Presence

The Short: I think I love it. Very unique for me. The Long: I love the body in this fragrance. This Rosie the Riveter pretty. Not to be bullied. Strong, heady, bombastic and wears lipstick. I have the parquet EDP 50ml. The bottle design is pretty. The atomizer is generous. The opening is enormous and acidic alcoholic. Kinda scary really. But, just give her a moment to let her hair down. The apple and citrus is present for the opening, very cleansing and bright. Then, I smell several different florals; heliotrope, carnation, neroli. Oakmoss, vetiver, mild sandalwood. (Something else is there, not sure it could be the ambergris.) Can someone love oakmoss and vetiver? It is powdery green floral and DRY. I just love how that works. I keep huffing my wrist. It makes me feel giddy just smelling it. This would turn heads, as it is very uncommon for today. It smells really soapy clean dry on the skin. On clothes, It is floral lightly sweet dry. It is lovely imho. I don’t shy away from perfumes from other eras. They are complex, unusual, and enjoyable.

It’s the 60s. I’m in Ivan’s, the neighborhood beauty parlor, playing next to my mom who’s sitting reading a magazine, waiting for her chemical perm to set. Ivan, the tall soft spoken owner/hairdresser, is spraying loads of aerosol hairspray on a weekly client’s highly teased bouffant behind us. Those are smells and times this perfume reminds me of. If that’s your bag, and it happens to be mine, you’ll like it. I love it. I can’t stop smelling my wrist. It’s so curious! I haven’t smelled these smells in so long. It’s a nostalgia not for youth or romance or proud female individualism, but for the private way the human family of females once spent their time together before they did the shopping, and then went home and cooked for their family. Such important things they were! Before corporate grocery store chains and plastic bags! Dad would be home soon! Ah! And then the hippies came and mocked and trampled it all, while bringing us, in the end, no, not the promised flower power, no, no, no, only their overbearing corporatism!

I absolutely LOVE this vintage fragrance, its a clean and green floral scent. It's distinct uniqueness is likely because of the strong C7 aldehydes which possess a herbaceous green aroma. This perfume is not for the faint of heart, it has both an enormous sillage and it is very long lasting. Think Dior's Poison or Paul Sebastian's Design in terms of this anomalous bouquet; definitely a signature scent!

gorgeous white floral with a depth of musk and oakmoss

Opens slightly sour - probably from the apple - but quickly mellows into rich woody notes. Somewhat masculine trending, this may not be the easiest perfume to wear, but persistence pays off with P. My first impression was negative until the dry down surprised me with its unexpected loveliness. According to the intro blurb, P. debuted back in the 1930's. Assuming the current version of the perfume is like the first, P. probably seemed incredibly bold and sophisticated. It's still sophisticated with its unsweetened woody notes. Yes, honey is listed in Ps. pyramid, but it's a mild, light honey. Modest sillage and lasting power, P. is almost a skin scent on me. It's the kind of perfume I like to keep very close.