The first time I saw a passion fruit opened, I screamed. It’s such a bizarre-looking fruit. Totally unexpected. I wanted the fragrance to capture the experience of that first passion fruit: the shock of the unexpected, closely followed by delight. — Arielle Weinberg
And, bingo. The top notes of Arielle Shoshana Eau de Parfum, developed in collaboration with perfumer Cécile Hua, are unexpected, and like a few other shockingly fruity openings — Byredo Pulp comes to mind — they're likely to elicit a reaction. Whether that reaction is delight or horror, of course, will depend (some people love Pulp, some people think it's a hot mess). Me, I laughed, and then I added it to my buy list in case it ever comes out in a travel size.
But let's talk about Arielle Weinberg, in case any of you don't know who she is. Ari, for some years now, has been the blog mistress of Scents of Self, and that is how I originally know her. Some of you may also know her as Ari, from the comments here (she chimes in on the scent of the day every so often). In 2015 Ari opened her own perfume boutique, Arielle Shoshana, in the Fairfax, Virginia suburb of Washington, DC1 (and Angie wrote an Inside the Perfume Cabinet profile of her shortly after the shop opened). I've never met her in person, but all the same, I know her well enough electronically to warrant a disclaimer: if I had hated her fragrance, I would have just kept my mouth shut.
Now back to that opening: it's sweet, it's tart, it's loud, it's lively. I immediately started thinking of edibles, although the smell is too neon-bright to be from the produce aisle. Instead my mind turned to things like Tang done in the color of the pulp shown above, or possibly some sort of Wonka-ish sour ball with layers done up like the real fruit. It's so much fun that I was worried it might be a contender for a sequel to Erin's 5 perfumes: Great Moments in Top Notes. Turns out no. It does switch gears though; you could be smiling over the top notes at breakfast and it would still be subtle and serious enough for office-wear by the time your commute was over. The dry down is a soft saffron-y woody musk that riffs on Ari's favorite L'Artisan Safran Troublant, although you won't mistake either for the other, and a tangy overtone of fruit lingers on for quite some time. It has a milky - velvety finish, and while it's fairly close to the skin after a couple of hours, the lasting power is good.
Verdict: Job well done, Ari, and we're all proud of you and wondering where is that perfumista-bait travel size, anyway?
The quick poll — let's say you are writing a post called 5 Perfumes: Fun with Fruit. You have your first two perfumes, Byredo Pulp and Arielle Shoshana. What are your other 3?
Arielle Shoshana Eau de Parfum will debut next month, and will be $125 for 100 ml. You can buy samples now at Arielle Shoshana. The notes include passion fruit, grapefruit, rhubarb, mandarin, peach, saffron, pink pepper, cardamom, magnolia, sandalwood, ambroxan, vanilla, vetiver, iris and musk.
1. Where she converts customers from Abercrombie & Victoria's Secret to L'Artisan Parfumer La Chasse aux Papillons.
Update: Arielle Shoshana Eau de Parfum is now called Arielle Shoshana Saturday.
Three of mine (very different from each other): Plum, Bombay Bling, and d’Orange Verte Concentre
I am looking forward to trying Arielle Shoshana!
Do give it a shot!
this sounds like my kind of fragrance!!!
the only other uber fruit I can think of is Prescriptives Calyx (before Clinique took it over and tamed it)…I went through about 7+ bottles of that one….
oh wait…Pacifica’s Hawaiian Ruby Guava fits the bill too! now I need to think of just one more 🙂
Looking forward to sampling this one!!!
No 5- Orange Sanguine 🙂
do hope Ari makes a travel size eventually….
OK since citrus does not count I will add Pacifica’s Brazilian Mango Grapefruit for the mango note 🙂
and I forgot to say that i received an email that Ari is selling sample sizes with free shipping! close enough to a travel spray if one wanted to try without committing to a full bottle 🙂
Such a shame about Calyx!
And have to go look, thought Pacifica actually made a passion fruit too, which I’d totally forgotten. And not sure I ever tried it.
yes, Pacifica Star Passion Fruit and it is on sale at Ulta for half price along with bogo 50 percent so you essentially get two bottles for a total of $16.50 for BOTH! Haven’t tried it so can’t say whether or not it is good, though.
Oh my, thanks!
Fruit is tough for me. So the unexpected ones I actually like:
Hermes Jardin sur le Nil (mango)
Ferre Rose (watermelon…. it works…. composed by F Kurkdjian)
Givenchy Les Mythiques L’Interdit (amber, aldehydes and… strawberry?)
Anything with citrus, but that doesn’t count for fruit, right?
Of course citrus is fruit, but I think most of us classify it separately from other fruit, at least in perfumes. I know I do.
Make me think — Jardin Sur Le Nil deserves a flanker, with extra mango!
I adore passion fruit! This sounds like a must try 🙂
Top three..
Bombay Bling (mango)
Aedes de Venustas (rhubarb. I prefer this to Hermes Rhubarb Ecarlate)
Azemour Les Orangers (citrus chypre)
Nice picks! And do try it.
“Fun and fruity” is not really my, er, jam. But I’ll nominate these three:
Jo Malone Wild Fig and Cassis
Annick Goutal Eau de Charlotte
The long-discontinued L’Artisan Framboise Tralala (I can’t even recall whether I ever smelled it, but it has possibly my favorite fragrance name ever!)
It really is a great name! (I never did try it.)
Need to try Aris fruity fun! Sounds so tempting.Fun with fruit for me is:
Jardin Sur Le Nil
Le Parfum de Therese
Vittoria Apuana
Therese, yes!
Just passion fruit, Onda by Vero Profumo EDP, and vetiver.
Wonderful scent.
I will always remember Nigella Lawson making a passion fruit/meringue confection, that resembled bird sh!t. LOL
She devoured it with such a full throated lust (her trademark in my opinion) , that I immediately became a fan.
I went to a dinner party a few years later and the host had made the dessert.
Delicious, tart and sweet, but still looking like BS. LOL
😉
Bear you crack me up…I have a pinky ring that had my maiden name initials BS…used to bug me as a kid but now I rather like it….
Ok, will have to look up that recipe!
Nigella’s cookbooks give me the impression that the U.K. is bursting at the seams with passion fruit, a paradise of easy access compared to the U.S. I burn with jealousy every time I flip past a passion fruit trifle or passion fruit curd while looking for one of her more Virginia-friendly recipes.
Her cookbooks always make me feel guilty for not having a great relationship with my fishmonger. But there are no fishmongers in these parts!
L’Artisan Ananas Fizz
Guerlain AA Pamplelune
CB I Hate Perfume Gathering Apples
Of course, Ananas Fizz! And love Gathering Apples.
Leaving off citrus, my three would be CSP Vanille Banane, Imaginary Authors Cape Heartache, and Tauerville Fruitchouli.They all make my laugh a bit.
You know, I need to try Vanille Banane again. If they still make it?
Keiko Mecheri “Ume” (Plum)
L’Artisan “Mure et Musc Extreme” (Blackberry)
Etat Libre d’Orange “Afternoon of a Faun” (Raspberry)
Hermes “Rose Ikebana” (Rhubarb).
There’s one too many there, but if I keep schtum and look all innocent, maybe no-one will notice.
*And technically rhubarb is a vegetable anyway…
We don’t need to get technical — rhubarb is a fruit and avocado is a vegetable 🙂
Ari’s perfume does sound like fun and I hope to be able to sniff it.
I picked 3 that have existed in some amount my collection and enjoyed:
Perfumes de Nicolas L’Eau a la Folie
MDCI Peche Cardinale
Worth Courtesan
Folie is a great scent, and not worn enough!
OH, LIKE YOU GUYS DIDN’T SCREAM WHEN YOU SAW THAT EDIBLE-NIGHTMARE-MASQUERADING-AS-A-FRUIT, TOO.
I have clicked through Now Smell This at least once a day for more than ten years. I don’t know how to even begin to say how grateful and how lucky I feel to read this post. Thank you, Robin, NST, and every single corner of the perfume blogiverse.
Top 5 Fruity is tough! I don’t spend a lot of time in that section of the perfume pool, probably because fruit and fruity florals dominated mainstream perfumery for most of my formative years. (Yes, young whippersnappers, there was life before Flowerbomb!) Let’s say:
L’Artisan Ananas Fizz (I thiiiink? It’s been years since I’ve smelled it, but I remember it being wonderful)
YSL Yvresse
Diptyque Philosykos
Re: smaller sizes! The least favorite phrase I learned during the eight month process of developing AS EDP was “minimum order quantity”. Our bottle does come in (adorable!) 15 and 30 ml options; the minimum order quantity for either of those size options was NINE THOUSAND BOTTLES. (For context, the minimum order quantity for the 100 ml was just over 1,000 bottles. I suspect that many of the smaller brands that opt for only one size do so in the face of similar numbers.) We will do our very best to sell enough Arielle Shoshana to be able to take that 9,000 bottle plunge! 🙂
Holy crap. That’s a lot of tiny bottles. Good luck on making it to that level of sales!
And my sincerest congratulations on the birth of your new fragrance. What an amazing development.
You know I was just kvetching because I can — I know there are many reasons that brands don’t do smaller sizes. But you also know we won’t complain if it’s in a plainer bottle 🙂
Do you ship outside of the US, Ari? what I’m really asking is do you ship to Canada?
Congrats Ari!
I hope I can smell it one day
That’s really interesting about the 9,000 minimum. I knew there had to be a reason but would never have guessed.
That’s probably why so many 15 ml bottles come in plain cylinder atomizers. Maybe you could consider that at some point in the future.
Passion fruit… it may look a little weird but the scent and flavour is fabulous! I just tried jackfruit for the first time and it’s quite a lovely flavour and interesting texture as well. I have to agree with the original Calyx from Prescriptives. God it was good! Always got compliments when wearing it.
I’ll add Pamplelune, Rhubarbe Ecarlate and vintage Eau d’Hadrien which I first bought in ’89. Much juicer back then!
Calyx was amazing. It had a crappy shelf life, but it was still amazing.
Congratulations, Ari!
l’artisan mandarine
cartier zeste de soleil
hermes pamplemousse rose
A very cheerful trio 🙂
Great job, Ari! The notes sound wonderful! For what it’s worth, I probably would have screamed if I saw the opened fruit in person – it looks like oozing boogers. That said, here are my fruity picks:
Slumberhouse Kiste
NVC Bombay Bling
Mugler Angel Eau Sucree
My tolerance for sweet is high 🙂
Ha, thanks for that visual image!
yay for Ari! Passion in perfume, how perfect. Very much looking forward to sniffing AS EdP.
I adore passion fruit, especially the way the flavor and scent can vary from one piece of fruit to the next. One passion fruit will be tropical and tart, another will smell/taste funky and deep.
The poll makes me realize I have have very little experience with fruit in perfume. I’m stretching here, so my three would be
Vanille Galante (banana – it’s there if I sniff sort of sideways)
Muguet Porcelaine (melon – just a whiff and I love it)
Terracotta (coconut – buried under flowers)
Those are indeed stretching it, but sniffing sideways makes it worth it.
There is definitely banana in Vanille Galante!!
I’m generally not a fan of fruit in perfume, but there are a few that I like. Osmanthus is a flower, but smells like apricot/leather in SL Daim Blond and Auphorie Miyako. I love the soft and refined rose-plum in BK Liaisons Dangereuses, and I also have a soft spot for the kitschy strawberry note in Escada Summer in Provence.
Thanks for this thoughtful review, Robin! I sniffed an earlier mod of Arielle Shoshana in January and am really jazzed for the launch in early June.
I forgot to add, I like Roudnitska’s melon in FM Le Parfum de Therese, Dior Eau Sauvage, and Diorella.
Yes! My favorite melons too.
I think I don’t like fruity then realize I love Bombay Bling, Bracken Woman, which has a tart berry thing going on before it goes more fern-y, which I love, and Kiste. Also the peachy chypre of Shangra La. Looking forward to trying this one!
It’s actually hard to like perfume if you really hate all fruit 🙂
I know I just realized that after I posted! Citrus! I think what I don’t love are gourmands, although that likely isn’t accurate either. ????
Listen, I always thought I didn’t like incense at all, but fell head over heels for Bois d’Encens, which is all about incense.
Off the top of my head, Ineke’s Scarlet Larkspur for a very perky and fun cherry, Pear + Olive is less sparkly but makes me think of pear flavored jelly beans, Isis for pineapple milkshake, and Debaser has a wonderfully fruity fig. It seems that I quite enjoy fruity scents because I sure have a good selection. I’m looking forward to trying Arielle Shoshana.
Congratulations, Ari!
Hey, who makes Isis?
Marks & Spencer Isis is an aquatic (with a name change coming, I think) so I am guessing it is Agonist Isis which has fruit and vanilla. I have not smelled the Agonist, but the Marks & Spencer does not have anything near pineapple in my memory.
Thanks!
Yep, it’s the Agonist. It’s one of the sweet gourmands I actually like.
I love fruit in perfume and find it hard to pin down a favourite. Fraîche passiflore, Rockin’ Rio (I know, I ought to know better), Quel Amour, Calyx, Emotionelle, Thérèse, Diorella, Charlotte, Petite Chérie, Eau Turquoise, Eau Exotique, Eau à la Folie, Balkis, Philosykos and Ninfeo Mio if one includes Figs, Un jardin après la Mousson, Un jardin sur le Nil …
Will this delicious sounding fragrance become available in Europe at all?
I’m sorry I don’t know — hopefully Ari will answer?
I liked Rockin’ Rio, too. I bought a cheap decant to pass on to a young relative, had a quick sniff, and nearly kept it for myself. If my budget were a bit more commodious, I would probably have a bottle.
I once saw Ari when she was working at Osswald and was too much in awe to tell her I read her blog 😛
My other three fun and fruity fragrances would be….
1) Emotionnelle, Parfums DelRae
So this is a bit polarizing but it’s the most bombastic melon scent ever. I’ not usually a fan of melon but this was so shocking and over the top I just really appreciated it. (Much the same was I feel about Byredo Pulp, but this one is less tart and ‘acidic’)
2) Bombay Bling!, Neela Vermeire
I get more of the blackcurrant than mango from BB, which is excellent because I’m allergic to mango, so the associations aren’t prime. This is just so buzzy and animated, you have to love it. (Blackcurrant HMs go to MdO Tubereuse, and Enchanted Forest)
3) 1804 George Sand, Histoires de Parfums
I love this summery pineapple thing. It’s big and juicy and tart and sweet.
(And if I were allowed to add one more it would be Olympic Orchids Tropic of Capricorn, which is like a mango in a rainforest. Fruity, but also very animalic and dirty.)
I almost added Tropic of Capricorn but figured everyone was sick of hearing my adoration 😉
It is absolutely gorgeous, isn’t it?
Oh, I hate Emotionelle but it ought to be on the list, absolutely!
I can’t say I wear it either 😛
I’m allergic to fresh mangoes too! Touching the sap causes a rash.
I only know that if I eat them my throat constricts and makes breathing very difficult, but I don’t know if I’d get a reaction from touching them- I’ve stayed far away since I figured it out! 😛
Sample bought. On it’s way. This sounds too good to miss.
Hope you’ll like it!
Years ago British teenagers were visiting us in South Africa and saw their first fresh passion fruit (we call them granadillas). They were most surprised by them!
My top three fruits (and I ADORE Pulp):
Ananas Fizz, lucky to still have some
Kenzo 7:15 am in Bali, which I’ve never seen mentioned anywhere, it was a travel exclusive in 2008 – gorgeous orange-vanilla fruitshake
Ninfeo Mio, though the powerful figgyness sometimes grates
Lovely fruit trio! I remember that Kenzo series, as well as the travel series on flowering trees. Wish they’d kept them up.