Cire Trudon, one of my favorite candle-makers, has released two new perfumes: Elae and Médie (both by perfumer Yann Vasnier). Of Trudon's first round of five perfumes, I liked two and loved one: Olim.
Elae
(bergamot, apple, neroli, ylang-ylang, jasmine, tuberose, sandalwood, akigalawood, benzoin); 100 ml Eau de Parfum, $210
Elae begins with bergamot, sweet jasmine, tuberose and a tart "apple" aroma. Elae's apple note has a green/unripe character. This fruity note also reminds me of young pineapple (at low volume) and the scent of those hard-as-rocks strawberries that ship from California all year. Elae's fruity tartness increases (verging on screechy) till the dry down when things go soft and sweet again. A diffuse, synthetic-smelling sandalwood blended with 'beige' musk is Elae's destination. Elae is a bland fruity-floral; its type of fragrance always smells "mid-market"/status quo to me. Elae skews feminine and lasts (with good projection) for about 4-5 hours.
Médie
(grapefruit, green mandarin, angelica, jasmine, cypress, pepperwood, cedar, incense, akigalawood); 100 ml Eau de Parfum, $210
Médie starts with a burst of grapefruit, followed by decidedly fake-smelling green mandarin (think mandarin mixed with bitter aspirin). What follows is standard-issue cologne: a hint of 'sweat' from the grapefruit, hazy-to-the-point-of-undetectable "woods," all stale smelling, with a "man cologne: sport" vibe. For $210, you can easily buy THREE great citrus perfumes with more character than Médie.
Verdict: snake eyes; overpriced, under-realized, been-there/done that. Whoever is designing Cire Trudon's gutsier candle scents should do the perfumes. Or maybe Trudon, the company, wants to stake the zillionth claim to derivative perfume collections.
I completely agree with your views on both of these. I tried them last weekend, and thought they were both OK, but nothing special, and I wouldn’t want to wear either of them.
Gaynor: I was expecting so much more from them
Nailed it on the head with these. Elae starts out pretty enough but ends up reminding me of Ralph Lauren Romance which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but I expect much more from Trudon.
sugarvenom: at first I wondered if they had given me a wrong sample…but no.
I’d love perfumes that smelled like their ‘Ernesto’ & ‘Carmelite’ candles Instead of this overpriced bland nonsense.
nathant50: wouldn’t they be great! So many of the candles would be wonderful perfumes.
I totally agree! The perfumes are very underwhelming, considering how great their candles are.
Cire Trudon, ya burnt!
pun intended
Ha!
Regina: HAHA! Good one.
I agree that these two are duds, which is too bad as the candles are so good and I really liked two of the initial perfume releases. Plus I love the bottles. But these two. Meh or worse.
Amy: I wish I knew how the entire Trudon fragrance line is selling….
Kevin, I just clicked the link to your review of Olim. I don’t have Jicky (but I do have L’Apres Ondee). Would you recommend Olim over Jicky EDP?
Dilana: I’d choose Olim but you should do a side-by-side with samples I think! I’d happily wear either and I’ve worn Jicky for years and years. My preference for Olim may just be it’s “New” but still familiar?