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Browsing by tag: henri almeras

Jean Patou Moment Supreme ~ perfume review

Posted by Angela on 3 April 2017 29 Comments

Jean Patou Moment Suprême, vintage advert with background extended

Pardon the name-drop, but a little more than three years ago, through a lucky set of circumstances, I met Thomas Fontaine, the Jean Patou house perfumer.1 For me, it was an amazing afternoon of seeing what a real perfumer’s lab looks like, tasting jasmine and rose Pierre Hermé macarons, and talking fragrance with someone who lives and breathes a world I’ve mostly only read about.

One thing in particular sticks in my memory. Talking about Joy, Fontaine mentioned walking past women — mostly older women — in the street and inhaling their lush, complex sillage, “like a fur.” He described this style of fragrance as “old fashioned.” I bet Fontaine would say the same thing about Moment Suprême…

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Jean Patou Colony, Ma Collection & Heritage Collection ~ fragrance review

Posted by Angela on 7 September 2015 14 Comments

Jean Patou Colony Heritage Collection

There is now an uneasy feeling in France. The sky grows dark and rumours of war are abroad. There is a longing to be somewhere else. People dream of a warmer sun and wider horizons. As if in answer to these dreams and longings, Jean Patou produces a new scent, Colony — a scent evocative of sun-ripened fruit, the melting aroma of spices and the blue-black manes of Creole girls.

This is the description of Colony, launched in 1938, from the booklet that accompanied the 1984 Jean Patou Ma Collection set of minis of old Patou fragrances, including Colony. To me, it’s a good description of the Ma Collection Colony (assuming that Creole girls’ hair smells like pineapple, of course). I’ve never smelled the original Colony, developed by perfumer Henri Alméras.

The press release accompanying this year’s Jean Patou Héritage Collection reissue of Colony informs us that “The new fragrance will be a modern adaptation of the historic Colony scent.” Reading this sent shivers down my neck…

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Jean Patou Chaldee, ancienne et nouvelle ~ fragrance reviews

Posted by Kevin on 13 August 2014 14 Comments

Sunbaker

Ages ago, I came across, and bought, an unopened box of Jean Patou Ma Collection: Parfums d’Epoque 1925-1964. The glossy black box contained small bottles of 12 Patou perfumes: Amour Amour, Que Sais-Je?, Adieu Sagesse, Chaldée, Moment Suprême, Cocktail, Divine Folie, Normandie, Vacances, Colony, L’Heure Attendue and Câline.

Of all the perfumes in Ma Collection, two stayed in my mind over the years — Chaldée and Colony (maybe the first time I smelled pineapple in a fragrance). Today, I’m reviewing Chaldée in two forms: as it was re-released in 1984, and in today’s Collection Héritage range…

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Jean Patou Joy ~ perfume review

Posted by Angela on 14 January 2008 137 Comments

Jean Patou Joy fragrance

When I first smelled Jean Patou Joy, I thought, “What’s the big deal?” Here was an iconic fragrance, reputedly the most expensive perfume in the world (this was before Clive Christian hit the scene), and Jackie O’s favorite. To me, though, Joy smelled ho-hum. Sure, it wasn’t offensive, but it didn’t excite, either.

Well, I was crazy. Now I recognize Joy for what it is: a classic, womanly, gorgeously balanced scent. It is the olfactory equivalent of a 1950s Dior dinner suit — flattering, adaptable, and luxurious down to its hand-basted seams.

Henri Alméras created Joy in 1930, just after the stock market crash that launched the Great Depression…

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Jean Patou Mon Amour: the Ma Collection fragrances, part one

Posted by Angela on 5 June 2006 26 Comments

Jean Patou Ma Collection fragrances

Before I knew anything about Jean Patou’s Ma Collection, I saw the bottles of perfume lined up in an out of the way glass case in my local perfume shop, the Perfume House in Portland. I adored the names — Adieu Sagesse, Que Sais-Je, Divine Folie — and the bottles were curved and lovely, each packaged in a box that reminded me of Sonia Delaunay’s paintings. (The bottles’ labels, on the other hand, have a homemade, fresh-from-the-laser-jet look.)

Patou’s Ma Collection consists of twelve fragrances originally launched between 1925 and 1964, then re-released in 1984…

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