Les ombres fantastiques. A.R. d'Orsay 2020

Today was a hard lesson in heeding the expiry information on your fragrances - I picked this up in 2022 and the bergamot and cyclamen are nowhere to be found now.

This has a similar cedar/vetiver base to Acte d'amour furtif (A.N.), with a softer, more approachable dry down than A.N.'s sumptuous leathery notes. This stays close to the skin and creates a warm intimacy, steady and stable if a bit dispassionate. A true office-friendly fragrance that could bring a layer of protective coziness to a long day away from home.

I'm finding I do enjoy Bourgeois' warm base note style and would be interested in smelling her work for other brands, and other fragrance families. Sadly the fading of the brighter notes in my sample means this perfume is, indeed, but a fantastic shadow of itself...

I recently blind bought a bottle of Les ombres fantastiques, and I can confidently say that it may be one of my best blind buys ever. This is a very underrated fragrance, and I'm more than pleased to have it in my collection. This fragrances opens up with a very soapy, powdery floral note that's interlaced with a bit of citrus and cardamom. The opening sort of smells like baby soap at first, it's very delicate and clean, and by no means overpowering. As it dries it gets a bit more depth, retaining it's powdery facets and sweetness and exchanging the soapiness for a really great earthy, vetiver. Although the dry down isn't soapy like the opening, I think it still smells very clean and fresh, like opening a window up on a warm summer morning. There is also a bit of a woody/zingy note in the dry down that adds some warmth. Another point to make is that this fragrance makes excellent use of iris. It's a present note here, but doesn't have that cloying, makeup-like feeling that iris can have.

I'm always a bit confused as to why d'Orsay doesn't get more attention than they do. Their fragrances are very light and easy on the nose, while still having enough depth and variation to keep things interesting. I certainly hope they will see a bit more popularity in the future because they certainly deserve it, especially when looking at this particular fragrance. d'Orsay in general has become a favorite house of mine recently, due most in part to this fragrance being tres fantastique!

“D’Orsay” is one of those brands that has risen like a phoenix from the ashes. Founded in 2015 by Amélie Huynh, it pays homage to Alfred d’Orsay, who created a perfume in 1830 as a tribute to his great love, Lady Marguerite Blessington.

One can certainly view this with mixed feelings, that young brands adorn themselves with the feathers of traditional houses... be that as it may, what I have sniffed from “D’Orsay” in their charming boutique on Rue du Bac, near the Invalides, pleases me.

Amélie Huynh has managed to gather great noses, such as Olivia Giacobetti, Mark Buxton, Karine Chevalier, Bertrand Duchaufour, Fanny Bal, Amélie Bourgeois, Anne-Sophie Behaghel, Vincent Ricord, etc.

A.R. Les Ombres Fantastiques is a creation by Amélie Bourgeois. Cardamom, iris, vetiver, and cedar are pleasantly rounded off by musk and cashmeran.

A wearable, elegant niche fragrance for all occasions. My biggest criticism is the moderate sillage.