St. John

Version from 2008
Sherapop
05.06.2012 - 11:53 PM
1
7.5
Bottle
10
Sillage
10
Longevity
7
Scent

Let There Be Tagetes

I decided to take up St. John SIGNATURE today, which, like VAN CLEEF, has a marked marigold/tagetes note. It's such a wonderful flower in the few perfumes where it figures, my question is: why are there so few?

ST JOHN SIGNATURE seems lighter and more modern than VAN CLEEF--a bit less intense. The overall feeling reminds me of something like Chanel CHANCE, although the notes are totally different. I wonder whether I'm being slightly influenced by the bottle design? Hmmm....

Anyway, this is a floriental which features marigold above all of the other flowers and also smells rather woody and spicy. It's not nearly as thick and perfumey as VAN CLEEF, but it has its own appeal. As ST JOHN heats up on the skin, the sillage expands considerably, and it smells beautiful. The opening is, once again, not entirely harmonious, and now I'm beginning to wonder whether this has something to do with marigold/tagetes, which might also explain why this note is so rarely featured in floral perfumes. Problematic openings, for obvious reasons, do not sell well at the counters!

I recommend ST JOHN to perfumistas who like modern Chanel perfumes such as CHANCE, ALLURE, and COCO MADEMOISELLE. This creation seems perfectly suited to wearers of those fragrances, it seems to me, although it is true that the compositions are totally different. It's more the style, timbre, and attitude which strike me as the same.
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