The folks at Histoires de Parfums are obviously very big into intertextuality, so perhaps they will not mind my beginning my review of 1873 with the observation that this perfume reminds me a lot of Bond no 9 CONEY ISLAND. And not at all without reason, having just espied the notes: lots of citrus on the top, and caramel on the bottom.
Yes indeed, these two compositions are definitely neighbors on the grand olfactory map, although in this composition the dominant citrus is grapefruit, while in CONEY ISLAND it is lime. I had thought that CONEY ISLAND exhausted the members of its own genre, but here, too, a confusing and unexpected cacophony of notes yields a rather thought-provoking perfume. The lavender in the heart here is a bit strong for my liking, but then I almost always find lavender too strong in any perfume in which it is detectable. Based on the dominance of lavender, I'd predict (having yet to take a peek) that The Holey[sic] Book rates this composition very high, since LT loves lavender (along with all masculine-leaning feminine perfumes...). Well, let's test the hypothesis:
Yes, indeed, as predicted, 1873 gets four stars, although strangely it's been reviewed by TS, who regards it as a grapefruit perfume in the same category as Guerlain Aqua Allegoria PAMPLELUNE. Oh well, I’ve always suspected that she was quasi-anosmic anyway... She regards 1873 as “excellent, clever work” and CONEY ISLAND as “harsh and rather empty up close,” a phrase which quite accurately describes her own “reviews”, IMNSHO...
