Some Perfume Wanders in Paris

It’s been cool for May but we appear to be promised warmer, sunnier weather this week.

Had an ortho appointment. Good progress. Probably five more months of railroad tracks and then retainer for the foreseeable.

This is post number 2 from my Paris trip and of course I couldn’t talk about Paris without talking about perfume.

But this is also a bit of a surprise for me. I hadn’t expected or planned to buy perfume on this trip and my perfume shop wanderings were very vague.

I smelled things everywhere (meaning on the street, in the metro) – some that I could identify, some not.

First off, in the hotel where I stayed. The hotel itself occupied the upper four storeys of a classically Paris building past a big wooden door then off a courtyard. While the breakfast wasn’t the best I’ve ever had in a Parisian hotel (yes, I know most people don’t pay the over the odds prices of hotel breakfasts but I do – and I especially like eating in my room) everything else about the place was wonderful: room, location, patience with my rudimentary French.

Anyway, one of the lower floors was inhabited by a wholesale perfume company. Sometimes climbing down the stairs I would get a whiff of whatever had been sprayed most recently. I was never able to say exactly what something was but it all smelled good.

Second was the guy dressed in one of the most out-there jumpsuits standing in front of me on the number 2 metro when I was travelling to my friends’ place for dinner (he’d brought things down a notch by wearing crocs). I am sure he was wearing By Kilian Love Don’t Be Shy. I didn’t get up the courage and French phrases to ask but yeah, pretty sure. And he wore it very well. A fair few sprays but not too much. Gourmand but also musky.

Third was a trip to Nose on the edge of the Marais. This is a really nice, bright shop with a broad offering. Was very drawn to the Fornasetti candles which are just gorgeous (not the smells so much as the ceramic holders). But I’m not in the market for candle holders that are better than what they hold. And cost the earth.

Fourth was a visit to Jovoy. I did pass Serge Lutens in the Palais Royale and stop to look at the window. Which was when the door magically opened. If I’d been feeling more focused (or maybe less focused) I would have stepped through, but I was heading elsewhere. Maybe I missed the chance for a wonderful experience. Oh well.

So, Jovoy. I kept passing the shop on rue de Castiglione near the Tuileries on my way to or from the hotel. And not going in. I’ve been to the London shop and while the staff were quite good the brand design is boudoir and warm boudoir at that (so the opposite of Nose). Not the most pleasant environment. One late afternoon I thought ‘just go in’. So, I did. And lasted all of 5 minutes. Very dark, very red, the air is saturated – with what I think was Baccarat Rouge or 500 or whatever. And people are spray, spray, spraying. I did ask a SA if it was B Rouge and she looked at me like I’d lost my mind (like, how should I know given how much stuff is in the air?). Yeah, yeah, the shop has a good set of stock. I left and went to walk in the Tuileries to clear my head.

Which leads us to five. My hotel was right round the corner from the rue de Rivoli which is a strange combo or high-end shops and cafes and low end tourist tat shops. I do wonder what rents are like.

And literally right as I would turn to the left (to the right was the Concorde metro station) slotted in near a fancy chocolate shop was Parfums Divine.

Now, I paid attention to Divine a long time ago and particularly after Luca Turin went fulsome in The Guide about Divine (the perfume). Liberty in London had the line for a while (no longer as far as I can tell) so I tried all the early releases. And no. Nothing sang on me. Divine felt too something but it definitely wasn’t me.

(Really nice, tactile bottle)

Anyway, on the Thursday before I left I finally decided to have a quick look at the website to re-familiarise myself with the lineup. And off I went late afternoon to try a couple of things. The sales guy was nice and was pleased I actually knew a bit about the offer. I tried Divine and l’Être Aimé. I’m pretty sure both of these have been significantly reformulated since original release.

Uh oh. I said thank you and took myself to walk around the Tuileries because I don’t get the coup de foudre for a perfume very often and even when it does happen I need to make sure I’m not just over-reacting from giddiness.

After a 45 minute wander (boy, are there some gorgeous irises in the gardens) it was clear: I wasn’t going to leave Paris perfumeless.

(Just to slot in here I brought along two decants: Perfumer H Smoke and NVC Eshal. It was so wet, cool and rainy initially I only wore Smoke.)

l’Être Aimé is a very nicely done woody with immortelle, a note I really enjoy. The perfume is woody/peppery/incensy. It was not what I left the shop carrying in my pretty little bag.

Divine the house was launched in 1986, so not a newbie. Among the first releases was, unsurprisingly, Divine, which Fragrantica calls a floral woody musk. Well, sort of. What I recall Turin labelling it as was chypre with a modern twist. And when I tried it years ago I think I simply missed the point. Not so this time round.

Divine (1986) is sublime. Tuberose, peach, coriander, gardenia, jasmine, rose, spicy notes, orange blossom, patchouli, oakmoss, musk, sandalwood and vanilla.

This is a tuberose chypre on me and oh, my, yes, please, I’ll have more of that. Not a menthol tuberose. Rather, the flower after it’s settled on your skin plus oakmoss, musk and a really good sandalwood. Portia wrote about it here and Patty here.

I returned to the shop (I think he was surprised to see me again) and got a 50ml bottle. Which cost just under 100 euros. So, as far as I’m concerned, a massive bargain.

This has that ‘pretty’ that I’ve been craving recently but with a big dose of very well done pong and ‘I am classical with a twist’. Since getting home it has gotten a lot of attention – and I imagine that will continue into warmer weather. So pleased I decided to visit the shop and such a wonderful surprise.

Pics: wiki, mine, pexels