
Musicandarts
1
An old-fashioned and overdone aldehydic floral.
Pikovaya Dama is a floral-woody-musk from Xerjoff, designed by Christian Carbonnel. The personality of this perfumes harks back to the days of yore when Shalimar, Chanel No. 5 and Arpege roamed the streets. As with any vintage clothing, the wearer must have a finely tuned sensibility to make it work. This review is based on a 15 ml bottle that was in a set with La Capitale and More Than Words.
The opening is a heavy citrus blast composed of neroli, lemon and bergamot. I don’t like the opening because the citric intensity feels very synthetic, reminiscent of dishwashing soaps. The floral note in the opening is listed as rose, but my nose is uncertain about this. The heart notes are quick to emerge, unfortunately adding to the confusion. To be exact, what emerges is an amorphous blend where the individual accords are difficult to pick out. I find this to be a common issue with many old-fashioned heavy florals and chypre scents. It is possible that the listed middle notes – frankincense, cedar, iris, coriander and nutmeg – are there. Except for cedar, I am unable to pick them out separately. The base notes and dry down gives a pleasant musky woody vibe, though these are very subdued.
Pikovaya Dama is a high-performance perfume, typical of its class. The citrus and aldehyde last for 6-8 hours on my skin. They last for much longer on my clothes. Sillage is perceptible at longer distances than most modern perfumes. I can’t think of Pikovaya Dama as an office scent. The overall personality is that of a matronly Chanel No. 5, perhaps a bit more overdressed than the original.
I am not certain about the target niche for Pikovaya Dama. If you want Chanel No.5, you should get Chanel No.5, particularly since Pikovaya Dama costs more than Chanel No. 5. The perfumer tries hard to differentiate this perfume from Chanel No.5 and Shalimar, by adding frankincense, nutmeg and coriander in the middle notes. But it simply adds to the general confusion. Pikovaya Dama is not worthy of a full bottle for me, especially at that incendiary price. Unless you are getting a sample, this is not a safe blind buy.