Dirty Mind
“Je reviens en trois jours, ne te laves pas!”
The name of the classic perfume by the house of Worth (Je Reviens, 1932) was based on a letter sent by Napoleon to Josephine. A great classic, but the scent apparently has nothing to do with the natural odor of the empress. Now, there’s a new project inspired by this famous note to recreate Josephine’s odor. I don’t know much about it but trying to figure out who’s going to create the scent. The perfumer has to be excellent in classic French perfumery, that’s for sure. What else? Well, this is the kind of idea that makes me (=straight, dirty minded) wild, and I would like the perfumer to have the same degree of excitement. So, if I’m allowed to select the candidates, they are Dominique Ropion (IFF), Maurice Roucel (Symrise), Alberto Morillas (Firmenich).
I will follow up with more detailed information later.
Nobi
12 Comments
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Victoria
I believe that they have, although Guy Robert could not remember what perfume was or whether it was even marketed.
I love that aspect of Alberto Morillas’s work, especially when it resurfaces from underneath a very elegant heart. It is as if the layers of clothes are being peeled off.
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Octavian
I would chose Maurice Roucel. Josephine was in love with all the musky notes. In french she was called “la folle du musc”. Roucel does amazing things with this kind of notes + everything that is sweet-vanilla-oriental and a little bit dirty. I visited once the empress chateau Malmaison, with all the roses and carnations that Napoleon planted for her. Besides the musky-civet and exotic-overpowering smells Josephine loved, there is also a kind of perfume that reminded her, at least at the begginig of the century. Oeillet Malmaison was a type of carnation fragrance, very popular 100 years ago.
Je reviens, though the smell has nothing to do with that letter, with its narcissus-salycilate note, if I remember well can have a touch of dirty sexyness with the animalic-cresol notes of that flower:)) -
Marina
My vote goes to Roucel for that very reason that Octavian described above. Roucel can do “skank”, I know he can. π
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March
Nobi, I’m contemplating naughty and nice. There was the thing you put up about Vulva … but that seems to be, uh, for a different market.
Then there’s the new Etat line, which V’s been blogging on. Some of the names are just slightly provocative (Jasmin et Cigarette), some more so (Putain de Palaces), even MORE so (Secretions Magnifiques) — and now I guess there’s one called…. are you ready? … “Don’t Get Me Wrong Baby, I Don’t Swallow” is by Antoine Maisondieu, and features jasmine, aldehydes, lily of the valley, orange blossom, amber solar accord, patchouli, cacao and marshmallow. (name and notes info lifted from Now Smell This.) In this particular case, I feel like the name is provocative but the scent doesn’t sound particularly sensual… what do you think of this?
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Marina
Nobi,
No need for you to worry about me not being careful. π A handsome, distinguished perfumer like him has no time of the day for a little blogger like me. π
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Victoria
I am in complete agreement with you on the three perfumers you’ve selected. One person who would be perfect (although this is just a fantasy, since he has passed away many years ago) is Henri Almeras. All of the stories I’ve heard about him point to the fact that he would share the same degree of excitement. Guy Robert once told me a story of being asked by Almeras to help him recreate a perfume he composed to impressed a lady who came to his studio. Almeras mixed a few things, the fragrance turned out to be quite beautiful, but after the blonde was gone, he could not remember how it was composed, because he did not write down the formula!
I am anticipating more details! π