Poudrextase

Wear poudrextase if you’d like to smell distinctly French without actually being French. The French are known for not erasing natural body odor, right? They just apply perfume or body powder, and the natural human musk (and funk) blends in. A little natural odor is sexy. Poudrextase opens with a strong animalic punch, characteristic of house Marlou. I get a lot of civet and costus with powdery raspberry toned rose, a little discreet cumin. The powder is light and soft, and I’m not even a powder fan. It reminds me of an expensive body powder my mom had when I was child. Sometimes I’d get into that powder and smear a little across my forearm, because it was so rich it was almost moist. The way it spread across my skin actually made my skin feel silkier. That’s the powder in poudrextase, not drying or dusty but silky. The personality of this frag reminds me of baroque interior decor, powdered cleavage, plush fluffy down bedding. Waking up naked cuddling with your lover after a night of lovemaking. Blissful, familiar, intimate, cozy and warm. It straddles opposing worlds with ease: sexy & innocent and dirty & clean. I feel like I could wear this one without offending. The dry down is my favorite phase, where it smells a little muskier, sueded and sweet, a “you, but better” fragrance. Edited to add these things: fwiw fragrantica has not listed the cypress note in this. I just got my full bottle of poudrextase today and my husband noticed it on me and said it was sexy. Total win.

So, so pretty. To me, this is what "skin scent" SHOULD mean: a gentle musk, a bit textural in a powdery, silky sort of way. The rice powder grounds it, and the dry rose and musks and powder are blended so expertly that it's sort of hard to tell where each note starts and stops. It's a clean body smell for sure, but still (delightfully, for me) a body smell, with just enough warm-skin-musk to make it interesting while still remaining very much appropriate for daytime/public/polite company wear. It's soft, but not delicate, and would make a nice day-to-night fragrance- very much something you'd find on the cluttered vanity table alongside a few bouquets of dark red roses hung upside down from the edges of the mirror to dry, an antique jewelry box with pearls and such spilling out of it, and an array of abandoned cosmetics. The person who does their makeup at the vanity is the type of person to use a cigarette holder- like, the cigarette exists, but its smell isn't on their hands (or in this perfume, really. It's just part of the vibe.) The brand copy says it's a "subtle affair" and that lands, for me. It's a bit of a gateway animalic, with a sweet, balanced powdery-incense-y drydown. I think it would traditionally be called "femme" but frankly I'd LOVE to smell this on absolutely anybody. I can't get enough of it. I plan to buy a full bottle and wear it whenever I can get away with it.

im not exactly sure what it is, but every time i smell this i feel like sneezing. this is powdery, awfully spicy, its almost burning my nostrills. somehow, this is still rather nice. chic, in a dusty way. god, i dont even know what im smelling. i love it but it feels like im having an allergic reaction. im not getting anything animalic, skanky or sexy about this. just sort of... old. but not grandma old, more like victorian vampire old. this is so fucking sharp and spicy holy shit. also this is definitely more iris than rose. kinda creamy but very dry. edit: okay i figured out what the problem was. this perfume is very concentrated (for me at least) and a single spray in a single place is a death sentence for the smelling experience, you have to really spread it out and rub it across a big surface area. after smearing it on my neck and both arms the soft creamy rice powder and dry, sweet rose got a chance to really shine through and blossom. the spiciness is still there, but its taken a back seat and is nowhere near as overwhelming. i like this even more now that the spicy peppery veil that was clouding it has been lifted. also, this is rather unisex! more fem leaning because of the rose, sure, but i could definitely see a guy rocking this.

Just wow! I’m slowly venturing into animalics and musks. I smelled Carnicure about a year ago and I was a bit intimidated and couldn’t imagine how I could wear it. Despite Carnicure’s commanding and demanding smell, I was still drawn to it. Fast forward a year and I discovered Poudrextase. It was still exotic but not nearly as Carnicure. Of the three Marlou perfumes, I decided to get a full bottle of Poudrextase. I tested it at home and the dry down intoxicated me. It was carnal, erotic, sweaty, sweet and warm. How I have longed for a simple fragrance to evoke pleasure and soothe me ( yeah it sounds sexual but that’s not where I’m going) cerebrally. Despite my new found love for this fragrance, I was still cautious about wearing it in public; is this too much of a personal scent to “share”with strangers? I began to ponder how could I share this and make it smile? I thought of notes that were sensual but “clean” as Poudrextase is definitely on the “dirty”side. Instantly the juxtaposition Nasomatto’s Silver Musk came to mind. OMG! My mind is blown! What a bright, sensual and slightly skanky aroma! Clean but slightly sweaty skin. It lofts around , intoxicating me. Oh my oh my. The fragrances layered is a personal tonic... a thing of beauty.

Poudrextase paradoxically chills me in its convincing human warmth and sebaceous rawness. It is the smell of human skin, adorned with environmental sediments of all sorts, the smear and smudge of cosmetics, the expression of body odor mingling with the day's lotions and rose-scented perfume. It's the sweat from unbreathable fabrics and the skin's exhalation after wearing pantyhouse of moisture-wicking underwear following a long day of being a living, breathing human being. It smells like the truth of Victorian hygiene rather than its idealized myth. It's the less glamorous but just as sensuous effluvia of sex blended with the smell of Ponds cold cream and a closet of fur coats undisturbed for forty years. Cinema verité for the nose, greasy coils and oily creases, a bender where one wants none of the devilish details but still peeks through all voyeur-like, Unwashed scalp, dried perspiration, and the coda of reckless abandon where one had a one-night stand at someone's apartment, could not brush their teeth, and chose to chew violet sweets to cover morning breath before their walk of shame.