Tubéreuses Castane

Oh my gosh, what an intense and gorgeous fragrance this is--the chestnut note made me get a sudden sense memory of Paris in the autumn and winter. I love this so much more than I would have predicted on the basis of the (sure, OK, pink-bubblegummy) main note. The chestnut note, the caramelized vanilla, the way the tuberose melts into the chestnut and turns it into some kind of stratospherically intense dessert-as-beverage--well, it's more than all right with me. In fact, it's a love! I wouldn't have even known about this if the lovely Etsy decanter hadn't included it as a sample. She seems to know what I will love before I do--an eerie talent, and one I would love to develop myself. I think it's safe to say that if you love tuberose and you love vanilla and sweet wistful nutty melancholic Parisian accords--this is the perfume for you. A pity that it seems pretty hard to find. I noticed that all the Fragrantica links lead to different perfumes by Lancome. Speaking of which, I think I need to revise my possibly unconscious bias against Lancome as a perfume maker (I always liked the skin and makeup products). This is a wonderful powerhouse of a fragrance, and a little goes a long way. I just applied a few drops of the EDP to one wrist, and I can tell that it's projecting at least six feet, and perhaps even filling the room. Magnificent! I think Liz Taylor would have admired this fragrance. Update: I put on Boucheron earlier today, and its loud, pushy tuberose made me want the delicious Tubereuses castanes, which my dear perfume pal Sarah sent me to sample a few months ago. So I put a few drops (a teensy amount is sufficient!) on my naked left wrist, and oh my, it is so, so beautiful, even more beautiful than I remembered. Tubereuses castanes doesn't clash with the residue of the Boucheron drydown, but it outshines it, at least the formulation that I have (and I love that perfume, so this is more of a compliment to the Lancome than a diss of my beloved Boucheron). Superb! But you must love tuberose and chestnut.

I thought I lost my chance to purchase, but it popped up recently on my favourite discount site. I had sampled it years ago and loved it but I didn't pull the trigger fast enough before it was sadly discontinued. Tubereuses Castane smells just as I would have expected it to. It is a nutty tuberose. The chestnut is warm, cozy and almost savory. That savoriness helps temper the sweetness of the tuberose and tonka, though this is still a pretty sweet fragrance. There is a weird sourness that I smell from the cap and on paper, but thankfully it disappears completely when on my skin. If your skin retains that sourness, this my not be for you. The tuberose is sweet and more similar to that in Armani My Way or JPG So Scandal than Gucci Bloom or Armani Rouge Malachite. This is a pretty thick and heavy fragrance that I only wear in cooler weather. I tried it just on my hand when I bought it in the middle of the summer and it was far too heavy and cloying, even with that one spray. Wearing it now in cooler fall, it is beautiful, warm and cozy. It is slightly mature and quite feminine I experienced pretty good performance, but it didn't project as much as I expected when I first applied it. It lasts 8+ hours on skin and even more on clothes. The projection was very strong on initial application, but it settles way down in about an hour. Then it stays well within arms length, but does have a nice trail. The bottles in this line are some of my favourite. They look and feel very high quality. Heavy glass, metallic cap, the beautiful filligree-inspired golden coloured metal panel on the side and front. Everything about the bottle is beautiful. The only down side is the box it comes in. It is pretty uninspired, just a boring cheap white box. I am willing to overlook this since the Maison Lancome line is more moderately priced than some of the other designer private lines. I would rather a beautiful fragrance in a stunning bottle than a fancy box.

I've deleted my original review n am doing another 'cos this is a complicated one. Initially I had a small decant n just liked it, it reminded me a bit of Amarige but more interesting n with a slightly smoky vibe. I layered with rosemary essential oil at one point n that worked really well. Tubereuse Castane grew on me until I decided I had to get a bottle after all as it's quite unique, the chestnut note I haven't smelled in anything else n there's something almost savoury salty about it as well as the big tuberose. The tonka is vanillery. The scent had an almost chewy quality (I've previously only noticed in Valentina Myrrh Assoluto.) I decided loved it n bought a bottle. Since I purchased the damn thing, I came across a review on another site which mentioned this - The buttery quality can flip into actually greasy n then it will make you feel sick. Congratulations to the other reviewer, I now notice this n can't unsmell it. That anyone finds this "astringent", or like pickles as some others have mentioned, bewilders me, as astringent is the opposite of greasy kinda isn't it? I suspect this oily quality is what others have mentioned as stomach turning or nauseating. I'm going to have to leave it alone for a while now n hope my nose forgets about it for a bit then I can maybe enjoy it again next winter. It's certainly been an interesting ride.

Everything I've tried from the Maison Lancôme line has been a winner. I wish I could collect them all, but the steep prices and large bottles keep me from doing so. And that's the only reason why Tubéreuses Castane is not on my wishlist: I love Lavandes Trianon, Roses Berberanza and Oud Bouquet (new version) even more and can't have them all. I know I said this several times and sound like they paid me (I wish), but if you love intense, sweet, well-blended floral gourmands, look into this collection. Tubéreuses Castane smells just like the name sounds. Hypnotic, narcotic tuberose and sweet roasted chestnuts. To be fair I'm not 100% sure if I would have identified the chestnuts on my own, but it's really a very nutty fragrance, awakening memories of roasted nuts with a crunchy sugar crust you get on funfairs and Christmas markets. The tuberose is creamy and clean, but not too light in this, which is a nice contrast to the gourmand notes. I just love it when tuberose notes are intense and narcotic, but not powdery and musty. This kind of tuberose smells so feminine and sexy to me. This is a really sweet fragrance that opens up loudly and doesn't change that much. The floral and gourmand notes just melt together to a very harmonic blend on my skin. The longevity is as great as with everything from this line.

I'm not a tuberose fan, but in this combo I do like it. This is not a unisex parfume in my opinion. Very feminine and warm like a cashmere sweater. I could not imagine this on a man. It is very concentrated and I higly advise only ONE spary. If you spray 2 times stricly spray in the air and walk through. It will last all day. After I bought the bottle and took it home the first time I used it I was so disappointed and felt like this is a overwhelming sweet parfume. I realised after that I sprayed it too many times like I have to do with many of my other parfumes... I gave it one more go and fell in love with it once again. This is warm, sexy and captivating...also sweet, but in a mature way. I tryed to buy tuberose parfume so many times, but they just reminded me always of an old lady... this is different it is just enough tuberose for me and most of all it is roasted chestnuts. A bit of honey and amber in the background. A warm floral overall with a nutty feel to it. Beautiful bottle and really high quality of fragrance. I love that it is very very long lasting and it has a strong silage. Scarves adf swaters smell for weeks.