Chanel Gabrielle Extrait, BDK Villa Neroli, Miller Harris Poirier D’Un Soir and others – Skin Time September 2022

Chanel Gabrielle extrait

You can’t help but be a tiny bit suspicious when Chanel release a new scent quietly, with minimal fanfare. This is what’s happened with the extrait version of Gabrielle** (unless I’m mistaken, in the UK, it’s an online exclusive and doesn’t even get to see the inside of a shop) and it’s interesting to consider why the brand felt the fragrance didn’t deserve the full might of their formidable marketing machine. Certainly, it’s a pleasant composition. Indeed, it’s probably the most attractive of the Gabrielles (but then you’d hope it would be, given it’s an extrait) combining the tuberose, jasmine and ylang ylang with a seamlessness that is perhaps lacking in the other versions. But it remains a curiously passion-free piece of work, seemingly intent on keeping every single emotion it might have displayed in check. An android scent, not so much inscrutable as inert.

The Chanel website quotes creator Olivier Polge as saying this is a perfume that “leaves no-one indifferent.” But the precise problem with it is that it is the quintessence of indifference, never daring to strive for distinctiveness. And sure enough, even the brand itself seems to be indifferent about it. Otherwise, there’s no doubt they would have presented it to us with far more ceremony.

Miller Harris Poirier D’Un Soir

Indifference is what I used to feel towards much of Miller Harris’ output. But the house has gone through a bit of a shake-up in recent months and from what I’ve seen so far, the streamlining of its range has been beneficial. It was with great pleasure that I recently rediscovered their much-lauded L’Air De Rien (click here for a video review) but for today’s blog post, I wanted to mention Poirier D’Un Soir* (Mathieu Nardin; 2015). Overt pear notes aren’t especially common in perfumery, but they’re front and centre here, with Nardin highlighting all of the fruit’s weirder aspects, notably the boozy fleshiness, the wetness and the cold acidity. The whole recalls the ultra-fruity feast that is Parfums De Rosine Le Fruit Defendu, Henri Almeras’ 1916 classic in which an orchard banquet is conjured with startling realism. Poirier restricts itself to one item on the menu, but even so, there’s nothing the least bit unsatisfying about indulging in what it has to offer. 

BDK Villa Neroli
and Prada Luna Rossa Carbon

Sadly, the same can’t be said of Villa Neroli* (Alexandra Carlin; 2022). It’s difficult to work out exactly what’s happening at BDK. On the one hand, they give us the occasional gem, but on the other, they don’t seem averse to foisting rather uninspired pieces upon us. This new one is an example of the latter, using a disappointingly thin, screechy faux-neroli to attempt to create an image of a trip to the Med. As far as my nose is concerned, it doesn’t even make it to the departure lounge. In a similar vein (although less surprisingly so) is Prada Luna Rossa Carbon** (Daniela Andrier; 2017) which continues to do well, proving, rather depressingly, that there is still a market for crass, boorish masculines. It is beyond me why someone would pay good money for coarse lavender, paint-stripper citruses and angry woody-ambers. But there we are: evidently, someone still does.

Estee Lauder Youth Dew
bath oil

Finally, Madame Persolaise broke into a new bottle of Youth Dew bath oil the other day, and I was reminded that falling in love with a perfume all over again is almost as giddily exciting as falling in love with a person all over again. Yes, I know this stuff is very much of its era (I’m sure Lauder wouldn’t release anything near as buxom these days) and I’m well aware that the likes of the brand’s own Cinnabar and YSL Opium may be more refined takes on the same idea. But Youth Dew (Josephine Catapano; 1953) still possesses an aura all its own, stirring up its cauldron of spices, fruit, flowers, woods and resins (is there anything this juice DOESN’T contain?) to devastating effect. Its name has always been ridiculous. If anything, this stuff is the dew of wisdom, experience and hard-won expression lines. But it is a work of time-stopping beauty, and I hope Lauder never stop making it.

Persolaise

* sample provided by the brand
** sample obtained by me

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