Far too many brands these days put all their stock into presentation and hackneyed storylines, neglecting the most important thing: the actual perfume. Frustratingly, some of the worst offenders (Kilian, Xerjoff) are among the most popular brands. My post today focuses on the house of Atelier des Ors. The French house has been around for ten years and has 24 expensive perfumes in its collection. Their bottles are “Instagram-ready” and, for some reason, contain golden flakes. I’ve been unimpressed by everything I’ve sampled from the brand, save for a few perfumes (Cuir Sacré, Rouge Sarây).
Their two latest perfumes, Villa Primerose and Blue Madeleine take us down memory lane. Villa Primerose supposedly evokes the floral perfume noblewomen used to scent their leather gloves. I pick up very little leather glove, but rather, I’m met with a fistful of abrasive ambery wood. It’s off-putting and bores into my brain from the get-go. The ambrette note brings some relief in the form of a musky, fruity element to the middle stages. But, the only memories it conjures up are the echoes of the musky rose sweetness of Delina from Parfums de Marly.
Blue Madeleine recalls the emotional reaction one experiences when enjoying the taste of tea and cake. Certainly, it’s less grating than the rose/leather combination. However, the chalky sandalwood, cinnamon spice, and milky tea mix lacks character and presence. It’s so innocuous that I’ll likely suffer from amnesia trying to think of it in a few hours. Stick with Remember Me from Jovoy, L’Artisan’s Tea for Two, or the below Serge scent for your afternoon tea needs. This one leaves a sour taste in the mouth.
By no means is Atelier des Ors the worst offender when it comes to pushing style over substance, but they’re getting up there. These scents follow hot on the heels of two other ordinary scents from the brand: Noir by Night and Pink Me Up. Indeed, the only reason I can think of why anyone would want to own Villa Primerose and Blue Madeleine is for the attractive bottles!
Have you had more luck with this brand than me? Does the bottle design/presentation ever impact your purchasing decisions?
Samples procured by me. Images are my own, except the bottle images of Villa Primerose and Blue Madeleine (Atelier des Ors).
Never tried them. There are times my scorn for “Nouveau Niche” saves me an awful lot of nose pain.
Give me a simple bottle & little PR flimflam & affordability, then I get interested.
Yes, I agree with you, Alityke. The simple things in life are often the best. I keep trying the new ones from this brand as I liked their leather (Cuir Sacre) and their plum (Rouge Saray). But, they were released a while ago, and recent scents have let me down.
Tks for your overview on these beautifully bottled scents. I won’t rush to try them: overpriced and definitely not worth.
Thanks very much, Tetê! Yes, nice bottles but very overpriced perfumes.
Didn’t know and from the sound of it, didn’t miss out. I’ve tried maybe one perfume from this brand, but can’t be sure of the name now. I wonder what happens to empty bottles with gold flakes still in them?
Not sure. I think I read somewhere that when you spray the bottle it leaves a gold sheen on the skin, so I wonder if there’s any flakes left at the end. In any event, most positive reviews around this brand seem to focus more on the presentation than the scents. So despite the lack of quality in the fragrance they still seem to garner a lot of attention, so whatever they’re doing seems to work.
I haven’t tried these two but have enjoyed several others from the brand, including Lune Feline, Iris Fauve and Nuda Veritas. Always good to appreciate your thoughts, dear Daniel, and your mighty fine pics.
Thanks very much, Rich.
I know this brand from the year they were created, and I instinctively disliked them specifically for those golden flakes in the bottles. I tried several of their perfumes (everything that they created before 2019 – I spent some time with all the bottles at Harrods telling myself that I had to give them a chance), and I didn’t like any of them enough to want to have a bottle (or even to remember all the names). After that, I tried only Pink me Up, which I actually liked at the store, bought a sample – and couldn’t get the same result while testing at home. I will try it one ore time. But even if I like it, I do not see myself needing that huge bottle (and those flakes still annoy me – even though I own another perfume with golden flakes, Sol/Sun by Ramon Molvizar).
There’s something gaudy about the bottles. It’s almost like the brand is trying to distract us from the quality of the perfume inside the extravagant bottle.