Sunday, July 26, 2009

Molinard Les Fleurs de Provence Mimosa

In addition to linden, I’m always on the hunt for mimosa scents. So far, my hands-down favorite mimosa fragrances are Parfums de Nicolaï Mimosaique, L’Artisan Mimosa Pour Moi and Caron Farnesiana. For a person who has never smelled mimosa in real life I’m awfully obsessed with this note. I wonder if I’ll feel the same way, once I smell the actual flower, or if living with this imaginary notion of mimosa makes it ever better.

If you’re familiar with my top there favorite mimosa scents, I would compare Molinard’s mimosa with Caron Farnesiana with which it shares the most similarity. The PdN and L’Artisan Mimosas are very true to the flower, exhibiting a natural and slightly green take. Caron Farnesiana blends mimosa with heliotrope and creates a marzipan-gourmand impression. Molinard’s Mimosa is also a creamy almondy scent that is surprisingly delightful. I bought Molindard’s Mimosa from BeautyEncounter for about $25 bucks, expecting that I’d use it to spritz my sheets if it sucked. It doesn’t suck, it’s pretty good, though I must confess to basing my review a bit upon the price tag.

Molinard’s Mimosa reminds me of the one and only time I made pie crust from scratch. The smell of dough and sensation of flour on my hands is this fragrance. There’s an element of L’Artisan’s Bois Farine here, a doughy quality which I want to knead between my fingers. Because of this association there’s a dometic diva idea running through my head – I imagine a country cottage with those adorable lace curtains, shifting quietly as a mimosa tinged breeze billows through them as I place the pie in the preheated oven. There’s a 1950s retro association about Molinard’s Mimosa – it’s cuddly soft, slightly doughy, dreamy and delicate. Unlike the PdN and L’Artisan there is no cucumber or green here – this is all creamy, dreamy deliciousness.

For $25 bucks Molinard Mimosa is wonderful. It’s not long-lived, lasting maybe 2 hours, and I do spray it on my sheets.

Above photo by Tearoom on Flickr

5 comments:

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Joe said...

Mimosa is one of those notes I don't have a good handle on, which basically means I haven't smelled enough soliflores or scents built around it. I just recently got a vial of DSH Mimosa, but I need to play with it a bit more.

You've made this sound delicious (and that price is delicious too). I love Bois Farine, and anything that evokes that kind of doughy, floury scent would be okay by me. The Caron sounds pretty amazing too, since I enjoy heliotrope/almond accords.

So many perfumes... Sigh.

Just curious, have you tried the recent Kenzo Silk Flower? I think that's based on a type of mimosa.

Abigail said...

Hi Joe,

Mimosa is hard to find when it's blended with other florals - it seems easily overwhelmed. To smell what I think of as a real/natural soliflore, try the PdN or the L'Artisan Mimosas.

Caron Farnesiana is dreamy if you haven't tried it. The parfum/extrait is worth it...

No, I haven't tried the Kenzo - on the list it goes!

JAntoinette said...

Abigail, I agree with you on Mimosa Pour Moi; I have enjoyed two springs here in France and MPM really is like burying your face in those fluffy, yellow blossoms.

Anonymous said...

I always wondered about this fragrance...see it on ebay for cheap all the time, but couldn't bring myself to risk it...sound like I'd like it more than I thought! My fav mimosa will always be Une Fleur de Cassie, but a less challenging scent it always welcome.