En Avion

En Avion is a rich opulent enigma. A spicy carnation and rose opening with powdery florals with the undercurrent of the Mousse de Saxe base and mossy undertone. Its far far from a Chypre and less green than lets say Dana's spicy Emir. Its a unique creation that has nuances of orange, neroli, jasmine, violet and lilac into a powdery leather much in the vein of Tabac Blond with the muskiness of Nuit de Noel echoes with the moss and sandalwood. This is a very dense perfume with nuances, swirling twists and turns, and infact upon first spray there is a dark bitter greenness to it all. (In fact, you may have a what the hell is this/what have I done moment, but be brave, let that ride as its pretty short)The opponax is dominant to keep things on the powdery, slightly sweet feminine edge. The spices keep a dry hot feeling in the beginning like you are on the tarmack in the summer waiting to get on the airplane. The heart of florals open and the spiciness recedes and smooths out like its cruising at 10,000 ft. Its a beautiful rich retro floral and ladylike. There is a mentholated moment that appears like in Djedi. (Again you have a moment of..uh why is this moment here with the florals? Hey its 1932. Things are in here that are probably long extinct.) The leather surfaces and it is unlike any other leather.. a kind of gentle sweet leather. (Its gorgeous) There is a duality to this as a masculine opening then it turns smooth and feminine. This is Yin/Yang the whole experience. The reviewer that states theres an ugliness/beauty about it is dead on. Its a one of a kind experience, extremely luxe, dense, smooth in its transitions and definitely for vintage/caron enthusiasts. If you can handle Shereazade by Jean Desprez, or Opium you could handle and appreciate this kind of adventure. Otherwise, at the prices for vintage, I would advise samples rather than diving into a blind bottle. Sillage great, and longevity over 24 hrs like most vintage Carons that seem to "wear off" than evaporate. This is 1932, the richness and optimism of airflight to an exotic location in a bottle. To put this in perspective for some readers, it acts more of a vintage Patou with the well blended complexity vs the vintage simpler, Guerlain. At the time Caron ruled supreme in France over the coquettish Guerlain house. The opulence in the formula is a testament to this, with more notes than vintage Shalimar. Caron released En Avion in 1932. Guerlain released Vol de Nuit in 1933. Caron has a compass/gear type silver disk ontop of the bottles where VdN has the round gold propeller on the front of the bottle. I find En Avion the more feminine of the two. 1.7 vintage extrait reviewed.

I have really been on a Caron kick since the beginning of the year, when I opened a bottle of French Cancan EDP that I had blind bought for an absurdly low price, and fell deeply in love. Since then I have been doing my best to try out their other classic fragrances, and I have not been disappointed. En Avion is not such an easy perfume to acquire as some, in EDP or Extrait, in fact Caron fragrances in general seem less readily available than Houses of a similar historical standing. I don't know why this is, as IMO they deserve to be as known and loved as the Guerlain, Patou, Chanel etc perfumes of their peers from the same eras. Anyway, I finally managed to get hold of some EDP, so here are a few thoughts. Initially I found this not dissimilar to French Cancan; both have that signature Caron smell, which I am guessing must be the Mousse de Saxe (sp?) Accord, and like other Caron scents this is well blended, smooth, elegant and feels of a very high quality. The actual notes are difficult for me to distinguish, because it is such a smooth and balanced blend. But the overall feel is very elegant, refined, feminine. There is a warm powdery quality to it, if pushed I would probably say it was (soft, gentle) carnation, sandalwood, orange blossom and musk that stood out to me most. The carnation here is not spiky or especially spicy though, this is far from Bellodgia or other spicier carnations. The overall feel and character is a clean, feminine and high quality scent that I find enjoyable in all circumstances and settings. It didn't grab me like French Cancan, but I would be very happy to have this in my collection. Then just the other day I was able to try a tiny sample of the (current) Extrait. Wow!! The notes were all much stronger and more pronounced, with carnation, oppoponox, amber and neroli all appearing much more prominent. This was a far more bold, vibrant and joyous take on this scent, and I loved it! One of those times when you inhale, take a nose full of the scent, and just break into a grin. I am really looking forward to giving the teensy sample a proper run, and trying the two versions side by side for comparison and then layered for full effect. I will try and do a write up of the comparison and review the extrait properly. In short, this is a beautiful, rich smooth scent that works for virtually any occasion. Well worth trying either version, I doubt you would be disappointed.

This review is for a previously unopened bottle of 1930s Extrait, in a 60ml bottle with less than 10% evaporation. It was sealed within a cardboard box and an inner sarcophagus of balsa wood. Despite its secure storage over the years, this perfume still boasts the signature "vintage" characteristics of dark color and faded top notes. Although it hasn't been mentioned by others, I get an incredible hot, green, dry note right up front-likely the combination of carnation's clove note and the unmentioned galbanum which I suspect is in here. About 15 minutes in, some rose dances at the perimeter, but is quickly overcome by by a pervasive powdery jasmine, aldehydic in nature. This forms a heady floral heart, which was likely rendered more sprightly by the orange blossom when it was intact many years ago. While I definitely feel the amber and musk (or whatever animal fixative was used), I do not get the birch tar I like so much in older leathers. The base is warm moss with cedar spice, but not animalic. I think the aldehydic carnation and jasmine play a much larger role here than has been attributed to them. There is a metallic note that I have noticed in many vintage perfumes, particularly Tabac Blond (50s extrait). In the past, I have attributed it to metal stoppers corrupting the perfumes over the years. In this case, however, the stopper was glass, so that doesn't explain things. Likely it is some mineral from one of the natural substances in this old parfum. This is nothing I have ever detected in a curent fragrance. ....off to nap, will report on the base later tonight!

The 2012 extrait of En Avion, as recommended by Victoria of Bois de Jasmin, embodies that warm, subtle beauty that is the signature of Caron, and I feel it's safe to say that it preserves the integrity of Ernest Daltroff's original composition. It opens with a rounded, muted orange blossom that quickly transforms into a rose-tinted, spicy carnation and bittersweet opoponax. Moments are reminiscent of orange pomander, hints of parma violet, the old mahogany interiors of a Victorian home, a shoe box of old letters and memorabilia. Over time, a shift towards dry leather surfaces, time-worn and tender from age. Its theme, inspired by the first female pilots, Amelia Earhart, Helen Boucher, had me ponder early aviation which immediately brought me to a book my father owned that I would obsessively study as a young one: The Concise History of Aviation. He gave it to me when I last visited him, and it's a treasure to me. There was even some scribble from my wee six-year-old hand on a sheet of paper that I found within its pages. The image you see in the background is from its pages. This is where a perfume can transcend its own context and become a far more personal experience. As I wear this, I meditate on the passage of time; time waits for nothing and no one, people come and go, there's joy and loss and everything in between. To experience the smells of another era can be profound to me and it reminds me of a heartbreakingly beautiful song from Brian Eno, "How Many Worlds." I leave you with that: listen to it, and you'll know what I mean...

When I wear En Avion I get images of my trip to Kauai, so that is what I’ll draw on. The opening reminds me of the white ginger shea butter I bought there. It is sweet, fat and oily and seems to rest on a slow moving flow of spicy, dark nectar. (If you've plucked the yellow ginger flowers there you'll know what this reminds me of) Around the one hour mark the heat cranks up, and this is when you’ll get the popping sensation of carnation. (I really love this note, it’s so energetic to me!) At three hours it dries out a bit and becomes more woody and resinous. In the end it fades into something smooth, calm and glassy; and the sweetness returns, but at this point it’s more subtle. This opens optimistic, transitions to acceptance, and finishes with serenity. One of my favorite Carons, I can't live without this one.