1) For unknown reasons, the comment notifys that come to my email inbox when you comment are a little spotty, so apologies if I missed you. While we’re on the subject, I’m slamming through a couple of work-related things right now. If you’ve emailed me, and you don’t hear back, just email me again. Even during the best of times I lose track of emails – ask any of my friends who’ve been annoyed by this. I am excellent at some things, and email correspondence is just not one of them. I admit my failing and ask only that you not take it personally. Please. Nag me. I will answer.
2) Art With Flowers at Tysons II in VA is having a perfume shindig on Sunday, for those of you in the DC area who’ll be in town, looking for something to do. It’s from 12 – 6, the guest is Keiko Mecheri, and I haven’t gotten my invite postcard yet but Bill who runs the store says there will be tons of samples, goodies, they’re getting in the new (export?) Serges MKK and Borneo, and I think he said the new L’Artisan Tubereuse, but don’t hold me to that one. I’m probably going to be there mid-afternoon. If you haven’t visited and you’re looking to try some niche product and meet some new people – well, here’s your opportunity. They’re tucked away on the top floor of Tysons II (the fancy one with Neiman Marcus and Saks) down at the Macy’s end. Their phone number is (703) 903-6837.
3) So, thanks everyone for your words of support and encouragement on Monday – it sounds like I’m not the only one feeling a little burnout and wanting to spend some more time with some of the beautiful scents I already own — hence the title of this post. I’ve been playing over the past month with a cluster of scents with some overlapping characteristics, but that post hasn’t quite come together. So today I’m heeding my own advice and blogging on just one of them, a quirky, gorgeous thing – Parfums de Nicolai Maharanih.
My guess is for every dollar PdN spends on perfume production, 97 cents goes into the juice and three cents goes toward the packaging. I am all for substance over style, don’t get me wrong; but their cheesy bottles and boxes make me laugh. They look like cheap dupes, even though you’re buying it from their store. I wish their line were carried somewhere – anywhere – so that more people could know and love it. The only place I have ever seen the line in a store in the U.S. is at the wonderful Clyde Chemists on the Upper East Side (Madison and 74th?) and I have no idea whether they’re still there. Finally, I love that PdN makes 30 ml bottles (carried at LuckyScent and Beautyhabit) that are quite reasonably priced.
I have been trying and trying and trying (and failing) to fall in love with PdN’s Sacrebleu, which by any and all measures I should love. It has the perfect notes (blackcurrant bud, mandarin, peach blossom, jasmine, carnation, cinnamon, clove, tuberose, vanilla, tonka bean, sandalwood, incense) and it’s a riff on/homage to Guerlain’s L’Heure Bleue, which I love love love. Furthermore, Patricia de Nicolai is the granddaughter of Pierre Guerlain and was trained by Jean-Paul Guerlain, so it’s destiny between me and the line, right? So what is my problem with Sacrebleu? I don’t know. I love the first 90 seconds of huge green and fruits, and that amazing tonka/incense drydown after five hours, but the middle part is … flat? Too flat on me. I’m not giving up, though.
Maharanih, on the other hand, makes me smile every time I put it on. It’s got that peculiar, tart-candied top note that I think of as very PdN – like the orange smell of St. Joseph baby aspirin, only this aspirin is being handed to you by angels in heaven while the harps play. I mean, it’s so beautiful it’s ridiculous, but in this unabashed, cheerful way. Coming out of that funky little bottle with a label that looks like my 7-year-old glued it on? Man, talk about hiding your light under a bushel basket. The notes are sweet orange, bitter orange zest, rose oil, carnation, cinnamon, patchouli absolute, sandalwood, synthetic civet.
With the orange orange ORANGE (baby aspirin), which is perfect because it’s sweet but also sour, comes the rose and the spices, and that would all be too sweet and cloying except through some perfumer’s sleight of hand that I do not understand one bit it’s not – it dances up off my hand and over my head like a kite in the sky, pulling me along cheerfully behind it. I’m careful with the atomizer because at least on me a little of this goes a very, very long way, and I’ve learned not to apply it right before I’m sharing an enclosed space (like a car) with someone who’s not wild about perfume. It’s much rose-ier on my daughter’s skin, but I can smell the rose too, and this would be one of a tiny handful of fragrances with prominent rose that doesn’t trouble me, mostly because the rose is being kept firmly in check, perhaps even throttled, by that orange orange ORANGE. Did I mention orange? Oh. Also I should probably mention the dirty knickers. I always thought it was the indoles in the orange, maybe with the spice of the rose, but our friend the civet is lurking there in the orangerie, lending a hint of delightful reek that keeps this angelic fragrance grounded on terra firma. This is girly, but not innocent. It’s for big girls, pinup girls, saucy, naughty girls and – in my opinion – for those boys who are man enough to wear Fracas.
sample source: my own bottle
Funny how some fragrances really don’t do it for you, even though they should, judging by the notes and the overall impression.
I’m very curious about the Nicolaï line. A friend is going to London next week and I think I’m going to ask her to bring back a small bottle of Le Temps d’une Fête for me, unsniffed, I’ve been nursing a huge lemming for a skanky narciss since February and it seems so gorgeous. Is that a bad idea? I’ll have to ask her to see if she can get a few samples from the rest of the line while she’s at it, both Maharanih and Sacrebleu sound very intriguing.
Maharanih was the first PdN I bought. I don’t wear it all that often now but you have inspired me to dig it out.
It is quite thick, like a spicy orange juice which has evaporated in a sunny rose garden, + the squirt of the good stuff of a passing civet cat.
Current PdN fav is Vie en Chateau (and Le Temps d’une Fete, of course).
Okay, fine, in addition to continuing my efforts with Sacrebleu I’ll keep working on Le Temps, because everyone loves that one too! And that spicy orange juice was great on a hot day, almost sticky!
Love Sacrebleu! Really, really, really wanted to like Maharanih, but the spice thing threw me off. Couldn’t deal with it.
It is definitely spicy … wonder if some folks amplify that part? 😕
Yes for me – total cumin!!!??? Maybe that’s the civet?
Well I had been trying to decide whether or not I would order this one. Your review was just the little push I needed. I love this house and I personally don’t care about what bottles they are selling their fragrance in. I do think however that Carmencanada has a point in her comment; maybe their looks hamper the line’s “prestige”. ( I think L.Turin also commented on this in The Guide).
Browsing round their site I noticed that they no longer sold Eau Turquoise, nor Nicolaï pour Monsieur. Were they still selling those in their Parisian shop when you were there?
Spending the first week in June in Normandy, and I am contemplating a detour to Paris on the way home (=Holland). Just for the Nicolaï probably.
For sure Eau Turquoise was on sale in Paris in early April for a song, something like 10 euros, same as Cococabana and Eau Exotique. They were in tall cylinder bottles, think the concentration was splash or similar.
10 Euros? I’m :(( Why can’t I be in Paris?
I think they’re d/cing Turquoise? Definitely unloading it… I’m glad I have mine. 🙂 A detour sounds well worth it. I recommend the shop on Rue du Grenelle near the Bon Marche. And LT or TS also commented on the cheesy packaging, but they are sensibly enamored of what’s inside, and that’s what counts…
You know, I really like this one, but I wore it so, so rarely, I just gave it.
I think Sacre Bleue! is more my style, but this one is beautifully created.
Hugs!
That drydown of SB is SO FRICKING GORGEOUS. I want to feel that love for the previous five hours! I am still using those gorgeous decants! @};- ^:)^
Rats to Art with Flowers for scheduling this on Memorial Day! Booked solid from 1000 thru ’til whenever post-parade ceremonies end around 2000. Have fun. Think of me fondly.
We will, and have fun all on your own!
I’ll be at the Art w/Flowers shindig, which remainds I should call and let them know we’re bringing some fudgy rum cakes.
As for the PdNs, I’ve tried a couple from the line, and wasn’t impressed with any of them. It seems I amplify the sweet, and kill off the skank, and that’s no fun for anyone. [-(
Ooooh, I’m getting there after you! And you are not the only person on here who amplifies the sweet.
I purchased Sacre Bleu several years ago and on my skin it smells very similar to Ciara (which I loved in my early 20s). I wonder if anyone else thinks they smell alike.
I cannot remember Ciara at all! Other than it was quite popular. Every now and again those pop into the head … remember Tatiana?
I always feel like the girl with the permanent bad hair day on the fringes of a party with all the popular girls whenever the talk gets ’round to PdN.
I dutifully spritzed on Maharinih after reading this, and once again I seem to miss the point. Grrr. What is WRONG with me? :((
Hey, now, no no…I try to think of those moments…and I do have them…as a big happy party with all manner of dancing going on. Some people get into the Virginia Reel, some a salsa, others a pogo. There’s all kinds out there; everybody at the party loves to dance, but not everybody is going to be inclined to join in every one.
Come on over here. You know there’s probably a reason why my Maharinih is not easy to find, right? 😉
Aw, gee, thanks for dragging me onto the dance floor, Shelley. I feel better now. :d/
See? And I think your hair looks great. o:-)
No no no!!! Look, you’ve been hanging out on here long enough to know — hey, to each his/her own. Lots of people do NOT feel the Serge love 8-x I myself am only cosy with the Man-Carons, as heretical a position as that is to take. The Caron base of that mousse de saxe (in English, “rodent sex”) does nothing nice for me. And finally, a bottle of vintage Diorissimo would be utterly wasted on me; if I owned one I’d pass it on to someone who loved it. Tons of people loathe Mitsouko (and Guerlain in general). So PdN does zip for you. That’s fine. There’s only …. what … 9,327 other things. :)>-
Just about choked on my tea with “rodent sex.” You do have a way with words.
Also highly accurate and useful descriptor. Might have to steal it. :-$
Just to be clear, I am a massive fan of rodent sex.
hrrrumpff – with the cool weather the rodents are all looking to move indoors from the bush and do their saxxe under my sink – I am sure there are a couple of feisty little males trying to out saxxe each other under there! And I just about have to be over-run before I toughen up and get the bait out….
But your are so right March…that musty mousse IS very mouse!!
Oh, I thought she meant having sex with a rat. Been there, done that.
Nice bird you got there. 🙂
I, of course, riffled through my samps…I was SURE I have Maharinih around here, and yes, I know I do, it just came from not the source I thought, and the first source I thought is one of the two sources I keep gathered together by source, so I didn’t find it…yet…
(What do I have on for morning chores and scented time together? Parfum de Peau and Arabie. :- I have no idea. This happens sometimes, though; I think if I don’t do Door #1, then #2 would be good, and I end up with door #3 3/4. Which is one reason why I don’t mind when I cycle out of this particular arc, and just hang out with good ol’ known quantities.
So, baby aspirin, huh? That’s an immediate connect as far as associations go…I can even feel the texture as I (would) chew it in my mouth. Which makes it hang in my nose a particular way…I often think of scents in terms of where they tend to hang out in my nose, IF they hang out, and if they do, if they are smooth or prickly or what…anyway, baby aspirin=a little rough. In my nose. So now I want to try Maharinih, because I’d appreciate an orange that isn’t syrupy or all citrus high and bubbly.
Which means nice talking here…back to work, and maybe to find that Maharinih…
Glad to see you spending time with a happy “companion.” >:d<
I didn’t know Parfum de Peau would share the stage…
I keep my arms spread wide. /:) 😉
When I read her first sentence I thought to myself, I want whatever it is she just ingested:x
I’m referring to Shelley above you, waaaaay above you:d
It does smell like a chaw of baby aspirin <):) and you've put your finger, maybe, on precisely what I love about it -- not syrup OR citrus. Powdery orange. With a zing. It might be lurve...
I’ll try to come to AwF! I’ve never been there before, but Tyson’s is right by me. I had no idea how many perfume bloggers there are in the DC/MD/VA area!
Do come! It’s a nice store and a nice group of people. Remember, it’s Tysons GALLERIA or whatever it’s called, NOT the original older Tysons.
I thought I was imagining things, but I wore Maharadjah last month quite a bit and just put some on-smells truly cojones rank! ew! It’s turned vile. I even reapplied 2x and get the same foul smell. Something went chemically sour.
As to LTdF — love it!:x
I want to like Sacrebleu, but that sweet cloying accord gets in the way of its beauty.
Haven’t tried the Maharanih, but I’m trying a sample of MA Orange Sanguine at the moment. The opening is like putting the nose flat against an orange, fresh/fruity. Not my thing.
I wanted to add that this was such a lovely review, March and I loved the mentions of angels, dirty knickers and pinup girls. Sweetly well written!:)>-
There are tons of Temps D’Une Fete fans on here — it won’t play especially nicely on me, but hope springs infernal! I bet Fete is the favorite of as many folks as Sacrebleu is. And thanks for the compliments! I’m wearing the mango/weird Turquoise right this sec and loving it.
Like you, March, I should be All About Sacrebleu. I should love it, but don’t. Instead, it bores me. Vanille Tonka (which I know you hate) is still a giddy romp for me, and I do love that one.
Le Temps d’une Fete is firmly in my All Time Top Three. And I never mind the cheesy packaging, although I admit that I have two small bottles of LTdF rather than a big ugly one. I like the feel of the small bottles, with their slight slope, in my hand.
Maharanih I think I wore three times, and I liked it very much – lots of rose and spice on me, which is a good thing – but was done in by the jockey shorts in the base. It’s not dirty knickers for me, it’s the other gender; I kept getting cojones out of it. Had to do the “Honey, can you come here a minute? I just want to check something” reliable-source comparison, but it’s spot on. I should probably try again to see if I’ve become inured to it.
I like the small bottles in the hand too. And they’re not even that unwieldy to throw in my bag for travel.
You no like the cojones? Okay, I see your point. Cojones might be a bit much.
How nice of honey to oblige, and why can I now not wipe that image from my mind? Cojones worm*-:) Pretend that’s a cojone.
You know, I had to go pretty low to find these cojones. Next time, warn me.
The only PdN that I’ve tried so far is Odalisque which I thought was very good indeed. Of the two you mention above, Sacrebleu sounds the more intriguing to me. I look forward to sniffing it and the Maharanih someday.
I’m pretty sure I can be at AwF on Sunday. Hope to see you then! :)Just look for a gal rockin’ some Hotwired lip gloss. ;))
Odalisque I am in deep love with now, another one of this group. As I mentioned briefly in another post, I put it on at PdN as a joke and … well, you know how that goes.
I’ll be looking for a gal in Hotwired! I look sorta like my avatar — short dark hair, perky features — although not running around in lingerie.
but you could! 😉
and I 😡 Odalisque as well.
So that’s two!
xo >-)
Art With Flowers – I will be there ! Thanks so much for the notice! And I have recently become acquainted with Keiko Mecheri’s Osmanthus and would love to get some samples. I’m searching for the perfect osmanthus perfume that smells like the tea olive bushes near my dorm at Tulane . . . .
Well, show up in the middle of the day, we should all wear something goofy. Well, I’m always wearing something goofy. :d I bet they have Osmanthus samps. And good food!
I went on a PdN spending spree a couple of years ago when beautyhabit was having a 20% off sale and Maharanih was one of them. I even bought them unsniffed (I’ve since learned not to do this …
as often 😉 ) based on reviews and the notes. The one I wore the most was New York, almost empty but as I look in my cabinet I notice Maharanih is running second (though a very distant second, maybe 15% used) so I’m going to wear it today and think about your lovely review, March.
I recently got samples of a few more PdNs, including Sacrebleu and Vanille Tonka (which I hated) and Vanille Intense. I’m still going to try the VI again but the other two do not work on me at all.
The shindig on Sunday sounds fabulous and fun! Enjoy!
I hope Maharanih made you happy today! New York is hugely popular, and deservedly so, and for whatever reason is one of the few I’m not wild about (although I never say never.) And if they run another 20% off I’m in trouble … I loathe the Tonka. Blech. Intense I did not try and I should.
It’s been ages since I last tried Maharanih. I can’t even remember whether I liked it, so I’ll have to give it another whirl. And I’m with you on Sacrebleu. I should like it, but I don’t. 🙁 Ah, well. I’ll try it again the next time a sample falls into my hands.
The last time that I went to New London Pharmacy they had a decent, but not great selection of the line. The same was true of a number of the lines that they carry. A bit hit or miss. Which is probably okay for the quirky, interesting store that they are.
New London and Clyde’s are both fun to visit for the reason you gave — quirky and interesting. I wish we had one or both here! The closest we get is Rodman’s but it’s not really the same.
Oh, I 😡 Rodmans!
I’ve not tried this – I struggle with orange in perfume, for some reason – but the review makes me want to give it a shot. And it’s lovely to shed more light on PdN, which is such a wonderful brand.
For anyone who’s interested, I went to Clyde’s in New York a couple of weeks ago and they were still stocking some PdN, but only a small number of the perfumes. They had Sacrebleu and Eau Exotique and a few others, but it was disappointing overall. I’m not sure if New London is any better.
They had Eau Exotique!? I think that was has been discontinued, and it’s a favorite of mine. Hmmm….
I love Maharanih; it was the first FB PdN I bought. I’m such a PdN fangirl – let’s see, I have 6 full bottles and probably 8 or 9 decants. It’s a rarity when I sample one and it doesn’t work, probably because they don’t go sweet on me as they appear to do to a number of people. On the other hand, every Serge Lutens creation I’ve tried turns out to be kill me now sweeeeeet.
Keep trying Sacrebleu, March. It’s worth it.
I’m racking my brain about Exotique, but I can’t remember if it was on the sale table! They definitely switch their scents in and out. And for someone who (mostly due to lack of access/exposure) was not in particular a PdN fangirl, I seem to be amassing the PdN collection. Again, it’s those 30ml bottles. And they don’t go sweet on me either, which seems to be the theme as you’ve noted.
And I’ve been trying and will keep trying SB!
I dun gots Exotique. From a Belle Enabler. Gonna try it later.
xo >-)
New London has the line, um, on line. No Odalisque, unfortunately.
I’m eating one of your cookies. There’s chocolate on the keyboard.
WHAT COOKIES?
😮
xo >-)
Berger cookies. Carter’s the Berger cookies gal. I hope that’s not a huge secret.
Nah. I wish the company was still in Berger hands — I’d sure like a piece of it right about now. Hell, I’d like a piece of a Berger cookie right about now:d
Why am I all of a sudden thinking of Pete Schwetty?
Please see “cojones” discussion below and kindly leave my family cookies out of it. The Bergers and the Schwettys are in no way related.
Please see comment beneath said cojones.
Clydes itself I enjoy. Puttering around in there. I’ve bought hairbrushes, soaps, etc. We don’t really have a store like that. And they carried some nice men’s scents.
Bigelow is also kinda fun.
You all have to get to Merz Apothecary. Seriously.
If I have to google one more place I’m going to send you cookies…and scotch
=))
Ditto on the Merz. Serious Old World fabulosity, right down to the German-speaking folks behind the counters.
xo >-)
You know, I’d rather be paying my money for the juice than for a gorgeous bottle which I’m going to have to keep hidden away in a dark cabinet for the sake of the juice. Darn that logic anyway!
…and I love the 30 ml bottles too. Let’s face it, who among us needs to have more than that, especially when the perfume collection is three numbers across?
March, have you done a side-by-side with Tauer’s “Orange Star” and this? I (finally) got a sample of the former and am impressed. Haven’t smelled Marharanih but it’s on my to-sample list now.
The 30ml is what lead me down the path of temptation to buy Odalisque when Beautyhabit had a free ship recently. 🙂 I figure if I’ve worked through a decant it’s love.
I have NOT smelled Orange Star. I could email Andy and whine at him (my samp disappeared in the mail) or I could, you know, get my ass on TPC and buy one. But I just haven’t gotten around to it.
Ditto on the 30 ml. I bought Td’uF on the fly (sorta really liked the decant, then not so much the bottle) but giving (trading?) with Thelma wasn’t quite as painful as, say, Brillante would’ve been.
Oooh! Orange Star. Since I’m Rhymes with Orange, I really should try this one.
xoxo >-)
Louise, you ARE brilliante. ;;)
😡
:-j
BTW, I smile every time I see my Temps d’une Fete, my Odalisque, and my Sacrebleu. Yes, yes, and yes. For different reasons. Which is why I add my =d> to the chorus singing the praises of the 30ml bottle. There are other scents out there that I love, but might never put my mitts on (or money to) because I don’t want 100ml. Or more.
That 30ml is utterly perfect. I wish she did little sets of them, I’d buy 100ml that way (4 25s? 5 20s?)
10 10s? that way you could really test drive the toenails off pretty much the whole line!
xo >-)
And Thel, I @};- you so much (scared of the heart thingy – he doesn’t always work)
You two are so adorable! :@)
I remain a PdN fangirl overall, but am increasingly finding her fragrances harder to wear. Most are pulling very sweet on me, including my pet, Vie de Chateau. Tonka’s gone plastic on me. Temps d’une Fete feels very “dense” now. But wait….I’ll just tuck them away, and maybe love them again :d/
The bottles are OK by me, and if the plain packaging keeps the prices down, so much the better.
And-woohooo! on Sunday 😡
I wonder if it’s whatever the base is? I don’t know. I’ve also heard people’s Fig-Tea going off, but mine still smells fine. Fingers crossed.
I was all set to be a PdN Fangirl but all run sweet on me, as they are doing on Louise – except for Maharanih. Something in her base just interacts oddly with my skin – or maybe they’re supposed to smell like that (very nice) and I Just Don’t Quite LOVE Them? 😕
Her packaging is bizarre, innit? Certainly not a showcase bottle. Rather like that really ugly but incredibly fabulous booty call boy whom you probably won’t take to your cousin’s wedding. Shame, too, because in addition to being shockingly incredible in bed, he’s also a really nice guy!
xo >-)
I think they’re too sweet on lots of people. Her base loves me, mostly. Not like you don’t have gazillions of other pretty fishies in the see, though. And can you mail me your booty boy? I just typed “male” btw.
UPDATE:
Apres-bain, spritzed Maharanih.
It’s pretty but I mostly got raisins marinated in a slightly bitter orange juice (which is way better than raisins marinated in sweet orange juice, that’s for sure). I think I get that raisiny base in all or most of her frags, alas.
😕 prolly not the FB Must-Have, ya think?
xoxo >-)
Ruh-roh. (Runs off to spray Fig-Tea decant…)
WELL?
It’s figgy. With tea. Maybe not the best topper for a trifecta with Parfum de Peau and Arabie just settling out…on a day where the weather seemed to suggest it was going to behave nicely, then turned back to 90 and humid…
**Myrtle, I need my galbanum!** … (Equivalent to smelling salts and a fainting couch…)
Okay, I did that already. But the Fig-Tea is fine. I think. (Please don’t make me reflect…)
Hey, why would those triangle bracket thingies make text DISAPPEAR??? It thinks I sent secret HTML which translated as “eat my words”?
Yeah, you pushed the fatal EAT MY WORDS button. Also now I want a fragrance with some Myrtle in it. Isn’t that what Mirto is? My mind is a bent, almost useless sieve.
and I read that as “my mind is a bent, almost useless sleeve”…time to get out the Scotch?:-?
I prefer figgy, with pudding:@)
Without Odalisque and Sacrebleu I would die. Die, I sayb-(
Odalisque. Next on my list. Now that I bought some I can’t shut up about it.
You do know there’s chicken feet in there, don’t you? And squirrels.:^o
Look at your nose, young lady! Shame on you! [-x
Whut? Do not mock. That’s my normal nose.
Maharanih is truly a wonderful, happy and stylish scent. It might be the name, but it makes me think of a colorful Bollywood dance scene 😡 I actually find the simple packaging refreshing and even stylish (the box is definitely stylish), but I find myself unable to buy anything in the Paris boutique – too much going on there, room sprays and candles and more room sprays and more candles just jammed into the shelves make it hard to find the perfumes. No samples and no help from the SAs – I generally leave without buying anything, my head swimming with home fragrances. Unless, of course, I swan in there knowing exactly what I want (New York, darling, I’m looking at you. At you and lovely, happy Maharanih). The boutique could definitely use a bit more style and loving care!
It’s such a cheerful fragrance — I like your comparison! Brightly colored silk, is what I’m picturing … the Paris boutique I go to is on the Rue Grenelle near Bon Marche, and while it’s small it doesn’t feel cluttered (although 6 people in the shop is too many!) And the SA there, Rebecca, was fabulous. Unfortunately as Denyse reports above, she’s gone to work for By Kilian at Printemps.
I went to the one alongside the Palais Royal – might have been a bad choice….
That whole area drove me nuts but I was looking for a bathroom…. :-w
For next time, I recommend the “Le Muscade” in the Jardins du Palais Royal – smallest and cutest bathroom ever: Gaudi-inspired mosaic with glitter and bling and a washbowl the size of a smallish handkerchief. Their orange-chocolate tarte is definitely worth sitting down to, even if the bathroom is all you really want….
For me it’s Bon Marché and its surroundings I don’t really care for… but that’s probably because I was in the last stages of utter exhaustion when I was there, and wondering if pain-killers would help me with my aching feet.
As you know the PdN shop in London is the size of a postage stamp and seems to have a permanent sale. It is a bit shambolic to say the least. I’ve never found anything to truly adore from her yet, despite the Guerlain connection, but there really should be something, shouldn’t there? I did love Maharadjah when I tried it the other week; Maharani I haven’t sniffed for ages but I must dig it out again. Orange and civet – mmmm.
Hah. We walked by it twice looking for it. And yes, they’re always adjusting the line and making way for new bottles with lopsided labels. 8-| But I got some nice goodies there.
I love Maharanih. I’ve been planning to make this my summer scent this year, as it reminds me of being in an orange grove somewhere warm, exotic, and sun-kissed. And let me tell you how I love that indolic-civet goodness lurking underneath all of that citrus. It’s like I’m out in the sun getting a bit sweaty along with those blossoms and…so forth. I wonder how it holds up in high heat…I should probably check that out. This can be the daytime fragrance, and Fracas can be nighttime (that and all the other tuberoses…obsessed). I’ve not explored this line much, as it seems there are lots of fragrances geared towards women, but then I suppose there is New York (not really a fan). At any rate, I’ll take this as a sign that it’s time for me to get it in gear and buy a bottle of this and get my plan into action.
It’s supposed to be 90 today and I’m going to take it for a test drive, part of my nefarious plan to try all my huge white florals in the heat … which is where they should be anyway, yeah? There are lots for women, but a) I’m unisexist and b) I think there are others that are less femme.
Unisexist! 😡
I think you just redeemed the word “unisex” for me, which I normally think of as the ugliest, most unsexy, white briefs underwear of terms…
Glad to be of service … I use “unisexy” pretty regularly. Unisex is an ugly word, but I’m fighting the uphill battle, convincing men they really CAN wear Fracas. And I wish they would…
Indeed. Yeah, that was a sweeping generalization of me. I haven’t tried many, and I completely forgot about my full bottle of Odalisque sitting on my shelf. Silly me.
Jared, if you haven’t tried them already, it would really be worth trying Nicolai pour Homme (the most wonderful lavender) and Vie de Chateau (it does remind me of a weekend in the country). To me they are both unisex, but they are listed among the masculines on LuckyScent. I hope you find another PdN that you like – it’s such a great company.
I do think the presentation of Parfums de Nicolaï does disservice to the fragrances. I even think (don’t pelt me with rotten eggs) that they could stand to be more expensive, which would get them more recognition outside the perfumista circle. Having spent some time in one of the Paris shops, I saw lots of penny-pinching bourgeois actually haggling to get them even cheaper, and that doesn’t command respect for a brand.
Patricia de Nicolaï has great skills and a fabulous perfume culture, but she could stand a little art direction in my opinion, to highlight the quality of her work.
Amusingly, Rebecca who ran the rue de Grenelle shop in Paris has just moved on to By Kilian at Le Printemps, for those who used to love to drop in to see her…
No rotten eggs — your story about them haggling in the Paris shops makes me sad, they’re so reasonably priced to start with. And I think you’ve touched on the art direction before — one of the MDCIs, I can’t remember which one, smelled a lot like Maharanih, yes?
So sorry to hear about Rebecca! She was wonderful. I’d rather see her at PdN.
I’d agree this is a great line and love this Maharanih too, they certainly are classics but not old fashioned – she puts as you say a twist to them.
I saw something remarkable re the civet last night on a Rick Stein Asian cooking program (don’t know whether you get him in USA, he’s British). In Bali they keep them in (large) cages like livestock, and I’m thinking, oh here we go, with the civet musk, but no, they feed them coffee berries, which then go thru’ the civet, losing their berry part and having the stones passed, which are then retrieved,roasted, ground etc, supposed to be the best coffee possible because the civet only selects the choicest berries to eat!!!
People unless there was extraordinary Avatar-type animation going on there, it was [nearly] all on film! And that civet looked happy.
Yep. This has been making the commments rounds recently on FaceBook, although I knew about it a couple years ago — it’s the kind of gross-you-out goourmet story that resurfaces. Personally I draw the line at drinking civet-poo coffee, but then I won’t eat fried grasshoppers either. But I don’t judge.
You are such a weenie~o)~:>
The other night, the Cheese was telling us about eating a big bowl of chicken feet appetizers in China and we made him stop talking after about 23 seconds.
Huh. Well I guess that rules out the chicken feet cheesecake place I was gonna take you to8-|:-<:d
ACK!!!!!!! I just pictured it scuttling across the table like Baba Yaga’s hut… ~:>
Ah, March… I lurrrrrrrrrrve the Maharanih. And of course I don’t really have it in my collection… just a few drops left of a little decant. So there you go, you started me on a craving for something instead of enjoying what I’ve got. 😉
But, seriously, isn’t this delicious stuff? I’m telling you!
I’ve also often thought of it as a less-voluptuous cousin of one of my faves: Noir Epices. Both have that orange thing going on that I really love. (Oh, and yeah, I can rock the Fracas now and then, but is it okay that Carnal Flower is really more my style? Heh.)
And PdN can keep slapping on the cheap-dupe labels and I’ll keep loving the fact that they invest 97% of their money in the juice. I’m just still sad to know that somewhere out there, Balkis Light once existed and will never be mine. Maybe I’ll kill my sorrow by buying a 30ml bottle of Maharanih. 😮
Interesting comparison with Noir Epices- I will do a side by side on that! I keep getting ROSE from Noir Epices, so this could bring out some other facets…
Me too.
Really? Noir Epices? Hm. Will have to dig up my sample. My recollection is that NE is darker and less sweet. (My other recollection is that lots of people loathe it, I can’t imagine why.)
I know, I know, Balkis light! I asked at the store and she shook her head sadly. I have a very small decant I’m using up.
Well, mind you, I’m just saying NE is the cousin (twice removed?) who is much bigger upstairs.
Now, when you say upstairs … how far up the stairs are you going? All the way to the attic? Or the front overhang on the second story?
I’m just thinking those overhanging dormer things on the second story. :d I love that expression, actually… do people still talk about someone being “big upstairs” anymore? If not, they should.
Someday I will come sit by you when you’re wearing Carnal Flower…
We will all be there.
I’ll bet you rock the daylights out of Fracas and I remember you talking of it before (don’t tell El O but I spritzed it apres-bain last night and thought of you (and Neil Morris, another intrepid male). Actually El O is man enough to let me try perfumes on him every now and then and Fracas was one of them – not only did he smell great but a whole lotta other women thought so, too. Freaked him right out as he is more of a forklift/hydraulic oil kinda guy ! =))
I owe you sumpin’ by the way – will get on it this afternoon.
xoxo >-)
NO EFFING WAY. Bear let you put FRACAS on him?!?!?
I mean, not that there’s any question about his male confidence.
I KNOW! Weird, huh? Sometimes he just goes along with the program. He let me put Fracas and Chanel 5 on him (not at the same time). He even tried Aromatics of Doom but as that gives me a migraine and he does too, it was deemed too much of a 1-2 punch for this ol’ >-) to handle.
Yeah, Fracas. But he was funny about wearing a beigish-yellow guayabera, saying it looked like a pastel. He’s just b-(. Is that the goofy emoticon?
xoox >-)
Maharanih is fantastic, it has so many unexpected facets, very quirky and very friendly at the same time. It’s my favorite of her line. I have a similar problem as you with Sacrebleu, though, it should be my HG, but turns too sweet on me. It’s wonderful, though, when I spray it on my clothing instead of on my skin. Then LT’s evocative review makes sense. Spraying on cloth seems to lower the sweet vibe a bit.
Quirky and friendly is a great description. Honestly I wish I had more of an opportunity to play with them in a store and not just through teeny vials, it’s aggravating. I have a sample of SB Light as well, I think I like that a bit better, but it’s still not love … I should try it on clothing, as you suggest.
Well that explains why I didn’t fall in love; I’m into quirky and hostile:o). Pretend that clown has a shiv.
That clown terrifies me. No, really.
Gotta try that Maharanih, still looking for an orange (not orange blossom)that works on me and does not turn into orange all-purpose cleaner. I should get samps of this and Orange Star and let them duke it out on my skin. :d
Maharanih is weird orange — not indolic blossom, not orange juice either. More orange candy, but I don’t mean that unkindly. Have no thoughts on whether it would make you think of cleaning product; as I said, it reminds me of the smell of baby aspirin.
Trust me, you do NOT want to know what happens to Clinique Happy on me. If Formula 409 comes in an orange scent, that’s what it turns in to. Not pretty. :-\”
Happy is not happy on me either.
I haven’t spent enough time with Marharanih; gonna have to dig out that sample and see what’s what. However, I do believe that New London Pharmacy carries most of the line in addition to Clyde’s.
So NY has two places? [-(
Figures.
AND schnecken.
And I’m going to come up there one of these days and make you take me on a cheesecake tour.
With bomboloni, baybee<:-p
And a squirrel.
Oh, wish I could come to Art With Flowers!
Curious if I’m the only one who things the old PdN bottles were better than the new? But IIRC, everyone hated those bottles too. And agree with nozknoz above: love that they don’t care. The world needs more anti-By Kilians.
I save the boxes and from batch to batch they look different — the label colors don’t even match! Definitely went with the low bid … but yes, on a certain level, who cares? The stuff inside is so excellent.
Keiko Mecheri and samples at Art With Flowers – this is one of the two or three times a year that I wish I could drive. I’m green with envy! =:)
PdN packaging really could be less unattractive without spending more – the labels could be simpler, for example – but I love that they are FRENCH and yet don’t seem to care! It’s like the anti-By Killian. >:)
By the way, aside from the ORANGE, does Maharanih remind you of vintage Femme?
I’m thrilled too, because for a person who doesn’t travel a ton, I’m always out of town on the weekends AwF is doing something. But I’ll be here for this one!
Maharanih and vintage Femme? Nothing alike, IMO. Femme’s more like Mitsouko or Jolie Madame — a stiletto scent. Maharanih is much, much sweeter and simpler.