Jaipur Saphir

When I think of Jaipur Saphir, I get memories that should belong to the court of Louis XIV, the Sun King: those of using perfume while having poor body hygiene, relationship drama and intrigue, and dense crowds of people. Let me explain: I suffered a head injury as a teenager and was hospitalised for 10 days. Luckily, they soon carted a wonderfully funny and kindhearted young woman into my room. We were both bound to bed 24/7 and not allowed to wash our hair. She had brought a bottle of Jaipur Saphir, and we sprayed this instead. It was a warm and luxurious smell that stayed on our skin for a long time. I remember the vanilla, the cinnamon and the benzoin (which I could not have named back then). I am sure I did not notice the peach, because it was used in so many perfumes in the early 90s that I must have been blind to it. While we were sharing this room of ours and spraying Jaipur Saphir, my co-patient found out that her boyfriend had betrayed her at an infamous carnival ball. (Can you see how very Louis XIV this story is?!) During our week together I watched them fighting, her breaking up with him, him coming every day to the hospital, sometimes kneeling on the floor, and mostly crying. The girl from the infamous ball called on the phone, also crying. My co-patient's mother had a lot of opinions on this situation, and she was often at the hospital and happy to share her point of view, too. There were no curtains in the room, so I had a first-row-centre-bed, so to say. This was fortunate, for it was not a big room, and there was usually also my family there. After school, girls from my class would crowd the place as well. I am sure they came out of the purest motives in the beginning, but they were increasingly caught up by the drama unfolding before all our eyes. Also, the medical staff loved to hang out - probably because it was more like going to the circus than into a hospital room. This - all of this! - is Jaipur Saphir to me. Oh yes, and the woman and her ex got together again, but later she broke up once more. Probably in more private surroundings.

Jaipur Saphir is a stunning beauty. She's squarely placed in her decade (the 90s), but wearing her I don't feel out of date. This one is like White Linen (fresh, light floral, and aldehydic) meets Dolce Vita (warm, spicy, and peachy). Where either of those are just too much in one direction for me, either too floral or too sweet, Jaipur Saphir is so balanced. She seems to have had a cult following over the years that only grows. The opening is very citric, sparkly, and fizzy. KismetDaisy's review below mine hits it right on the head - there's definitely a Coca-Cola (peach + cardamom) and "fizzy amber" thing going on. Most of what I pick up at this point is yuzu. Usually I dislike this note but it's quite fine here. After a blast of spices with the citrus, everything melds into a musky, white floral, slightly sweet, "white" oriental. It's very unusual how it manages to have the depth and warmth of an oriental while still carrying brightness. Being anosmic to most white musk, I'm surprised I can pick it up here, and it's lovely, not overdone. I once tried a dab sample that lacked all this complexity, just smelled like vanilla and heliotrope, but now have a spray bottle that showcases the perfume in all its glory, top, middle, and base notes. This one is a treasure.

*sigh* Discontinued *sigh* Yes, it's gone, but not likely to be forgotten. Ever. At least, not by me. Initially when I tried it a couple of years ago, it was too much vanilla for me to embrace. I prefer my vanilla a little more beanlike or muted and grounded in the background like a lotion. This vanilla was (and is) very much at the forefront. It's eclipsed only by the heliotrope. Together, they are meant to be worn everyday. Whether you are in a maxi or mini, enjoying a Sunday afternoon or a mid-week day at the office. It's the perfect fragrance to be enjoyed by your friends out shopping or your sweetie while your head rest safely on his shoulder. Of this I am sure :) Jaipur Saphir is not overly musky to my nose. I do detect the sweetness of the peach more so than the smell and the soft spiciness of cinnamon. They are both present (though minimally) throughout. It feels emotional to me. Not passionate, or riotous or overflowing with expression. Understated and calming. A whisper that everything is just fine. I feel more approachable than usual wearing Jaipur Saphir. I'm more huggable (and I do LOVE hugs) in this fragrance, safely cocooned. I feel worry free, completely and totally at peace. Linear, lovely... languid.

Jaipur Saphir is daytime silk to Boucheron's evening velvet - both gloriously luxurious, both sweet treats for the skin, heart and mind but each with her own unique feel, each appropriate for different moods, seasons, temperatures or occasions. At first spray the topnotes alert your senses with a green morning brightness of citrus and ripe peaches warmed with the spiced tang of cardamom - as if you've just awakened and sunlight has beckoned you to open a window to let in the day. Heart notes waft in on a faint breeze, fluffing the kitchen curtains with sweet magnolia, fresh jasmine & heliotrope and a bit of earthy cinnamon. Now the day begins. Settled under this freshness, this brightness, is a languid syrup of amber, musk, benzoin & vanilla that transform what might have been a pretty little floral bouquet into a splendid and sophisticated garden where each turn of the path reveals another earthy delight. Luca Turin's snide one-star dismissal of this gorgeous fragrance as "gumball" is way off the mark. Wear Saphir to work, wear Saphir on a date but wear her, oh yes, take her out and wear her! A floriental to love.

Jaipur Saphir takes you through a pleasurable olfactory experience that begins as a light skinscent with heliotrope and citrus. It's a little garbled but within minutes the sweetness of heliotrope begins to take center stage with some background notes of powdery peach, cinnamon and amber. It doesn't seem to fare well in warm weather and almost seemed to fade away in the humid morning air but then I went to work inside a cool, air conditioned office and that's where this perfume emerged into a bright shining star. I was in a meeting 3 hours after applying this and all of the sudden was distracted by a beautiful cloud of boozy peach, amber, florals and benzoin that was surrounding my body. It's been over 12 hours and it's still going strong and beautiful. I'm really enjoying every chance I get to smell my arm. This is a wonderful perfume that is elegant and decadent.