il Profumo Blanche Jacinthe

Blanche Jacinthe as described by il Profumo website:

“opens with celestial notes, given by the preponderance of the white and intense water hyacinth, which appears also in the heart of this perfume, in a very deep and sensual way. This alchemy is completed by orange flowers and jasmine. It closes with a trail of amber and musky notes.”

Announcement of Blanche Jacinthe on NST last year added galbanum and chamomile as additional notes. Obviously the ad copy is a bit lacking here so I’ll sum up the notes list in my own words with what I actually smell: water hyacinth (or insert hyacinth, lotus and/or water lily here), galbanum, chamomile, orange blossom, jasmine, and white musks.

Blanche Jacinthe (which I normally would shorten to BJ but you might imagine why I will not) reminds me enough of other hyacinth focused fragrances for me to group it into the same category with Annick Goutal Grand Amour, Guerlain Chamade and Parfums MDCI Un Coeur en Mai. However, Blanche Jacinthe also reminds strongly of Byredo La Tulipe with its soft green vegetal “freshly cut stems” quality.With a little snooping around, it turns out water hyacinth are a completely different plant from regular hyacinth. Water hyacinths are destructively invasive plants, considered ‘pests’ of the plant world but work nicely when used to make wicker (rattan type) furniture. Who knew? Well, we do now. I confess to not having any idea what water hyacinth smells like and am guessing il Profumo mean to convey that Blanche Jacinthe contains a watery, aqueous smelling hyacinth note, hence “water hyacinth” as opposed to generic hyacinth. From what I am smelling it wouldn’t be a stretch to suggest that the idea of lotus flowers or water lily is evident in this lovely little number as well. If anyone has actually smelled water hyacinth and knows that the scent differs greatly from regular hyacinth just let me know.

This article at NST is incredibly helpful and bears repeating given the list of notes in Blanche Jacinthe. The “notes” listed for a perfume are not an ingredients list. The notes are purely marketing or advertising copy. The list of notes is meant to convey how the overall fragrance smells but it by no means suggests that, in this particular instance, essential oil (or synthetic essence) of water hyacinth is used.

Normally I am quite the chypre, oriental and floriental lover but this year I’m having a field day with springy, pretty, girly white florals. Blanche Jacinthe could easily be dismissed as especially fresh, clean, watery and one-dimensional. I would only encourage sampling of Blanche Jacinthe if you are an avid hyacinth fan or perhaps tried La Tulipe this year and fell for its charms.

I am pleasantly surprised by Blanche Jacinthe and can easily say it’s one of my best unsniffed purchases so far this year.

A note about edp vs. parfum: I’m finding the parfum to be a tad greener and the additional notes of galbanum and chamomile seem most obvious in parfum concentration.

Sillage is soft and comfortable (yet present) and longevity is fair to average lasting about 3-4 hours on me (5 sprays).

A Tale of Three Hyacinths

'Tis that time of year when we look at our perfume collections for something that reminds us of an early spring day. The usual suspects for me are Vacances, En Passant, Un Matin d’Orage (along with several other AGs) and YSL Y.

However, there is a particular note that calls my name (very nearly shrieks at me) this time of year and it’s hyacinth. I have three fragrances where hyacinth takes center stage, two I’ve worn for years and one I found only last year. They are Guerlain Chamade, Annick Goutal Grand Amour and Parfums MDCI Un Coeur en Mai. There are days when I wish I could wear all three at once, because they’re similar but easily unique enough that I want that rush of whatever it is each delivers.

Recently I bought several potted hyacinths to create a display in my kitchen. I always like to have a bunch of hyacinths together so their scent wafts around and makes an impact. The flowers themselves are a little ugly but if you group them together in a basket and add some moss, stones and ribbon it becomes a beautiful tribute to spring. It was when I was creating my hyacinth display that I sniffed the blooms and realized Chamade, Grand Amour and Un Coeur en Mai do truly honor the scent of hyacinth.

Chamade is the most heavily aldehydic of the three and the one where I think the hyacinth note is most abstract. Chamade is one of my very favorite Guerlains and while I’m usually an edp type, I prefer the edt with this one. Chamade strikes me as the scent I’d wear to an outdoor spring wedding, an occasion with some formality.

Grand Amour is the most naturally lush and true to nature. Grand Amour seems the easiest to wear; it’s a smidgen sweeter than the other two and wants to take me out for a picnic on that first blissfully warm and sunny day in March.

Un Coeur en Mai is the greenest, mossy and rosy-fruity of the three and in some ways seems a combination of Chamade and Grand Amour, like the middle child. UceM is a bit heavier on the aldehydes than Grand Amour, but it’s still a realistic interpretation of the scent of early spring blooms, lily of the valley and hyacinth.

If I had to choose my favorite of the three I’m hard-pressed to pick between Grand Amour and Un Coeur en Mai. I think GA and UceM are tied for first place. I love Chamade but it would place third, mostly because I prefer big floral-aldehydes in winter but not so much when I’m looking for something to represent early spring. Early spring is a time when I want to experience nature close up; when I long for vegetation and growth after several months of winter and I’m less enthused by the abstract and instead thrilled by the sweetness of mother earth.

Annick Goutal Grand Amour: Effortless Grace

Day 7, the last post in my week-long tribute to Annick Goutal

I’ve had the most difficult time with this last post. I want to write about so many more AG perfumes but this is it, the last one, and I had to make a choice. So I chose Grand Amour.

But first, I want to leave you, dear reader, with a few parting thoughts about the house of Annick Goutal, so please indulge me. Perhaps a normal fragrance customer (you know, those odd souls who have less than a dozen bottles of perfume) would immediately understand the sheer beauty of fragrances from Annick Goutal because it takes just a sniff to instantly recognize the exceptional quality and artistic creativity captured in this line. But then there’s “us,” the fanatics, the connoisseurs who have sniffed so many beauties that we’ve become jaded and bored and require so much more than simply “pretty” from our perfumes. But I ask you, is it not an enormous accomplishment, worthy of high praise, for a small artisan perfume house to create exceptionally beautiful, exquisitely high quality perfumes, time and time again? Annick Goutal is not driven by the latest fad and is never derivative or just blah. What is that you say, Annick Goutal is not edgy enough for you? Well, I would ask if have you tried AG Vetiver, Sables, Eau de Fier, Ambre Fetiche, Musc Nomade, Un Matin d’Orage, Vanille Exquise or Mandragore? The house of Annick Goutal has something for everyone – edgy, unusual and classically beautiful. And, I don’t think it’s just me, but I’ve worn nearly every single fragrance from AG and never has there been a sour or unpleasant note. Clearly, the house knows how to make perfume.Anyway, back to my last review: Grand Amour. Grand Amour was created in 1997 for Annick Goutal by Isabelle Doyen. Annick Goutal wanted a fragrance that expressed the devotion she felt for her husband, to capture that feeling of true and tender love. Grand Amour is a perfume for a lady, it is not one of the “daughter” perfumes, not particularly light or girly, but not heavy or overdone either. This is the perfect fragrance for a woman who has come into her own, and knows true love. Grand Amour is an airy blend of hyacinths, lily, honeysuckle and rose with a base of amber, myrrh and vanilla. I smell mostly hyacinths and honeysuckle, which is good for me, because I’m not usually enamored by lily. The hyacinth note is dreamy and reminds me of Guerlain Chamade, mostly because this is the only other perfume I’m familiar with that smells of hyacinth. Grand Amour is more casual in comparison with Chamade, there’s a stronger aldehydic formality to Chamade; Chamade is the beautiful woman with a full face of make-up and glamorous couture ensemble while Grand Amour is the natural beauty who knows her lover finds her even sexier without make-up lounging in her white eyelet baby doll pajamas.

Grand Amour starts off all hyacinth and honeysuckle with a tender green leafiness as a foundation for the florals. It then unfolds slowly but surely to a less green and more pronounced rose note toning down the succulent hyacinth and honeysuckle brigade. Once Grand Amour dries down it turns into a gorgeous soft ambery myrrh scent, ever so slightly powdery and delicate. Inexplicably, I think of Grand Amour as a floral for those who don’t usually like to wear florals. It’s feminine but still subtle. It’s pure class and grace.

I apply Grand Amour lavishly. About 6-8 sprays last 4+ hours on me and I have the eau de parfum. Unfortunately I can’t compare the edt with the edp because I’ve only ever purchased the edp. Typically I prefer the edp concentration because I like a more potent perfume.

This concludes my week-long tribute to Annick Goutal. In the past I’ve also written reviews for Sables, Vanille Exquise and Ce Soir ou Jamais.

PS: If anyone from Annick Goutal is reading, I think you should make more limited edition bottles! I have ideas for so many gorgeous bottles :-) Also, some new perfume suggestions: a mimosa scent would be a dreamy addition to your Soliflores Collection. Also a dry green chypre, an aldehydic oriental and a tuberose-fl-oriental (think sultry vixen) would be a great addition to the line. And don’t forget the boys, surely they could use an edgy leather.

Cartier So Pretty: A Review

Brian told me Cartier’s So Pretty was really good. I bought it unsniffed. He says I’m highly suggestible. He’s right, but I also trust his nose.

So Pretty arrived a few days ago. It is aptly named. Perhaps more appropriate would be *SO* Pretty. Before writing this review, I poked around online, to find the list of notes and see what others have to say about it. I’m surprised to find very few reviews. The Non-Blonde just wrote a review a few weeks ago where she noted her surprise at how little has been written about this gorgeous perfume. (Brian, is there where you found out about So Pretty?!).

So Pretty is an ultra feminine scent, but it’s not girly. A real adult woman can wear So Pretty with confidence. So Pretty starts off smelling like a fruity rose floral hovering at the edge of a modern chypre. I know I just wrote the dreaded words “fruity floral” but So Pretty is not insipid or thin instead it’s quite classic with some “heft” and depth. I agree with The Non-Blonde that So Pretty is a classic floral in the same vein as Annick Goutal’s Grand Amour and Guerlain’s Chamade – I would also include Yvresse, Joy, Rive Gauche, 1000 and Parfums de Nicolaï Odalisque as being perfumes in a similar style with So Pretty. If I had to categorize So Pretty I’d call it a classic *fresh* floral – it doesn’t have much in the way of spices, musk or woods – so it’s mainly a well-blended abstract dewy floral scent.

Cartier So Pretty is a beautiful fragrance and one that deserves more high praise.

Longevity: excellent, 5+ hours
Sillage: good, depending on application could be strong, 2-3 spritzes are plenty
Rating: 4 starts

This review is based upon the eau de parfum – I do not know how the eau de toilette compares.

Basenotes list the notes as: mandarin, dewberry, neroli, iris, diamond orchid, rose, sandalwood, musk