Jul et Mad is a new French niche line debuting with three fragrances inspired by a Parisian love story:
An encounter between two cultures, two continents, two passions, two souls… An encounter rapidly transformed in a beautiful « Histoire d’Amour » revealed now through an extraordinary collection of “parfums de créateurs” valorizing the originality, the emotion, the quality.
Stilettos on Lex, Terrasse à St Germain and Amour de Palazzo were developed by perfumer Dorothée Piot.
Stilettos on Lex ~ a chypre fruity floral; “A timeless ode to eternal beauty opening on a sparkling fruity-gourmand note, a prelude to the opulent floral bouquet, dominated by the softness of heliotrope, and crowned by the powdery and sensual touch of iris and carnation… A mysterious and exalting mélange of musk and precious woods reinforce and sublimate this composition of ultimate elegance.” Additional notes include lemon, pear, davana, plum liquor, muguet, violet leaves, rose, heliotrope, vanilla, patchouli and cedar.
Terrasse à St Germain ~ a floral woody musk; “Starting with the first note, a green and sparkling freshness awakes the senses, rapidly sustained by a subtle floral palette of freesia, lotus and rose, giving to the formula a surprising and delicate sensuality. The strength of the musk strikes suddenly, but in complete harmony and perfect symbiosis with the precious sandalwood and the seducing patchouli…” Additional notes include grapefruit, mandarin and rhubarb.
Amour de Palazzo ~ a woody oriental leather; “The noble palette of ingredients used for this creation give the precious character to this fragrance: a spicy start, fresh and slightly “gourmand” at the same time, opens the way to the heart of the perfume where floral, woody, and leather notes create a perfect harmony… A divine, marvelous amber-oud accord reveals itself promptly, sustained by the seductive power of animal notes… Narcotic and irresistible…” Additional notes include pepper, cloves, ginger, nutmeg, violet, cedar, leather, patchouli, labdanum, musk, papyrus and castoreum.
I will update with sizes and concentration when I can.
(via juletmad, hat tip to Jessica!)
Update: according to the press materials, Jul et Mad Stilettos on Lex, Terrasse à St Germain and Amour de Palazzo will be available in a 50 ml Parfum or a refillable 7 ml travel spray.
Another update: see a review of Jul et Mad Stilettos on Lex and another of Terrasse à St Germain.
25 Comments
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I don’t mind sounding stupid, so I’ll just ask – What exactly constitutes a chypre nowadays? A fruity gourmand opening just seems the antithesis of the classical citrus, and without oakmoss and an animalic musk in the base notes isn’t it more of a gourmand-y fruity floral with some woods and clean musk?
Patchouli–even if it has been cleaned up within an inch of its life.
Yes, that’s about right — a dryish woody patch, although sometimes oakmoss (real or synthetic) is still used too.
But why patch specifically, I wonder. Why not vetiver, for example?
It’s often more dominated by dry woods and musky notes; including both vetiver and patchouli and synthetic musks. The oakmoss ratios allowes are so minimal it does not even come close to what true chypre’s richness used to be… Labdanum is rarely used nowadays in these compositions. It’s role in the past was to create the Mediterranean hills scent; now it’s more about marketing the scents to women who are looking for something more dry; rather than chypre per-se. You can read more about that “The Dawn of Pink Chypre” article on SmellyBlog.
I think the general rule for chypres is still the same as it ever was – bergamot/labdanum/oakmoss – albeit with synthetic oakmoss now. Any other combination and it shouldn’t be called a chypre.
There are or have been lots of chypres that have other fruit alongside or instead of citrus in the top notes: both Rochas Femme and Van Cleef and Arpels Gem, for instance, had bucketloads of peach and plum, Ted Lapidus Création was all peach and blackcurrant (very eighties), and YSL Yvresse, formerly Champagne, was mostly nectarines and apricots in the opening (with anise and mint standing in for the brightness of citrus). They were definitely all chypres.
Otherwise, you’re absolutely right: no oakmoss equals no chypre. I don’t know why the industry insisted on creating an oakmoss-free, patchouli-based “new chypre”, since most people don’t even know what a chypre is anyway.
It’s all about the supposed allergens, they say. I know the fragrance companies would disagree with me but I say they should’ve slapped a skull & crossbones on everything – or similar worded warning – and just left our beloved fragrances as they were. Seriously…to my knowledge, no one’s every died from wearing the stuff, right? I would’ve taken my chances!
Allergens, right. It has nothing to do with the big aromaflavor companies that make all these synthetics in use now, and how much cheaper they are.
Mitsouko too! Chypres and green florals have always been my favorite fragrance categories and it’s tough to wrap my brain around a chypre that’s described as having a gourmand-y opening of any kind. And, I agree – no oakmoss = no chypre.
It’s all the same sleight of hand type trick – Miss Dior is literally no longer the real Miss Dior, the current formulations and ingredients in older existing fragrances very rarely hold a candle to the originals (if they even smell like them at all), and chypre sounds all mysterious and exotic so why let a cool word/term go to waste when you can just change the meaning to whatever you want?
I sound so cranky and I apologize for that, it’s not this new line’s fault!
I am not crazy about the notes, but must say I’m loving those bottles
Their design is quite nice.
They do look nice, and I like the logo.
It’s not an exact match but the bottle strikes me as VERY similar to Vera Wang for Men: cap’s a bit taller (and shiny), bottle’s a bit curvier, but otherwise there’s a strong family resemblance.
Admittedly, this may be because I’m sick and generally cranky today but I swear the words, “a new niche line,” are becoming about as common as “a new fruity floral.” I like the bottles though.
It’s true!
How does one pronounce “chypre”?
“she-prey” at least, that’s how I’ve heard it. If I’m wrong someone will kindly correct me.
French being what it is, “she-prey” would be the past tense of the verb, as in Andy Tauer’s Un Rose Chyprée, “a chypred rose”. “Chypre” pronounced, approximately, “she-pruh”, and you should roll the “r” if you can, but if you don’t it will be the English version of the word, which of course is fine.
The woody leather sounds good and I like the bottles as well, though, if memory serves, one of the Vera Wang scents ( the original) has very similar bottle. The comments above about chypres make me want to go vintage fume hunting- particularly Yvresse!
Same here, I’d love some vintage Magie Noire right about now!
The bottles i must say are amusingly close to Lancomes “miracle”
THAT’S the one! I knew it was like something else besides Vera Wang and I just couldn’t put my finger on it. The bottles are very like both Miracle and Miracle Homme.
Oh, holy almighty, please… please… no more… new ‘niche’ lines… please… plea… [sobs uncontrollably]
I met ‘Mad’ at Essentials. She saw Sniffapalooza on my badge and reminisced about meeting the group who went to Paris. As luck would have it; I was in that group and remembered hearing her at L’Artisan. She has been in the industry for awhile and worked at other places. Nice to see her and know she has found her ‘niche.’ Terrasse was my favorite. I found it very alluring and reading the notes and seeing so many of my favorite notes explains why. The blending is lovely, too.