Posted by Robin
on
15 March 2006
L’Ombre dans L’Eau was launched by Diptyque in 1983. The notes are listed as black currant leaf and Bulgarian rose; Diptyque describes the fragrance as “the scent of a green riverside garden.” It was created by Serge Kalouguine, who was also the perfumer for Diptyque Olène.
L’Ombre dans L’Eau, like yesterday’s Ecume de Rose, gets off to a somewhat rocky start, with an overwhelming burst of green (and I love green notes, mind you). It is harsh, maybe even astringent. The green remains — if you don’t like green, there is little point in even trying it — but it does calm. There are crushed green leaves. There is the bitter smell of broken stems. There is a light sprinkling of fresh herbs, and one or two pine needles. There is the smell of freshly overturned soil warming in the sun, and a bit of tartness from the black currant…
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Posted by Robin
on
4 January 2006
Since Frederic Malle’s Carnal Flower turned out to be so quiet and well behaved for a white floral, I thought I’d try a little shock therapy today. I’m wearing Olène by Diptyque, created by perfumer Serge Kalouguine and released in 1988. The notes are listed, not very helpfully, as wisteria and narcissus.
Olène is probably the sort of fragrance that creates a white-floral-hater. The first 15 minutes are heady, to put it lightly: an explosion of honeysuckle, and not just any old honeysuckle, but a very sweet honeysuckle. On steroids. That calms gradually — you won’t want to spray this on and walk right into an elevator full of innocent bystanders — into a lush blend of florals, with the wisteria and narcissus as promised, along with quite a bit of jasmine and a light musky base…
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