Let's say you like the idea of a classic big white floral, but they don't generally suit you. Or to be more specific, let's say you like the idea of Robert Piguet Fracas, but you'd prefer to wear something a little cleaner, a little less ripe. The new McQueen Eau de Parfum might be perfect for you.
Do be warned, McQueen Eau de Parfum is not all that much lighter: it's still a big white floral, with all that implies: it's creamy, rich and sweet.1 The sweetness is apparent right from the opening, where the (floral) sugar mingles with plenty of clove and plenty of pepper, both black and pink, all over bright (and slightly loud) fruity citrus. There's all the tuberose, jasmine and ylang you'd expect, but none of the indoles; it's smooth and tame enough to sell on modern perfume counters. The tuberose is not quite so de-clawed (or watery, or office-friendly) as say, Diptyque Do Son, but still, the end result feels more pampered than dangerous. The base is your usual pale and clean woody musk —thankfully not quite laundry detergent, but no skank either — with a smidgen of earthiness under a light dusting of powder. The lasting power is decent.
Verdict: I like little white florals and big white florals, and my tolerance for indoles does have limits, but I generally prefer a few claws or thorns when I can get them. The more they've let a flower smell something like it might in nature, the better, in my book. I adore Fracas, and when I'm not in the mood for Fracas, there's always Frédéric Malle Carnal Flower or Hiram Green Moon Bloom. So I did not mind wearing McQueen, but it's a little too lady-like to threaten my budget arrangements. I will say that it's well done and reasonably sophisticated, and if it is not perhaps the edgy thing that hardcore Kingdom fans were hoping for, at least it isn't a wishy-washy pink fruity floral?
If McQueen is too creamy and rich for you, do try the likewise big but airier Estee Lauder Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia.2 If it's too expensive, Madonna's Truth or Dare can be found for peanuts.
If you tried the Extrait, do comment and tell us how it is!
McQueen Eau de Parfum by Alexander McQueen is available in 50 ($115) or 75 ($165) ml.
1. And of course, there are already plenty of Diet Fracas models to choose from, from L'Artisan La Chasse aux Papillons to Piguet's own Douglas Hannant de Robert Piguet or, if you want some chocolate with your Fracas, Petit Fracas.
2. Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia is also pretty darned lady-like. I own it but probably only wear it a few times a year. If I didn't own it, and if there weren't now so many perfumes coming out every month that no fragrance style seems rare, McQueen might also be more tempting.
Nice review Robin. Thank you.
Do you know anything about the inspiration behind the bottle and cap designs?
I don’t know much. I do know the gold feathers on the extrait bottle were to reflect the heavy use of feathers in the fashion line (see third picture here: http://www.thecityreview.com/mcqueenmet.html) , and maybe also that the scent was supposed to be night flowers for night owls (Sarah Burton said it was for night owls at any rate). And the cap, on both the extrait and edp: “a lacquered cap covered with a grid of tiny studs, meant to mimic the texture of fabric.”
Oh, better shot of that wedding ensemble here:
https://fashionasalifestyle.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/gold-feather-jacket.jpg
I have very recently come over to the BWF Dark Side, and am loving Hermes D’Jour Gardenia (thank you Brenda!) as well as the original Carolina Hererra.
Do you think this would be something I should check out? The clove and pepper notes sound great to me as well.
Jour is so pretty! (I don’t remember the original Carolina Herrera very well.)
Sure, do try this one, but I would not cross the ends of the earth for it 🙂
I’ll have to hope someone is selling samples somewhere … I darn near do have to cross the ends of the earth for anything other than Wal-Mart!
Well, good luck, but not sure it is worth chasing down. Have you tried Fracas?
Fracas is too much for me. Tuberose is so hard for me. The ones I seem to like best tend to smell like gardenia. I don’t like the types that smell like hot butter or bubblegum or make my throat feel scratchy.
I should probably just stick to gardenia!
Ah, did you try Narciso by Narciso Rodriguez? The EdP version is gardenia.
No fragrance category seems rare? Are there some new leather chypres I don’t know about? **leans forward panting eagerly**
HA, well of course that’s cheating, IMHO there are no proper chypres anywhere. But I’d be very surprised if there wasn’t a new leather that somebody was calling a chypre.
So I’ve mentioned being afraid of Fracas. This may be my Fracas stand-in. I’m pretty sure the Sniffapalooza Lunch Loot included a sample of McQueen. Please perfume gods, don’t make me afraid of this one, too.
L’Artisan’s La Chasse Extreme is also worth a shot, but I have not smelled a new version in years and I know some people have anosmia issues with it. And would guess you’ve already tried it!
I liked this the first time I tried it but the second and third time I was less convinced. My favorite tuberose scents have a cooling feel to them – like Tubereuse Criminelle and even Tuberose Gardenia. This one made me feel sort of feverish and restless (though not quite so extreme as those words suggest).
One reviewer pointed out that it smells quite strongly of cooking rice and I think this together with the pepper and tuberose, this combo just rubs me up the wrong way.
Same — I was more impressed on first try than I was after living with it awhile.
I wanted to love this. I did love it. I love all BWFs. It just doesn’t last on me. At all. In fact, I was trying to smell it on myself and instead I only smelled the closed bottle of Japanese Cherry Blossom across the office. Does it last on any of you? If so, you’re lucky!