Niche line Heeley has launched a new trio of fragrances in Extrait de Parfum: Bubblegum Chic, L'Amandière and Agarwoud.
Bubblegum Chic (shown) ~ "Jasmine is one of my very favourite scents. However, it is notoriously ephemeral, so I wanted to make a jasmine with a degree of intensity without altering it's true character. The result gives a scent that has accents of red fruit, almost like strawberry. The scent is direct, intense and intoxicating; like a sexual fantasy. On a woman: Drop dead gorgeous." With jasmine, fruity notes, tuberose and white musk.
L'Amandière ~ "Almond trees in blossom, bluebells, hyacinths, spring flowers, rose, green grass, jasmine and tileul (French for lime blossom), L’Amandière has a complex structure and is full of life and intelligence. I tried to include many of the scents that my girlfriend loves (including almond) and assemble them to create an imaginary, Spring orchard. If Bubblegum Chic is a fantasy than this is reality! On a woman: French kissing in a country orchard." With almond, hyacinth, lime blossom, jasmine, rose, green notes, grass, hawthorn and woods.
Agarwoud ~ "A highly precious, natural resinous extract from the forests of Vietnam and Laos, Agarwood has been used for devotion for centuries. It posses dark, woody, animal-like qualities that are an 'acquired taste'. I wanted to do a version of this scent that was elegant, contemporary and clean, yet in which the unique character of oud was instantly recognisable. On a man: Prince Siddhartha. On a woman: Once upon a time ..." With rose, oud, frankincense and ambergris.
Heeley Bubblegum Chic, L'Amandière and Agarwoud can be found now at First in Fragrance in Germany, in 50 ml for 150€.
(quotes via jamesheeley, additional information via first-in-fragrance)
The first two kind of sound like hot messes. The third is another oud.
I don’t know, I might actually like the first two if I gave them the chance. I’m just cranky about the name “Bubblegum Chic.” I like bubblegum.
But….
I don’t mind the name. Trying to remember now if it was Jean Claude Ellena that said he could smell bubblegum in jasmine? I assume that’s where it came from. Maybe.
I remember so too. But I think the bubblegum association was fostered by the banana facet of jasmine absolute.
They might have chosen the wrong bubblegum flavor!
Red fruits are better suited to rose and peony fragrances in my opinion…
talk about hot messes-there is a pseudo banana flavor used in flavoring-maybe gum, too. can’t stand it
I can’t wait to smell this. I’ve always smelled grape bubblegum in the classic tuberoses by L’artisan and MPG, and the smells of jasmine, gardenia, tuberose, bubblegum, and rootbeer are all linked in my mind. The flower in real life with the most bubblegum like scent is stephanotis. Never seen it captured in a perfume though. Oh and Serge Lutens Tubereuse Criminelle reeks of the buublegum/rootbeer note when I first spray it. Thanks Heeley, I’m excited!
Bubblegum Chic and Agarwould sounds appealing to me. Strawberry, tubereuse… Yuuum factor detected!
Hoping the strawberry is not too strong, but I’d love to smell it.
The first two sound interesting enough to sample. But not another oud perfume. *throws hands in the air* I can’t wait for that trend to end, but it looks like I’ll be waiting for a while. For extrait concentration, the prices aren’t that bad, at least.
I am really, really sick of oud. And that goes double for oud + rose.
sad but true, good oud is divine, but where to find it with all the fakes
How would you describe good oud? Most “ouds” I’ve sampled smell very medicinal.
LOL thank you! I am truly shocked at how the oud category has taken off in the last couple of years. Such bandwagon jumpers everyone is! Besides the fact that to me, oud invariably smells TERRIBLE. It makes me want to wretch!
I agree…but I have a sample of this and, wow, wow, wow. It is really beautifully done. The rose lightly shows up an hour into it. It’s more like a dusting of rose. It’s quite a fragrance. The best rose+oud combo I’ve experienced.
Bubblegum and chic shouldn’t be on the same sentence!
😛
Also strawberry and sexy.
Heeley’s PR team must be fond of oxymorons.
Too bad because I’m all for BIG jasmine fragrances, and if paired with tuberose all the better.
But red fruits – UGH. Not on white flowers, please, at least not for me.
I suppose the trend in oud will continue so as long as perfume houses cater to the huge Middle East market? I don’t normally like “fruity” scents unless they’re citrus and that name “Bubblegum Chic” is just not sexy. “Ooh, what are you wearing?” – “It’s Bubblegum Chic…” – NO.
Do people even really ever get asked what they are wearing?
Haven’t you been asked? I have frequently.
I’m almost never asked and sometimes I just KNOW I smell great 🙂
Good question. Once in the last four years. But then I usually try to avoid detectable sillage.
I can also say I haven’t worked up the nerve to ask anyone else, either.
Excited to try all of these cause Heeley makes some fantastic fragrances.
Why are a million oud fragrances worse than a zillion rose fragrances?
Gosh, I’m not seeing a million rose fragrances. Even then, oud is a VERY strong note, and because of that, oud-focused fragrances all have a tendency to smell similar to each other, far more so than rose-focused fragrances. To my nose, anyway 🙂
But will add: if every single niche line on the planet does a rose over the next 3 years, I’ll get sick of rose too.
On the other hand, there are a zillion vetivers, and vetiver is also a dominant note. I still want to smell them all, and I own several. Vetiver is not as expensive as oud, though. Perhaps that’s part of the general annoyance with oud.
Oh, I think it’s more than that — it’s the sudden avalanche of oud, which as I understand it has much to do with a new affordable synthetic. Many brands have vetiver scents, but they didn’t all get launched in the same 2-3 year period.
That’s a good point, which I tend to overlook since I only started sampling vetivers in the last three years and probably did about 20 in the first year, LOL.
And the oud avalanche is on top of the avalanche of flankers, new niche lines, niche lines releasing ten new scents a year, etc. – it’s sort of the last straw – or last bale, really. 🙂
I know – I think Robin is right in that it is a very big note, so all this oud coming at us all at once is a bit overwhelming. I’m not tired of it. though, I smell them all. Some are horrible on me and some are amazing. We could say the same for pink pepper and vanilla, but I think the main difference is the perfumes themselves are rarely named after the note like oud perfumes are.
I must be the only person who is not tired of oud. Maybe it’s because I’ve just started this whole perfume discovery thing. I like the combo of rose and oud and I’m still working my way through all the rose/oud options out there, before I buy my one FB. Looking for one with a rich elegant rose that doesn’t turn sour on my skin.
I have to admit I am not one for fruity or sweet fragrances. No honey, candy, sugar, raspberry scents for me, thank you.
You’re not alone! Probably because I’m somewhat new to the perfume obsession too. I’ve probably smelled less than 10 fragrances with oud as a central note so I still like it a lot. I hope you find your perfect rose+oud combo. Have you tried Kilian Rose Oud? It is one of the only rose based scent not to sour on my skin.
I agree, I’m not sick of oud! But I won’t pick up anything oud if it’s by someone who shouldn’t be doing oud; I made the mistake of sampling the Trish McEvoy oud. Estee Lauder oud also worries me.
LOL! Now you have me imagining Brittany Spears Fantasy Oud or some such concoction!
Hahahaha! Hilarious!
L’Amandière sounds promising but I do long for something with an element of surprise though.
Extraits de parfum? Really?
In any case, the only one that really piques my interest is L’Amandière, but I suppose I’d be interested in a sniff of the jasmine/bubblegum. At $200/50ml, I’m not sure I’ll ever get the chance.
I always ask other people what they’re wearing, but I can’t wear fragrance to work so I don’t get asked much!
“On a woman, on a woman” and on a man?
Intertested in Amandiere too… 😉
I heard about these a long time ago and talked to my Heeley rep at Barney’s, who knew nothing about them. Don’t you love working for a company and being the last to know everything? I will sniff them all when I can.
Oh, I had that experience at Nieman’s recently with the Jo Malone guy! I asked about that new floral trio that was posted here a few weeks ago and he just about went crazy. I felt so bad. He ended up trying to find it on his iPhone and not being able to, and I directed him to the NST website. LOL! He was so conscientious about it, I really felt awful because because I think I made him feel bad.
I feel like about half of my “research sniffs” at Nordies goes like that! I always leave the interaction feeling like a jerk!
(btw, “research sniffs” involve me seeking out scent recently discussed so that I know what the heck everyone is talking about, even if I have no expectation in it being a good match for me!)
LOL I had that happen at my Nordies with the Jimmy Choo parfum. Was informed by the SA it is the same as the EDP, just more concentrated. It isn’t. It was like you said a research sniff but I was tempted to buy a bottle just to take it back and point out that it’s just not the same. I didn’t because I’m not like that but SAs often don’t allow the possibility that they’re the one who might not be informed.
Bubblegum Chic actually sounds really interesting to me. I love jasmine, will give anything a try. But I really do wish they had re-thought that name. Sounds like an Escada summer release.
I love the sound of Bubblegum Chic but would not choose to pair it with a bubblegum chic outfit.
I also ordered the Tuberose/a from Creed, lotte hands that work there were appalled. They said we don’t have a Tuberosa? Any clarification on this. Either I have a great scent but it’s for summer. I got either really ropes or a perfect purchased. I was new to the creeed line but if I do want a floral. One of the beautiltiful Creed’s, Fiorisimo
Creed’s tuberose scent is called Tubereuse Indiana. It’s lovely!
Reporting in: Wearing L’Amandière today (I’m hosting a split).
It’s a beautiful, nonsweet, light floral, grassy/hay scent. Worth $4/ml? Debatable. I have to say I’m baffled sometimes by the designation “extrait” vs edp. This isn’t particularly strong. I’m getting a bit of projection with several sprays. I quite like it; need to compare to 8ème Art Vohina for similar hay/floral qualities.
Concentration is misleading, because some materials are stronger & longer lasting than other materials. You could certainly design something in Extrait concentration that would disappear in minutes, just as there are materials that will last for 12 hours in EdT concentration.
Thanks for the update though!
Just posted this elsewhere on the site, but reporting on Bubblegum Chic which I just tested. I am getting a stunning Gardenia (with jasmine and tuberose, yes) that dries down to a soft strawberry-ish bubblegum. The whole thing is very tropical, like tiare/monoi. I would have loved a tiny bit of spice, the way white gumballs have that spiciness to them? But anyway I have to say: I LOVE IT.