Les Cahiers Secrets Jouissance 2024 Eau de Parfum

les cahiers secrets is a fun one because it tells a story of intimacy and eroticism through its weartime. the opening is a fresh, beautiful lily, sparkling woman just out of the shower, beginning her day knowing that it will end in pleasure. as it dries, it becomes more and more animalic and- as stated by others- fleshy. it remains powdery from start to finish, but that powderiness goes from something clean and timeless to something very sweaty, raw, and human as the cumin comes through. eventually, it settles into what I can only describe as the musk of a woman at the end of a long day.

I wore this one to a late night showing of teenage sex and death at camp miasma and I feel like it was the perfect choice (should've layered it with a blood frag, though- my fault)

A nesting scent, of rumpled silk and bare skin. Musky, powdery, fleshy. One of the greatest joys of perfumery is experiencing the play between notes, and I would have never guessed to marry lily and cumin. In Les Cahiers, the nip of the spice and weight of the musk keeps the limpid florals and talc-y powder from coming off too precious or squeaky clean. The vintage-tone to this fragrance echoes of a compact rouge I used to steal from my mum, so she really pulls at the nostalgia heartstrings for me.

Radiance stays skin level and she lasts about five hours on my skin, eight on my pyjamas. (Though I feel like I should be wearing a vintage silk dressing gown for this). You shouldn’t judge a perfume by the bottle, but Les Cahiers dishes exactly what she displays. Fortunately, it’s a gorgeous vessel.

Mental Snapshot: A nocturnal pastel. A prewar provocateur reclining in a candlelit bower, sheets littered with fountain pens and powder puffs. Her planner is laced with poetry and profanity, all in impeccable calligraphy. It's Masterpiece Theatre, but with full nudity.

tl;dr: dishabille darling