Ylang Ylang

Beautiful. As I had anticipated, and then hoped, after splashing out on a bottle sight unseen, scent unsniffed, texture untouched etc! The story goes that this is a modern remake of an old E.Coudray scent - this is an old house with a rich history, revived for the modern era, as with so many contemporaries (think Oriza Legrand, Grossmith, Jean Patou Heritage Collection & so on). Supposedly a handwritten recipe was discovered for a scent from long ago, perhaps 100 years, and so they made a batch and it was lovely and thus bottled into a limited edition (unsure of numbers but it is implied that this is very limited run). The scent itself definitely has a vintage vibe, and for me fits the character of the house that I have come to know through some of their other scents. I get a warm, buttery ylang with a delicately sweet and slightly intoxicating lily, an aloof, cool iris, and an almost animalic gentle suede feel from the ylang ylang and iris and other supporting notes. It lasts fairly well, settling into a very beautiful close wearing - almost - skin scent over the first couple of hours, but it doesn't go away completely, and every now and then the wearer is treated to a delicate waft of scent billowing around her like a silk chiffon scarf. Which does lead me to wonder whether it perhaps wears less closely than I think, but is one of those scents to which we become temporarily nose blind for however long before our senses again awaken to this gentle beauty? I tested this theory by applying to clean skin post shower at bed time. When I awoke in the night I was greeted with a beautiful aroma, far richer and more complex than I had credited during daytime wears, there was a beautiful violet note although it isn't listed, perhaps the iris and rose being playful and mischievous? I was also able to discern a gorgeous soft creamy sandalwood much earlier in the wearing than before, which along with the ylang and rose briefly brought to mind vintage Guerlain Samsara EDT or even the Roja Dove one who's name I can never recall, but the one that smells quite a lot like vintage Samsara!! It came over to me as being far more like Indian Mysore Sandalwood than the harsher Australian/New Caledonian sandalwoods, I don't know if that is some magical trickery, or if this small batch uses an Indian sandal? Into the dry down this does become a skin scent, a true skin scent in that it melts into your natural scent and just feels good, like laying on a soft leather settee in winter, and a shaft of clear sunlight falls through the window and across the leather and a patch of bare skin. Scents it reminds me of a little, other than the above mentioned, are Jean Patou Heritage Collection Deux Amours (the current version, well worth checking out), or a very mild take on Patou's 1000. I definitely recommend trying this is you can, and if you are like me, a Coudray fan on the fence over whether to take a punt on this - if you can afford it, I'd say do it! (and if you dislike, send it to me haha!)

This limited edition is a rework of E.Coudray's 1978 "Fetiche" perfume. It was the 1978 reference that made me blind buy this fragrance. The fragrance is a solid cloud of disco. No particular notes stand out as was the fashion of the time period - many fragrances from the 70’s smelled like static electricity to me a cloud of fuzzy “perfume” smell. This is modern enough that you can discern notes such as a very high quality sandalwood (think vintage Samsara), buttery and bright ylang ylang and the fuzzies are that lovely blend of spices, patch and vetiver. Anyway I just ADORE it...it smells like nothing else walking around right now and believe me when I tell you that Europeans wear fragrances...these days I can actually “name that smell.” It is Parisian, glam sexiness. People move in closer to get a better whiff. It is a black silk halter top jumpsuit with gold leather platform sandals. It harkens to a different time - a time that I am jealous of - glittered decadence. I am just a little too young to have experienced it first hand but no one could say that I have not been trying my hardest to recreate the vibe at least. This frag does it!

I agree with a bit old fashioned, as e Coudrays usually are. Won't be on my buy list but it is a nice composition, the vetiver really stands out to me and gives it a juicy feel bordering on tart.