Keiko Mecheri Datura Blanche: A Review

Being a wee little perfume shop and decanter, it sometimes takes The Posh Peasant a bit longer to obtain new releases. Keiko Mecheri introduced a quartet of new fragrances in 2009, two iris scents, a leather and the one I’m reviewing today, Datura Blanche. From the moment I read the list of notes I knew I wanted to try Datura Blanche. Most Keiko Mecheri fragrances agree with me quite nicely, and this is part of the reason we carry KM at The Posh Peasant...just in case we don’t sell a single bottle, at least I know I can wear them!

Datura Blanche does not disappoint me. But for the first time in a long while, Datura Blanche is exactly the fragrance I imagined it would be when I read the list of notes. If you’ve ever smelled Dior Cologne Blanche and Serge Lutens Datura Noir then you can probably imagine KM Datura Blanche (DB) because it's a middle ground between the two. DB is not nearly as heady, sweet and tropical as Lutens Datura Noir nor is it a plain, dryer sheet fragrance like Cologne Blanche. In my estimation, DB is perfect. DB exhibits a subtle datura flower aroma, which is a heady and intoxicating night-blooming oddity. I had a few datura plants in my sunroom back in NJ and I can attest to their smell being sweet, sultry and somewhat odd. The flowers and plants themselves have a “Little Shop of Horrors” vibe so I guess the scent is fitting with their appearance. DB is a wondrously light and not-too-sweet datura scent accompanied with one of my favorite things: heliotrope. The heliotrope gives the overall fragrance a fluffy, puffy, cottony texture that’s delightful. The actual scent of datura blooms are slightly similarly to jasmine with a green stemmy aspect. KM captures this idea of datura blooms perfectly. I find Datura Blanche to be a hybrid between a straight floral and a heliotrope/vanilla skin scent. It’s probably 50/50 floral & oriental/gourmand. I use gourmand cautiously because DB contains vanilla and almond therefore I’m sure it technically contains gourmand genes but it is not, by any means, foodie. Last year I discovered LT Piver Heliotrope Blanc. There are some similarities between the LT Piver and KM but overall Datura Blanche has a more overtly floral quality, it’s less sweet and lasts longer. Datura Blanche seems impossible to dislike. It’s the sort of fragrance co-workers will compliment. It’s easily casual yet could be elegant. I’ve asked those in my household what they think of it and they all responded quite favorably, which is far from the case most of the time! DB starts of with a fragrant dose of datura but once it dries down I smell more heliotrope/vanilla/almond than flower. The Datura is still there yet it has moved to the background after about 90 minutes. Whipped fluffy clouds of datura blooms on a bed of vanilla, tonka and almond... mmmmm... what’s not to love?

Notes: white datura, Indian tuberose, heliotrope, bitter almond, tonka bean, vanilla madagascar

Ava Luxe Frangipani: A Review

I’m not an expert on the scent of frangipani flowers. I know they’re tropical blossoms also known as plumeria whose scent has been a popular Bath & Body Works type fragrance for soaps, lotions and the like for awhile now. I have Ormonde Jayne’s Frangipani, which is beautiful, yet a tad too fleeting for me. I also had Chantecaille’s Frangipane which I liked quite a lot but gifted it to someone else because I didn’t wear it often enough.

I did a quick scan of the blogs, basenotes, POL and MUA to see what the general consensus is on Ava Luxe Frangipani. For the most part, folks seem to think Ava Luxe does a decent rendition of Frangipani but that other higher end niche brands do it better. I’m exactly the opposite. I think for virtually half the price, Ava Luxe makes a frangipani scent that’s beautiful and lasts.

Frangipani is a tropical flower smelling a bit like a fruity indolic jasmine, magnolia or gardenia. It’s native to Mexico, Central and South America, India and Southeast Asia but has thrived in Hawaii to the point that most people think its native to these islands. Frangipani, in nature, has a very sweet, heavily indolic and fruity-floral presence. In most of the Bath & Body Works sort of scents there’s a similarity to Juicy Fruit gum.

Ava Luxe Frangipani smells more heavily indolic than the other Frangipani scents I’ve worn. To me, “indolic” means an overripe note, to the point of being close to decay. Indoles, at one extreme, are found in feces and can smell like feces, but when used minimally in perfumery usually conjure up images of very ripe florals and fruits. I find jasmine, gardenia, magnolia and sometimes orange blossom all have the potential of being particularly indolic scents. Ava Luxe Frangipani is a lovely green tropical frangipani scent. Frangipani absolute is blended with gardenia, tuberose and jasmine to make a particularly lush and intoxicating floral statement. Ava Luxe Frangipani is quite sweet, and very beachy-island-sexy. In style, it reminds me of Monyette Paris, which is another addictively sweet and tropical floral scent. Once Ava Luxe Frangipani dries down, it leans more toward a jasmine-gardenia scent with a base of vanilla, white amber, and cedar, which serve to slightly “cut the sweet” and ground the scent.

I have no explanation but I typically don’t like indolic white florals, however, when they’re done in a lush, over the top style, like Ava Luxe Frangipani, Serge Lutens A La Nuit, Monyette Paris and Serge Lutens Datura Noir...I love them.

Ava Luxe Frangipani is a delicious, sexy, tropical gem. I’ll take this with me on vacation this year and also wear it whenever I need a little island getaway in my mind.