The other day, I put up an Instagram post singing the praises of Odin’s 02 Owari: one of the most photo-real citrus fragrances I’ve ever had the pleasure of bringing into contact with my skin. This led to a discussion about similarly holographic scents (Cologne Bigarade came up more than once). And then I remembered that I haven’t yet written a single word about Marcelle — one of a small number of releases from the brand Marie Jeanne (founded by Georges Maubert of the Robertet family, who hired perfumers Michèle Saramito, Karine Vinchon-Sphener, Mylène Alran and Sidonie Lancesseur for this project, although his website doesn’t specify the author of each scent). It may not reinvent the peel, but Marcelle‘s evocation of a bowl of fresh bergamot, grapefruit and oranges – their skins glistening with water – is so note-perfect that reservations about a possible lack of originality have to take a bit of a back seat. One spray, and you feel as though the brightness dial in your whole world has been turned right up to the ‘Provence’ setting. Compositions in this genre either work or they patently don’t: the nose doesn’t accept approximations. And Marcelle most certainly works.
PS Do check out Marcel too: a more traditional cologne, in the sense that it contrasts its citruses with marked herbal notes.
[Reviews based on samples of eau de cologne provided Bloom Perfumery, London, in 2019.]
Persolaise
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