aura is apparent even at a glance.

Essential Notes:Top NotesOrange Blossom, pink pepper
Middle NotesIris absolute atop a bouquet of lilac, hyacinth, wisteria (which echoes the lilac in another accord) and heliotrope
Base NotesRice notes, heliotrope, vanilla, almond and musk

What does all this add up to? Love, Chloe is romantic, slightly wistful, like the memory of a lost tryst many springtimes ago wherein you left some fellow or he left you, just before the love affair could quite blossom, leaving a sweet memory in its wake, the fleeting heartbeat of potential, along with the scent of your dignity and pride intact as you remember your elegant retreat. More than that, Love, Chloe is one of those amazingly balance perfumes that incorporates sweet florals on a backdrop of musk in a way that is at once fresh and gently powdery so it is light and warm at the same time. It captures the scent and spirit of a boudoir after the woman who has done her femininity mis-en-place has vanished; overall it’s light but indelible. This is not a long-lasting perfume which makes it fine for day wear and first dates  or a signature scent. The Orange Blossom (neroli by any other name) offers a cloud-like opening that paves the way for the florals and sweetness that follows. To me, this is a new classic.

The Scent of Inspiration - Support the Cause. Go Pink

Fracas - Sultry hot flowers after the rain

Fracas
http://www.robertpiguetparfums.com/

Sometimes creating a masterpiece is bad thing because like having an exceptional child, people tend to forget the other siblings, each with own allure. Such is Fracas – such an extraordinary, landmark perfume that when you think Jean Piguet and Fracas perfume creator Germaine Cellier, you forget there was Baghari and Bandit, Visa and others. But we are here to bring homage to Fracas, Martha Stewart’s signature scent, wouldn’t you know (she once did a whole segment just on her favourite things in perfume and everyone got a bottle of Fracas to take home)

Top Notes

Bergamot, Mandarin
Middle Notes
Jasmine, Tuberose, Gardenia, White Flowers

Base Notes
Musk, sandalwoodFracas is sultry - and like most sultry things, hardly subtle. It’s as if someone decided what’s better than the waxy, floral glory of sweet, intense gardenia and tuberose? I know – yet more gardenia and tuberose. I liken Fracas to finding a scented orchid in the middle of a dense rain forest – it leaves me with an impression of a hot jungle flower, transported to a hot house where it has been groomed into intensity beyond its roots, and then showered with rain to cool it off, leaving the heat and humidity and floral notes, still hanging - like soaked clothes on a perfume clothes line, in the air. There is a definite watery feel to this floral, even though it is sweet and emphatic. Fracas is for a woman, not a girl, and thus I am not surprised Madame Stewart claims it as her scent – it is a brand in and of itself. Like Ms. Stewart, Fracas has style, confidence and staying power. And that, in a perfume, is a good thing.

Baghari, by Robert Piguet - Carnal, Timeless - It's a Strut in a Bottle

Baghari, Robert Piguet

www.RobertPiguetParfums.com

In the Piguet PR kit there is a line that describes Baghari perfectly: Baghari is a classic soft floral, beloved by women who are frankly romantic, feminine and young at heart’. You cannot describe Baghari any better than that unless it is to mention it is, after famed Fracas also by Robert Piguet (and Martha Stewart’s signature scent) one of the world’s remaining, old school glamour gal perfumes. But first, as always, the essentials:

Top Notes:
Aldehydic Notes (a complexity of cool and creamy white florals)

Middle Notes:
Rose, Jasmine, Iris, citrus

Base Notes
Amber, Vanilla, Musk

At first breath, Baghari wafts elegance, luxury, and it’s almost like you’re inhaling Paris, circa 1950. There is headiness to it because it is almost, but not quite, over the top. It announces itself the way a woman who owns the room does – gliding in with that enviable carriage and a steadiness to the gait – saying: she can have any man she wants. It’s a quiet strut but it’s a strut –no mistake. It’s pointless to suggest there’s a touch of flirtatiousness - that would be kind of lightweight when talking about Baghari. It's so unapologetically seductive it’s almost animalistic; let’s just say gently carnal and with a soul that is sheer womanliness.

Since 1950, perfumer Aurelien Guichard of Givaudan rebalanced the original fragrance, ensuring it’s classic impact but giving it a contemporary nuance that makes it a ‘modern classic’. It begins with luscious orange and creamy white florals which then surrender to a forest floral sense in the iris, rose and jasmine (it feels almost wood and fern, rather than floral at this point). The finish recaptures you with sweetness but this time, the sweet bottom notes are emphatically down to earth.

In a strange way, Baghari tells a story – there is such a definite beginning, middle and end – you can feel it blossom on your skin. Then there's a resonance that stays which is definitely that which we call : all woman. This is a perfume, as they say, that has 'legs' on it. Simply gorgeous.