Sira des Indes

I think when I first acquired this bottle, several years ago, I perceived it differently. I thought I could smell a buttery jasmine, but I think that must be champaca. I definitely get the orange blossom and the banana-like accord up top--so much so that I'm surprised Fragrantica categorizes this as "amber woody" when to my nose it smells like a fruity floral, base notes notwithstanding. It doesn't really remind me of any other perfume that I own; when I bought it, I just wanted to add it to my small Patou collection while I still could. I like this a lot in hot weather, even though I guess it could be cloying to anyone craving a crisp chypre. I'm not fond of indolic fragrances, and thank goodness I don't discern any fecal notes anywhere near that cardamom/banana accord, or I would need to discard this immediately. But to my nose this is a tropical take on a French floral, and it reminds me of a fancy drink at a luxury hotel. Also, I think it has deepened in the years since I first bought it--it lives in my upstairs refrigerator, so it's still in great condition--and I'm noticing the sandalwood in the base a lot more, along with the milk note, which doesn't smell like milk per se but does confer a certain creaminess, especially combined with the sandalwood. I haven't yet smelled Borabora (Bora Bora?) or its Dua dupe, Hug of Flowers, which sells out instantly every time it's up for sale, it seems. But based on the notes, I'm wondering if Sira des Indes might be a budget(ish) substitution. It probably doesn't smell exactly the same, but the more Sira des Indes dries down, the more I get that "Bianco Latte" vibe but with banana instead of honey and champaca instead of ylang-ylang or whatever tropical flowers Borabora uses. Again, caveat smeller: as stated, I haven't smelled Bora Bora or Hug of Flowers. I will also add that although I love this fragrance in certain situations, I could see being sickened by it in certain situations. It's probably more suited to evening wear, but I work from home and it's Sunday, so to hell with the temporal plane. I just read alphairone's characteristically stellar review below, and I sign on to everything he says. The Samsara resemblance wouldn't have occurred to me, even though I probably wear Samsara more than any other frag in my collection, but he's right. It's the base notes, that creamy chiming sandalwood. I also agree with the reviewer who compared it to Champs-Elysées on the drydown. Must be all about that base, after all.

I just received the EDP. Lovely, slightly spicy, woody, oriental floral. I find this quite fresh and vibrant smelling, without seeming trendy or juvenille. It's unusual in a way I can't exactly name. I'm delighted by the dry-down, and don't smell anything that seems overly exotic or earthy, as the name would suggest. It's safe and inoffensive, sort of an easy, careless fragrance that one might throw on to be wearing something nice without too much concern for how it might read to others. Nothing overly special or distinctive about it, but I do enjoy it and will wear it again. A measure of it's mediocrity is it's lack of longevity and wearability. It simply doesn't perform, and would need reapplication to squeak any endurance and and projection out of it. Two hours post application, and it's a bit more than a skin-scent. I hold my nose quite close to my arm to get any scent, and I applied it fairly liberally. The vanilla and musk are prominent for me in the drydown, with a slight comforting creaminess. I think this would be lovely to apply after a bath and before bed. It would be nice to find something like this that really has good longevity, sillage, and projection. For me, THAT would push it into the extraordinary category, because I do love the smell, and at moments I can certainly visualize something like this being made by Terenzi or one of the other niche perfume houses who might use higher quality ingredients to make this superlative, the way Terenzi created Maremma, which I view as a much higher-quality incarnation of TF's Black Orchid - the similarity is certainly there, but Maremma, as with all Terenzi fragrances, simply and undoubtedly oozes with a quality of ingredients and an embodiment of creativity that Black Orchid really never achieved. I own and love Black Orchid, but it will never be Maremma. Overall, I think this would be a safe blind buy. It would be appropriate for someone young, but has a slight powderiness that may even appeal to very mature wearers. I like it enough that I will pursue something very similar in a better quality fragrance.

I was surprised to learn that I hadn't reviewed Sira des Indes yet. It's not my favorite Patou fragrance--that would have to be Joy, which is imprinted on my DNA by now as The Classic Floral--but I do like it a lot. Thanks to the disgusting takeover by the Louis Vuitton mercenaries, all these classic Patou fragrances will be no more. I probably have enough in my refrigerator to last until I die, with ounces to spare for the feckless heirs, but I still treat this Duriez creation--like all my other beloved Patou perfumes--as a rare treasure. We won't see the likes of these monumental beasts again. People today seem to prefer simple categories like fruity-floral, but Sira des Indes is more like an indolent stroll through a tropical garden. The notes are all too well-blended for me to distinguish the banana from the champaca, but the overall effect is lovely. There's enough citrus to cut through the sweet-powdery notes of the cardamom; the combination of the ambers and spices is bewitching during the drydown. This doesn't smell much like Coco by Chanel, a scent I wore a lot in the 1980s, but it does impart a similar vibe, and I think there are some common notes in SdI that would appeal to Coco lovers (80s formulation). As with Coco, I would advise wearing sparingly; the EDP is strong. Update, several hours later, with a refresh: I can smell the banana! It reminds me more of a banana Laffy Taffy than actual banana, but that might be the champaca variable. Anyway, I love this, and I'm tempted to pick up a backup bottle, even though I have almost a full ounce of the EDP. The discontinuation of the Patou house is infuriating.

I really wished to find a banana dominant perfume and finally I found it here.it's totally different with the banana I was dreaming about,I wanted a gourmand banana dessert,Sira is not that, still I love it and consider myself a lucky girl to own such a rare perfume. while banana is the most noticeable note in Sira Des Indes,it's not really sweet or a gourmand,I'd call it a smooth,creamy and sensual scent.fortunately I can't pickup pink pepper,cardamom or plum.what I really smell here is an unripe,almost green banana,a natural one not smelling like a fake banana bubble gum,I also pickup milk,a bit of musk-vanilla powder and a lovely floral accord.I agree with others mentioning tuberose and ylangylang.it's not a heavily floral scent but I can get a subtle,buttery scent of mentioned flowers and champacka which blend in so well with other milky,powdery notes As time passes it develops to a warmer scent,the greenish banana of the opening ripens(but not to the point of smelling like brown,gone bad bananas)and sandalwood makes it even more creamy.I dislike it when sandalwood overpowers everything else in a perfume and it's not the case here.all the notes melt in each other and none of them struggles with the others,the overall scent is a very pleasant one which may seem simple in a glance as it's almost linear and so well blended so that it's not easy to distinguish separate notes(except banana ofcourse!) but it's unique and classy indeed Longevity is great on me while sillage is soft to moderate.I wish it was stronger,acting more than a nice smelling body lotion on my skin and projecting more

A little off topic but can I just say that no matter what kind of perfume one purchases (meaning oil vs commercial) I think it is very important if you had shipped to you to let it sit and acclimate to its new environment (your house) prior to opening, sniffing and making judgements. I read a few reviews of this fragrance that made it sound DIVINE and I wanted to get in on having a bottle of now discontinued Jean Patou's. I did Joy back in the 80's & honestly am good enough with my memories of that and have no desire to recreate that decade in my life. 1000 seems risky as a blind buy and I have a lot of "challenging perfumes" already so I went with SDI - a soft banana note and cardamom? YES PLEASE. When I first received it - right out of the box it smelled a bit like a fruity sweet shampoo - so I let it sit - back to the back of the closet. Then last week we had a little heat wave and since everyone raves about this for heat waves - I gave it a whirl and to my nose this is a stunning complicated slightly gourmand, a bit powdery, a bit woody - tropically creamy wonder. Rarely do my colleagues comment on fragrance but I had colleagues coming over to tell me I smelled divine..the banana cardamom and nag champa with milk and musks & woods - there is this roundness to the powdery - almost edible and yet the base keeps it from being too sweet or gourmand. This isn't suntanning lotion and isn't some kind of sweet gourmand by today's standards. It is a real perfume so it's creating a cloud of what the tropics "could be" if it were a perfume and I love it! Buying a few backs up now.