Coup de Foudre

This is all about rose, starting with the first whiff out of the sample vial. It’s not a big, bold red Valentine rose, not an almondy candied Arabian rose, not a sexy, loose-petaled Rose de Mai, but a delicate and demure pink hybrid rose, something you would smell in a retro, rain-drenched English garden. There’s citrus with it in the beginning, a light twist of lemon peel, the kind you’d find in a cool drink, not a cleaning product, and a very light hint of musk as the scent dries down. The sillage is average, but the fragrance only lasts a couple of hours. Nice and polite, but not exactly a coup de foudre to my nose.

I catch lemon and rose jam in this beautiful concoction. At one point, it smells precisely like Serge Lutens La Fille de Berlin, but once the lemon kicks in, it softens and the jasmine comes forward to play with the rosie jamminess. Sillage is going to be minimal after the 1st hour, becomes a definite skin scent for a while and then wham, you get hit in the nose with a Jasmine Magnolia combo. Very nice, but I'm not sure it's worth the price when it's so similar to SL LFDB whose price is about half if you find a good bargain.

Very pretty and romantic fresh rose fragrance. Does not have this "old-lady" vibe that some rose fragrances have. Nothing very special about it for the high price it sells for. Don't get me wrong, quality is there but feels quite generic. Sillage: Moderate Longevity: 4 to 5 hours

This is a good fragrance, and I won't be criticizing it, but I will be commenting on the price, sillage and overall note interplay. Price. First, let's take a moment to remind the industry that perfumes are not automobiles. I.e, the pricier the car the lower the gas mileage. Perfumes don't get to play that game; if you want to slap a big price tag on the bottle then you need to put forth the longevitiy. Sillage. If coup de food means 'bolt of lighting', the bolt didn't hit a tree and ignite but a bad late night joke and sputter. Rose. this isn't a bad rose, it just a rose that smells like bathroom soap. I know that is harsh, but I have Nahema and N'aimez que moi in my wardrobe, and I can't do dull. This is a sweet, pleasant, safe fragrance. I would even say it competes with Idylle as a nice 'opera or ballet' choice. Certiainly will not offend anyone, should anyone even notice you are wearing perfume. EDIT: I just read 10,000 fragrance's review of this scnet, and he too called out Idylle as a comparison :-) OK, I'm getting better at this...) This scent would be perfect if someone would 'Walmart it up'; give us more for less and we'll take it.

Parfums DelRae COUP DE FOUDRE opens with a scrumptious resinosity which is only barely citrus to my nose and not very sweet either, making this true rose lover's perfume distinct from both the fruitier moderns (such as STELLA and YR ROSE ABSOLUE) and the rosebush varieties (TEA ROSE and countless others...). So I find that COUP DE FOUDRE is neither young lady nor old lady. Maybe respectably middle-aged--something like First Lady Michelle Obama? In any case, I like this composition, and it lasts a very long time on my skin, though I should add that it moves closer to a more dowagery rose by the drydown. What I really appreciate in this composition, though, is the opening, a stage which is sadly all too fleeting...