Fleur de Délice

Guimauve / Mi Fa

Réminiscence 2008

Réminiscence was not a term I was familiar with until now. More or less by chance, I came across a sample of 'MI FA'.
I find the scent absolutely enchanting, and from the very beginning, it felt incredibly familiar. What did it remind me of? Lann-ael? Maybe a little, but definitely no cereals here. Mandorlo Di Sicilia? Yes, a bit - but there was something else... Then it hit me: 'Love' by Kilian. That one is already on my wish list, but I couldn't bring myself to buy it because it's just too expensive for me. So I was even more delighted to think that with 'MI FA', I would now own an even more beautiful version of 'Love'. What a wonderful surprise! (Thanks Chrissy for that)

Regarding the similarity of the two fragrances:

Common notes according to the fragrance pyramids: Neroli, Jasmine, Musk, Vanilla. Both are powdery. Gourmand fragrances? 'MI FA' is clearly a gourmand fragrance (from the 'Les Notes Gourmandes' line), but I would also classify 'Love', even though it’s not obvious, as a gourmand. From the comments, it can already be inferred that for many, sweet powderiness and vanilla dominate in 'Love'. More clearly: According to Kilian, it is a "marshmallow inspiration." And 'MI FA' is now only sold under the name 'Gimauve' - Marshmallow. So a bit of similarity might not be far-fetched ;-)

Don't get me wrong, I definitely do not want to say that 'MI FA' is just a cheaper version of 'Love'. The two fragrances ultimately have their own distinct personalities.

In 'MI FA', I consistently smell a blend of vanilla, jasmine, and neroli. In contrast to 'Love', there is also a super delicious, naturally occurring almond (like in Mandorlo). Unfortunately, I don't know what pure neroli smells like, but I still suspect that the neroli note is significant for the character of the perfume.

In the opening, the vanilla-almond-jasmine core is overlaid with light spices and fresh notes, which is very pleasant and makes the scent more complex.
However, I only smell this top note very close to the skin and only for a relatively short time.
After that, the wonderful feel-good blend follows, which, in my opinion, develops very little (which does not bother me at all).

'MI FA' has what I consider an unusual sillage. I feel as if I am naturally enveloped in a fluffy cloud of scent and rarely remember that I am wearing a perfume. It's more like I occasionally ask myself, 'What smells so good?' only to be reminded of my pleasant companion.
When I then smell my wrist, I can't determine that the scent is more intense there. The smell is actually quite diffuse.

I can't quite understand why both 'Love' and 'MI FA' are said to smell like marshmallow. Because I would never associate the scents with marshmallow. But that could also be due to my lack of marshmallow expertise ^_^
(Whoever knows a type of marshmallow that Jacques Flori and Zoe Coste or even Calice Becker might have thought of when creating their "Marshmallow Fragrances," please let me know! If they taste as good as they smell...)

It is particularly noteworthy that 'MI FA' is not as loud as 'Love', comes across as more natural, and feels more sensual and close to the body.
Personally, I have never found 'Love' to be too strong or overwhelming. However, I can imagine that some noses might find it overwhelming or get a headache from it.
I can also understand a slightly synthetic note, although for me, it is hardly noticeable. I would argue that this issue does not exist with 'MI FA'.

C'est ça. We will be good friends. Hooked. More of this!

PS:
For those who, like me, immediately think a fragrance is off just because there’s a bit of patchouli in it (I once accused a saleswoman of this when I bought Rumeur by Lanvin from her and tested it for the first time), let me clarify: I don't smell any patchouli here.