A Stolen Kiss

 

I was in Chicago for a nanosecond for meetings and some fun.  And that always includes perfume.  But it’s been kinda boring lately, with all the flankers and foobers and flubbers clanking their way across the counters, shrieking and clawing for attention, all smelling much the same (but it’s NEW!).  The really good SAs, like Mohammed at Nordstrom (shameless plug, there – he really IS phenomenal) wince every time I stalk into the perfume section “oh, dear.  Here she comes – again.  And I got nuthin’……until last Friday.

 

Mohammed met me at the counter with this wicked glint in his eye and an oval bottle with a vaguely familiar cap: “would you like to try something………NEW??? my dear?” He was nearly giggling with anticipation at the look of horror on my face.  (I’m such a snob).

 

I prepared to recoil (did I mention I’m a snob?)…..then he said the magic name:  Mathilde Laurent. I am such a Laurent fangirl that I would try eau de toilette – from the toilet – if she was behind it.    So yah, sure!  Hand it ovah!

 

Oh, Mathilde.  I do love you so.  I love you even more than I did when you blew my mind with the uber-urban  gin and tonic at 5:45p (Brillante)…when you brought the Saudi prince who magically bestowed upon me my Percheron 6-hitch (Fougeuse) and mornings on the terrace, watching the gardeners weed the flower beds (Diaphane)..

But I now love you more than rubies.  You have brought me a lily.  A lily I can wear.  Bless you, darling.  Baiser Vole ( Stolen Kiss) starts as a breath of soapy green, with an undercurrent of the fleshy sweetness of a Madonna Lily (lilium candidum) Not as sneezey-sweet as a Stargazer, Madonnas always smell to me  like cooling cooked sweet milk .  The soapy opening gives way to the bitter green of the stems and leaves (I think Mathilde threw the whole lily in there, from the bulb to the pistils) …then the soapy/fleshy tone comes back…then the dirt, then the cooling sweet milk…then back to the soapy green.  This is like a Philip Glass tune, with the same 5 notes played over and over – but in varying pitches and tones – like pale faceted aquamarine.  Not quite precious, but interesting and really pretty!    I’m not getting a lot of powder, instead what I get is powdered ….leaf?  Maybe.  Just a tad ‘different’ from your average soapy floral.   Unlike Les Heures, Baiser Vole seems designed for the  larger mainstream market – it doesn’t have a challenging bone in its body  but it’s nuanced enough to make it interesting beyond the first spritz.  In less adept hands this would’ve been a total snooze but La Belle Laurent keeps it on the knife-edge between ‘interesting’ and accessible.  I wore this all day yesterday and was amazed at how it kept my interest and how many people thought I smelled…pretty.  Sometimes that’s all a gal needs.

My sample came from Nordstrom Chicago which was awaiting delivery and it’s supposedly exclusive to them (in the US) for a year  –  according to Mohammed Baiser Vole will be  available in 1.6 oz/$100 and 3.3 oz/ $145 .

 

Notes are:  Lily flowers/lily stems/lily bulbs/lily.  I’m sure there’s other stuff in there but they didn’t have actual notes yet – so I’m giving you my version.

 

image:  A Stolen Kiss

 

  • nozknoz says:

    Really interesting comparisons here with other lillies that I enjoy (Lys Med and Gold). The Heures did not quite work for me, but they are really interesting and I enjoy sniffing them. Looking forward trying this one.

  • helenviolette says:

    Hmmmmm. I am intrigued. Thank you dear for the signal.

  • Joanna says:

    *sigh* Will add to the Gotta Try list…which is getting ridiculously long. I’m intrigued as I haven’t found the lily for me yet. That pencil shaving scent was what I liked about DK Gold, I wasn’t so in love with the lily part of it. Which is why I gave it away during Swapmania. But…as I’ve found a rose I love, (Never thought that would happen) I will remain open minded about about lily.

    • Musette says:

      You never can tell what will catch your fancy, can you!? I’d never given lily a thought until I stumbled across Lys Med – alas, it was not The One – but I was intrigued…

      xo >-)

  • Flora says:

    Ooh, a lily for MOI? It sounds lovely and I am a lily freak so this got my attention. I love SL Un Lys and I just discovered FM Lys Mediterranee, which is rather like DK Gold minus the deal-breaking pencil shavings accord. (Maybe that’s what is giving Maureen up there the headaches?)

    Still waiting to try Fougeuse and really hoping that this time, with Baiser Vole, a Cartier mainstream scent is halfway decent instead of abominable Roadster, Must). I can’t understand why such a chasm exists between their two lines.

    • Musette says:

      I think there’s a lot more creative license with the Heures. IMO the fewer fingers in the still, the better the juice.

      xo >-)

  • DinaC says:

    This sounds really good, and don’t already have a lily scent in my personal collection, so I’m really open to trying it and hopeful that I’ll like it. The green powdery aspect is especially appealing to me.

  • dleep says:

    I tried this yesterday and it is lovely. My store doesn’t have it yet but I think I have to have a bottle. I didn’t think I liked lily since I did not like DK Gold

    • Musette says:

      It’s a totally different type of lily, isn’t it! This is way-green, and lacks that meat-smell that accompanies most lily frags. Now, I lak me a meat smell same as the next gal, but sometimes it get to be a bit much. DK Gold is a great winter perfume – BV is perfect for now!

      xo >-)

  • grizzlesnort says:

    Now, that’s a perfume review!

  • maggiecat says:

    Am wearing de Lune today actually – it’s not bad, not groundbreaking, but good for hot day/office. This new one sounds lovely and I’ll look forward to trying it.

    • Musette says:

      Cartier’s mainstream scents aren’t very challenging, imo and I have a feeling it’s by design. Les H XIII takes some perfumista cojones to wear on a daily basis – and I don’t see my Aunt Myrtle picking up a bottle to wear to church. This one, yeah.

      xo >-)

  • Rappleyea says:

    I’m also a big ML fan girl so thanks for the review and the heads up. Really looking forward to trying this.

  • Maureen says:

    How does this compare to Donna Karan Gold? I just bought a small bottle, and sometimes I love the lily, and sometimes I get a little headachy wearing it. I’m not sure if it’s something in it, or if it is the lily I’m sensitive to.

    • Musette says:

      It’s way greener than the DK Gold. I know what you mean about the headache – I get none of that with BV – and I wore it all day long.

      xo >-)

  • karin says:

    I also love ML, and was so disappointed in de Lune. Am excited to try this, though $100 for 1.6oz? Wow. Hey, if that’s what we have to pay now for quality materials, I won’t balk. I hope $ are in the juice, though, and not in the packaging! Thanks for the hope, Musette! :-)

    • Musette says:

      Cartier does push their price-points, I agree. I don’t know if they are aiming to enhance their ‘exclusivity’, even within the mainstream market or if they are just greedy. I didn’t see the packaging, alas, so I can’t tell you (we both know the Les Heures line is jammed with so much packaging it would make a landfill weep with joy! b-(

      I did get a sense of quality in the jus, though it is deliberately evanescent.

      xo >-)

  • Jared says:

    Super exciting! I love lily. I wouldn’t mind adding another to my collection.

  • Catherine says:

    Oh my! With my burgeoning love of Cartier (thank you, sweetie!), I must try this soon, soon, soon.

    I love hearing you over the moon for a scent! xo

    • Musette says:

      This really is pretty – nothing groundbreaking but way better than 99.9% of the mainstream offerings out there. I could see you wearing this, C.

      xo >-)