The random experiment

This is one of those fragrances that truly must be sampled blind. Because I did just that. By mistake. And now I’m humbled because it is a perfume I had all sorts of preconceived notions about – basically I assumed I didn’t like it. A friend of mine dared me to do a blind sniff - he chose something and sprayed me with it. I had absolutely no idea what it was. And the fact that I’d never given this stuff the time of day before only made the process more intriguing because it was familiar yet it wasn’t. I couldn’t imagine how he had taken a perfume from my room, sprayed me with it, and I didn’t know what it was. One thing was for sure: I did know that I liked it. And I liked it more and more as the hours past. And eventually I gave up and had to ask what on earth I had been sprayed with (it's a sad thing when a perfumista admits defeat).

I’ll tell you what I smelled. I smelled rose immediately. Not a fresh floral rose but a deep abstract rose with loads of sweet spices and darkness. I knew I was smelling roses, spices, definitely saffron which was blazing a rather medicinal trail and the whole thing was rolled up in a cloud of sweetness. Roses + spices + saffron + dark syrupy sweetness. But not too sweet for me to wear. It seemed to walk a fine line between syrupy sweetness and woody dark spices and medicinal saffron. This wasn't gourmand or was it? I ended up thinking it was not really gourmand, just at the doorway, the edge of gourmand.

I admit to nearly losing my mind during the 4-5 hours when I did not know what this fragrance was. Why is it so important to know what it is? I kept thinking that it shouldn’t matter what it is – I knew I liked it – so why did I need to put a label on it – why was I losing it to find out the brand – find out the notes – found out the perfumer - and put the whole beautiful scent in a preconceived little bucket tied with a knot and stored away? I realized I don’t sniff with an open mind. I realize that if I’m told I’m sniffing Guerlain or Chanel or Dawn Spencer Hurwitz or Olivia Giacombetti this all means something very specific to me – and will result in how much I like the fragrance, how artistic I find the fragrance, how exceptional I think the ingredients are...these are all little assumptions, you know? Well, this time I didn’t have my blinders on. I was completely bare and naked to this scent – this particular scent - who was rather intoxicating. And I must tell you, once I found out what it was, I felt a bit ashamed, like I shouldn’t like it so much. But I will not do that, I will not ruin this experience by over thinking the stuff now that I have it’s proper labels. I will now tell you that it is Keiko Mecheri Gourmandises and it is amazing. If I sprayed you with this stuff and told you it was Guerlain or Serge Lutens believe me you’d swoon your socks right off.

Notes are listed as: praline, rose petals, jam, saffron, musk.

Longevity is excellent and the sweetness tempers after the first 15 minutes. It has the start of a syrupy Montale but it quickly morphs into a beautiful sweet rose saffron & spice fragrance.