Saturday, July 9, 2011

Peach and Love - a guest post

Dear readers, I am very proud to present my first ever guest poster. :)

Asali is a friend I've been given by our lovely perfume community. I'm really happy she commented on my blog and from the on, we've been sharing thoughts on perfume and perfumes themselves, sending emails and packages galore. :)
And now I am happy to say she agreed to write a post for my blog.
(I do hope to get her to write some more as I love her thoughts on perfumes, maybe even get her to start a blog of her own, but I'll temper my exuberance for now). :)

So, here it is.


Peach and love,


I am really honored that the wonderful Ines, will share the space of her redheaded blog with me. Not that I am surprised that she wants to share, since she must be one of the most generous perfumistas in the blogosphere as I am sure that most of you will readily agree on. She taught me before anyone that perfume love goes around.

Talking of love, I have for some time now been smitten with peach. I feel that peach done well is a treat which tends to give an aura of luxury to the fragrance and its wearer. My peach love started with a decant of vintage Rochas Femme, and after that, peach has sought me out everywhere I went.

On my recent trip to Paris it came to me in the shape of Fath de Fath. Jacques Fath launched the original back in 1953, but it has since been updated twice, most recently in 2010 and turned into a sumptuous oriental by Mark Buxton.

So why would I want to write about an oriental in July? Well, first of all I can always wear/buy/write of/think of /sleep in/etc orientals, second, June has been terrible here, cold and rainy, so comfort scents have been called for. And third, if ever there was an oriental to go well on (cooler) summer days this one might be it, with the layers of ripe fruits, like those that surround us at this time of year.

The bergamot and a little green start out, but wink and you’ll miss it and a mixture of fruit notes bloom before settling with plum and peach. Those two are delicate and at this stage the perfume almost goes gourmand, although never so gourmand I want a bite of my arm. I feel that the tartness of the fruits really is singing a duet with the resins and the amber making me unable to detect where the fruit stops and the amber begins. Later in the heart of the scent, there is the orange flower which is perhaps the easiest detectable, but all the way down to the fragrance’s last ambery chords, you keep getting whiffs of flowers; heliotrope, and hmm, was that perhaps some jasmine? The dry-down is an oriental proper, amber and vanilla, and it lasts 6-8 comforting lovely hours. It’s a beautiful fragrance which takes you on a journey- and it also holds your hand all the way.

For this golden, lush oriental, really the price is a steel 58euros for 50ml, and should it become true love for you, you can get 100ml of extrait for 98euro! Get it amongst other places at http://www.parfumsjovoy.com/

Top notes: Black Currant, Peach, Tangerine, Plum, Bergamot, Green Notes
Heart notes: Jasmin, Lily of the Valley, Rose, Heliotrope, Tuberose, Orange Blossom
Base notes: Patchouly, Cedarwood, Vanilla, Benzoin, Ambergris, Musk, Tonka Bean

22 comments:

  1. Hi Asali! Your post was great! I've not tried Fath de Fath myself, but I'd like to, now. I must agree with you that Ines is a very generous person, when I started blogging, she was the first person to send me a care package- all the way to The States. I am still grateful to her for making me feel welcome in the blogging community when I needed encouragement.

    By the way, is that painting Gustav Klimt? I adore him. :)

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  2. Hi Carrie,
    I adore Klimt too, but I'm pretty sure this is not a Klimt. I found the picture, and thought it fitting of the fragrance with its ambery and peach colours and the oriental theme, but just could not find the artist!
    Thanks for reading, for sharing your 'Ines-story' and for the kind words:-)

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  3. Hi Asali! Enjoyed your post - great start. I have a question about the perfume: there is a tuberose in the list of the notes but you didn't mention it in your review - is it that not noticeable?

    The picture is Scheherazade by Alberto Vargas http://www.sfae.com/index.php?action=gallery&status=show_product&ID=883

    Undina

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  4. Hi Undina,
    Thanks a lot for solving the picture riddle:-)
    Regarding the tuberose, let me first tell you that I'm fairly neutral when it come to this note, it's neither love nor hate, although a big full on tuberose is not for me. ( We all know sods law that any notes we dislike tend to magnify themselves, so this might be possible if you really dislike Tuberose). I would say it behaves well and stays in the background, any trace of it is gone after max an hour. I hope that was precise enough?
    Thanks for the encouragement :-)

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  5. BTW, the Mark Buxton 2010 version is copper/ pinkish, whereas the white and gold box is the older (not vintage) version. The bottle is, as far as I can tell, nearly identical, and beautiful I might add :-)

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  6. Asali, your review got me interested to re-test the sample you sent and I finally got peach. :) Have no idea how I missed it first time around.
    And it seems to be growing on me. I like it more and more each time I smell it. I think it will be perfect for autumn for me.

    Since Undina asked about tuberose (and I adore the notes), I tried to smell it in the perfume but can't really say I do. There is a creamy backdrop to the perfume but it could easily be a combination of the other listed notes. It's more a sweet orange blossom creaminess than tuberose to me.

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  7. Ines, I'm glad you think you only smell it as the creamy back-drop, which is how I feel and why I didn't put it in the post. Orange blossom and heliotrope too me, are the more prominent, but I can see how, if you really don't like tuberose, you might feel it different.
    I'm glad it's growing on you, I think it'll work a treat in the autumn:-)

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