1876

A silky sarsaparilla rose, rooty and bit tooty-fruity, 1876 is another piece of intrigue from Histoires de Parfums. It has a bit of a candied sour pucker powder and a dash of baby aspirin Tic Tac tastiness in its opening, while still feeling rather opulent. The sassafras and Moxie gentian bite comes in as the rose unfurls, bittersweet and somewhat aloof, but oh so satisfying. This rose is a bit more fruity-damascone, just the way I like it, not too green, but also not so jammy that my teeth hurt. The contrast of bitter and sweet is what the children need more of these days. A holy trinity of "look, but don't touch" carnation, violet, and iris accompanies this antique rose, echoing beauties such as Le Dix and Dans la Nuit, but this warm cumin and unctuous woody foundation pulls this into a someone more masculine: a plot twist! Reviewers throw around "grandmas" and "grandpas" because their scent association may be a bit naive: have compassion for them as the sands of time will have them rubbing their eyes and wondering why in a blink they're the ones who are now mocked and pitied. This doesn't give me any association like that, but maybe it's because I have a grandpa spirit anyhow; young folks can often make me feel that way, especially if they awkwardly misapply French in their Youtube usernames. 1876 was dedicated to Mata Hari, a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan famously executed by firing squad during World War I for espionage. If this seductress with a crazy life could die without fear, perhaps we should learn to live without fear and learn to lean into uncertainty, because sooner or later, it will come creeping in anyhow. Sensory pleasures should be simple: fetishizing it, fussing over it, feigning disdain for fear of the Grim Reaper, well, isn't that a pity? Far more pitiful than our wise elders who could teach us a thing or two about how to grab life by the balls before it's too late.

The sale of HdP perfumes is being discontinued by one of my local perfume stores, so the remaining perfumes in stock were on a clearance sale. I hadn't gone in with a specific perfume in mind to purchase, but ended up leaving with Ambre 114 and this. Lychees are a common fruit down here in Southeast Asia and I've always loved the lychee + rose combination in food but normally find the lychee too "watery" in perfumes for my liking. I like how the combination smells in Delina but the perfume in general is too candied and sharp for my liking. In 1876, the rose and lychee combination sits on a spicy, woodier base, and making it feel a lot more balanced and stops it from falling into the gourmand category. The carnation note gives it a vintage flair (à la L'heure Bleue) and the scent dries down into a powdery floral that feels like you're being haunted by the ghost of a burlesque dancer - perhaps befitting of a perfume inspired by an exotic dancer-turned-alleged spy who was executed by a firing squad. I hadn't expect to like it so much but it's become one of the perfumes that I miss when I take too long of a break in between wears. Probably recommended for those who enjoy perfumes that remind them of vintage cosmetics and not for those who are looking for fresh fruity-floral perfumes.

A Spicy Rose for Mata Hari that blends in Cinnamon-Heart-Carnation & Luminous-Violet-Iris... This is one of my favourites of the line, and there are similarities here with carnation to 1969. But this has a more luminous feel with violet, whereas 1969 dries down rich and chocolate-y. Overall a spicy rose scent, this was composed as a tribute to Mata Hari, and I could imagine Greta Garbo wearing this on set as she played the title role in Mata Hari (film 1931) of which only a censored version remains. The discovery set insert reads: "Mata Hari was a half French, half Asian courtesan, later caught and condemned for using her powers of seduction to extract military secrets from her many lovers. To honor this archetype of the femme fatale, a powdery oriental floral composed of the most exhilarating of flowers, the spicy rose." As spicy rose scents go, this one is complex, blending in the cinnamon-heart-carnation, dewy-litchi & luminous-violet-iris. For me the litchi comes out more in association with the violet. This is a really beautiful rose scent. It's a love for me. 10/10. Enjoy!

I cannot even express how I enjoy this perfume. It is feminine, young, unusual, joyful, fresh and sweet, with great sillage and longevity. It makes me feel all pampered up and the most attractive woman in the whole universe ;) It opens up juicy not in an obvious fruity way, rather juicy-flowery I would say. As far as I know, litchi has a very subtle smell and is soft in its taste, so probably the beginning is litchi + citrus and bright rose. Later on, the rose remains and unfolds even more fully. It's a big lush intoxicating rose, spiced up by caraway and carnation and smoothed down by powdery, velvety, strong iris note... What a combination! In short, 1876 is as powdery as it is spicy, the main players here are rose, iris and spice (quite an unusual one: carnation, caraway and cinnamon well blended together). Towards the end (after 8+hours) it also gets woody: sandalwood and vetiver are the most prominent base elements for my nose. I highly recommend 1876 to rose and iris lovers.

Le Traité de Versailles This little marvel should derserve much more attention. It's a super original chypré-like whith a very feminine fruity opening who evolves to a strong masculine base of spicy woody vetiver. It's not easy to wear because it's at first very "pretty" and then suddenly very "ballsy". There is this delicious contrast , very old school but revisited, between a very juicy fruity head and a carnal (cumin) earthy (vetiver) base. The delicat powdery flowers in between look almost like the victims of this little trench warfare and try to play the peace pourparlers who still did not rule what is genderly correct between what could be an extravagant divaeque powdery floral or a straight but very sexual spicy bouquet. For me it's what would smell a courtisan during the reign of the Roi-Soleil, powdered and elegantly dirty