Review: Mon Parfum Chéri from Annick Goutal, Lumière Noire Pour Femme Elixir and Aqua Universalis Forte Elixir from Maison Francis Kurkdjian (2011)

The moment I tried Goutal’s latest, I knew I had to test it on Madame Persolaise. I rushed to our lounge, where she was working her way through the Sunday papers, sprayed some on her arm and said, “Tell me what this reminds you of.”

“Femme,” she declared a few moments later. “And I mean proper Femme. Not the new stuff.”

That, dear readers, is what you call a hole-in-one, because Mon Parfum Chéri is a classic chypre in the grand tradition of Jubilation 25, Rose De Nuit, Mitsouko and the aforementioned classic from Rochas. And unfortunately, ‘classic chypre’ is a label that comes with a whole load of baggage.

Context aside, Camille Goutal has created a stygian, autumnal heavyweight that places the familiar velvety-moss-and-rich-labdanum accord alongside a patchouli note so hefty, it’s liable to make you think your local garden centre has just deposited a ton of damp compost in your back garden. This is patchouli less as the familiar purveyor of chocolate (although there are moments when Chanel’s Coromandel comes to mind) and more as a keen participant in nude mud wrestling. Tenacious and intensely natural (the plum opening is especially ripe), it pays homage to the smells of bodies as they snuggle up to each other on overheated August evenings, eschewing any flimsy, floral romanticism that might initially be suggested by a name that includes the word ‘chéri’.

But precisely because it plays the chypre card so expertly, it also comes across as more than a little old-fashioned. The accord is tricky to pull off these days, probably because its sophistication is often associated with a certain fustiness. A well-made chypre doesn’t grant its constituents gigantic space in which to roam free, preferring to keep its star players rooted in relatively airless enclosures. And of course this places it at odds with current tastes for formulations which have so much breathing room, they hyperventilate themselves into non-existence.

That said, Mon Parfum Chéri is a must-try. It won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but then the most interesting perfumes never are. It’s brave and uncompromising. And it reminds you that perhaps one of the reasons why chypres continue to enjoy popularity is that they manage to convey a very grown-up seriousness whilst carrying the unmistakable odour of a lover’s body after it has lain asleep for hours beneath the blankets of a warm bed.

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As we’re on the subject of patchouli, it’s worth mentioning Francis Kurkdjian’s new extrait-strength formulations of some of the key scents from his eponymous line. Lumière Noire Pour Femme Elixir uses the hippie-friendly plant in a relatively predictable way, marrying it with rose to create an effect that’s flat and linear.

His Aqua Universalis Forte Elixir is more interesting because it marks yet another attempt (see Serge Lutens’ L’Eau) to produce a fragrance in which the lighter feel of the top notes lasts through to the drydown. Thanks to the clever use of musks, the experiment is largely successful, but the extrait-weight of the composition means that radiance is kept to a minimum… which seems rather curious in a perfume that’s presumably meant to share a sense of well-scrubbed cleanliness with passers-by. Its freshness is highly subdued, and if you’re after freshness, I’m not sure you want to keep it to yourself. ‘More concentrated’ doesn’t always spell ‘better’ in perfumery: the eau de parfum version of this scent does a more convincing job of balancing tenacity with sparkle.

Persolaise.