Safran Troublant

I sprayed this earlier this evening onto the freshly showered skin of my forearms, after applying a fragrance free moisturiser; my skin soaks up perfumes like a sponge and I find moisturising first (usually) improves longevity. Initially, this smelled quite harsh and spicy as the saffron and ginger are very powerful. Then the magic occurred and I got wafts of the most delightful rich, creamy and spicy fragrance, underpinned by unobtrusive sandalwood and vanilla. I don't get any floral notes at all. Sillage is very close and this is - on me, anyway - poor from the outset and a skin scent within 45 minutes. I have a decant (thank you for this, Alex Planet_X) and the spray is very over-enthusiastic! However, as the fragrance seemed to calm down very quickly, I added another two sprays to each forearm. Out of interest, I also sprayed some on my pyjama top and THIS is where I can pick up the body odour smell to which some reviewers refer, although it isn't overwhelming. The scent does not seem to develop or change on clothing, which is unfortunate. Some two hours later, the scent has all but disappeared from my skin, unless I breathe warm air onto it and then inhale immediately. Although I LOVE this fragrance, I know that I will have to re-spray every two hours and will get through an entire bottle very quickly. This is one of the worst performances of any perfume I have tried; the other is ID Parfums Siam Flamboyant, which I tried earlier today. However, 60ml of SF is currently retailing on eBay for less than £10 GBP including P&P. 100ml of Safran Troublant is well over £60 GBP +. I know Safran Troublant is an EDT, but at this price point, the sillage and longevity are shockingly poor. This is very disappointing - and I can see from reading previous reviews that my experience is not unique.

Saffron--glorious threads of orange saffron! Safran Troublant smells exactly like pure saffron right out of the spice jar, but over time it becomes creamier with the added richness of vanilla and just the right touch of rose. I smell saffron all the way into the drydown. After trying so many foodie scents like Loukhoum, Gourmandises, and Sweet Oriental Dream, I badly wanted a perfume that was not so sickeningly sweet. The sugar was too much to bear. And Ford's Noir de Noir is beautiful, but it's so dark and rich that I think of it as an evening or special occasion fragrance. It's also quite foodie with a sumptuous, creamy, French vanilla note. Safran Troublant is the answer to my lengthy query as to whether I would ever find a true saffron perfume with just the right amount of rose that is not sweet like candy or covered in barrels of powdered sugar. To think--I almost passed on sampling this because I assumed it would be like all the others. While many people describe this perfume as gourmand (technically it is, since saffron is obviously edible and plentiful here), I guess I fail to want to eat this perfume and will instead satisfy any cravings for Turkish Delight with the likes of Loukhoum. Safran Troublant is not as strong of a perfume as I'd like, but it does last, and I do feel it was worth the price. It's great for casual wear; a breathtaking interpretation of saffron; a beautifully crafted perfume; simple but unique.

I am have been holding off my review on this perfume for a time now. Safran Troublant feels to me like an olfactory peep into my soul and I feel so shy about talking about it. But this is such a masterpiece it would be an injustice to keep it to myself. Safran Troublant is, as expected, a fragrant ode to saffron. Upon opening, every single time the inital heady rush of golden saffron paralyses my mind and all I can feel is my heart beating a little faster with excitement. It is like being suspended in time and space and feeling all your hopes at once. The first time I wore this, the transition from the opening to the creamy sweet saffron-infused base actually brought tears to my eyes. Ever since then though, it has simply brought me peace and a gentle humming in my body. Depending on my mood, it can also make me a feel sweetly melancholy. Troublant indeed! As it really settles, it seems like the fragrance oozes from my pores, as if I really *am* Safran Troublant. This is the kind of fragrance that would make me extremely jealous to smell on anyone else. I love it beyond reason or sensibility. The issue of lengevity is very real. One second it is there and the next I am desperately hoovering my skin with my nose, trying to recover my lost treasure. Ultimately it is understandable though, how can such an etheral heavenly gift really be captured for long? On second thoughts, that is probably why God invented purse atomisers.

The soft and feminine way to wear a spicy fragrance. Oh, how I love this! The opening is very close to real saffron, warm and spicy, not as medicinal as it can sometimes be in perfumes. But you can already smell the sweet roses and vanilla underneath it. This is a wonderfully creamy and milky kind of scent, the rose is jammy in a way, but not heavy, maybe like a transparent rose jelly. The sugar note is like a veil of powdered sugar that lies over the spiced vanilla in the drydown, it’s not cloying. Safran Troublant is relatively simple and easy to wear, good to comfort yourself on cold fall and winter days, but it isn‘t boring. I read the complaints about lasting power, and I know that this is generally a problem with L‘Artisan for some people, but all I can say is that I own several of their fragrances and never felt like they vanish too quickly. This is a soft scent though, but for me there are more times and places where I’d rather smell like a delicate rose and saffron dessert than like I rolled through a spice rack. And if I want that effect, I bring out my Kenzo Jungle instead. Despite this being categorized as a unisex scent, I feel very feminine and romantic in it, as it‘s sweet and rosy and also rounded and natural, without any hard edges. But of course I wouldn‘t want to tell any guy that he shouldn‘t wear it, it’s just the opposite of the typical male-marketed spice fragrance.

Some years ago, L'Artisan Perfumeur had a boutique in London, next to the Opera House in Covent Garden. I had some time to kill before a performance, so wandered in, and ended up having a lovely, lengthy chat with the very well informed perfumista who was working that evening. She said she had around 300 fragrances in her personal collection, which seemed like an awful lot at the time (I used to have a working wardrobe of about 25). I remember a lengthy discussion about incense fragrances, and the relative merits of Etro Messe de Minuit versus CdG Avignon. She did her job well too, as I departed with a rather red and inflamed credit card, having purchased a large bottle of Safran Troublant and a smaller bottle of Piment Brulant. It was a great shame when that boutique closed, although probably for the best for the health of my bank balance. The remaining half-bottle is still in good condition, in semi-regular use and smelling fab. Safran Troublant is possibly my favourite fragrance. The brand's description talked about 'an unsettling portrait of a candied rose' but I do not detect much rose at all, or only rosewater. I think it is more of a 'complicated and expensive Indian dessert'. My husband and I both wore it at our wedding.