Charmes & Feuilles

Un Parfum de Charmes & Feuilles

The Different Company 2006

Without any knowledge of the notes, to my nose, UN PARFUM DE CHARMES ET FEUILLES is a unisex woody floriental which seems to contain wormwood or absinthe or some combination of notes with a similar effect. The dominant floral is definitely jasmine. There is more dark forest than there are flowers here, although the overall feeling is rather subtle compared to many green or woody perfumes.

I find this offering from The Different Company to be quite a bit more interesting than some of the others I've recently tried. CHARMES ET FEUILLES evokes in my mind images of Hansel and Gretel or Little Red Riding Hood walking through a lush forest as the sun begins to set. Danger seems to be lurking just around the bend...

I love green notes, grass and citrus, but God Lord, this combination reacts so badly with my skin chemistry! In the opening, I am greeted by mentholated thyme, and all's good with the world. But then, the marjoram appears. Not a leaf, not a bunch, but the whole damn lot, like you'd stumbled upon the medicinal plants deposit in the night flower markets of Bangkok. There's WAY too much marjoram.

I start trembling a bit, but I hold on looking for the jasmine and vetiver, hoping they'll throw me a lifeline. Betrayal! Instead of the green flowery patch I was searching for, my nose is violated by the sharp odor of a rabbit hutch, an overcrowded nursing home that is confronted with a lack of janitorial staff. It leaves me shocked, desperate to wash it off.
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Îmi plac notele verzi, iubesc ierburile și citricele, dar Dumnezeule, această combinație nu se potrivește deloc cu chimia pielii mele! În deschidere sunt întâmpinată de note de cimbru mentolat, iar nasul meu se bucură cu anticipare. Până aici totul e bine. Apoi apare măghiranul. Nu o crenguță, nu o grămadă, ci ditamai butoiul întreg, ca și cum aș fi dat peste depozitul de plante medicinale din piața Pak Khlong Talat din Bangkok. Este un pic mult prea mult măghiran. Încep sa tremur un pic de teamă în acest moment, dar continui să caut iasomia și vetiver-ul, sperând că îmi vor arunca un colac de salvare. Trădare! În loc de peticul verde înflorit pe care îl căutam, nasul meu este violat de un miros înțepător de cușcă de iepure, un azil de bătrâni care este supraaglomerat și se confruntă cu o lipsă de personal de menaj. Mă lasă consternată și dornică să mă spăl cât mai curând posibil.

As a child, I had a friend whose father was a professor of zoology. And a bat researcher. And the two of us boys were quite obsessed with tracking these animals. The family lived in a remote place with plenty of bat-friendly, open landscape all around. We kids would grab the bat detector at dusk and set off. With the detector, you can make the calls that occur in the inaudible ultrasound range audible. There are then creaking, cracking, and chirping sounds that are very, very exciting. And when we finally discovered a swarm of water bats over a large pond after long whispers and wandering through the darkening surroundings, and the device sprang to life, producing the wildest, most thrilling noises, I was always very excited. The evening gradually faded over the water surface, the cool air shimmered and somehow intoxicated. And above all, the language of these strange floating creatures ticked from the little box at our ear. And everything felt light, the first and most beautiful tipsiness of my life.
"Charmes Et Feuilles" reminds me of the feeling of such evenings. It has a euphoric, floating, summer evening quality for me. The many herbs turn out unexpectedly mild. I had imagined this scent to be much more angular and sharper. Instead, it is a composition of strangely shimmering softness. Very unique and very organic. This scent could be worn by moth ladies before a ball.
Jasmine plays a major role. I don’t know how, but without any cloying sweetness, it reconciles all the wild herbs and tart citrus essences into a whimsical, weightless fragrance full of little flying mysteries. It’s hard to talk about the notes. They are too closely knit together and too much one. And the whole is too delicate to pick apart. Therefore: You all probably know and like it already, but if not, give it a sniff! :)

I wanted flowers and herbs and grasses, the light breeze coming in through the open window, billowing the white chiffon curtains and breaking the sunlight on the shimmering wooden floor.
Rural romance, white linen dresses, fresh laundry in the wind.
Well, all of that and more is "Charmes et Feuilles" - but before this olfactory painting can unfold before me, I am hit by the shock of a strictly medicinal opening, reminiscent of an old and dusty pharmacy.
Fortunately, this very first impression is quite fleeting - soon unsweetened hesperides emerge, of which I primarily perceive the clementine distinctly.
No, they are not juicy and sweet, these citrus fruits - they seem to be still unripe and hanging on the tree, which is not surprising, after all, summer is still young and the harvest is far away.
However, they feel very comfortable on my skin and last there much longer than I am used to from a top note - so long that I begin to wonder in confusion whether I might actually be dealing with a cologne rather than a green companion.
I actually wait in vain for herbal-green impressions for hours, and only when I want to scold the wicked skin chemistry as a party pooper once again, delicate marjoram and thyme weave into the fragrant scene - still very young and light green, barely arriving against the still very dominant clementine, which seems to have bergamot as a sister in my nose, even though it is not listed here.
Thus, my summer has become citrus-herbaceous, very delicate and light, and staying close to me, not imposing on anyone, and probably only perceptible to me - the ideal midsummer candidate for all those who do not like aquatics or fruit baskets and who have the patience that the unfolding of this fragrance absolutely requires.

"Charmes et Feuilles" is the first fragrance I am commenting on here. Why? Because I think it is genius.

On a sunny morning, you open the terrace door and a gentle breeze of flowers and bushes flows towards you. You step out into the greenery, trudge through a blooming meadow at the edge of the woods, and drift off into daydreams... This green, floral scent reminds me exactly of such a situation.

"Charmes et Feuilles" is truly unisex and perfect for anyone who enjoys being surrounded by a delicate floral scent. The fragrance is also quite persistent on the skin.

I now have several very good perfumes, most of which are priced higher than this scent from "The Different Company," but "Charmes et Feuilles" is the first fragrance I smelled and thought: "I am in paradise!"

As a great admirer of scents like By Kilian, Bond No9, and Creed, I had long overlooked the treasures of "The Different Company."
Alongside "Oriental Lounge," I have now purchased my second fragrance from this house with "Charmes et Feuilles"... And I truly do not regret it, as I have brought paradise home!
Best regards

1stKnight