Terrasse à St-Germain Jul et Mad 2012

Terrasse à St-Germain first encountered me during a spontaneous city trip. It was hot, I had several fragrances on my arm, and I found it good, but somewhat flat in the dry down. Now I had the opportunity to test the scent more extensively. Overall, my impression remains the same, but I would like to delve a bit deeper into Terrasse.

The fragrance starts fruity, but not citrusy, rather peach-like. Most recognizable is tangerine, a sweet mandarin note. I do not perceive sour rhubarb, perhaps that is for the best.
The fruitiness lingers for a long time but quickly blends with floral chypre notes. It smells green, maturely fruity, and somewhat clean. In the background, woody and light patchouli notes resonate.
It took me a while to realize which fragrances Terrasse reminds me of. One would be "Le Parfum de Thérèse | Editions de Parfums Frédéric Malle," which is also fruity green and floral. Thérèse is overall more contrasting - the fruits are stronger in the top notes, the jasmine clearer in the heart. Terrasse is softened, everything is a bit creamier and rounder. If Thérèse is a black-and-white picture, then Terrasse has the same picture in clear pastel tones.
It also bears some resemblance (without being a twin) to "31 Rue Cambon (Eau de Toilette) | Chanel." Both with Chanel and with the Malle fragrance, Terrasse shares a certain modern retro charm. However, 31 Rue Cambon shows more development overall and chooses to start with aldehydes.

I had remembered the base notes as somewhat disappointing. I must revise that now. The dry down of Terrasse is quite pleasant, but it deviates the most from Malle and Chanel. While the other two fragrances showcase their entire retro splendor, Terrasse increasingly feels modern. Here too, my fragrance memory took some time to find a similar scent. The dry down most reminds me of the finish of "For Her (Eau de Toilette) | Narciso Rodriguez." Of course, they do not smell identical (For Her has a creamy orange blossom musk cloud, Terrasse smells of green-floral wood cream). But this often-used classification as "Woody Floral Musk" applies to both and leads to a very seductive, yet somehow intimate finish.

I can easily imagine Terrasse as a signature scent. The sillage is not overwhelming, it feels timeless (yet more modern than the two mentioned fragrances from Malle and Chanel) and shows a few interesting facets.
Office or leisure, warm or cold season, morning or evening - Terrasse could fit anytime. Tending to see it more on women than on men, but it would certainly smell good on the male gender as well.

Overall, a beautiful everyday fragrance that doesn’t clash and at the same time can be appreciated by fragrance nerds. The only thing is, they could have set the price a bit lower.