Cepes and Tuberose

This perfume genuinely surprised me as it was so beautiful. I haven't had any luck with tuberose, both in perfume and even an absolute (ingredient) itself. So to add this to a perfume with mushroom... what kind of funk was I setting myself up for?! If anybody could create something close to nice, it would be Mandy Aftel, so why not? First off, I need whatever tuberose absolute, essential oil, etc. Aftel used. It was more floral than I expected and nothing hyper-niche or peculiar. It was also interesting and not boring. Loved this!

Not overtly 'mushroomy', rather a warm-spicy green fragranced tuberose. Somewhat apple-y at first (apple flesh) but becoming really deliciously rich like an apple crumble on dry down. Perfect sweetness. Wears very close to the skin. Yum yum yum.. why is this so darn subtle? Bathe me in it... Edit: ever smell propolis? There’s a resemblance to that scent in this perfume. A nose-gourmand !

Yummy. Odd and earthy. I spray throughout the day for a funky pick-me-up. This isn’t going to be a “basic” crowdpleaser. My husband crinkled this nose when he smelled it, but that’s ok — this scent isn’t for just anyone. It’s weird, and that’s why I love it.

This is such a gorgeous fragrance, I was sold as soon as I smelled the sparkly animalic mushroom. If this lasted longer than an hour (even on fabric), I would get a full bottle in a heartbeat and make it my signature scent. Real bummer.

Well, well, what a strange bird we have here. i applied a VERY small amount. maybe .1 ml, as my sample did not contain much of this potent mixture. It is a strong scent upon first application, and my first whiff gave me a very strong noseful of dirt, patchouli, and yes, mushroom. Five minuits in Cepes & Tuberose lost much of the "dirtiness" and has morphed into a very beautiful odd perfume. The rosewood becomes noticeable, a sweetness and the tuberose enter the picture and yes, the mushroom is still present. Although in a different incarnation. Gone is the dirty portobello of the beginning, and now the mushroom is slightly sweet smelling as if it had been stepped on, or plucked after the sun warmed it. I know that sounds disgusting in a perfume, but somehow it works. The sun warmed rosewood, and benzoin create an earthy backdrop for the star players here, and it gives the impression that you are walking in a deciduous forest, plucked a flower to put behind your ear, and its scent keeps drifting around nicely. It mingles with the warm woods, and the scent of a briefly sun kissed bed of mushrooms, where you stepped on one, and then brought it to your nose to inhale its muskiness. Thats what this fragrance is, beautiful warm woods, slightly sweet tuberose and mushroom muskiness. Id recommend testing this if you can get your hands on it. A very odd, and oddly beautiful scent. Quite unexpected, i find myself wanting another testing. Today is cool and very damp, and it unfolded wonderfully. A must try for seekers of the strange and adventurous! thank you loobloo for the sample!

Well of course this “perfume” is not going to be like any others when it is named Cepes & Tuberose ;-0 so anyone expecting anything like a classic Tuberose scent is definitely barking up the wrong tree! Perhaps the term Cepes isn't that well known in the US, not that Porcini would be much better to warn the Fracas lovers that this perfume is not for them! It is more for someone like me, who has never met a Tuberose perfume that I can bear, and for whom this perfume is a pure delight. I recently revisited it on a little trip, where I often like to take my neglected scents to rediscover them, and I fell totally in love with it again. In the early 2000's, when it appeared, I read about it on MUA and all of the perfume heads were agog at this incendiary combination, which actually worked! Now that Niche Perfume is more the norm it is not surprising but say 15 years ago it was unheard of. What I have now is the remnants of my second bottle of the perfume, which I diluted with some perfume alcohol to get it to open up more, as well as to stick around more, as Natural Perfumes can be too fleeting, though the two named ingredients of this one certainly have more lasting power. I recommend to anyone who loves this scent as I do to get the EDT for more diffusion. My little spritzes lasted me all day on my trip, and constantly delivered little whiffs of this still very uncommon truly earthy salty Tuberose delight.

Aftelier Cepes and Tuberose offers rich and earthy tuberose in a balanced all-natural blend. I've worn this perfume a few times now, having initially wondered how the mushroom note would cohere with my aesthetic sensibilities. In fact, as usual, Mandy Aftel has worked her magic with this unusual note. There is no sense of squishy mushroom here, nor is there any hint that fungus might be among us. Instead, Cepes and Tuberose has a dark but clean soil base. Atop this base, the tuberose is showcased in a new way, very different from diva tuberose (à la Robert Piguet Fracas) or vamp tuberose (à la Versace Blonde) or tropical tuberose (à la take your pick...). The rosewood appears to be contributing to the rich base of this creation, without however smelling very woody (as in Mona di Orio's soliflore or, less markedly, L'Artisan Parfumeur Nuit de Tubéreuse). For tuberose lovers, this is a must sniff because it offers a completely different take on the flower. I also think that some tuberose non-lovers might appreciate this unique composition, which features rose along with the tuberose, and does not have the melting and billowy quality which some people dislike in certain tuberose soliflores. Another worthy perfume from Aftelier, always a pleasure to wear. Brava, Mandy!

Animalic rosewood. I cant tell its mushrooms as much as its roses, tuberose, rosewood, civet, and castoreum styrax mix. To be specific an incredible animalic floral and roses. You wont find out or realize the beauty this blend held unless you admire the animalic floral category AND sample it more often cause this blend is a creation from scratch! I never sniffed anything similar to it so far. Grand beauty. Edit (27th Jun 2020) After coming back to it again! i do sense hint of chocolates within this blend! it's not much tuberose but more of a chocolate within this blend. Mildly sweet and to be specific, it's milk chocolate (not white or dark chocolate). So it's roses with rosewood & milk chocolate. Quite pretty indeed. I thought i have sniffed some boosted animalic before but not anymore after this comeback. I don't see this as animalic as much as rosewood sweet roses. Pretty.

The most translucent tuberose I’ve encountered recently. If most tuberose fragrances are heavy like thickened corn chowder, this one feels more like a light tomato seafood broth. There’s an unmistakable clean mushroom note that cleverly bridges the tuberose’s natural indolic character. The flower itself is rendered sheer and light, while resins and woods in the base provide structural support. An unusual experience — subtle, earthy, and well worth exploring.

I purchases several fragrance samples from this house based on rave reviews. Boy was I disappointed! This one smelled nothing like tuberose. It just smelled like dirt and mushrooms. It was very gross. If you want a beautiful big white tuberose buy Moon Bloom from Hiram Green instead.

There is a brand of raw chocolate with mushrooms called Wise One that tastes exactly the way this smells. I find both of them to be rich, complex and nourishing. My mom could smell me from five feet and she said it smelled like earth, specifically the earth around the roots of some aromatic plant when you dig them up. I had dabbed on a very small amount. I can also detect the tuberose which gets stronger with time as the earthy smell fades. I don't know how else to describe it but a chocolate tuberose. I like it more as it fades to a skin scent and the rosewood comes to the fore. It's very unique and I think what I am enjoying the most about it is that it's interesting. I have no idea whether I love it or merely like it or even dislike it. I'm intrigued and want to spend more time with it.

This fragrance, indeed all of Mandy Aftel's creations, deserve more notice than they get. Cepes & Tuberose is unique in that there is an underlying earthiness that enhances the tuberose here to a degree that I've not encountered in other tuberose fragrances. It is very present in Wild Roses which is a raw and nearly bawdy take on anise-tinged wildflowers. This is smoother, more refined and elegant but the earthy factor lends intrigue. It is not quite tame, nor quite polite. To me, this comes off smelling like gardenias in the drydown, moreso than her Cuir Gardenia. Lovely, creamy gardenias whose fragrance is steeped in the heat and humidity of southern US summers. Somehow warm yet cooling at once. I am going to spring for the mini, outrageously priced at $50 but worth every gorgeous drop.

At first it smelled a lot of tuberose and dirt. Then in morphed into something so lovely. It reminds me New Orleans jazz, or a private library with fresh cut flowers. The mushroom is evocative of the way a vintage book smells and the floral notes are well balanced. I can't stop smelling myself.

I tried a tiny spritz from a spray sample and I got no earth or dirt at all. It's very delicate and close-wearing and quite airy. Rosewood and smooth creamy caramel. A very, very close-to-the-skin scent that didn't change at all. Pleasant but not earthy: quite unexpected, given the name.