Jardins D’Écrivains Marlowe perfume was named for playwright and poet Christopher Marlowe. I know little about Mr. Marlowe, his life or work, but "his" perfume smells like a memorial: it's antique, faded.
When I first read Marlowe's listed ingredients, "opulent" osmanthus, "poisonous" tuberose, "tragic" dried flowers, myrrh, elemi, oak moss, labdanum, "tonkin" musk and leather, I expected a rich, syrupy brew, dense and enveloping. Not so! Marlowe smells like a waxy wooden armoire (stuffed with winter-weight wool, velvet and silk clothing, old leather boots and belts) that's been opened after a hot summer. These clothes and the person who wore them are from a pre-dry-cleaning age; the clothes retain the aromas of dried sweat and tears, powders and pomades and musks. Tossed into the armoire are slivers of stale soap, bundles of dried flowers, and a few clove-studded orange pomanders on the verge of disintegration. Together, these scents produce a strange, almost-spooky smell I associate with death; not flesh-and-blood or mortuary death, but the sensation one gets when opening a trunk full of ancient items that belonged to a dead person (the attic in my childhood home in Virginia was full of such trunks).
I'm not going to discuss fragrance notes or head/heart/base structure here, because the perfume is what it is — from the very start: a blend of notes that reminds me of withered bouquets (turning to powder), salty human scent, musty leathers. Marlowe also reminds me of Jardins d'Écrivains' last offering, Junky, but "cleaner." It also brought to mind, gulp, Etat Libre d'Orange Sécrétions Magnifiques (but with the sécrétions dried and aged). I felt a sense of unease-quease while wearing Marlowe; I was fascinated by it but at the same time I wanted to wash it off. As always, don't dismiss a perfume based on my reaction; I thank the perfumer and Jardins d'Écrivains for making thought-worthy, unconventional fragrances. If I ever dress up in drag for Halloween, I'll be Elvira, Lily Munster or Morticia Addams...and drench myself in Marlowe.
Jardins d'Écrivains Marlowe Eau de Parfum Mixte (unisex) is $110 for 100 ml. For buying information, see the listing for Jardins d'Écrivains under Perfume Houses.
Note: top image [altered] via Wikimedia Commons.
Gosh your review is damning. Handsome, mysterious, and brilliant Marlowe would be better represented by a scent akin to Chergui, or even…dah dah dahhhhh Encre Noire.
Oakland…or a tobacco scent….
Agreed. Lusty, hot blooded and perhaps a proto-spy deserves a lush, beautiful scent that would make one want to at the very least have an embrace!
Somehow I always imagined Morticia wearing Fracas. She was always way too sexy and elegant for her suburban surroundings.
Dilana…but she removed all flowers from her flower arrangements, ha!
I know the attic trunk smell you mentioned, I feel I have tried to avoid that smell my whole life.
Exactly.
Lilly, it’s a sad smell
To paraphrase the great poet:
“Was this the scent that launch’d a thousand ships,
And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?”
Sounds like a no.
???? ha!
Yes I’m glad someone out there is still making perfumes and colognes that aren’t the equivalent of febreeze in a fancy bottle…ahem, dior….
Please review the new Moschino windex perfume if you can, I’m dying to read that review!
Chandler, I think Seattle is a Moschino-free zone!
I tremble to think what my being intrigued by this says about me!
I quite like dry fragrances, and wouldn’t mind smelling like a waxy, wooden wardrobe!
Jolie…go for it!
Thanks for the review, Kevin. Would love it if you could review the new seasonal candle offerings from Cire Trudon and Diptyque. Thanks!
michael: you’re welcome! (and yikes, just did the math…it would cost $415 to review those candles. HA! Rare to get a candle “sample.”)
Yikes, indeed! Thanks for doing the math, though.
There are some new ones also by Byredo, but I’m still not convinced by the hype surrounding the brand. Flashy and prolific make me suspicious.
Eeek, sounds like what a zombie would smell like right before it starts to decay.
hajusuuri: ha! Yes, pre-decay…a good tie-in with “The Walking Dead!”
I think if you’ve ever smelled Nocturnes by Caron, you have already smelled what Marlowe does, but the Caron is prettier and less expensive. I say skip the Marlowe.
I know I have a high bar when it comes to originality in fragrance, but I always have high hopes that niche lines will not simply tweak an existing fragrance and sell it with the bottle/price/ad copy. I just doused myself in Marlowe to make sure I was reading this right. I wish I’d picked up the Nocturnes instead.