Mystere

Mystere is indeed a mystery and it is the only perfume that has ever made me cry in pure disbelief and almost extatic frenzy. It was when I smelled the extrait the first time. That was also the first time I truly understood the meaning of the sum being larger than the individual parts. At least perfume-wise. I read the glowing and very different reviews here. People experience Mystere in incredibly many - and likewise incredibly different - ways. I agree with all of them and that’s the true magic of this. It’s everything, not at once or twice, but every time and then again. It’s new. And wise beyond years. I sometimes open my extrait thinking “just one sniff” and then I’ll put it back, fearing it’ll evaporate as soon as I take off the lid. One sniff is never enough, though. The true magic happens on your skin. It smells amazing from the bottle, where bergamotte in its purest form lures you in with its icy promise of coolness, but that’s not really Mystere. To me Mystere isn’t icy, once past the chilly metallic opening. Mystere is imaginative. A forest-floral fantasy dancing on my skin, providing me with a sense of wonder for more than 24 hours. Last time I wore it, I still got wafts 30 hours after application. It just keeps evolving and my mind keeps drifting from sphere to sphere. First time, I wore the extrait, I thought I was going crazy. It was evocative in a way I never experienced with a fragrance before. It send me back and forth in both time and space and just when I thought I had the answer to its effect on me, I felt something else or something more. I even held my breath for a moment more than once that day, simply to pause it from affecting me, but all in vain. It demanded my presence and my experiencing it, through all its tantalizing stages. That day it was floral, but at times fairylike, airy and non-tangeable with a damp, almost spongy moss base that seemed to have soaked up the intensity of both the animalic and spicy parts. Next time, I tried it, it was woody warmth, almost velvety in its thickness. The other day, where the weather was hot and humid, it came forward as a very austere green chypre with next to no florals detectable. Mystere is a tour de force of feelings and emotions like no other and a fragrance I’ll keep returning to. It’s my perfumed sanctuary, in spirit, body and soul.

Vintage Rochas perfumes are underrated gems in my opinion. I have a collection of miniatures, and Mystère is the latest I tracked down. My bottle is very old, and the top notes have turned slightly, but once it settles, it becomes the earthy, forest-y green scent of dreams. It is of its era, very 1970s in style, of the opulence that is not found in modern designer scents anymore. After the first few gone-off notes dissipate, Mystère becomes a hazy green scent, with lovely vintage galbanum the most dominant note. Bright aldehydes keep things clean, complementing the floral heart that follows. Polleny, hay-like narcissus is quite prominent to my nose, bolstered by sweet ylang ylang. Hyacinth adds body, fresh and lily-like, but is more subdued here than is typical. The floral heart is powdery, with soft spices adding interest. I get a prominent clove note in particular thanks to the carnation. Powdery rose follows. The mossy chypre base shines through from the early stages, complementing the florals beautifully. The oakmoss note is delicious - the kind that doesn't exist in modern perfume anymore - mossy, earthy, dense and dark. A cloud of patchouli and some soft woods enhance it nicely. There is an animalic musky undertone, giving an amber edge to the base. It fades to a musky, earthy skin scent, rich and full-bodied until final fade. Sillage is strong and longevity is long-lasting. It is a feminine-leaning autumn/winter scent. Old-fashioned in the best way, Mystère is up there with the best from vintage Rochas - even vintage French perfume in general. A beauty from another time. 4.5/5.

Where are the times when Rochas brought something like this on market under the inspiration of the wonderful Helene Rochas? Where? Long gone! This perfume is simplement magnifique! It is the quintessence of the strong woman, dressed in a dark suit, who walks relaxed on the street in the spring time in Europe on her way to lunch. It has everything, cold but strong, mysterious but also overwhelming, earthy but also floral, musky and powdery but also vibrant, everything a woman who demands respect can want. It smells like carbonic ice put in a red clay pot, over which cold mineral water is added, petals, a little citric shell and roots, earthy roots such as carrots. And it may sound strange, but it's divine, it's the smell like Maggie Smith should have in Death sur le nile, at that magnificent blazers and the impeccable image from the middle up, at which, some thought of adding skirts to be more "friendly" with the American-Hollywood and UK movies directors mentalities from 78, even if those blazers screamed pants and women on the Agatha Christie time were already wearing pants. I recently found two bottles at collector who wanted to sold it and of course I didn't even blink before buying and I'm euphoric. I had a business meeting the other day with a lot of my lodge colleagues participating at it, I used this and go, the moment I enter the conference room three of them instantly turn around, and one of them instantly said: this is an old Rochas, where did you hide it till today. It has that aura, it catches your eye, slaps you, you know it's in the building.

Magnificent majestic Mystere, the bedrock and foundation of my collection since the 80's, the one that let me know green leather chypres were my thing. Never equalled or surpassed... but we all know that don't we so I won't try to sell coal to miners. This is about the most smellalike scent to Mystere I've ever come across, (I've been searching for a long time) it's by Lentheric, was first produced in 1913 and it's called Sukina. I was at a car boot sale last week and there was a lovely lady with a tableful of old scents so of course I swooped. The first bottle I picked up and sniffed almost floored me, this was Mystere de Rochas, albeit with a less heavy galbanum top note, but beside that exactly the same, so similar that I even asked if she'd decanted another scent (Mystere?) into the bottle, she said no, they were untouched. Long story short, I bought it, then ordered another from ebay to confirm it really was Sukina and not a decanted Mystere in a Sukina bottle. It was really Sukina, couldn't believe it! So if, like me, you want to save precious Mystere for special occasions, get yourself some Lentheric Sukina for a slightly less galbanum infused hit, as otherwise it's exactly the same. Prices are decent, about a quarter of what Mystere costs. You won't regret it.

I received a mini of Mystere parfum today. I believe this is an older version, the bottle says Mystere de Rochas rather than just Mystere. What a civet bomb! I could smell nothing but civet for the first hour or more, then started to catch glimpses of the woods and some floral. I couldn't pick out the individual floral notes until a few hours after applying. I had a small sample of 'vintage' from one of the decant places a few weeks ago, and the juice from this mini is much stronger than that sample was. I will have to spend some time getting to know this one. I was hoping for a more woodsy smelling perfume, this one is all about the civet. It's quite obviously from the same era as Magie Noire, Opium, etc. :) eta 12/13/12 I've come back to Mystere and I'm getting almost a completely different perfume on my skin than I did when I first got the bottle earlier this year. A strong hit of civet early that very quickly faded and turned into into a gorgeous woody scent with just a hint of green and spring flowers. I've been wondering what to wear to the company Christmas party in two days that will be completely different form what anyone else is wearing. This may be it.