Top Notes 
Green mandarin orange
Sicilian bergamot
Artemisia
Heart Notes 
Cypress
Basil
Juniper
Caraway
Base Notes 
Musk
Amber
Vanilla
Patchouli
01/14/2013
Sherapop
1239 Reviews
Sherapop
4
Citrus Oriental Aromatic Fougère?
Sometimes people rub us the wrong way when we first meet them, and perfumes can do the same. This happened to me with LES NUITS D'HADRIEN. For whatever reason, I just did not process this perfume when I first wore it. I had picked up a small tester with cap scent unsniffed from a discounter, which seemed like a safe enough gamble: I love EAU D'HADRIEN, and I admire and respect the house of Annick Goutal. What could go wrong?
Well, somehow the composition just struck me as ill-conceived. Looking back, with the benefit of hindsight, I suspect that I was expecting an oriental perfume from the name ("Les Nuits"), but instead there was quite a lot of citric and aromatic activity going on. It didn't really make sense to me, so I stowed the bottle in the back of my armoire and pretty much forgot about.
During the final throes of my December 2012 feeding frenzy, I was sent a number of fresh samples of LES NUITS D'HADRIEN as a part of various lots being offered as gifts with purchase at some of the online stores where I shop. It occurred to me that I might ought to give this perfume another sniff. Perhaps my bottle obtained from a discounter had turned?
In fact, it had not. The LES NUITS D'HADRIEN in my bottle smells exactly as it should. It's just that it does not smell like anything else, and it flouts the orthodox categories. This is not a citrus cologne, like its namesake, although the opening smacks unmistakably of EAU D'HADRIEN. From there, however, the two creations diverge quite radically.
LES NUITS D'HADRIEN contains cypress, but it also contains juniper, basil, and caraway! And then there is the base which is rich enough to be an oriental perfume: amber, musk, patchouli and vanilla? In fact, it really smells nice at every stage of its development, even though it seems like three or even four different perfumes!
This Citrus Oriental Aromatic Fougère sounds like a mess, but somehow it works!
Well, somehow the composition just struck me as ill-conceived. Looking back, with the benefit of hindsight, I suspect that I was expecting an oriental perfume from the name ("Les Nuits"), but instead there was quite a lot of citric and aromatic activity going on. It didn't really make sense to me, so I stowed the bottle in the back of my armoire and pretty much forgot about.
During the final throes of my December 2012 feeding frenzy, I was sent a number of fresh samples of LES NUITS D'HADRIEN as a part of various lots being offered as gifts with purchase at some of the online stores where I shop. It occurred to me that I might ought to give this perfume another sniff. Perhaps my bottle obtained from a discounter had turned?
In fact, it had not. The LES NUITS D'HADRIEN in my bottle smells exactly as it should. It's just that it does not smell like anything else, and it flouts the orthodox categories. This is not a citrus cologne, like its namesake, although the opening smacks unmistakably of EAU D'HADRIEN. From there, however, the two creations diverge quite radically.
LES NUITS D'HADRIEN contains cypress, but it also contains juniper, basil, and caraway! And then there is the base which is rich enough to be an oriental perfume: amber, musk, patchouli and vanilla? In fact, it really smells nice at every stage of its development, even though it seems like three or even four different perfumes!
This Citrus Oriental Aromatic Fougère sounds like a mess, but somehow it works!
