L'eau de la Marquise de Pompadour

Slightly dated, but definitely not outdated, and scents of similar vibe are still around both in perfumery and bodycare items. It wasn't love at first sniff, but after giving it some time, Pompadour showed her charm. So maybe it's more of an acquired taste. I'm really used to it now and would miss it if I couldn't apply it every other day. It's easy to imagine how this perfume was considered more unisex at the time, while perhaps we're now conditioned to associate it more with mature ladies. Maybe try imagining a refined lady of ambiguous age, with expensive taste, someone of amiable and bright disposition but a bit authoritative and set in her ways, someone who has also a quirky, slightly naughty side and occasionally slips and says something vulgar. Quite intriguing, overall. Harmonized well so for the most part it's hard to pick separate flowers. Feels really natural. For the first 5-10min it's way too strong for me as I like more intimate scents, but after that it settles down. The duration is good for a natural perfume. If you try Marquise de Pompadour expecting this to be a very modern scent with very modern longevity and sillage, you won't be happy. At the start I can smell mostly the sharp, cold, greenish scent of spring flowers (if you've ever stood in line in a flower shop in order to buy a carnation for your mother for Women's Day, that's the scent, only sweeter and warmer) , encircled in a powdery, smoky frame. Similar tobacco-like notes are something I usually encounter with such "bouquet" types of perfumes. The smokiness becomes much less noticeable after wearing the perfume daily for a while. Sometimes I feel there's a clearer whiff of narcissus coming through. Warming, dirty jasmine soon starts to take over. The composition becomes somewhat sweeter. Other floral notes can be felt here, but since I'm oversensitive to jasmine in particular (not the biggest fan), I pick an abundance of jasmine. For me it's there for a good chunk of the duration, but at this point especially. This is probably where some get the main tuberose hit, while for me it's more a band of jasmine & friends. The drydown is just amazing; the scent is more subtly floral and eventually blends with the scent of the skin, gentle and alluring. I've bought two de Barry perfumes so far, and they feel natural and of high quality. Since then I've kind of put my collection of other natural and niche perfumes on the backburner and been using these two interchangeably. Mumtaz Mahal is still my favorite and will certainly remain so, but I do use Marquise de Pompadour just as much, during daytime as well. It might be a bit heavy but not hard to wear, surprisingly.

I was very excited to try this fragrance as someone who is very interested in historical scents and especially those worn by the nobility in the Ancien Régime. I was expecting an “old” smelling fragrance but wanted to try anyway. I was pleasantly surprised. While there is a slightly powdery tone to it, that is more than made up for by the extravagant florals of tuberose and narcissus and bite of the overall composition. I raved as soon as I put it on. Sillage is great and the tone of the fragrance seems to give off a feeling of intimate formality, like something you would wear to a dinner party with friends. I would recommend wearing this on warm nights or in the evening during the spring.

The best tuberos-dominated floral I've Come across. It is warm and powdery, from amber and iris. Sunny flowers for grownups. FB worthy in my opinion. My daughter tinks it should be my new signature sent.

Need to add that there is a smoky sent blended in that on My skin creates an ashtray note. Mainly there for THE firat hours.

Vintage floral & roses. It's like a french garden with more roses. Gardenia plays the top role, follows by the jasmines and a slight amber. Can't deny the sharpness of the red roses is there hiding the rancidity of the jasmines. The violets & the tuberose are there as well. Eventually it is a vintage blend, floral vintage blend, heavy and super French.