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 Collection Heritage Patou Pour Homme ~ fragrance review

Posted by Kevin on 18 June 2014 21 Comments

Jean Patou Collection Heritage Patou Pour Homme

Jean Patou Collection Héritage (i.e., reformulated) Patou Pour Homme¹ arrived on my doorstep (invited) last week. Patou Pour Homme, Jr., may have been shocked, and intimidated, to learn that years ago I was physically involved with his father, Patou Pour Homme, Sr., who used to cling to me from neck to stomach and points south. I can’t remember how long ago it was that I owned a bottle of original Patou Pour Homme² (it was released in 1980), but I bought it around the same time I purchased Patou Pour Homme Privé, which came out in 1994.

I have not smelled original Patou Pour Homme in ages, but I remember it as a dense and sumptuous perfume…

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Jean Patou Joy Forever ~ fragrance review

Posted by Angela on 30 September 2013 41 Comments

Jean Patou Joy Forever advert

On my desk, in thick bond paper of the slightly elongated size standard in France, lays a press release from Jean Patou. Below the image of a perfume bottle are the words “Joy Hier, Joy Aujourd’hui, Joy Forever.”

However, the press release isn’t for Joy, but for a new fragrance, Joy Forever, intended to update the classic. Creating a contemporary companion to Joy is a tall order. Audacious, even. For one thing, it assumes that Joy is out of fashion. For another — well, Joy is an icon.

Jean Patou’s house perfumer, Thomas Fontaine, explained it this way: “Women today have difficulty ‘reading’ Joy.” He said that classic Joy is a wall of scent with just a hint of a bright prelude before settling into its signature interplay of rose and indolic jasmine. He said when someone on the street is wearing Joy, her wrapping (Fontaine, in English, repeatedly used “wrapping” instead of “sillage,” and it was so charming and evocative that I want to adopt it myself) is “lush and thick.” But as he points out, it’s not a style people are used to smelling anymore…

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Lubin Korrigan, Galaad & Akkad ~ fragrance review

Posted by Angela on 3 June 2013 16 Comments

Lubin Korrigan packaging Lubin Korrigan bottle, front view

Three fragrance launches by the same perfume house at the same time can be overwhelming. When samples of Lubin Korrigan, Galaad and Akkad Eaux de Parfum arrived, it was easy to toss them aside with the intention of giving them a thorough going-over some time later. “Later” turned into months.

This week, discouraged by a few department store fragrances I sampled and couldn’t bear, I dug out the Lubins. My faith in modern perfumery is restored.

Korrigan was developed by perfumer Thomas Fontaine and has notes of leather, wild apple, juniper, saffron, cognac, lavender, ambrette, cedar, oud, vetiver and musk. Supposedly, Fontaine modeled the fragrance after an imaginary tree called “Caramel Wood.” From that description, I expected a sweet, two-dimensional fragrance…

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