Kalispera Jean Dessès 1962
2
Helpful Review
The paradoxe of wilted flower-freshness
Kalispera means "good evening" in Greek, and I have tried it in two versions: pdt and eau de cologne parfumée. They are quite different.
The pdt, of which I had a miniature, was very fruity-floral, surprisingly much so for being launched in the 60s. It reminded me of Sophia Grojsman's famous creations like Paris and Tresor - juicy peach and sweet rose - but with a notable salty, animalic base that I recognise from some Creed fragrances, I suppose it's ambergris. It was quite nice.
I later bought a full bottle of Eau de cologne parfumée, which differed so much from my miniature that it could have been another perfume altogether. Naturally, being a cologne, it is much lighter and fresher, and doesn't last as long. But it is also more floral - I don't get much of the fruit here. The flowers are sweet, but not too much. They are not completely dew fresh either, more as if they have been standing in a vase for one day too long and have begun to droop. This, by the way, I find is quite common in older floral perfumes, and is not necessarily a bad thing. It's more a question of a certain style. Older perfumes are usually more animalic than what is popular today, with notes that accentuate the odors of the skin instead of masking it. So the floral notes of my Kalispera are not something freshly picked from the garden, they are flowers that also smell of heat and dryness, a smell that is after all quite natural when you are walking around in a garden on a hot summer's day. So I will still call it fresh, but smelled with the nose of another decade. There is a strong neroli note, which is not my personal favourite, at least not on my skin, but which still makes me think of summer and sunshine. Could be a little similar to Nina Ricci's Coeur-Joie, which also has a prominent neroli note.
I am not sure exactly how happy I am to wear this - mainly because I'm sensitive about neroli. But if you enjoy old-school animalic florals, which manage the strange art of being wilted and fresh at the same time, then this might just be your thing.
The pdt, of which I had a miniature, was very fruity-floral, surprisingly much so for being launched in the 60s. It reminded me of Sophia Grojsman's famous creations like Paris and Tresor - juicy peach and sweet rose - but with a notable salty, animalic base that I recognise from some Creed fragrances, I suppose it's ambergris. It was quite nice.
I later bought a full bottle of Eau de cologne parfumée, which differed so much from my miniature that it could have been another perfume altogether. Naturally, being a cologne, it is much lighter and fresher, and doesn't last as long. But it is also more floral - I don't get much of the fruit here. The flowers are sweet, but not too much. They are not completely dew fresh either, more as if they have been standing in a vase for one day too long and have begun to droop. This, by the way, I find is quite common in older floral perfumes, and is not necessarily a bad thing. It's more a question of a certain style. Older perfumes are usually more animalic than what is popular today, with notes that accentuate the odors of the skin instead of masking it. So the floral notes of my Kalispera are not something freshly picked from the garden, they are flowers that also smell of heat and dryness, a smell that is after all quite natural when you are walking around in a garden on a hot summer's day. So I will still call it fresh, but smelled with the nose of another decade. There is a strong neroli note, which is not my personal favourite, at least not on my skin, but which still makes me think of summer and sunshine. Could be a little similar to Nina Ricci's Coeur-Joie, which also has a prominent neroli note.
I am not sure exactly how happy I am to wear this - mainly because I'm sensitive about neroli. But if you enjoy old-school animalic florals, which manage the strange art of being wilted and fresh at the same time, then this might just be your thing.
Rossiniopera
