The power of a good recommendation. A little while ago, a long-time viewer suggested that I need to get my nose on Zara Leather Jardin, so I duly obliged and featured it in a recent set of Love At First Scent episodes, in which I also covered Voyages Imaginaires (the brand founded by Camille Goutal and Isabel Doyen) as well as the new edt versions of Bulgari Eau Parfumee Au The Vert and Eau Parfumee Au The Blanc. Here are links to all the videos: Zara Leather Jardin and Ebony Wood reviews — Voyages Imaginaires showcase — Bulgari Eau Parfumee Au The Vert edt, Eau Parfumee – The Blanc edt and Eau Parfume – The Noir edc reviews.
Leather Jardin (Jo Malone) 5:21
Ebony Wood (Jo Malone) 12:04
L’Echappee Sauvage 7:59
Le Grand Jeu 9:28
Azahar 15:38
La Couleur De La Nuit 16:41
Tea & Rock’n’Roll 21:00
L’Eau Des Immortels 23:07
Comme Un Gant 26:59
Eau Parfumee – The Vert (Jacques Cavallier & Yann Vasnier) 4:30
Eau Parfumee – The Blanc (Jacques Cavallier & Yann Vasnier) 8:08
Eau Parfumee Au The Noir (Jacques Cavallier) 10:32
Fans of Bulgari’s tea range will be disappointed to learn that all variants apart from Vert and Blanc have been discontinued, but they may find some reassurance in the fact that the new edt versions of the surviving duo are extremely faithful to the originals. As examples of the super-limpid, whale-music-in-a-spa, non-perfume variety of perfumes (and I honestly don’t mean that to sound as disparaging as it does: there’s room for everything in perfumery and I’m personally quite fond of Blanc) these take some beating.
Camille Goutal and Isabelle Doyen’s all-natural range, Voyages Imaginaires, is probably worth seeking out, even if only to match some of the scents with bestsellers from the Annick Goutal brand, which appears to be going through tough times at the moment. The highlights are: La Couleur De La Nuit, a slinky modern chypre in which lavender is cast in the role normally played by rose; L’Eau Des Immortels, a suitably balmy, licorice-like, smoky-resinous take on immortelle; and Le Grand Jeu, one of the best suntan-lotion-and-exotic-flower perfumes I have ever encountered, commendable for its delicate, nuanced take on a genre in which most perfumers seem to think you need to bellow.
Finally, I confess I shall never again be able to walk past Zara’s eternally-messy perfume sections without having a sniff or two. Leather Jardin is precisely what I was told it would be: a leathery, green chypre, with more than a shade of Bandit and Cabochard. It’s heartening to know that it’s sold well enough to stick around for three years — an eternity in Zara’s fragrance world. I just wonder if I’ll be able to sneak it past Madame Persolaise’s green-hating nose.
Persolaise
[Review samples of the Bulgari were provided by the brand; the remainder were obtained by me.]
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Years ago when Eau Parfumee Au The Vert was launched I read about in in some publication or other & was very interested, so when I was visiting London shortly thereafter I popped into the Bulgari shop in Sloane Street & was given a comprehensive up & down look from the security chap on the door after I’d buzzed & been let in! To be fair I was dressed in jeans, probably a rock concert t-shirt & sensible shoes for walking around a lot. A sales person approached me & as soon as I said I’d read about the perfume & was very keen to try it I got a big smile & was asked to sit down, offered a glass of champagne (at about 10:30am!) & was given the most gorgeous booklet with a miniature version of the classic bottle inside, along with a booklet explaining its ingredients & why they were chosen, & the ethos behind launching their first perfume. I was delighted, of course, & when I’d finished the miniature I bought a bottle, & all these years later I have gone back to it & still love it as much as I did then.
Oh gosh, what a wonderful story! Thanks for sharing it.
So, this would have been in the 1990s, right? I can’t imagine something similar happening now.
If memory serves it was launched in 1992, so I would have popped into the shop the same year or in Spring 1993. Perhaps if I was going to spend a few thousand pounds on earrings the welcome would be the same these days!
Probably!