Frederic Malle just released a new perfume. Well, mid-last year. But it only just landed here in Australia. Interestingly, Uncut Gem has received mixed reviews. I’m yet to try it. However, it’s always an event when the storied French house releases something new. And this new perfume, Uncut Gem, is by Maurice Roucel, so I’m looking forward to getting my nose on it. In the interim, I decided to look back at a few of the brand’s other perfumes in today’s mini-reviews. Below are my thoughts on Music For a While and Synthetic Jungle.
Frederic Malle – Music For a While – Weird Lavender – 3/10.
I’m a fan of Carlos Benaim and the house of Frederic Malle, but Music For a While is not amongst their finest work. The lavender, accompanied by a sulphurous pineapple, hits all the wrong notes. The opening verse features an odd choir of fruity notes, which fail to harmonise with the other accords and elements. The disparate components never click. The lavender and anise sing from wildly different hymn sheets from the candy-like fruits. It doesn’t seem like a lot of rehearsal went into this production.
Though, it gets worse. The crescendo of sweet notes in the base, vanilla, sugar, and caramel smells like the perfume equivalent of a cringe-worthy pop song that you’re too embarrassed to tell your friends you enjoy. Then, Malle and Benaim introduce their sledgehammer patchouli trademark, which feels out of tune with the sugary sweetness of the other base notes. Almost like heavy metal meets top 40? Sadly, Music For a While doesn’t sing to me and is unlikely to ever feature on my spraylist.
Frederic Malle – Synthetic Jungle – Malle Goes Green – 8/10.
Synthetic Jungle, by Anne Flipo, is the brand’s greenest release. For mine, it’s not their most outstanding perfume ever, but it’s certainly something you should sample if you love green scents. Despite the name, it smells much more natural than Music For a While.
Synthetic Jungle is very green. The opening blast of galbanum and herbal notes is bracing and sharp. If I were to compare it to anything in the Frederic Malle range, it would be a cross between Rose & Cuir and French Lover. However, it’s less woody than French Lover and much greener than Rose, so it’s different enough from both scents to fill a void in their collection. But, other perfume references come to mind, with Synthetic Jungle’s green floral backbone a definite nod to 70’s green classics such as Chanel No.19 and Estee Lauder’s Private Collection.
The floral heart of jasmine, lily-of-the-valley, hyacinth, and ylang-ylang is loud and long-lasting. But, despite being loud, the floral component still has a fresh, steamy quality to it. Perhaps more evocative of a greenhouse or florist rather than a jungle. Possibly, the name is a little misleading. The mosses and patchouli in the base hold everything together, ensuring the tenacity of the green dampness of the top holds till the end.
Have you tried these two perfumes? What’s your least favourite, Frederic Malle?
Note: Bottle images from Google. All other images are my own.
I am not a fan of Music for a While, but I love Synthetic Jungle! Uncut Gem is… forgettable. However, your captures are all fantastic !
Thanks very much, dear Tetê. Yes, I had the feeling Uncut Gem was not going to be that good. I’m glad you enjoy Synthetic Jungle as much as I do.
Great reviews! I had to laugh because when I first smelled several Malle perfumes at the smaller of their NYC boutiques, early in my perfume discovery, Music for a While was actually the one I liked most. When I later visited one of their London boutiques, with the column, that was the one I requested to smell in the column. The SAs may have given me slightly judging looks. Don’t think I ever tried it on skin though.
I liked Synthetic Jungle as well.
Thanks so much. I’d love to visit one of the boutiques with the smelling columns. So funny, they gave you weird looks. I think Music For a While might be a love or hate type scent. I found the pineapple note hard to stomach.
Love how you’ve illustrated these FMs with your pics, Daniel. I rather like the lavender-pineapple combo in Music For A While. And love the full-on greenery of Synthetic Jungle. Looking forward to trying Uncut Gem. The more negative reviews I read of it, the more I have to try it for myself. Ha! Ha! Great post.
Thanks so much, Rich. Yes, those negative reviews make me more interested in it too!
Serendipitously, I just re-tested these two a couple of days ago.
I was quite disappointed by Music For A While: I like lavender in perfumes, and I hoped this one would be good. It wasn’t.
Synthetic Jungle was better. I liked the scent, but I think it is an unfortunate misnomer: I don’t think it smells particularly synthetic, but the name taints this perfume for me, and it might be the reason why the sample I have will be the extent of this perfume’s presence in my collection.
The least favorite FM perfume? I haven’t tried any of the original creations after the brand was acquired (and perfumes reformulated), so I might hate all of them. But even without that disclaimer, most of FM perfumes weren’t my cup of tea: I have just 2 strong favorites – PoaL and Iris Poudre. There are 2 or 3 more that I liked but didn’t buy. And the rest were good but not for me.
Thanks for reading and commenting. Yes, I could never come to grips with that pineapple/lavender combination in Music For A While. Indeed, Synthetic Jungle is quite green and natural smelling. It’s rather unfortunate the name is somewhat misleading. Portrait of a Lady and Iris Poudre are wonderful scents. I like them too.