Alix

Named for Madame Alix (Barton) Grès, the founder of the eponymous fashion and perfume house, this obscure gem from the Grès canon was only in production for a relatively short time, perhaps too marvelous for the masses. I would hazard to say there's a hefty percentage of galbanum here, rivaling that of original Vent Vert, rendering the opening exhilaratingly bitter and dry, the stemmy yellow-green exalted with plenty of aldehydes. What a rush! The core of Alix is fascinating in that the impression of bergamot and peachy sweetness surfaces as the galbanum somewhat subsides, though a grassiness and leafiness still remains, with some jasmine, gardenia, and even what seems to be narcissus seeming to peek through. It feels almost kaleidoscopic, a frenzy of colorful florals, fruit, and verdant aspects, on the cusp of vertiginous, but I love every second of it. The dry down fixes all these elements in a sublime chypre base, so mossy, woodsy, and musky, but tempered with benzoin and other resinous sweetness. This would fall squarely into the amber-chypre hybrid, melding the best of both worlds, and expansive to boot. What a delectable bubble and sillage. Proper stuff, and what a shame that it never made much of an impact when released.

A true old-school green chypre- it reminds me more of 70's classics like Azurée and Aromatics Elixir than Vent Vert, maybe because of the aldehydes? (I can deal with the aldehydes in Grès perfumes better though, I find them softer and less 'chemical burn' than EL's.) It's a woodsy, aromatic green; slightly sweet, not too bitter. I do love it and wish I had a larger bottle than my treasured vintage miniature.

Wonderful "extra-dry" bitter green chypre !

When I first came across this perfume, it reminded me a little of Lanvin's Scandal, created by Andre Fraysse in 1931, although perhaps a little "greener" as Beaufort comments in the style of Vent Vert. Did not seem to sell all that well, and I was able to buy a bottle of the perfume concentration quite inexpensively. Looking back I should have bought more than one bottle, as there were many on sale at that time.