Féerie, by Van Cleef & Arpels features an unusual bottle design: the cap is metal (or metal-like?) and features a fairy sitting on a twig (it was inspired by their Midsummer Night’s Dream jewelry collection). From what I’ve read so far, it’s probably shaping up to be one of those love-it-or-hate-it bottles, but my own initial reaction was ambivalent. After seeing it in person, however, I’m firmly in the hate-it camp. The blue glass bottle is pretty, but the “sculpture” on top just isn’t as luxe as its price*, and it’s all a bit twee for my taste — my taste, apparently, runs more towards plastic doll heads. Besides that, even the sales associate acknowledged that eventually, you’re gonna poke your eye out with that thing.

The scent, advertised as a woody floral violet by perfumer Antoine Maisondieu, started out difficult on paper: a screechingly-pitched blast of sweet berry over creamy-powdery violet (the notes: violet, red berries, mandarin, rose, jasmine, iris and vetiver). It gets nicer (and drier) soon enough, but it’s markedly better on skin, where the top notes fade from cloying to merely sweet much faster, and the earthy base helps to balance it out…

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