Foustie
Very helpful Review
5
Dragées on the dressing table.
Jardins D'Armide;
What a joy this is! I defy any fragrance lover not to react when they smell Jardins D'Armide, even if it is not to one's personal taste. I can't imagine that anyone would find it uninteresting.
The opening of this fragrance immediately brings to mind sugared almond dragees, every time! That's a bit odd maybe because I don't think that those particular confections have much of a smell actually, but that is the first image that pops up and floats around.
In fact, if you can imagine sweet sugared almonds, and those tiny candied violets which can be found in Madrid, add some orange flower water, some sweetly aromatic dried rose petals, some geranium soap, old fashioned iris powder, and some soft, billowy (and strangely not sweet) nutty vanilla, then you would be with me on this one. It is so gloriously old fashioned! Underscoring this feast of sweetmeats is a sweetly nostalgic floral accord, built around that lovely old fashioned aromatic rose. In time the fragrance settles into an aromatic accord of rose/violet/iris/geranium.
Jardins D'Armide is certainly sweet and powdery but of course that is it's charm. There is a little brightness too which provides a perfect foil. It is delighful, charming, nostalgic. It strikes me that it was made with unrestrained pleasure and perhaps even a little humour.
Official notes; (from the OLL website)
Top notes: Old Rose, Orange Blossom and Iris Powder.
Heart notes: Florentine iris, Violet Wild, Glycine and Carnation India.
Base notes: Honey, Almond, Tonka and Musk.
I am sure that this fragrance will have it's detractors. It won't be to everyones taste. It is very old fashioned after all, and it will be perceived by some as overtly feminine, too sweet, too powdery. But I also think that it will melt the hearts of many. It presents itself as an homage to fragrances past, with little or no compromise to suit current tastes, and in my view it should be respected for that alone.
Dare I say that it could be utterly intriguing on a man.