My Passion Hommage a Marlene Dietrich

My new favourite perfume! I find it quite spicy, I usually find spicy perfumes to heavy on me but this is soft and subtle, just the thing for a Christmas party.

I've had my bottle for 2 years, carefully stored, and had forgotten about it. I purchasd it in very hot & humid weather and had dismissed it as a light and fleeting amber conconction that was nice but nothing special. I found the bottle today and applied generously this evening on a whim and I'm astonished to find myself surrounded by a cloud of deep, dark patchouli. Has it turned or is this what sour apple and amber produce when combined in cool weather? In short, My Passion has morphed into J. Simpson's Fancy Nights! Fortunately, I enjoy Fancy Nights and have an ample supply. But I suppose I can enjoy saying I smell like Marlene Dietrich instead of J.S.

Note to self: avoid anything created by Herault and Lancasseur if this is typical of their efforts :-( My Passion is very strange to my nose and very unpleasant. The main impression is of over-whelming artificial chemical sweetness that makes me gag and some sort of mixed-fruit jam with no identifiable fruit in it. Strangely, unlike real jam which unites fruit and sugar, here the fruitiness and sweetness seem to be separated from each other and shouting at me from different rooms, one down the corridor on the right, the other down the corridor on my left. And I do mean shouting. It's a very strange, dissociated, out of body experience that reminds me of being anaethsetised before an operation. Not a pleasant sensation. Apart from this sand-bagging, I get a slight hint of something which reminds me of pipe tobacco or more exactly the inside of a tobacco pipe which has been used to burn a fruity blend then been left to go cold. The tars have separated from the tobacco ash and lacquered the inside of the pipe and they give off a complex bitter resiny oily tarry aroma. This note might have been interesting but the hint of it is too fleeting and too weak to survive the screaming stereo blast of syrup and fruit. Finally, I get something gingery or peppery. Also weak and fleeting and buried under the sickening sugar and jam. Quite simply loathsome. I see no connection to Dietrich nor to passion. I suppose that my samples might have decayed - released in 2007, bought in 2015, perhaps the eight years in the box were too long? I bought two boxes of 5ml Grès samples, one box a collection of three fragrances designed in hommage to Garbo and the other box a collection of three fragrances inspired by Dietrich. I paid £4.50 for the lot (yup, probably past their sell-by). The Garbo fragrances were not perfect but were at least wearable. The two Dietrich frags designed by this team are utterly vile and not worth even a pound each. The other Dietrich frag is okay. Well, I reckon four out of six is good going. And at such low cost I can afford to write-off these duds. I wont bin them straight away - I'll try mixing them with other stuff to see if I can make a wearable result. My Passion, aged eight years, is almost a cherry pipe tobacco so I'll try and make it what it almost was just to see if I can. Edit - layered with Garofano by Villoresi the result is almost bearable.

Orange blossom and apple give distinct floral fruity character to the scent giving it some serious flirtiness, freshness and vibrancy, however this scent is well grounded with rich notes and would suit colder weather better. Autumn to early spring, day and night suited, albeit not completely formal business environment appropriate, as it is more to the sensual side. My Passion HaMD has some freshness, but it is not light. This perfume is rather spicy and zestful. There are somewhat equal parts of red apple (more dominant in the opening), cinnamon and spicy vanilla (somewhat boozy around opening); also good dose of orange blossom and amber (again more around opening, then it almost fuses with cinnamon). This ambered cinnamon is very cinnamon like, just without intrusiveness – very rich and warm, balmy, spicy and sweet, quite unique. Although it is quite heady and leans towards heavy side, the sillage is moderate. Staying power is satisfying – nine to ten hours, then some four more hours it performs as a skin scent. The perfume is nicely blended, vintage inspired yet modern, and rather unique, although not groundbreaking. Definitely worth trying, if something about it intrigues you.

I found this at Marshalls the other day - I remember seeing it here on Fragantica & being kind of intrigued by a perfume being inspired by Marlene Dietrich I picked it up. On my skin my first initial reaction to My Passion was not a good one I'm afraid. It reminded me instantly of Lanvin's Rumeur , which I care nothing for - almost an acrid smell. I do have to say this perfume changes alot on my skin though, after about twenty minutes or so it gets alot better , sweeter & soft , definately I get a green apple scent & then it gets muskier & warmer with hints of the vanilla for sure, & amber. I have to say then for me this potion changed alot on my skin for the better after the first unpleasant burst - it's not a favorite by far for me but at least unlike Rumeur it doesn't stay unpleasant for long . My Passion just seems to have too much of a sour apple note on my skin which does not agree to me but maybe would work better on someone elses skin & tastes. I have to agree with fiesta's review that this isn't very impressive - I suppose I was expecting something more complex from something inspired by Marlene Dietrich.