Ninon

What a perfectly lovely gift to vintage lovers. Many thanks to "the big totoro" for suggesting it in the forums during "New Niche Perfumes that Smell Vintage" week. Ninon is unapologetically the smell of a living creature. It contains a true animalic: hyraceum* that, according to both the perfumer and my nose, lends a wine-like, leathery, living base note to this perfume. In tandem with the flagrantly sensual and indolic natural jasmine, there is no way this could be mistaken for a modern perfume. Upon first whiff, I was transported back to a particular night in the 20th century when I was a teenager.The room was filled with acrid smoke, everyone was wearing too much eyeliner, and the world seemed so ripe with interesting possibilities. Very vintage smelling, and I definitely understand "the big totoro"'s comparison with vintage Joy by Patou. If there's any drawback, it's that it's not quite as long-lasting as I'd like. Oh well, I'll reapply. *Hyraceum is prepared from the dried excrement of the hyrax. Its use as a perfumery material is sustainable and non-harmful to the animal.

Absolutely breathtaking! The fragrance is reminiscent of pink jasmine blooms on a humid spring evening. This perfume is heady with lovely animalic nuances thanks to the addition of the hyrax. Indolic, highly complex and evolving throughout the day, it is a pleasure to behold. I find it to have a striking similarity to vintage Joy by Jean Patou. This is an exceptional perfume that I adore deeply.

I've finally finished up my "tryst" with Ninon and she is, indeed, an animal. A really cute, little, furry animal; a marmoset comes to mind. This animalic note dominates the entirety of the fragrance on me; but it works, really well. It's a preserved animalic aroma; as if a pile of furs had just been removed from a trunk after being packed in for quite awhile. There's a mustiness to this rich animal note, yet it's quite smooth. The drydown develops a sweet floral undertone, very honey sweet adding to the overall smooth, silky vibe. It does have a vintage sense to me, but not a "perfumey" vintage sense, no aldehydes or patchouli to prickle. Just a smooth sexy, sweet animal.