Moment Supreme

My wonderful husband just surprised me this morning with a beautiful vintage bottle of Jean Patou Moment Supreme. Such a happy coincidence that I am wearing Sublime today. I adore Jean Patou perfumes. Personally I find no other house compares to their elegance, sophisticated romantic creations and it is a great loss that the house is no more. Moment Supreme opens with fresh spicy cloves that is softened by a powdery feminine rose, sparkling aldehydes, refreshing geranium and herbal lavender. A softly animalic musk with a beautiful amber accord that is rounded, and full of extreme depth. Like real love. The Moment Supreme when the depth of love reaches the point of being able to finish each other's sentences and understand each other micro expressions. Where you are of one flesh. Never separate even if you are apart. This type of perfume becomes a part of you . Like a second skin. And how unfortunate perfumes like Moment Supreme have no value in postmodern culture. Moment Supreme is more than just a perfume or a fragrance it is a beautiful Moment. A moment so precious it is frozen in time, in memory. How I will enjoy wearing this beautiful work of art that is painted in Soft shades of color, that speaks with expression not false noise. A perfume of resonance and depth. If you adore vintage Ma Librte, vintage Blue Grass, vintage Belladogia. This is something you will also love.

I can't imagine the dilemma faced by a sophisticated woman in 1929 when Moment Supreme and Joy were released at the same time. Joy's praises are still widely sung but most have forgotten Moment Supreme, Joy's spicier cousin. I met Moment Supreme at an estate sale in a mostly empty bottle. (It was on my wrists before I was out of the car.) The perfume opened immediately with lavender and cloves; I couldn't decide if it was soapy or sharp, like a sweet liqueur. After about ten minutes the rose and jasmine came up (the notes shared with Joy), settling back into a clove-infused floral richness. Since then I've alternately smelled musk and spices (I swear there's ginger in here),whiffs of lavender and rose, and a delightful perfect balance of jasmine and musk. The difficulty of writing this review has come from the perfume's constant shape shifting. I never did detect the bergamot, but citrus notes are the first to go and I'm not sure it was handled with much care. I've been pleasantly shocked many times by big well-made perfumes (Piguet Bandit anyone?) but I've never understood intoxicating until now. The perfume stays close so the only way it can be appreciated by others is to get very close. This is the perfume Brigid O'Shaughnessy (Maltese Falcon) would have worn. Sillage: very close Lasts: fairly long so far 5/5

As Moment Suprême opens, I immediately experience cloves, lavender and rose, underlined with geranium, and I am sent to a happy place. There's something that tickles my senses when lavender and rose are combined (see also Penhaligon's Hammam Bouquet, Oriza L. Legrand Cuir de l'Aigle Russe, es Parfums de Rosine Rose d'Homme). For many, this combination may feel antiquated or stuffy, but I on the contrary, find it to be almost poetic: the counterpoint of aromatic and floral, a perceptual dissonance to resolved consonance. It feels almost metaphorical. This is built around a heavenly mellis accord. I would classify this as an amber fougere, robust yet not defiant, circling my body as I wear it, seeming like a glowing ember that very gradually smolders into a fine, warm-body powdery musk. It's so heartbreakingly elegant, because this just doesn't have value to modern culture. Just as nuance has been completely jettisoned for black and white, bold and brash, "you are either with us or against us," the deep and layered is believed to have diminishing returns. I only hope one day, in art, in commerce, and in social discourse, do we have a rebirth of the honorable in society.

A spicy lavender with nose-tickling clove, a rosy heart, and a warm, ambery base. Even though the top is piquant and aromatic, this is all so very well balanced with the floral and amber notes. It also feels more "dense," like a sumptuous, lush piano chord than a top-mid-base journey. That linearity and predictability is appealing! I can see how this definitely inspired Ma Liberte. Ma Liberte took the clove-floral-lavender theme and definitely "fougerified" it, toning down the spiciness of the clove, amping up the lavender and coumarin, and smoothing it all out with hazy hedione and other modern aromachemicals. Moment Supreme feels more opulent, even if it is slightly less wearable in the modern world than ML.

Moment Supreme Parfum Cologne (vintage splash bottle) I dont know where to start with this one, as its constructed...perfect. I reach for this at bedtime. Its immaculately blended, soft, yet sturdy, lightly spicy, floral amazingness. Its vintage so unless you truly appreciate the older scents, their construction and their complex nature, please do not buy this one as it really needs to stand for the lovers on the old style of another day. There are more popular perfumes in the Jean Patou cannon, but this is goldilocks- something done just right. Thats the definition of true luxury. beautiful, a bit understated and the finest used. Thats Moment Supreme. Great for fall/winter. 1929 forever.