Pcsteele

Has the same tart fruit note as Philosykos that I guess we've all agreed by mutual consent is "fig" or "fig leaf" even though reads MUCH more plum to me. By the bye, I walked down the street to pop a leaf off a fig plant recently, by the way, and as far as I can tell, fig leaves just smell like leaves!

OK, that aside: I think once I get over the initial splash of surprise that is tartly fresh paired with milky, I settle into liking it. It smells like plums in a bowl of cold milk, drizzled in sugar syrup. Frankly, I might like it even more than the rather tart little Philosykos!

I'm usually not one for milk notes, and anything that edges into "butter" makes me nauseous, as I think cooked dairy is one of the most appalling smells I know, but this smells so cool and springlike. My mother used to make me bananas in milk with honey as a treat, and this calls that to mind a little.

From my mom’s collection. Broad shoulders, full breasts. Has a fruit liquor smell to me, like raspberry or mulberry cordial, or creme de cassis. A caressing honey note. And the synthetic civet. By the end of the day this was smelling VERY funky, but I wouldn't have it any other way. That urinous cat-in-heat undercurrent gives it a richness and depth. My bottle is from the early aughts but people assure me that the civet would have been synthetic by then. Nevertheless, quite the kitty cat!

My mini bottle does not say whether it's parfum or toilette, so I'm guessing based on eBay items.

Reminds me a bit of a cross between Hima Jomo Loon and Moonlight in Chiangmai. The red wine I get as a sticky sort of peel-heavy sangria, which is I suppose why I keep thinking there is citrus in it when none is mentioned in the notes.

A mauve rose in the background totally sliced open by the tart bits, whatever they are: the magnolia, or wine, or whatever--I can't quite make it out. It's blended into something that doesn't terribly resemble any of the notes, to me, but has a challenging, slightly fermented tang to it, like overexposed wine.

I haven't quite decided whether I dislike it, but it's certainly not an immediate like either.

The thing that put me off at first whiff became the thing I prize most about it. There's an overripe melon gently rotting somewhere in the corner of the garden and I love it. It didn't click until hot weather struck, and suddenly I GOT it! The spicy melange is beautiful, reminding me more of wild ginger picked on an Oregon hike than of gingerroot. This is the most gardensome of the jardins, so it's a pity to me that it's discontinued. Rain-drenched perfection, humid and alive, daring and wearable at the same time.

Has something of that watery note I recognize from Apres la Mousson that smells like cantaloupe note that kind of tingles the corners of your mouth. Sweetness at the edge of overripe, like a fruit salad that’s a little too cantaloupe forward and just beginning to turn. A little sunscreeny, seashore with salt in the air. Went from a curiosity to one of my favorites over a few wears, and I sprang for a 10ML travel size. That signature Jean-Claude Ellena transparency, somehow, keeping things light and sippable!

Compare to Olympic Orchids African Orchid, which has a richer, boozier (but also beautiful) take on this banana-vanilla. Infinitely preferable to most of the gourmand or rubbery vanillas for me.