Vero Kern Curated Inspiration Sample Set

Hello to the POSSE!! Portia from AustralianPerfumeJunkies with you again. I have been going through the Perfume Posse Perfume 101 and Perfume 201 slowly but surely, there are still some I haven’t sniffed, a few I haven’t understood and a couple that make no sense at all. That’s OK because everyone’s sniffer is different. Have you had a chance to go through them? They’re an informative couple of lists with some great fragrances on them, though nowadays Meteorites by Guerlain is NOT cheap as chips! So it’s interesting to me when a perfumer, and one as worshiped as Vero Kern, goes to curate a best of inspiration and wear list that has four fragrances, only four! It says in the blurb that they are also fragrances that Vero Kern wears. I wanted to smell them as a set because these 4 fragrances are not the ones I expected to see on the list. Amazing and revered scents though they are I was surprised by their inclusion as the Vero Kern Curated Inspiration Sample Set.

They are

• Guerlain Vol de Nuit EDT (Jacques Guerlain)
• Guerlain Jicky EDP (Aimé Guerlain)
• Shocking Schiaparelli (Jean Carles)
• Piguet Fracas EDP (Germaine Cellier)

Jicky EdP By Aimé Guerlain 1889

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

BaseNotes gives these featured accords:
Top: Rosewood (elsewhere lavender or rosemary), bergamot, lemon and mandarin
Heart: Orris, jasmine, patchouli, rose, vetiver
Base: Leather, amber, civet, tonka, incense, benzoin

That opening shot of warm herbal citrus that is reminiscent of Shalimar but less sweet, more powdery and less feminine. The citrus stays so long that we are almost into the dry down before I notice the flowers at all, the flowers come in and go quietly. Soft powdery woods with an amber sweetness but little leather or civet on my skin in the dry down that is wispy and ethereal, I think vintage versions probably are far more robust in the end and would have more than the 5 hours I get from this EdP. There is a skeric of skin scent that waves mysteriously over my skin but really all fragrance is gone, just a whispered reminder that I was once fragrant.

Photo Stolen CollectorsPrints

How did I feel wearing this modern Jicky EdP, I felt grown up, but young, perfect and elegant, Daisy from The Great Gatsby perhaps, maybe a little more ethereal like Titania, Queen of the Fairies? Certainly I felt lavish and historical, maybe Elizabeth Taylor in her heyday? It could be all of these and none. Transported on wings of delight? No, not really. I smelled wonderful and beautiful for a while and now I smell like me again and want to smell like that again so SPRITZ …….. Aaaaggghhhh ………… so good …………… smelllllllll sooooooooo gooooooood The second layer is much more interesting, lasts longer and has an almost visible base thrumming beneath it. The civet and leather have shown themselves almost from the start and Jicky is a colourful madame of a perfume, much more what I was expecting, hoping and wishing to smell. My hint, carry a decant in your purse for a 4 hour respritz and you will smell like a Vintage Glamour Girl, or guy.

Photon Stolen Posh24

Though this is only the second perfume to have used synthetics, and the first to use more than one, Jicky could have been made today by some super talented niche perfumer.

Further reading BoisDeJasmin and then for fun in 2007 ThePerfumePosse crew all sniff the Jicky EdT
SurrenderToChance has the Vero Kern Curated Inspiration Sample Set starting at $11 for a 1ml set but I splurged and got the 3ml spray set for $32
SurrenderToChance also have a heap of different Jicky ages, strengths and formulations

Thanks for meandering through my fragrant thoughts today, come visit me and the crew at AustralianPerfumeJunkies, we love visitors and are continuing the conversation over there.
See you next week,
Portia xx