Parfums MDCI has launched two new fragrances for women:
Le Rivage des Syrtes (shown) ~ developed by perfumer Patricia de Nicolaï; "...an oriental floral with a name taken from a famous French novel by Julien Gracq, [it] uses fragrance to tell the tale of a lonely sailor who travels far from home-- from island to island and along the shore to gather precious plants and exotic olfactory substances, which he stores carefully in a chest to bring back to his beloved." With notes of sweet orange essence, pineapple, galbanum, ylang ylang, tuberose, orange blossom absolute, incense, ambergris, vanilla and musk.
Vêpres Siciliennes ~ a "verdant fruity chypre" developed by perfumer Jeanne-Marie Faugier. "As the heat of the afternoon gives way to the early evening, it is a magical hour: Night is falling soon. The intoxicating smell of the orange orchards, still warm from the sun, rise up to meet the mysteries at hand for the evening, as lovers wait for the languor of evening shadows, and assassins heed the gathering darkness. Inspired by Verdi’s opera of the same name, this fragrance honors the duality of man’s nature— the peaceful time of prayer and the uncertain dangers that await." With notes of mandarin, grapefruit, peach, pepper, green leaves, cardamom, muguet, magnolia, jasmine, ylang ylang, rose, tuberose, heliotrope, osmanthus, raspberry, cloves, plum, coconut, musk, amber, oakmoss and cedar.
Parfums MDCI Le Rivage des Syrtes & Vêpres Siciliennes are available in 60 ml Eau de Parfum, in the crystal flacon shown above right ($610) or in a glass refill bottle shown above left ($235). They can be found now at Luckyscent.
Other recent launches from Parfums MDCI: Péché Cardinal.
They both sound delicious….but everything always sounds good to me…but it's a little scary when the plain ole refill bottle runs a tidy $235. Of course I'm going to luckyscent and see if samples are available…I better not love them!!
I must be in some sort of end-of-winter funk because orange essence, coconut, pineapple, peaches, clove—yum! It sounds very appealing…maybe I need to go eat lunch…
I'm lucky — neither of these is bowling me over, although I always want to try whatever PdN comes up with.
Agreed. PdN is one of my faves! In fact if I don't get my bottle of PdN Vanille Tonka soon, my head will likely explode! I find I'm not very patient when it comes to waiting for perfume.
Le Rivage sounds completely up my alley! I have to stop looking at these MDCI announcements. Too spendy, and they sound delish lots of the time. A goofy part of me wants to someday be rich enough to get one of those ridiculous bottles, though.
Tama, every part of me (goofy or otherwise) wants to be rich enough to afford one of those ridiculous bottles….oh wait, I just want to be rich….
Tama, I've been lucky so far: they've all been very nicely done but I haven't fallen in love with any of them.
I had the opportunity to try both of these thanks to the lovely Perfume Posse ladies and their giveaways… Le Rivage is a charming, cheerful pineapple — not at all my style, but I've enjoyed it anyway, and it would make a beautiful spring/summer scent if you've got the dosh to spare. Vêpres Siciliennes, on the other hand, is just nasty on me, cranking out a powerful fruity violet that lasts until kingdom come. I haven't heard of anyone else getting that, however, and my skin is admittedly difficult, so varying mileage etc. etc. (apparently my skin has a lead foot!).
too funny! Love that lead foot comment…
I got my copy of “The Guide” today and had only few minutes to flip thru…at one point she says that body chemistry does not play a role….well, I think that's a load of crap….I can tell I'm gonna be disagreeing with these people left and right! I KNOW that body chemistry plays a role! A big one!!! Here's an example that no book is going to convince me doesn't happen: My daughter and I both dabbed some DSH Lucky Clover on our wrists just yesterday….on me it slowly turned into some sort of bathroom cleaner…15 minutes and I knew it was a NO-GO…But on my teenager: it smells divine! light and grassy, outdoors fresh with just a hint of some soft flower…maybe a clover blossom? Anyhow it is now on her “to buy list” and my “wash it off” list.
Lesson to Turin and Sanchez: hell yeah, body chemistry matters!
There, I've had my say…
Oh, I'm so glad you posted – I was pining for a sniff of Rivage, but if it's mostly pineapple – I can pass
Lilydale, any comparison between Rivage & Ananas Fizz?
I know, it just seems so impossible that body chemistry wouldn't make a difference… After all, people's bodies smell different without perfume, so wouldn't it make sense that perfume + individual body smell = individual perfume smell?
OK, I just put on a dab so I could it justice for you, and I wouldn't say it's mostly pineapple… The pineapple is definitely there, but it shares the stage with the florals — the tuberose, orange blossom, and ylang ylang are just as prominent. Far be it from me to enable any lust for such a pricey proposition, but it really is worth a sniff!
It's been a few years since I smelled Ananas Fizz, but Rivage is much more floral compared to my memory of AF. It's utterly fruity-floral, but in the best way imaginable!
HI Daisy, I totally agree. I made a long-awaited trip to Saks (all the way from East Africa) the other day. Was keen to try the Chanel Les Exclusifs range. The SA was very helpful and gave me a special fragrance hour! They have these infusions at Chanel (instead of or in addition to spray-ons). As predicted, I loved the Cuir de Russie in infusion form (you just sniff the stick). Both my boyfriend and I then sprayed it on: divine on him – neither me nor the SA nor boyfriend could smell ANYTHING beyond the faintest whimper on me! Two days later, I walked past a woman in SoHO who smelled divine. I was so convinced it was CdR, I turned around and said – you're wearing Cuir De Russie. Yes! Had I been the wearer, no-one would have noticed the $200 spend on my arms and wrists! Body chemistry is a HUGE part of why a fragrance works or doesn't. I'd also seen that line in the Guide and was puzzled! BTW – 31 Rue Cambon IS divine on me, and love Chanel No 18 too! Wish they would have anything smaller than 200 ml.
EXACTLY! Hormonal differences, ph variations, skin oils, and sorry that element of cellular waste that is excreted in sweat—ok, I know that sounds gross, but everyone knows that what you eat or imbibe affects body odor because of trace chemicals on your skin—and that all interacts with perfume molecules too.
Turins background is chemistry (isn't it?) so maybe later on in the book he blasts her for that comment and I haven't got there yet.
Oh, then I flipped to the back of the book and read their top ten lists…but that's complaining for another day. One thing I absolutely agree with—the comment about men and bacon, that is very likely true. But in no dimension will you ever catch me dabbing a bit of bacon on my neck!
I recently invested in the sample programme from MDCI and received these two and the other new one, Peche Cardinale. I love all three but am so grateful to MDCI for making their samples so generous that I don't have to make a decision about which one I want a full bottle of for quite a while. Le Rivage is mostly about orange to me but not loudly, just always humming along on top of the other notes, whilst Peche is sometimes plummy leathery, sometimes peachy tuberose – just gorgeous. As for the Vepres, it is rich with almost constant evolvement and I love it. (“whispers” – I mentioned this on the Posse – it reminds me of Courtesan which I love.). The sample set is so worth it.
Daisy, half the fun of the book (as with ANY guide) is disagreeing with it. I think body chemistry matters more than the book says it does, but WAY less than most perfumistas say it does.
Thanks!
Thanks so much — they all sound worth a shot!
I would love to try Le Rivage des Syrtes. I admire Patricia de Nicolai perfumes.
lol yup—I'm loving the Guide!! What would the fun be if I agreed with everything they said? It'd be like sitting there talking to myself. Which isn't an entertaining as one might think.
So do I
OH DEARY MY! these sound SAVAGELY Wonderful! am looking forward to the Vespres Sicillienes with BAITED Breath, it sounds absolutley STUNNING!
It is SAVAGELY pricey as well
Thats the worst part of it. I may love perfume but dont see myself buying it for 610 USD 
Save those pennies…
LOL…yes, it is.
atsa lotta pennies…..by the time I've saved enough pennies I'd be too old and feeble to work the spray pump on the bottle….would have to have my nurse spray it on me!
I'll Take the $235.00 Version! Don't need Sculpture to make me happy, can't wear or smell the top to the bottle! just give me that fragrance and i'll be Ecstatic!
I have just fallen in love with Le Rivage des Syrtes, which was bought for me as a Christmas present yesterday in a fabulous perfume shop called Sens Unique in Le Marais district in Paris. This is a haunting, gorgeous fruity oriental that starts with a burst of orange and pineapple and then quietly morphs into a stunningly original fragrance with the warmth of incense, ambergris, musk and vanilla in the dry-down. I’m definitely not usually a pineapple kind of girl, but this just works and it really is unlike any other perfume in this category – we are definitely not talking beach-side cocktails here. The fruit is warm, fuzzy and sensual and the orange blossom is sweet and delicious but not overly sickly. The tuberose is unlike any other tuberose note I’ve smelt – my day-to-day perfume is Frangipani by Ormonde Jayne, which has far more tuberose in it than this – but here it’s neither as ‘green’ as the one in L’Artisan Parfumeur’s Nuit de Tubereuse, nor as creamy and dramatic as the one you find in the great tuberose fragrances – such as Fracas and Carnal Flower. It’s just there as a lingering floral note working in collaboration with the ylang ylang to balance the fruit-galbanum elements. The bottle is lovely too – hand-blown glass (without the statue on the top – that’s just several hundred euros too far!) – and it’s very elegant, classic and yet still modern. Each bottle is filled by hand.
BTW, If you’re in Paris you just have to go to this shop. The two women who run it are more knowledgeable about perfume than virtually anyone I’ve ever encountered in a perfume shop – plus they are really keen to get to know you to find the perfect scent for you and time just stands still when you’re in there. I nearly made us miss our plane because I got so carried away sniffing to my heart’s content…! I’m now counting down the days until I can drench myself in this again… (Twenty, as from today,, and that’s twenty too many!)