Boucheron - Jaïpur Bracelet

Picture: Jaïpur Bracelet
Photo: PR Boucheron (c)

The jewellery house Boucheron has been in the fragrancemarket since 1989 when the iconic floral-oriental Boucheron pour Femme was released. Even if this first release still is the jewel of the crown, the 2012
Jaïpur Bracelet, flanker of another classic from the house Jaïpur, is a very pleasant finding. Jaïpur Bracelet is created by Carlos Benaim. An earlier and now discontinued flanker to Jaïpur is Jaïpur Saphire

Jaïpur Bracelet starts with a green, slight herbal, flowery accord accentuated with orange-citirc notes which when interacting creates an almost berry tune to the fragrance which in turn softens the sharpness and warms up the coldness of the crispy flowers; Lily of the valley, hyacint, iris and carnation. If this fragrance had a color it would be medium, velvety pink, a bit darker than the color of the Jaïpur Bracelet box and bottle. From top to base Jaïpur Bracelet reminds me of a less sweeter version of the first Lalique fragrance with the same name. The Lalique contains berry and fruity notes but also vanilla and some white flowers and as a 1990 release it is bolder and with a bigger silage even if Jaïpur Bracelet has a not contemptible silage to be created as late as 2012. Instead of vanilla, sandalwood and musk as in Lalique, Jaïpur Bracelet ends up in the wellbalanced woody-musky base of cashmerean. Another fragence that reminds me of Jaïpur Bracelet is the big, bold and sparkling Dior Pure Poison (one of the three cretors of this is Carlos Benaim) but compared to Pure Poison, Jaïpur Bracelet is almost low-key.

Jaïpur Bracelet is the ultimate comfort scent, a real wristsniffer, an uncomplicated but well composed fragrance that brightens up the most gloomy day. As Jaïpur Braclet is not too sweet and with an excellent longevity, 24h+, it's perfect to wear in warm and sunny summerdays.

Rating: 4+

Notes: Basil, violet leaves, lemon verbena, bitter orange, petitgrain, hyacinth, lily-of-the-valley, carnation, iris, cypress, cashmeran

Versace - Vanitas Edp

Picture: Woman in a yellow dress, oil by Max Kurzweil,1899
Wikimedia commons

Vanitas Edp just as the Vanitas Edt version reviewd earlier this week, is created by Dora Baghriche-Arnaud for Italian fashionhouse Versace.

Rationelly I should of course have reviewed Versace Vanitas Edp first as it was created 2011 the year before the launching of the Edt. But my rational was the weather: The first week in October when the testing took place, is up here in the North, a period with alternating relatively warm and contrasting chilly days. The more sparkling and lighter, when it comes to the mixing of the ingredients, Vanitas Edt was tested during a relatively warm day and the Vanitas Edp on a slight chilly day.

Vanitas Edp has not, as mentioned above, the uplifting, sparkling effects as the Edt possesses. Vanitas Edp is dimmed compared to the Edt, it’s mellower and the florals, which are yellow also in the Edp, are dense and velvety in texture compared to the almost chiffonlike texture of the Edt. The freesia is one of the leading characters in the Edp but not as dominating as in the Edt. In the later dry down I feel a familiar note that is not menitioned in the notelist but I almost sure it is there. It’s the dark end dense orangeblossom note that is even more apparent in Mona di Orios Jabu. Vanitas Edp, especially in it’s later stages, has a hint of the dark melancholy that is present as a hint in the overall joyful Jabu. Vanitas Edp plays with the same concept a comfortable and pleasant fragrance with a trace of seriousness. I think admiers of the fragrances mentioned in the review of Vanitas Edt will also like the Edp but also these who likes more compact, unobtrusive, velvetlike in texture, elegant florals as for example Boucheron pour Femme. Even if they don’t smell close, the conveys a common style.

Vanitas Edp is a fragrance for the days when you just want’s to be taken care of. It wraps around you as a smooth pashmina, as a true comfort for troublesome days. The sillage is less then the sillage of the Edt, which of course is no surprise as Edt-concentrations is constructed to perform a higher radiance. Longevity is about 12 hours, not quite as long as for the Vanitas Edt.

Even if the both Vanitas versions tested are very good and mirrors two faces of the same theme, I slightly prefers the Edt-version and therefore the Edp has a somewhat lower rating.

Rating: 4

Notes: Lime, freesia, tiareflower, tonkabeen, cedarwood