Week-end a Deauville (WaD) is a pleasant surprise. When I read about the two springy launches from PdN last year I was most interested to try Violette in Love. Violette in Love was nice enough but it didn’t knock any of my favorite violet fragrances off their pedestals. I took my sweet time getting around to buying a bottle of WaD and lo and behold this is the easy winner of the two.Why do perfume houses do this to us Americans and make certain fragrances exclusive to Paris (or Europe?). Is there a financial/profit issue I’m not understanding? For instance, I’m trying to get a bottle of Roja Dove Scandal and the Roja Dove website is under construction and I don’t think the other stores that carry it ship to the U.S. Week-end a Deauville is another one of these non-exports. So, this is another reason why it took me a lot longer to try this little gem.
Weekend a Deauville is a bright, cheery, sparkling, effervescent, dry citrusy floral chypre (enough adjectives for you?). It reminds me of Chanel Cristalle except without the sharp galbanum claws; in comparison WaD is a gentle little pussy cat who is so darn adorably soft and purrs so happily on my skin. I like Cristalle but sometimes she just claws me up a bit. I don’t think The Scented Salamander was as taken with WaD as I am. She describes it as simply pretty and nice for a casual weekend getaway, making the name perfectly fitting. I agree with The Scented Salamander where she writes that this is an unusual chypre in that it’s casual. Most chypres strike me as rather formal fragrances, too, but WaD is resolutely fun, fresh and flirtatious; words I would not normally use to describe a chypre.
For a citrusy chypre, WaD’s longevity is exceptional. Usually citrus notes are the most fleeting but here the combination of citrus and galbanum last and last. This is a huge accomplishment in my book. Week-end a Deauville begins citrusy and green and actually stays this way. The florals are lily of the valley, hyacinth, mimosa and rose and I don’t detect any of these individually, and the overall floral thrust seems an early spring bouquet – delicate and charmed.
I’m quite taken with Week-end a Deauville; so much so that if I had tried it in 2009 it surely would have made my favorites of the year list.
Notes include: essence of Italian bergamot, petit grain from Paraguay, galbanum, lily-of-the-valley, rose, mimosa, pepper essence, pink pepper, clove, oakmoss absolute and styrax balm
13 comments:
Hi!
I think that liannetioparfums.nl sells Scandal by Roja Dove. I suppose that she ships to the United States. You should check it out.
I've been dying to try this one! It sounds right up my alley...I'm smitten with Vie de Chateau and Le Temps d'Une Fete, and WaD (lulz @ WaD) sounds similar to both.
Stupid Paris exclusives. :(
WaD sounds really, really nice, and yet I'm not a big citrus chypre fan. A gentler Cristalle? Hmmm. Cristalle... um, okay, I'll admit that it bores me. (Please nobody take my perfumista card!) I think the drydown is lovely, but I never felt I needed any, since I only loved one hour per application. That's an unacceptable proportion of cost to enjoyment, in my book.
Hmm, a citrus chypre.
I never thought I liked those, until I found L de Lubin, which I love.
Have you sniffed that one, and if so, how does it compare to this?
I remember reading the Scented Salamander's review, which when combined with my general admiration of PdN offerings, had me searching all about trying to get some. Love me just about any chypre. Except for one with peach, including ye olde famous one (most times). Which means I think the Perfumista Police will come to revoke my card before they go for you, Mals. ;)
Guess I'll add Weekend to the "when in Paris" list...
...which sounds a little too poor, poor pitiful me. I *am* lucky to be able to hear your take on it.
Frederik,
Really?! I'm already in contact with Lianne Tio to get some Annick Goutal so I may as well just add Scandal to the list. Thank you!!
Dane,
WaD - I know :-) it made me laugh, too. WaD does bear a slight resemblance to VdC and Le Temps - mostly because it's PdN and you'll smell that signature mark of hers.
Mals86,
My perfumista card was revoked long ago. I don't like Bois de Violette, can you imagine?
In comparison with Cristalle I like WaD much much much more. It's just prettier, lasts longer and the dry down is lovely while I find Cristalle has a bitter dry down, if anything at all.
Hi Tania,
No, I haven't tried the Lubin. Another similar fragrance would be OJ's Tiare - I thought since you're in the UK you may have sniffed that. Tiare surprised me because I expected a tropical thing - but it's much more along the lines of Cristalle, WaD, and a little bit Diorama.
ScentScelf,
If you like citrusy-green there's almost no way you wouldn't like this one. I'm blown away by the fact that it's a chypre yet so cheery and delightful. Nothing somber and contemplative about WaD - it's pure charm. And the longevity....it's excellent.
Oh, S, you know me and Mitsy... def. not BFF. So maybe they'll come for both of us!
I love WaD! I have a FB and am worried that I'll need a back up.
Everyone keeps comparing perfumes that I like recently (like OJ Tiare, and now this) to Cristalle, so I really have to try Cristalle.
Would you suggest the edp or edt of Cristalle? I'll have to order online unsniffed in order to test it, because I live in a small town.
Gator Grad,
Both WaD and OJ Tiare are related to Cristalle but I find Cristalle a bit drier and more bitter (as in bitter galbanum). Those who have worn Cristalle for years would scoff but I definitely prefer WaD and the OJ over Cristalle. First of all, WaD's longevity is much better and it's a more cheerful and bright scent. If I were you I'd try both the edt and edp of Cristalle only because both concentrations have fans. I think the edt is clearer in it's purpose while the edp is a bit fuzzy. And, of course, the vintage formulations of both are much better (and will probably be even more obviously better with the new IFRA constraints on citrus).
Are you saying you have OJ Tiare, too? I love it! It's the very first OJ I have loved.
Sorry for the bad news, but I've been told in one of the Paris' Parfum De Nicolaï shop, that week-end would be discontinued, cause people (at least in France) didn't like it. The fragrance make me imagine I'm resting in a flowerbed of lilly of the valley, I smell the earth, the roots... Perfect spring scent.
Abigail - thank you for the tips! Now that I see it so clearly laid out by you, it's obvious that you are right. I should stop trying to decide which version of Cristalle to try, and grab samples of both. From your description, I am wondering if I won't like it (because I don't normally care for bitter perfumes).
I actually just jumped into a split of the OJ Tiare travel set (no FB of OJ yet) via the google split group. It's funny. Like you, I was not originally a fan of the OJs. Her Orris was one of the very first niche frags that I tried, and I didn't care for it but it seemed like something that was high quality and artistic. I later tried OJ Woman once (and didn't initially care for it). But then I tried Champaca and Ta'if, which seemed to somehow "translate" all of the OJ perfumes and suddenly, I love the Orris, Ta'if, Woman, Champaca and Tiare (all for different reasons). I love how they swirl around me, and sometimes smell stronger (and yet, not too strong) on the air around me. I sometimes find myself turning my head and trying to figure out where that light, beautifully whiff of scent is coming from, and then realize it's me! I would kill to try them all in parfum concentration. I wish she sold a small sampler set of pure parfums (or individuals). I keep putting off buying a FB of the edps because I keep wondering if I should save up to buy the parfum. Also, I really wish they'd sell a mixed travel set of both the edp and the parfum, in which you could individually pick 4. I've had to do splits of the travel sets thus far to get what I wanted, which is an inefficient way to go about it.
Anatole - I heard this too. Thankfully, I had just scored a fb when I heard-- because to me, WaD was the best release of last year. I am wondering if I should get a back up bottle.
Also, has anyone noticed the similarity between WaD and PdN Eau du Lude?
Abigail,
yes, I've sniffed Tiare, in fact I have the travel set. I think it's quite lovely.
(Colony arrived, by the way - thanks! I love it. Pineapple and oakmoss=delish!)
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