Essential Parfums Showcase Review – 2023

Essential Parfums have developed a reputation for offering high-quality compositions at reasonable prices. They’ve certainly turned to some heavy-hitters to create their wares: the presence of names such as Calice Becker, Antoine Maisondieu and Quentin Bisch on their discovery set is undoubtedly impressive. I presented a showcase review of all their releases – except the latest, Fig Infusion (Nathalie Lorson) – over on YouTube the other day. Here’s a link: Essential Parfums showcase review. And for a complete list of the scents, with timestamps, please keep reading.

Nice Bergamote (Antoine Maisondieu) 4:18
Rose Magnetic (Sophie Labbe) 7:51
Mon Vetiver (Bruno Jovanovic) 13:05
Orange X Santal (Nathalie Gracia-Cetto) 17:55
Divine Vanille (Olivier Pescheux) 22:14
The Musc (Calice Becker) 26:11
Bois Imperial (Quentin Bisch) 29:50

I realise these scents have won quite a few fans, but I can’t say I’m tempted to add a full bottle of any of them to my personal collection. They all start off pleasant enough, but as I’ve said several times in the past, ‘pleasant’ on its own is insufficient. The sandalwood turns excessively harsh. The vetiver ends up wan and faceless. The rose and the musk fade away with disappointing rapidity. Ironically, it’s the bergamot that held my attention most successfully, as it lasted far longer than I expected it to, while managing to project a convincingly Cote D’Azur sense of reclining laziness throughout its development. And as for Bois Imperial – the Quentin Bisch creation that’s been the brand’s most talked-about release – it’s certainly grandiose and attention-seeking (thanks to, surprise surprise, a heavy-handed use of Akigalawood) but it could also be read as crass and garish. Sorry: I consider none of these to be essential.

Persolaise

[Essential Parfums review based on samples obtained by me in 2022.]

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