You get an extrait. You get an extrait. Everybody gets an extrait!!! I don’t know about you guys, but I think Oprah’s secretly working behind the scenes of these perfume houses, divvying out extrait after extrait like candy. Every brand and their dog has a line of extraits these days. They usually have a few things in common. Firstly, they’re about double the price of their regular fragrances, come in bottles half the size, promise performance and sillage beyond belief, and inevitably, the marketing materials make hyperbolic sensationalist statements that draw in half-witted consumers with more money than sense.
Historic French house D’Orsay is one of the latest to jump on the bandwagon. Here’s their dramatic statement:
“Each D’ORSAY Extrait de Parfum is a powerful love potion. Designed around an overdosed raw material to seduce, bewitch or leave you wanting more, they invade the space with their addictive essence.”
This collection has three extraits: Flower Lust, Tonka Hysteria, and Incence Crush. The names sound like something concocted by the mind of a Mancera marketing executive. Ridiculous! Still, with the promise of powerful love potions and addictive essences, I added all three to my cart and checked out as quickly as I could. Here are my half-witted musings on each.
Flower Lust – Dominique Ropion
My least favourite from the trio is Flower Lust. The sweetness from the orange blossom and ylang-ylang duo becomes too cloying and almost headache-inducing. The peppery top notes vanish too quickly to balance out the candied floral sweetness. And the tonka/benzoin base adds another layer of ambery caramel sweetness to the florals. Not for me. Swipe Left!
Tonka Hysteria – Jordi Fernández
Tonka Hysteria treads a well-worn path that’s now starting to wear a little thin. The mix of powdery vanilla with hints of spice recalls recent hits such as Babycat and Vanagloria. This one smells more powdery and floral, courtesy of the orris, but it’s essentially the same thing recycled. How many of these do we need?
Answer: Every brand needs to have one of these style scents, even older brands like D’Orsay. It’s the popular and “cool” scent profile. But, in their effort to hang with the cool kids, they’re merely conforming to the pack. Essentially, there’s no risk to the brand, though. They’ll never appear as conspicuously uncool as Steve Buscemi in his ‘How do you do, fellow kids’ meme? But I would if I wore Tonka Hysteria, particularly with its caramelised base. I’d feel a bit of a “wannabe” wearing this fragrance. It’s a scent profile I don’t care for, especially that dry down; it simply doesn’t work on me. It will still sell. Indeed, it’s likely to be the most desired of the trio.
Nevertheless, It’s becoming tedious watching these brands continually riff on the flavour of the day. Why not do something different and stand out? Tonka Hysteria doesn’t do enough to distinguish itself from the others in its category. In the end, it feels a little late to the party. History repeating as Shirley Bassey sang with the Propellerheads. I blame it all on the original cool kid, Spiritueuse Double Vanille! Swipe left!
Incense Crush – Julien Rasquinet
Incense Crush was my last hope of finding a powerful love potion to call my own. And while I wouldn’t say I’ve fallen in love with it, it’s my pick from the trio. Firstly, I smell hints of campfire smoke reminiscent of Rasquinet’s complex dark Bois d’Ascese for Naomi Goodsir. In addition, I pick up echoes of the creamy sandalwood and varnish accord of Indian Study from Miller et Bertaux. Finally, as the base notes take effect, I smell a subtle, smooth, leathery accord rounding out any of the perfume’s harsh edges. Fragrantica users identify leather as the most prominent facet, but for mine, Incense Crush is more about the wood and smoke.
I’m not usually a fan of Julien Rasquineuet’s work as I find his perfumes very harsh and challenging to wear. Bois d’Ascese, for example, becomes too suffocating and smothering. He also uses a lot of harsh woody ambers, as in his Enclave for Amouage or Ambre Safrano for BDK. But, for Incense Crush, he gets the volume and balance just right. Interestingly, I’m again at odds with most of the reviews on Fragrantica that describe Incense Crush as “polarising” and “not for the faint of heart.” I want to wear it again. Swipe Right!
Summary
Even though I find Incense Crush to be the best of the trio, we’ll remain just friends. I’m not going to need a whole bottle of the stuff. There are plenty more fish in the sea. Indeed, I’m sure we’ll see many more extraits as the year progresses. For you see, my fellow fragheads, to misquote the Bard of Avon, my love for perfume is as boundless as the sea and for all infinite. But unlike Romeo and Juliet, this is no tragic end. I may not have found anything worth buying, but I’ll always smell good with my trusty sample of Incense Crush in tow and my many other perfumes. I’d say, all’s well that ends well!
Have you tried this collection? Have you found any extrait’s worth sampling?
All images are my own.
