Spearmint
Star anise
Bergamot
Black pepper
Ginger
04/13/2014
Apicius
224 Reviews
Apicius
Very helpful Review
7
A Mandrake Laughing
Isn't it stressful if you visit a perfume shop together with about 10 of your friends? All want to show each other what they have just discovered, and countless test strips are being passed around. You smell great fragrances and some that make you frown. And everybody wants to talk about it instantly and asks for your opinion. A group of Parfumo users in a perfume shop must be a funny sight for outsiders!
It was the last one of those Parfumo meetings when I suddenly felt that it was simply too much. My use of perfume should not be a roller coaster ride from one extreme to the other. It was the perfect occasion to buy Mandragore.
Sampling new perfumes is always a journey into a scented world that is not (yet) one's own. A new perfume may be grand, but the more sophisticated or even extreme they are, the harder it is to delve into that new scenery and find a link to one's own scheme.
Among the many perfumes I smelled that day, Mandragore was the point of rest: it gave me no specifically new scent experience but it instantly made clear that it belonged into my olfactory world. I feel at home with Mandragore.
Yet, it is something special. The top and heart notes strongly remind me of the smell and taste of a fruity red tea: hibiscus and mallow blossoms, a daily guest on countless dinner tables, especially where children are present.
I don't know many perfumes that share this resemblance. Trussardi's Essenza del Tempo comes to my mind where hibiscus rinds where part of the ad presentation. While the Trussardi fragrance is one of the most recommendable of this mass marked brand, Annick Goutal's Mandragore has the quality one expects from a higher priced perfume. There are no rough edges, everything is smooth and soft.
Pink pepper and ginger may add just a little piquancy to the hibiscus and mallow top and heart notes – a beautiful accord. The fresh side of Mandragore, however, apparently comes from the same ingredient that is so characteristic to Prada's Infusion d'Homme. It has been used here cautiously, much lighter than in Prada's perfume, and it is mainly detectable in the base.
But does Mandragore have a base note at all? Annick Goutal's perfumes in general have been blamed for being weakish and too fleeting. One has to include Mandragore into that criticism, and apparently Annick Goutal launched the flanker Mandragore Pourpre as a sort of “Intense” version for those who want something more gripping. But it is not the longevity that is poor, it is the sillage. While the sillage is sufficient during the first two hours, the Mandragore base note (or the rest of it) is detectable only on skin for a quite long period of time. So, counting it in or not is a matter of opinion.
I never understood the naming of this fragrance. For me, Mandragore is a light and very accessible fragrance preferably for lovely summer and spring days. There is absolutely nothing in it that could be seen as a link to dark magic and witchcraft. Mandragore is not on that dark side that mandrake is – of which it is said that you can hear them cry when they are being cut!
Be that as it may, despite the eye-catching name, Mandragore is too discreet to make a big show among the other fragrances on the shelf. But it will surely catch the special interest of the more experienced users.
It was the last one of those Parfumo meetings when I suddenly felt that it was simply too much. My use of perfume should not be a roller coaster ride from one extreme to the other. It was the perfect occasion to buy Mandragore.
Sampling new perfumes is always a journey into a scented world that is not (yet) one's own. A new perfume may be grand, but the more sophisticated or even extreme they are, the harder it is to delve into that new scenery and find a link to one's own scheme.
Among the many perfumes I smelled that day, Mandragore was the point of rest: it gave me no specifically new scent experience but it instantly made clear that it belonged into my olfactory world. I feel at home with Mandragore.
Yet, it is something special. The top and heart notes strongly remind me of the smell and taste of a fruity red tea: hibiscus and mallow blossoms, a daily guest on countless dinner tables, especially where children are present.
I don't know many perfumes that share this resemblance. Trussardi's Essenza del Tempo comes to my mind where hibiscus rinds where part of the ad presentation. While the Trussardi fragrance is one of the most recommendable of this mass marked brand, Annick Goutal's Mandragore has the quality one expects from a higher priced perfume. There are no rough edges, everything is smooth and soft.
Pink pepper and ginger may add just a little piquancy to the hibiscus and mallow top and heart notes – a beautiful accord. The fresh side of Mandragore, however, apparently comes from the same ingredient that is so characteristic to Prada's Infusion d'Homme. It has been used here cautiously, much lighter than in Prada's perfume, and it is mainly detectable in the base.
But does Mandragore have a base note at all? Annick Goutal's perfumes in general have been blamed for being weakish and too fleeting. One has to include Mandragore into that criticism, and apparently Annick Goutal launched the flanker Mandragore Pourpre as a sort of “Intense” version for those who want something more gripping. But it is not the longevity that is poor, it is the sillage. While the sillage is sufficient during the first two hours, the Mandragore base note (or the rest of it) is detectable only on skin for a quite long period of time. So, counting it in or not is a matter of opinion.
I never understood the naming of this fragrance. For me, Mandragore is a light and very accessible fragrance preferably for lovely summer and spring days. There is absolutely nothing in it that could be seen as a link to dark magic and witchcraft. Mandragore is not on that dark side that mandrake is – of which it is said that you can hear them cry when they are being cut!
Be that as it may, despite the eye-catching name, Mandragore is too discreet to make a big show among the other fragrances on the shelf. But it will surely catch the special interest of the more experienced users.
