Last week I attended a Perfume Society event at Selfridges where Frederic Malle with the help of Jo Fairley took us on a journey through the history, collaborations, evolution and inspiration behind the perfumes of the line along with some interesting stories about them.
One involved Musc Ravageur while still on testing and his assistant who played the role of the guinea pig. While wearing the initial version on her way back home on public transport she had some “uncomfortable” experiences with the members of the opposite sex. The formula was reworked and when the final version was ready, said assistant wore it again on the same route, reported the same side effects and vowed to never wear it again. The fragrance was released none the less and became one of the most successful ones of the collection.
I had tried it in the past but I also got a 10ml that night. The notes listed are bergamot, tangerine and cinnamon set against a backdrop of vanilla, musk and amber. On my skin it starts a bit wild with a blast of citruses and spicy cinnamon that lingers on quite a bit, giving an oriental and - maybe I’m a bit affected by the season - Christmassy feeling, for which I hold the spices responsible. After a couple of hours it smooths down to a very comforting skin scent, with a hint of musk and amber with vanilla taking centre stage giving it the gourmet “come hither” feeling . It lasts extremely long– all EFM perfumes do - however with fading projection and while sniffing on my wrist hours later I get a reassuring whiff of something very familiar and a bit animalic like soft fur. Definitely a perfume to wear when going on a date with someone you really like!
All perfumes of the collection are beautiful in their own way, the perfumers working on them have no boundaries in their creativity and only the best raw materials are used. If unsure where to begin I would suggest a sample set, it’s an excellent way to discover what suits you best and test for unwanted side effects!
