Mandarine Mandarin

Well well what a surprise. I--like Ms Rochambeau below me--tried and pretty much succeeded in collecting SL perfumes (I'm a junkie/fan). But this one didn't grab me--at first. While I LOVE orange flower blossom scents (I can appreciate Elie Saab), I'm not a fan of citrusy anything. So, for YEARS I didn't even try this--I don't think I even was tempted by the wax sample. Just "knew" it wasn't my thing. Well, PoshP supplied me with a good sized decant, and I tried it today! Oh my goodness! It was spicy, yes--totally "discordant" as one person put--orange, nutmeg and also tonka--but humming along was oddly, JASMINE. So I looked up the notes, and I see "tea." Hmmm...Jasmine tea??? I have decided that is the "tea" note! The discordant aspect slips away and blends and mellows and even the "five-spice" quality merges beautifully together. However, I LIKE the discordant upfront aspect initially. This is an odd, utterly beautiful fragrance. I have been sniffing my wrists like a maniac. At first, I had to grudgingly admit that I liked it and had overlooked it, and then thought about when/where I would wear this (it's not exactly sexy, certainly not "every day," and for me, not cuddle up with a pillow go-to-bed kind of scent). Finally, I conceded, this is an elegant perfume. There is nothing quite like it out there with which I'm familiar. I'd wear it to an afternoon, evening wedding, maybe an opera. The dry down is still spicy, mellowed with nutmeg and tonka, food-like, but not the usual "fruitylicious" noxious stuff we're all tired of, and also elegant. It does remind me of a Chinese herbalist (without the dry root/mushroom smell) or an elegant tea, the Jasmine wafting up blending with the citrus, so citrus and Jasmine. Now, to segue. I'm a lover of heavy-hitting perfumes, and this one is NOT at ALL like Kenzo Jungle--repeat, not similar in any respect, save one: they are both spicy/food scents, or they pick up with food elements and then go off into different directions. If you are the type to like Kenzo Jungle (and it's ilk), you may appreciate how these qualities (food, oranges, peel, nutmeg) for Mandarine combine into a stellar scent whose sum is so much greater than its parts. The kicker is that I'm not a Jasmine fan (no one can avoid it, and I have many scents with it but it's not "my thing" and I'm not into Citrus--but these two together, wow). I don't know if I'd spring for a bell jar, and there are other SLs that I just love all the time, but once more I'm in awe of SL. His direction lately of going "paille" led me over to other designers, but I'm glad I have tried this classic. Silage is good--to the point that I would consider using a light hand--a heavy one might lead to sort of an over-kill of the joy and then onto nausea. The longevity is moderate though it quickly softens after an hour. To the reviewer who got the half-empty bell, "Good on you" as my dad would say. Off to ebay...

"To hold the garden’s fragrance in one vase, and see all autumn in a single spray?" Cao Xueqin, Dream of the Red Chamber Mandarine Mandarin is an under the radar, intriguing, mysterious, dark and shapeshifting Far Eastern influenced oriental. There is a peculiar textural feel of something that constantly teases and desires to be ingested, a forbidden fruit of sorts, yet it curiously offers itself only in hybrid shape: half solid quasi-gourmand, half aromatic infusion. In a way Mandarine Mandarin can be described as a dark chutney of nutmeg-spiced oriental oranges, with pulp and peel, perfumed by vinegary pine-smoked Lapsang Souchong. A modicum of intermittent tart freshness combines momentarily with silky green herbal aromatics whilst the darker and warm spices flavour the musky ambery sea around it, complement and complete it whilst remaining in harmonious motion much like a pomandrous yin and yang. The development, once again, is congruent with a Chinese belief, namely that "by detours one is to reach the secrets". Mandarine Mandarin vexes, zigs and zags carefree from spicy citrus via honey-ambered black tea to its last incarnation as a gentle musky-green bouquet of assorted fleurs d'oranger. Ji Cheng, in Yuanye, had a point when he described perfection (of Chinese Gardens) as "the work of man that must appear to have been created by heaven". He could as well have been talking about this highly unusual creation.

One of Lutens' absolute best and is criminally underrated. For real, I do not understand how this does not have a cult following like some of his other old perfumes do (Tubereuse Criminelle, Fille en Aiguilles, Feminite). Such a magnificent symphony of scents from the first spray until the end with insanely photorealistic spiced tangerine peels as the main star throughout. To me this is a gourmand. Magnificent and succulent. I definitely smell nutmeg and cardamom. Even something minty in the dry down. Tragically, this is discontinued and is impossible to find anywhere. Like, actually discontinued. People say that a lot online about some Serge Lutens fragrances, but vast majority of them are still available in bell jars, but this one is truly gone, and has been for a while. What a shame. This is one of the very few perfumes I would gladly pay hundreds of dollars over its retail price, if only it popped up somewhere. But I have been monitoring the internets for a very long time to no avail. Please message me if you are willing to sell. EDIT: bottle found and acquired! I'm in olfactory heaven.

Mandarine Mandarin is a spiced candied orange scent, and I find it delightful. The spice isn’t the usual Christmas-pomander clove note that so often goes with orange, but something funkier, smokier, and almost curry-ish. It’s warming and adds a nice layer of complexity to the sweet orange. An hour in, the orange is even sweeter and more ambered, one of the classic Serge Lutens stained-glass syrupy potions, here in a context where that makes perfect sense. I *want* my spiced candied orange to be sweet, dense, and straightforward; it’s a good smell, and it should be played mostly straight, with just enough quirky darkness to be interesting. The inspiration is pretty clear here — dreams of Imperial China, childhood memories of rainy or snowy days, Constant Comment orange-spice tea, and putting orange peels on the radiator to dry. I don’t get the offputting boiled-celery note that some reviewers mention. For me, Mandarine Mandarin is just lovely, cozy, slightly smoky spiced sweet orange, all day long. Straightforwardly unisex, smells like what it is.

Gorgeous fragrance and criminally underrated. This fragrance is as the name suggests all about mandarin orange. It showcases many aspects of the fruit, opening on a lighter fresher type of mandarin smell (I get a feeling of orange blossom but it is not listed as a note, though) settling down to a warmer, ambery, spicy candied mandarin type of smell. It's wonderful, very throwback (I love the vintage muskiness in the drydown). I don't know if the name is influencing my interpretation, but this scent is very evocative of ancient China to me. I can smell the hot boiling tea, the Chen Pi (Chinese mandarin peel), the Chinese lacquered furniture, etc. Maybe this is just a little cliché, but I don't care I just adore it. One of Lutens's hidden gems IMO.

Being a bit of a "foodie", and a lover of spices of all kinds, I really cringe when reading "celery" over and over again in reviews of Mandarine Mandarin. I love this fragrance. To me, what is often described as that celery note here, is more accurately spices. Something akin to Chinese Five Spice with no cinnamon, more fennel. MM got me at first sniff. From a paper strip. Then onto my skin... and it really blossomed. Of course there are several nods to Orange -- peel, blossom, even the flesh of mandarins. But it is the kinda weird spices that grab me the most. Definitely old Chinese in spirit. Unique and stunning.

This one is orange citrus and green-like notes, and it's creamy, but goes nowhere near creamsicle. It is soft spice floating in a luscious, but non cloying, not sweet cloud. It's Oriental spice, but demure. There seems to be a lot of drama regarding the green notes. Some people smell celery, and I'm one of them, but I love celery. It's one of the sweetest and lightest of all the greens in my garden. It's not in the notes, but it's definitely there. I'm wondering how this mix of notes spells celery for so many of us, but I'm not going to stress it too much. IMO, this is close to perfect.

Mmm, burnt orange peel, candied oranges in syrup, nutmeg, and the coup de foudre... CELERY! Please don’t let the infamous celery note put you off of trying Mandarine-Mandarin though. It’s what gives the scent its magic “je ne sais quoi,” cutting through all the sweet notes to offer a green edge. Potent within its bubble and long-lasting on skin, M-M embodies comfort in a very serious, mature fashion. Criminally underrated and orders of magnitude better than Fleurs d’Oranger, the other “orange” Lutens fragrance. Love, love, love.

Delightful Oriental that showcases the beautiful smell of mandarin oranges. The perfume opens with notes of orange peel and nutmeg and moves to a heart of candied mandarin, tea and rose hip. It settles on a lovely ambergris bed surrounded by labdanum and tonka bean. The unisex scent has moderate sillage, projection and longevity. Like drowning yourself in a grove of Mandarin oranges, this is a happy and uplifting scent that deserves to be on any gourmand lovers list. Enjoy!

Definitely an underrated perfume... This is not those bright energetic hesperidic perfumes. More like an apothecary’s magical concoction with a piece of dry candied mandarin peel here, a pinch of nutmeg there, some spices or herbs that you don’t want to know, stirring in a bit of vanilla and tea while jasmine scent wafting through the window. A most welcome remedy for gray cold winter days..

An appealing fragrance- a powerful, somewhat animalic orange blossom note dominates, reminding me of SL's Fleur d'Oranger, but there is indeed a green celery note playing an interesting background harmony-

...and she feeds you tea and oranges that come all the way from China

I have this on one wrist and TF mandarino portofino on the other. Polar opposites in terms of elegant citrus scents. I love them both because I now begrudgingly admit that I love citrus and cannot get enough of them. MM is as elegant as it gets. Maybe it's my Asian upbringing but I smell richness and refinement in the most classic Asian sense. There's the sweetness of mandarins, little smoke, warmth of incense and spice, and creaminess of je ne se quoi. I envision carved mahogany bookshelves decorated with fine porcelain vases dripping with fall mums and orchids. Tea saucers holding not tea but spiced dates cooked in rock sugar. And in a corner a silk clothed lady of the house reading and peeling mandarins... I want to wear this because it will make me feel refined. But yes it does oddly read celery as well. TFMP is sunny, glaring white stucco against azure waters and chartreuse orange fruits in a marble bowl. All swirling in a light salty sea breeze. Elegance and ease in the complete western sense. The citrus is warm bright and bitter. I want to wear this because it will make me feel lifted.

This is a difficult fragrance to characterize as it has two distinct, and very different, phases. The opening is a pale, candied orange rind burst over a feminine florals. There's also something green in there - possibly the tea. Feminine and a bit frilly - as close to a "fruity floral" as I've smelled from Serge Lutens - but it still has some interesting, slightly discordant notes. After the top finishes you're left with something which is the polar opposite of the opening; a salty musk, very old school in feel. Gets progressively muskier, almost skanky, as it dries down. It's as if MM goes from day to night. By this point the sillage has reduced dramatically. After about 4 hours it nears the end as a jasmine-like skin scent. I'm not really interested in purchasing more than my sample but it was an intriguing journey.

Agree with fleurdefi: the most fanny thing about this perfume - it's almost linear near the skin, but full of details somewhere in the air. Just relax and let the perfume show yourself :) Another amazing thing: it forms a really strong but small scent ball. Every time I applied it I enjoined and scared at the same time cause scent seems too thick and loud. I was amazed nobody feels it that much! Even for ones right next to me the scent looks gentle and almost invisible. Even in the summer! Actually it's the only one "heavy" perfume I risk to wear in summer :)

Was a present, because "it's newyeary, and you like Chinese art". The bottle reminds me of Chinese fairy tales I read as a little girl, and the scent was newyeary all right. First I got essential oil of citrus nature, then it was this oil and Frutella. The giver liked it on me, everyone else did, too, and I quite enjoyed the story attached to it, wearing this scent every time we were celebrating something, because it did smell newyeary to me, of childhood, of laughter, and of eating sweets under the conifer.

The top notes are certainly interesting - warm numeg and fleur d'orange, I can smell nuts too. This intrigue lasts for 20 minutes and after that - one linear smell of bitter oranges. Not bad, but nothing to write home about if you are not a great orange fan. So I would gladly wear Mandarine Mandarin until my sample runs out, but I won't be purchasing a full bottle. maybe emply - for it's so pretty...

Nuts and wet oranges topping some kind of smoky custard. Reminds me of an exotic dessert, but it doesn't smell completely edible. Unisex. Like others have described, there is something vegetal that throws this one off--it might be the florals or another unnamed note that muddle the orange-nut harmony.

A mandarin gourmand scent, it’s so much more than citrus. For some reason it smells like a spice mandarin cake made with dates and dripping with a sweet caramel sauce. The kind of cake you want to have an after dinner cognac while eating it. It’s wonderful and unexpected.

Agree with Dresden Doll - the development of the scent is a bit like going to a fireworks show and having all of them lit off at the beginning instead of the end. What's left is a gorgeous, warm, and creamy. Must be the ambergris (which isn't listed in the notes above).