Estée Lauder will launch Private Collection Jasmine White Moss in July. The third perfume in the modern Private Collection series (it follows Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia and Private Collection Amber Ylang Ylang) is based on an unfinished fragrance that Estée Lauder herself had been working on in the 1980s.
Private Collection Jasmine White Moss is a green floral chypre…
Jasmin Noir is the latest feminine fragrance from Bvlgari, and it’s positioned to attract a “new consumer looking for something more prestigious” — that is, it’s more expensive than the other fragrances in the line. I would say I was cautiously looking forward to it; I adore jasmine, and a big, dark jasmine is always welcome, but the foody notes did not sound entirely appealing (the list: green sap, gardenia, sambac jasmine absolute, satin almond, precious woods, tonka bean and licorice).
As it turns out, Jasmin Noir is not a big, dark jasmine anyway, or at least, maybe it isn’t. The opening is citrus-y green and rather sweet…
Pavillon des Fleurs is the debut fragrance from Septimanie Perfumes. The ad copy calls it a “luminous and refined fragrance” and a “sonata of white flowers”, but Angela described it more bluntly in an email as “a good wallop of jasmine”. Who doesn’t love a good wallop of jasmine? (If you’re thinking: uh, me, then move on to the next post, there’s nothing else to see here today.)
Pavillon des Fleurs starts out, actually, with a little slap of jasmine, lightened by orange blossom and a touch of citrus, and only slowly builds up to the goodly wallop stage, although do bear in mind that I’m trying it from a vial…
Among the many repercussions of severe fragrance addiction is that eventually, your critical eye (nose?) is cast upon everyday functional products you used to enjoy. I find this especially true with haircare products, which tend to be heavily, and often unfortunately, scented. The banana aroma of Joico's Intensive Moisture Treatment conditioner, which I don't think I used to even notice, now nauseates me, and the smell of another longtime favorite, L'Oreal Nature's Therapy Mega Moisture Nurturing Creme, became so unbearable I had to give it up entirely.
So back in December, when I was formatting the article on Perfume: The Best of 2007 and I saw that Kevin had included a jasmine shampoo by Oscar Blandi in his list of favorites, I sat up and took notice…
Sarrasins was the latest fragrance to join the exclusive (i.e., not exported) collection at Serge Lutens. It launched last year, and was described as a velvety floral, built around “a stunningly beautiful jasmine, gloved in jet-black ink”. The notes include jasmine, carnation, woods, musk and coumarin.
I read quite a few reviews of Sarrasins* before I smelled it, but as sometimes happens, I had already developed an idea of the scent in my head shortly after seeing the bottle and reading the ad copy (the “gloved in jet-black ink” and also “a sumptuous jasmin which smoothes its fur… A sigh of time”). So despite all evidence to the contrary, I was expecting — and looking forward to — a big huge skanky jasmine, dark and possibly rather scary…