Coton Egyptien Phaedon 2012

Recently, a marketing expert appeared on television, describing the always similar patterns of somewhat adventurous stories and promises that reliably boost the sales of 'superfoods' (doesn't that remind us of something...?). The reporter's incredulous question about whether it was really that simple was met with the catchy statement: "In marketing, blunt is still trump!"

As is well known, other clichés are also very successful. My (twelve-year-old, she is thus partially excused...) daughter often emphasizes a pressing desire to buy something by pointing out that it is a "limited edition." Usually, it concerns objectified spin-offs of temporary YouTube celebrities. There seems to be a whole bunch of ladies who manage to market all kinds of nonsense online, through advertising with and without 'sneaky-' in a remarkably fluid manner. This world was completely hidden from me until about a year ago and could have remained that way.

On the other hand, this is historically not uninteresting and should actually be the dream of every old leftist: It seems to be possible now to make a career here without money or a suitable background, but also without education, without knowledge, and above all without talent. But that's a broad field.

In our home, "Lümütüdüdüschn" has now become a kind of running gag, over which the girl - at least! - can already laugh herself. Whether she instinctively pulled the bottle of Coton Egyptien from the shelf at Sens Unique because it is a Lümütüdüdüschn that is sold out at the manufacturer remains an anecdotal question in the air. In any case, the scent seems to be at an end. More on that later.

Coton Egyptien indeed opens in a blunt-textile manner, with a hint of sweetness, almost liqueur-like-caramel. After a few minutes, a hint of... sheep-muff? Hey, we were talking about cotton! And besides, we are with Phaedon, so it’s not nearly as extreme as with 100 Tweeds from Euphorium Brooklyn. Whether what is offered now matches the natural smell of cotton, I do not know. It is original and a successful scent experience, at the very least.

That the scent already acquires a chemical note within the first half hour is surprisingly not unpleasant; rather, it exudes an impression of freshly cleaned laundry without developing the biting quality of a corporeal cleaning. The result is "clean, but different," and I am quite surprised by the sheer boldness of this Phaedon.

Around midday, the caramel-vanilla aspect slowly gains weight again, without becoming particularly sweet. A hint of musk becomes detectable in the background, its contribution will steadily swell from now on. This gradually conveys a mild, sweet-bitter creaminess that, in turn, comes across as completely clean. And so, a 'clean-textile' morning gradually turns into a 'clean-creamy' afternoon.

Conclusion: Not my area, but very successful in a special way. It's a pity that this one apparently had to be removed from the range. Perhaps it was secretly not quite right for the Phaedons.