Tubéreuse 3 Animale Histoires de Parfums 2010

I find Tubereuse 3 Animale quite difficult to review. I have owned it for 2 years and still haven't decided whether I love it or just like it - but one thing is for sure: it's a unique and intriguing concoction.

Surprisingly, I don't smell a lot of tuberose in it. It's so well-blended with the tobacco, plum and immortelle that it's rather difficult to tell apart. The whole perfume smells solidly oriental and not much floral to my nose. You can only tell the tuberose by the rounded, sweet and rubbery feel it lends to the whole.

Contrary to the name, there are little to no animalic notes to be experienced in T3A, although it does have a sort of vintage, lived-in feel to it that makes it smell somehow... human if you wish. But not animalic in the typical 'dirty' sense of the word.

I decided to buy it because I fell in love with that real, lived-in quality that it has. We had our ups and downs along the years and I eventually discovered that I love it best on cold, rainy and bleak days because of its melancholy and wistful air. The tobacco and plum give it a thick, syrupy darkness that closes in the tuberose, creating an almost smothering, airless effect. T3A is rather moody, but fascinating and even attractive in its lack of cheer.

A saturnine beauty and strong presence. Possibly unisex, but more feminine than not.

Huge sillage and lasting power.