Fracas

[500] As a lover of white floral perfumes, I have long wanted to try the grande dame of tuberose scents – Piguet’s Fracas. Germaine Cellier, a legendary name among perfumers, was the nose behind the original Fracas. She was also known for her renowned Balmain creations - Vent Vert and Jolie Madame. I have very old miniatures of both, and they are truly something special. In Fracas’ case, tuberose was considered to be notoriously difficult to work with, but Mme. Cellier, a trailblazing chemist with an artistic soul, was perhaps the first to succeed. She took the infamously intense white flower and rendered it wearable and well-rounded, showing off its multifaceted nature without sacrificing its polarising narcotic headiness. Today, it is one of the most frequently-used floral notes in perfume, populating perfumes ranging from the bombastic Dior Poison to muted designer gem Gucci Bloom, but Fracas is the original and perhaps the most famous. I have a small sample of current Fracas, which was reformulated in the 1990s. It is considered to be a competent reformulation that is similar in spirit to the original, despite the unavailability of original ingredients, much like Calice Becker’s 1990s reinterpretation of the aforementioned Vent Vert. I am also looking to obtain a sample of Mme. Cellier’s original formula for comparison. Fracas is a white floral scent from initial spray – smooth, creamy and lush. Tuberose is king throughout, present from the very beginning, but bolstered nicely by the other notes. There is a green tinge to the white florals initially, adding a nice realistic freshness to the bouquet. Some lily-of-the-valley is detectable here. As it develops a little, a nice fruity edge emerges; subtle, but enhancing the sweet component of the tuberose nicely. Peach and orange are evident, developed by the osmanthus and orange blossom notes, and the bouquet is rounded out by clean, powdery jasmine, adding body, creamy gardenia and heady hyacinth. Rich and high-quality, the floral accord here is top-notch, ruled by tuberose. The tuberose is intense and increasingly narcotic as it develops. The white florals remain smooth, creamy and well-rounded however - high-quality and addictive. Some yellow florals add a polleny edge as it begins to dry down, with the florals becoming wonderfully powdery as it dries down. I get iris here. There is a rich woodiness to the base at the later stages, providing a nice counterpoint to the bouquet, grounding it nicely. It becomes slightly mossy and musky as it fades, with a hint of sweet amber emerging as it becomes a skin scent. Sillage is strong and longevity is long-lasting – a little goes a long way. The best white floral of them all (and that is only the reformulation!), Fracas showcases the carnal tuberose note in all its glory while rendering it wearable. Beautifully smooth and just the right amount of sweet, this feminine classic is French in style, utterly chic yet daring. La crème de la crème. 5/5.

Everyone else, particularly @Enrium have reviewed this perfume far more eloquently than I could ever do so, so I won’t attempt to do this myself. I was drawn to Fracas after the discontinuation of Truth or Dare, which is probably one of my all time favourite perfumes. Fracas is similar, and I can see the inspiration it provided but Fracas is sweeter and creamier. A very creamy, peachy, white bouquet. Very sexy but classic too. Truth or Date is a greener, more modern take on Fracas and the wood notes in that are more detectable. It also has bigger sillage and longevity. I adore this, and will happily substitute Truth or Dare for it as I cannot be faffed to pay upwards of £70 for a bottle of Truth or Dare when you can get this for the same price. I found it too strong at first but to be honest it mellowed down quick quickly on me to something wearable. I’m a tiny bit disappointed this isn’t the beast mode, mega sillage perfume I was led to believe it was but floral perfumes don’t really last too long on me anyway, unless they are rose and oud combinations. However, the fact it isn’t too strong on me means I can wear this perfectly well during the day and if lightly sprayed, for work too. No compliments so far but when I used to wear Truth or Dare on the daily people always commented on it favourably, and to a casual nose they probably smell the same on me. I would argue that along with Carnal Flower and Truth or Dare this is the ultimate tuberose, a flower I am obsessed with it would seem! I intend on enjoying every drop of this and not “saving it for best”. Would work well in all seasons except very hot weather, which is when I wear Carnal Flower anyway. May get the hair mist for extra oomph. I also have a strange olfactory memory reason for loving this perfume; this fragrance is identical to the smell of the scented notebooks myself and my classmates all had in junior school. You could get these from the local £1 shop, and they smelled exactly like this. Imagine, Fracas-scented notepaper for £1, we never knew how good we had it! @dawnyerb mentions below that this and Gucci Rush are the only two perfumes she has paid full price for and funnily enough I layered this with a little Gucci Rush sprayed on clothes and they work really well together. I guess the peach, coriander and rose in both of these really complement each other. Gucci Rush almost seems to have that plastic-y decadence that Fracas has without the sweetness and tuberose, I can definitely see similarities anyway (they are by no means dupes though!). Can see why it is the signature scent of some iconic ladies like Madonna, Courtney Love and Iman, it’s incredible and truly deserves its place in the perfume canon.

Hmmm If you spend some time reading all the reviews you will notice there’s some contrasting opinions (and some flat out incorrect information) Incorrect info: Unfortunately Fragrantica only has this one page that appears to be covering the vintage parfum, the current parfum, the vintage EDT and the current EDP so there’s reviews and comments for different versions all tumbled up I own the current parfum, a parfum purser from the early aughts, a sample of the “vintage” parfum from StC, a sample of the early 90s EDT, the current EDP and a sample of Truth or Dare (the tuberose used here is indeed very similar, T&D has more base note sweetness and smells less vintage). Note my purser was purchased sealed but has definitely gone off. There are no top or mid notes, it smells of waxy crayons and stale narcissus. The EDT (in the easy to find rectangular bottles) does not smell off; but has a hairspray cheap element I don’t enjoy. This element is somewhat still there in the current EDP sample I have. My current parfum smells very similar to whatever “vintage” my sample from StC was. The vintage was a BUTTERY fatty fat fat wax tuberose, a touch of indolic camphor, and a beautiful light and airy fruity floral open. The open faded a bit, but remains in surprising little snippets during the whole wear. The current parfum is very similar, but a little softer and less buttery. On that, NONE of these are a bubblegum tuberose on me?!?! Fracas is an example of the waxy tuberose...the narcissus fleshy one on my skin. Like Tenebra or the Roja. Bubblegum tuberose on me is Marfa/Tuberosa/Vamp/Orchid Soleil/Malachite...commonly mixed with orange blossom. The sweetness in any of the fracas was from the top and mid notes, an etc floral/fruity sweetness; the tuberose is waxy, buttery and not sweet~ I have not (and have no interest in doing lol) conducted a scientific study on this...but I’m suspecting 90’s and up Fracas top and mid notes require more “stringent” storage techniques than some other perfume types, and there are more bottles than just my purser out there without their top and mid notes! (Also, both the vintage and the current wear very close to the skin, which honestly IMO is as expected for extraits)

This is the most beautiful fragrance I've ever come across. It's been my signature for over 30 years. I'm not great at sniffing out notes, can only guess with the help of reading the note's profiles (push icon). I discovered Fracas while browsing Etoile, the perfume store in Houston's Galleria Mall when I was in late 20's looking for a "Big Girl" fragrance to wear on special occasions. My go to was Coty Wild Musk. I fell in love with Fracas. It's not for younger women, I don't think most would appreciate it yet. You know how T.F. Black Orchid had a deep, scent, how Fracas is/was but where B.O. is dark flowers, Fracas is white. It was reformulated in 1998 and anyone who wore the original can most definitely tell the difference. When I find an authentic vintage I'll get it over the new formula. I always have both and wear the original on special occasions. The difference I've noticed comes with first spray. Original is the wet flowers where that's lost in the new one which has a flat note, almost synthetic. The dry down is similar, I can catch the cedar (which I love) and maybe the oakmoss? It's lovely. I think Germaine Cellier is rolling over in her grave at the new one). I will still purchase and wear the reformulated but obviously prefer the original. If you do wear the new formula, highly recommend NEVER tempting yourself with the original, it could ruin your love for this and it's still beautiful. This is very strong. Very long lasting. I'd recommend applying an hour or so before leaving home. I was running late and applied right before I got into car with one of my best girlfriends visiting from Houston. Very overwhelming. I live in Colorado now which is much drier than Houston but I think the humidity, in cooler months brings out the lovely dewy notes. Don't wear much on hot days. I'm sure you all know DO NOT rub wrists together when applying any great perfume, it will mess up the order of notes, composition.

im a lover of all things tuberose. along with patchouli, its the "note that can do no wrong" for me. love the sweet princess side of it a la amouage's love tuberose, the green stem side of it a la carnal flower, the animalic side of it a la narcotic venus... so the fact that i hadnt been able to smell THE quintessential tuberose, fracas, was weighing heavy on my consciousness. was lucky enough to chat with an older lady at the counter who happened to be just as passionate about florals as i am, and as soon as i asked for fracas she said "now who told you about that?". so yes, i understand the "old-fashioned" comments. no, i dont think im special or something for liking that as a young person– but my point is that fracas is not an aldehyde bomb like no.5, not a heavy 80s spicy floral like the OG opium (next on my wishlist), not an obnoxious chypre like aromatics elixir. so the fact that its considered to have grandma sensibilities speaks to how generationally relevant and iconic it is more than the scent profile itself IMO. its a boudoir type of "dated", not the retirement home type, yknow? fracas is pretty much a creamy tuberose soliflore. gets softer around the edges and takes on a skin-musk quality but otherwise stays linear (thank god). the projection is insane, good sillage and longevity. i wouldnt call it sexy, but its definitely sensual; a head-turner, a double-take in a bottle. beautifully heady without clogging up the senses. its all ive wanted in a feminine floral, basically, and the immediate full bottle purchase was not a surprise to anyone around me. she carries the title of the queen of tuberose with grace.