I was dubious at the beginning. The first notes of Jardin de Kerylos were very pink and powdery and pretty and sort of girly-aldehydeish. In other words, almost everything that I dislike in a fragrance.
But this is Parfumerie Generale, so I hung on. And I didn't have to hang on for more than a minute or two for the powder and ruffles to start to burn off, and the pink scent to turn green, and then greener. Green, and tart, and dry, and the coconut that's so often dominant in fig scents was just barely there, peeking through the foliage.
A green fig, a highly unripe fig, a fig that I couldn't eat without pureeing it with sugar, but to smell, it's a glorious fig.
The notes, according to LuckySent, are fig, sycamore, and musk. I don't know what sycamore smells like - is it responsible for some of the greenness? Just in case, I'll be adding sycamore to my list of notes of interest.
It's odd to have so little to say about a fragrance that I like so much. I suppose that the first wearing is sometimes a largely wordless experience. But this is it. I've found my fig.
Edited to add: Just for more complete information, I should add: Longevity? Lousy. It faded away in less than three hours. And I don't care. I still want it.
Review Roundup: The Non-Blonde and Perfume Posse and Aromascope (brief mention) and Perfume-Smellin' Things and Basenotes and MakeupAlley and Olfactoria's Travels.
Photo: By Jon Sullivan. Wikimedia Commons. Also from PDPhoto.
Fig is fabulous. At the moment we have all things fig in our house. Fig candles, fig fragrances. There's something about fig that just smells sooo good. Can't wait to try the PG fig - but will give it a go soon.
ReplyDeleteI love fig, but when it's sweet, I only love it for a few minutes. This one is wonderfully un-sweet. I'm having to remind myself of all the Pre Bottle Purchase rules. (Use up a sample, use up a decant, wait for a bottle purchasing budget slot, etc.)
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you love it! It's one of my top fig frags, I think I mentioned before. It reminds me of flowering fig trees and warm Greek gardens. It's simply_beautiful.
ReplyDeleteIt really is. Beautiful, that is. And I think that it'll be an all-season fragrance: A craving fulfillment in winter, and something that just fits the season in summer.
ReplyDeleteDecant first, though. Gotta do the decant first. Right? Right.
Finally! I'm glad for you - I like fig scents very much, I should be detracting from my collection. :)
ReplyDeleteI haven't tried this, but will - you got me interested.
This is one of my favourite fig scents, which I remember as being sweeter and more about the fruit than you describe. It is ages since I tried it though, so must dig out my sample and try it with a fresh nostril.
ReplyDeleteInes, yes, I definitely recommend it. If you like Philosykos, you might find this one too standoffish and dry, but it's definitely worth the experiment.
ReplyDeleteFlittersniffer, there's a lot of fruit, but it's not sweet fruit. Definitely not ripe. But I like that - I like my bananas really green, for example.
(Hey, I wonder if a scent could achieve a green banana note? Hmmm.)
Tried it again last night vs Philosykos. Oddly, I found Philosykos standoffish and dry (like Premier Figuier minus the coconut) and JdKerylos was once again juicy and ripe, but not sweet, as you say - just not tart, such that you would need to add sugar. I bet you and I have very different skin, which may be behind this.
ReplyDeleteOh, wow. I'd read about people finding Philosykos dry or challenging, and I assumed that they just like a lot more sweet than I do. But you finding Philosykos _more_ dry in a head-to-head comparison... that's really interesting, and we must indeed have very different skin. On me, Philosykos is a sugar bomb.
ReplyDeleteHave you tried Parfums de Nicolai Fig Tea? That's also a sugar bomb on me; I'd be curious to know how it is on you.