Perfume Pen Pals: M. Micallef Note Vanillee, Frederic Malle Musc Ravageur and Tom Ford Amber Absolute


Dan,

I don't think I would have ventured into the possibly blasphemous region of perfume-layering, had not the L'Artisan Parfumeur saleswoman at Barney's recommended Vanilia with the Passage d'Enfer I was buying. Suddenly, there I was buying two bottles of perfume. Boy, she knew a patsy when she saw one!

I never bothered with vanilla before that, but I ended up wearing it more than the Passage d'Enfer, which I quickly found annoying. I transferred Vanilia onto my preferred incense, Comme des Garçons Avignon, and a match was made.

I've just reminded myself of another Barney's steamroll where I thought I was just buying Serge Lutens Ambre Sultan, and there I was suddenly in possession of Fleurs d'Orange as well, because the SA claimed Serge made them to go together. Where is my self-determination, Dan? If the SA told me to jump off a cliff, would I do it?

In this case, I never wear Fleurs d'Orange (too sweetly floral - though I sometimes spray it in the hallway like very expensive air freshener - eeek!), but still love Ambre Sultan, especially deep in the heart of a desert summer.

And lately, I've been wearing Le Labo Labdanum 18 with Jean Desprez Bal à Versailles, which is horny leather barn to the tenth. This combo veers into what I call CCS - Coldstone Creamery Syndrome: I decide I like a particular ice cream flavor, then plop every iteration of it into the bowl (pecan praline, maple pecan, caramel delight, all drizzled in butterscotch sauce). And then I feel sick. But so far, I'm not sick of my sexy barnyard, and people have been complimenting it.

Katie


Katie,

Considering your wedding blend of Avignon and Vanilia, have you tried M. Micallef Note Vanillée? It's not quite an incense vanilla, but it is boozy and amber-y and licorice-y. I was awfully impressed. If you like Avignon sweetened or especially Ambre Sultan, you need to go here next.

I've not tried a single thing from Le Labo. I'm not even sure why. I don't think Luca Turin likes them, so I have that on my side, but I haven't even come across them in stores. People go on about Rose 31, but it's a rose, how great can it be? Anything with labdanum has a nice scent association for me. And I see that Turin compares Labdanum 18 to Ambre Sultan. Wow, you're really into amber, aren't you?

I should've sent you my sample of Tom Ford Amber Absolute. Have you tried that one? Yowza. It's quite nice but, like most Tom Fords, it's very present. A little goes a long, long way.

Your perfumes mailed this morning. After all my decanting, I had one atomizer left, so I threw in some Bond No. 9 New Haarlem, which you've probably already tried. (I remember you referring to Silver Factory in one of your reviews.) But just in case. It's thick and dark and warm, and was created by Maurice Roucel, who also did Labdanum 18, so I'm guessing it's good for you.

Dan


Dan,

M. Micallef Note Vanillée - don't know that one, want to explore, since the comments say it resembles Aquolina Blue Sugar, the boy version of the bonkers-sweet burnt sugar Pink Sugar. PS is at Sephora, but it's crazy enough to pass for niche.

Ahhh...Tom Ford's Amber Absolute - know it well. Glugged my way through a full bottle in the space of a few months a year and a half ago - loved it loved it loved it, especially in the dryness of LA. Was really overbearing when I wore it in humid London, but I wore it I did. Climate really does affect what you can get away with.

Luca Turin certainly was cranky about Le Labo, but that was based on his tiff with them because they wouldn't give him freebies to review. Consequently, his reviews were begrudging and testy. And boy, the owner Fabrice is still REALLY annoyed with Luca about this (I had a very long, animated talk with him about it).

Even when I kept pointing out "But Luca gave Patchouli 24 five stars...and he loved Iris 39", Fabrice wouldn't have it, saying it was stupid for anyone to try to review perfume. As you can imagine, I kept quiet about KatiePuckrikSmells....

Oh, and I don't find a link between Labdanum 18 and Ambre Sultan at all - different characters altogether. L18 is sexy leathery barnyard baby powder, and AS is aromatic harshly dry amber.

As for Maurice Roucel, I was a big Musc Ravageur oil wearer, until I discovered Labdanum 18, which is my big kick now. (And I do feel a kinship between those two.) And Roucel's Dans Tes Bras is so strange and beautiful (I keep thinking I'm going to try and wear it, though it didn't really seem "me" when I reviewed it) - I wonder what you make of that one?

Katie


Katie,

I thought Turin claims he ignores companies that won't give him samples. At least that was his explanation why he's never written a word on Montale. How do you know perfumers? And without even mentioning KP Smells? Do you just call up Fabrice and start talking shit about Luca Turin? Gosh, you're the very definition of a bonne vivante, aren't you?

As for your Musc Ravageur wearing - this, my friend, is where we part ways. Using the vernacular of an earlier generation, Roucel really goes for it, doesn't he? It’s so strong! At first I was worried it was the fragrance equivalent of a tattoo and I was going to have to laser off the outer layer of my skin just to get it off me. And it smelled gross.

That seems like an especially inarticulate description, I know, but I can't think of anything more appropriate to say. Might my sample have been from a bad batch? Because I've smelled lots of other Roucel scents and none of them smelled gross (Kenzo Air practically doesn't even exist). But Musc Ravageur? Wow. Gross.

I'm buying Note Vanillée next. If I get it before you try it, I'll send you some. Considering your affection for hay, what do you think of L'Artisan Parfumeur Dzing!, by the way? It has such a loyal following and while I've tried it twice, I can't really remember it.

Dan

12 comments:

  1. You two have a fun correspondence. Though I must say, I'm askeered of my Musc Ravager sample all over again...just when I thought it was safe to go in the water... ;)

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  2. Dan's just being a pantywaist where Musc Ravageur is concerned. It's certainly not as full-on as Le Labo Oud 27, for instance, which is a little, "Hi, who ordered the cow pat?" But I guess I'm just an Oud 27 pantywaist. The bottom line is, if a perfume doesn't make you do a Frosted Lucky Charms leprechaun dance, then that's that. And Musc Ravageur is eliciting no aerial kicks from Dan.

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  3. Things change so rapidly in the perfume world. Since this correspondence, for example, Luca Turin's reviewed Montale, Katie's survived one or two SA cliff jumps (metaphorically speaking), and I've tried and enjoyed a few Le Labos. But Musc Ravageur? Still gross. Call me a Musc Ravageur pantywaist, KP, but people are gonna get hurt using this stuff. (And I might be the one who hurts them.) Stay safe, ScentScelf. And don't be ashamed to call on the government to dispose of your sample. That's why we pay taxes.

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  4. Thank you, thank you for venturing onto the sacred field of fragrance layering! I adore putting naughty with naughtier just to see how it works. My current lust travels to The Party by The Party in Manhattan & Labdanum 18. They do tricks together that any perfume whore would appreciate & no one gets hurt! The Party is notoriously naughty but she tires too soon & L18 parties hardy & comes home smelling as great as she left. Together they are the ultimate partygoing duo for the not so faint at heart. These two babes party well!

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  5. kissyfur, you are reckless and borderline insane. The Party in Manhattan AND Labdanum 18?!! You have officially out-thrillseeker'd me. I wouldn't be so sure that "no one gets hurt". I've had to recline on the chaise longue and fan myself just to absorb this pairing. Wait till Dan hears about this! There will be words. I'm excited to tell you that I'm lining up a Party in Manhattan-themed Perfume Pen Pals...stay tuned!

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  6. I have samples of both and not only am I not brave enough to wear them together, I don't even keep them in the same cabinet. Layering those two is the perfume equivalent of leaving the house without pants. I'm impressed by your audacity, kissyfur. Impressed and a little frightened.

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  7. What larks you silly billies are up to!

    Now, I actually think wearing the Party in Manhattan and Labdanum 18 is like tempering naughty knickers with a fluffy boa - kinda dressed and not dressed. If you really want gusset raunch, go for Bal a Versailles in extrait with a smidgeon of extra castoreum/civet for added smut madness.

    As for le Labo - the iris is beautiful, the Pathouli a marvel but difficult to wear without smelling like a pre-twentieth century operating theatre next to a rubber plant, and the rest I have ambivalent views on. The limited release Poivre (London only) is an absolute marvel for the time period it smells like the hills of the Mediterranean. Actually, it's wondrous PERIOD. Even if a little too pricey to be true..

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  8. Thorry to lithp on the Patchouli.

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  9. Oh, those peppery Londoners! But shouldn't Le Labo have come up with a pepper more along the lines of the heartburn-inducing British favorite, HP Sauce, rather than the aromatics of the Mediterranean?

    And as far as KP's sauce is concerned, it's the extrait of Bal à Versailles for me all the way.

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  10. Call me peculiar, leopoldo, but smelling like a pre-20th-century operating theatre is the most romantic thing I can imagine. And you're spot on, Patchouli 24 does smell like that and is even the same color as the various brown elixirs of the day. I love it. (http://www.thegarret.org.uk/)

    Staying in the realm of brown, I'm afraid HP Sauce has turned its back on England and sold out to Heinz. It's not even manufactured in the UK anymore. So some English heartache to go along with the heartburn.

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  11. I think le Labo would need to throw a few other ingredients into the HP melting pot for authenticity, Heinz manufacturing or not. Perhaps some warm runny egg yolk, generic baked beans in too much pinkish-orange sauce, cheap watery bacon with a grey sheen to the fat and suasages that have split during frying to reveal their pallid rusk interiors.

    Ooh, I am HUNG-GURRY. Dayummm.

    And Dan - you're peculiar. In a good way.

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  12. "Pallid Rusk Interiors", the new perfume from Etat Libre d'Orange...

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