Today I have
something completely different to show you. This is a big jump from our usual
nail polish posts but I’m excited to share it with you. I was recently given
the opportunity to review a perfume and since I had never done that before, I
figured it was the perfect chance to expand our horizons here at Polished
Cousins.
First I’ll
show you the full press release for the perfume. Keep in mind that I am NOT a
perfume guru, so I’ll add my own review at the bottom of the post.
Carnal Flower
Dominique Ropion
EDITIONS DE PARFUMS
FREDERIC MALLE
What makes a
floral perfume outstanding?
- Sex appeal
that never crosses the subtle boundary with vulgarity ? - Lavishness that does
not overwhelm ? - A capacity to bond perfectly with the wearer’s skin and still
remain true to nature ?
Only the
greatest perfumes resolve all these contradictions.
With
Tuberose, nature offers her own take on dramatic olfactive clashes. These
pretty flowers exude a mixture of flowershop like freshness and carnal
opulence: Waves of watery green notes wash a raw spicy and Eucalyptus- infused
heart that lays over a soft milky background.
This natural
contradiction has fascinated generations of perfumers, and in 1948, the
legendary Germaine Cellier composed the standard of this perfume genre. Since
then, most noses have settled for creating variants of her mythical formula.
I have always
been intrigued by tuberose but was very opposed to reproducing a vintage
composition, so I sought a perfumer who was up to the challenge of reinventing
this classic perfumery theme.
Then
Dominique Ropion - probably the greatest living experts in the field of flower
scents, called. He had just smelled a new purified natural tuberose absolute
that he thought was miraculous.
His idea was
to forget Cellier’s work. Instead, starting from the latest high- tech analysis
of the odor of living Tuberose, he proposed to use whatever product was
necessary, regardless of its availability or cost, to get a formula that was
close to nature.
After a year
of perfecting the formula it was time to transform a beautiful smell into a
perfume – to create a fragrance that could mix with the wearer’s skin scent.
My frequent
stays in California, where the odor of Tuberose and Gardenia is everywhere,
were very inspiring and led me to encourage Dominique to reinforce the solar
and carnal character of the flower. His answer was to exaggerate some aspects
already existing in the natural scent, such as Coconut and Salycilates and to
add a trace of musk.
After two
years and many attempts, we achieved what we think is the right balance:
“Carnal Flower” is Ropion’s new interpretation of this olfactory Himalaya.
No
other fragrance features so much natural Tuberose Absolute.
Composition :
Bergamot
Melon
Eucaliptus
Ylang Ylang
Salycilates
Jasmine
Tuberose
absolute DM
Orange
blossom absolute
Coconut (Ald
C18)
White Musc
cocktail
50ml Spray :
$ 195 , 100ml Spray: $ 290
*******
I received a sample of this perfume, not a full sized bottle. The sample comes in a nice little sprayer so it was easy to test out on a piece of paper before spraying my wrist. I can be very sensitive to certain fragrances so I wanted to make sure I could handle it before spraying it on myself!
The perfume itself is a bold yellow tone which makes me think it's filled with natural oils and not a lot of fake colors, like some perfumes can be. The full sized bottle has a gorgeous bold yet simple label that I think would stand out on anyone's vanity.
The first thing that hits me as soon as I spray this perfume is TUBEROSE. Like a smack in the face. It's soft and floral. I can definitely smell the jasmine, melon and orange blossom too. But tuberose is definitely in the front.
Tuberose has a very vintage and classic feel to me and most people either love it or hate it. I, personally, don't really care for it but at the same time this perfume is kind of nice. So hard to describe!
Frederic Malle makes a high quality perfume and it comes with a high end price to match. If you're a lover of tuberose, I'd definitely recommend stopping by a Barney's (if you have one nearby, that is!) and giving Carnal Flower a try.
If you know you love the scent of tuberose and have some money burning a hole in your pocket, you can purchase Carnal Flower directly from the Frederic Malle website. In addition to the perfume, you can also purchase this scent in a body butter and a hair mist. I've never tried a perfume hair mist before but I think it sounds awesome!
What do you think? Have you ever splurged on a perfume before??
**The product featured in this post was provided for an honest review. All opinions are my own.**
Great review! Super pricey, so I'll be passing on this!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
DeleteWow, this is a fancy perfume! I don't do well with floral scents, but I think this is a great concept!
ReplyDeleteNeat! At $195/bottle that's a a bit out of my price range. I'd like to try a sample tho. It sounds like it smells nice.
ReplyDeleteLove the detailed review! I'm personally not a perfume gal thanks to allergies
ReplyDeleteThis is a great review. I find it really hard to review perfume and I think you've done a great job here!
ReplyDeleteA bit pricey for my taste! Great review though
ReplyDeleteToo bad my computer screen isn't a scratch-n-sniff! ;)
ReplyDeleteOooO...I love the smell of tuberose! This is right up my alley!
ReplyDeleteYou should check it out if you have a Barney's nearby!
DeleteI'm not a fan of floral scents, but thanks for such a great review!
ReplyDelete