The practice is not without merit, as the humidity from their tan skin makes for cigars that preserve their precious bouquet well into the aftertaste and do not become dried-out when properly stored in a humidor. The allusion to the Caribbean island brings to mind tobacco of course and those beautiful chickas rolling the leaves on their sweaty thighs (I have shades of Marisa Tomey in The Perez Family in mind). Havana Vanille/Vanille Absolument, the latest instalment in L'Artisan's Travel scents after Bois Farine (by Jean Claude Ellena), Timbuktu, Dzongha and Fleur de Liane (all by Duchaufour), was supposed to take us to Cuba. Its boozy tonalities on the other hand recall to mind the Payard Vanilla Rum Truffles as if they had been painted by Monet, an aspect which will place this release under the aegis of gourmando-philiacs the world over. I'd give anything to have the chance to sit quietly in the corner and observe her at work for a week.Appraising my impressions on the upcoming L'Artisan Havana Vanille (later changed to Vanille Absolument) I can't help but think that it is more like a sagacious study in black & white rather than a journey to exotic locales respendent with colourful fabrics or outlandish fruit. They don't smell like anything else I can point to, but they make my mind race. While the two smell nothing alike, at this stage, they both are evocative without suggesting or referring to anything in particular. I have the same experience with Dzing! (another Giacobetti perfume for l'Artisan Parfumeurs) at its drydown. Now, eight hours later, I can't stop pulling my arm to my nose. It's as though I was at the outer edge of something that actually absorbed sent. For lack of a better word, it smelled blunt. But what I smelled was more of a quality than a scent, per se. Within 15 to 20 minutes, I could smell it a bit more strongly. It suggests scent as well as substances with particular textures. Is there an opposite of a vanishing act? On applying Jour de Fete, I could just barely smell a hint of marzipan and play-do. Everybody sees something different in the box. I've read others call Jour de Fete overpowering, undetectable, sweet, bitter, long-lasting and instantly disappearing. It has a black-box quality that I love in Giacobetti's other work. It's less a party and more like a discussion with a fascinating stranger. It sounds like a party in a bottle, but if you come to it expecting music, cheering and applause, you'll be either surprised or disappointed. What is the difference between quiet and soft in a perfume? Is low sillage a weakness or an advantage? Giacobetti's gift is to make perfumes that carry ideas, but not at the expense of pleasure and emotion. It presents you with notions of softness, quiet and comfort at the same time that it makes you consider legibility and dynamics. Jour de Fete makes you question your senses. Olivia Giacobetti has a way of challenging the wearer without threatening. I am, however, glad to have made the acquaintance of the tenderest and shiest of fragrances. It just wouldn't justify spending good, hard earned cash to have a whole bottle of "yearning for something more." To douse oneself wouldn't be cost-effective either. This could be magnificent, but it's so feeble that it hurts. There's also the impression of a warm, sweet, powdery flour, but it is so subdued, so faint, it leaves me wanting so much more than it gives. Moving to the skin, it evokes the candy shell of Jordan almonds, diffusing a few millimeters from the skin, feeling like the most intimate fragrance that could possibly be created. It's quite unnerving, and I feel unable to examine it on the strip. When sprayed on paper, after the opening alcohol dissipates, it almost feels like I am smelling the scent of the blotter: "where is this?" This is just paper, sweetly scented paper. A lightweight sugared almond accord opens Jour de Fete, so gossamer and blurry. I have such an appreciation for Olivia Giacobetti's approach to perfume, and Jour de Fete surely has that signature gentle beauty, but perhaps it is just a bit too gentle.
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