Ellen Tracy Ellen Tracy 2011 Eau de Parfum

Brilliant! Found this gem while browsing the discounters and was so pleasantly surprised. It's almost an oriental, almost a chypre. It's at once fruity, woody, green and clean, and so lovely I had to research the designer and discover what else he or she has done. Jean-Pierre Béthouart has 89 perfumes in our database, including Boucheron, one of my favorites, and Caron's delightful Parfum Sacre. He's designed for a number of major brands, but principally for Jeanne Arthes, a French house in Grasse that also does perfumes for others. Jean-Pierre is apparently (or was) their principal nose. In an interview he says his favorite novelists are the 19th century Romantics, i.e., Balzac, Hugo, etc. Balzac was my favorite, too, for a long time and his The Wild Ass’s Skin my favorite book. There’s something of it in this perfume — something a little magical, a little fabulous, and quite wise. Balzac knew people and was a genius at depicting them. I suspect Jean-Pierre has a similar genius with perfume, born of deep knowledge. How else so beautifully combine such a collection of notes? Neither the longevity nor sillage are stunning (3-4 hours at best), but at this price I'll gladly reapply. Otherwise, to me, all that's wrong with this mesmerizing perfume is that I haven't been wearing it for the 14 years it's been around! Off to explore what other creations of Jean-Pierre are at the discounters.