Poivre

Poivre (Not vintage but sort of modern formula reviewed-but discontinued-Please Ressurect! I had a chance to sample the old true vintage Poivre. It was dry, hot spicy opening with the florals to soften down the fiery opening. It was truly a force of nature. Im reviewing modern Poivre extrait, its discontinued now as of this writing and the balsamic spicy florals take over Poivre than the fire breathing dragon of yesteryear. Its soft, well blended and beautiful. A purring kitten. The florals are just exquisite, with a layer of spices underneath. A mystery soft leathery tone surfaces, and wears like elegant cashmere. This is for the grand dame, elegant over 40 crowd. It lacks sweetness or anything modern. Im a bit disappointed I did not get anything of the firey opening, but it could also be due to storage and age. I had to really dig up this 10ml of the extrait. (ITS FRIGGIN RARE) This is gonna make your wallet scream. Is it worth it? Yes for some people and absolutely not for others. Side Bar: Is it close to Carons new release Poivre Sacre? No. The Pepper, Insence and woods are sharper and scratchy. PLEASE RE RELEASE THIS!!!

The vintage sample that I tried begins with a slight peppery note, but within seconds it changes to cloves. However, it’s not just cloves from the spice drawer, there are other notes in there softening and expanding on the clove theme. That expansion does not just create a carnation scent, either, it’s something bolder and better. There’s wood, there’s a little bit of resin and incense, and it all fits together perfectly. After about 2-3 hours it dries down to a light skin scent that persists for another few hours. It’s surprising to me that this perfume was created by a mainstream house in the 1950s, because it could easily be a modern niche fragrance, and one of the better ones, at that. If I bought full bottles, this version of Poivre would be FB-worthy. However, I understand it's probably been reformulated, so none of this may apply to the current Poivre.

Poivre was launched in 1954 during the time when most perfumes and fashion aesthetics were well-mannered. I assume it was quite ground breaking to use pepper in women's perfume back then. Its advertising was "Parfum de la femme moderne". It is still very relevant today and definitely unisex. Its dry hot pepper and clove opening is explosive and sexy while the prominent carnation note lifts up the spiciness of the perfume. Later the slightly sweet opoponax softens it a little. There is some similarity to Bellodgia which is gentler and spring like. I always think it is a cold weather perfume. Have tried it this summer and is totally wearable. Great alternative when I don't want citrus or white floral. The vintage parfum lasts 6 hours on my perfume eating skin.

I don't normally like to make blind buys, mistakes can be so expensive! But I will go headfirst into the House of Caron. I've only been disappointed once: the dreadful Fluer(no "S") de Rocaille. I can't imagine "Poivre"("pepper") would disappoint anyone. A blast of pepper, cloves, and Caron's iconic carnations from start to finish. A common complaint about Carons is that they have a smell-alike quality and this magnificent creation doesn't quite make a getaway. A bit of Carons characteristic soapiness comes in at the drydown. But it is faint and lends a bit of softness, it does not overwhelm. The warmth and spiciness of "Poivre" would make it a great Christmas go to. By all means add this to your perfume wardrobe.

Peppery -- oh yes it is! But it is much more than this. Warm, like hot milk with honey, though not sweet, spicy, and flowerish at the same time. It is extremly comforting scent for the cold weather. I don't know why, but it has an extremely positive effect on men -- at least my husband and two colleagues, including my boss. Regardless of this, I would be buying it again and again. On my list of best ever greated fragrances, together with l'heure blue, sous le vent, jicky and cuir de russie.