Parfum d'Elle

01.august. 2014 My review goes for a vintage (probably one of the original editions) EDP spray, which comes boxed in a beautifully unfolding outer box, leaflet inside and inner box for perfme bottle. The list of ingredients is short: sd-alcohol, 39-c, water, fragrance. First of all i would like to say that i have been checking the notes and reviews before purchasing it for a long time and i wasn ́t sure if the combination of tuberose, bergamote, oakmoss, melon and ginger sounds really my way so i always thought it wouldn ́t be a safe blind buy and i didn ́t want to waste money on something that sounds so weird. When i got a chance to purchase this magnificent perfume on a huge discounted price i thought why not and i am surely glad i did! The bottle is a piece of art for sure!!! It is very magical and even more abstract than the "Parfum de peau" from Montana, which also have a fabulous bottle which is a pleasure to hold in hands. I have sprayed it one time onto my forearm and here is my impression. OK, i agree whith many of below revievers who say that it opens up quite strange and even unpleasant maybe for some. I can smell the citrusy melon in the opening, mixed with a heliotrope and LOTV notes. So this indeed may smell not good on everybody. Me too was thinking at first that it would be hard for me to wear this fragrance if at all. So my impression is that the most dominant notes in opening are: melon, heliotrope, ginger and LOTV. I don ́t smell a lot of citruses in the opening, as some of you (maybe it gioes only for reformulated version?). I even wondered about the tobacco note - where is it and if it even for real in here when approximately after a 1,5 hour it began to show in the composition. It is quite doft and not something that turns the whole frgrance into masculine or stinky one, but it indeed adds a very interesting accent to the smell. On this stage it begins smelling like a niche fragrance (floral-tobacco niche anyone??). Actually that ́s when it begins to turn into pleasant fragrance right up to my alley. Still no sign of tuberose or oakmoss... Now, 4 hours later this is a pure magic! Finally i smell a leather and tuberose soaked in honey. Yes, i know, no sign of leather in the note, no honey either, but one thing i can tell for sure: the drydown of this fragrance smell almost the same as the "Parfum de peau" but just bit more honeyed. Now this is an old school chypre which is sublime. It is so strange how one fragrance can change so much from a citrusy-melony with no sign of oakmoss to a magnificent chypre drydown. Such a verstile composition! Judging this fragrance by the notes voted would be a mistake, since different notes are indeed dominant on different stages of development. Don ́t be fooled by those votes. I agree that this one is a late bloomer and developes beautifuly. I also agree that it is weird in the opening and might scare you off. And i agree on the great silllage and lasting power specifics of this potion - they are exceptional! OK, one thing is that i would like to add is the lines that are written on the box about this perfume: "Warm, sparkling, pungent, unique, enveloping Parfum d ́elle, an invisible array of radiance. Hymn to pleasure and to space: a perfume with an aura of elsewhere. Spicy, fruity, exotic floral aromes which blossom out over wooded, dense, honeyed (!!!!) and ambered undertones: Parfum d ́Elle by Claude Montana" I think these lines sum it up very well. And indeed a honey accord is mentioned, so i guess it is not my imagination only. Would love to try the EDT version as well.

To be honest I expected something entirely different from Montana. Maybe because my first Montana experience was Just Me, which is in a totally different realm. It took me a while to figure out what it really smells like because on me it is citrus on top of citrus and some soapy notes. Plus I tested it first simultaneously with other fragrances and my nose was too overwhelmed. After looking at the top notes, I can see that it is indeed citrus overload. After about 15 minites I get a hint of sweetnes which is probably vanilla, but this is it. It is not unpleasant, but it is just bizzare. When i think how I feel about it, I just go blank: not elegant, not happy, not loud, even the sitrus notes get so quiet, that you can't even categorize it as citrusy. Here is the closest comparison: if you know how the smell of grass after your law has been cut- that's d'Elle. I will try to wear it outside of the house...maybe something will change. Edit: It does warm up with amber and vanilla after about 30 minutes and becomes quite interesting and.....yes, elegant. Looks like this perfume has a very delayed developing. One thing you can't take away from it: its great sillage and complexity. I can return this bottle, but I am going to keep it, after 1 hour its quality won me over. Also keep in mind that I am a fan of heavier perfumes, so for someone who prefers lighter scents but the ones with good projection, this perfume maybe the most heavenly scent in the world.

In Chandler Burr's The Emperor of Scent, Luca Turin mentions Parfum d'Elle as he smells it coming from a woman walking by: "That's so strong, almost pure beta-damascone." Upon reading this, I just had to check it out. Of course, the Serge Mansau-designed bottle is something else—and it turns out, the fragrance does match it. It is true that it seems to have a lot of beta-damascone, a powerful rose ketone that has a complex bouquet of deep rose, plum, dark berries, red wine, and moist tobacco. In Parfum d'Elle, this is set against a backdrop of rich fruitiness, including a ripe melon and citrus. The floral heart is amorphous, in that classic "c'est du parfum" sensibility, somewhat green, somewhat yellow, somewhat white. This abstract floral stage grows more honeyed over time, and just a wee (pun intended) bit pissy. From all that dark and delicious fruity floral flair, the surprise comes in there being such a mossy chypre base and musky deliciousness. The dry down is sexy. I would argue this is just as phenomenal as Parfum de Peau, though not quite as heady and animalic. In contrast, there is an agreeable translucency to Parfum d'Elle that adds to its intrigue. Note that there is a 2002 version that is an entirely different composition.

I recently found a full bottle of this in a limited edition 120ml seashell shapped oval bottle still with the box in a tobacco shop stocking a range of rare discontinued scents of all places in Union Square Sanfrancisco. I have always wanted a bottle of this and gladly paid the mere $35 to have this precious bottle. To me this is a best of the 90s scent, its a woody, golden-yellow floral but it has a by the seaside salty note (kind of like that in CK Escape) and summer notes of melon and bright ylang-ylang and peach. It is kind of like a strange mixture of all the classic 90s yellow florals with a honey-powder base, it reminds me of New West or even a bit of EA Sunflowers (which I actually don't like) but somehow it works. It also has a herbaceous green mossy note which gives it an earthy sourness.

Montana parfum d'elle was quite a surprise, pretty soft honeyed woods balsamy with fruits and tobacco absolutely a summery scent that lingers somewhat skinscent to me.. Very nice and smooth not loud like my signature Montana Parfum de Peau which I absolutely adore with that said... It opens kinda citrusy then the tobacco, tonka bean, ginger Oakmoss and melon wraps you then it mellows into a woodsy notes that melts with a little honey just right! Totally different from her twin sister Montana Parfum de Peau but equally masterful!