An anomaly in the Caron pantheon, The Anarchist is a big thrashing mess of overcrowded ideas in a hideously, hideously overdesigned copper chalice that I could never, ever have anywhere in my possession.
That said, anarchy is the theme of the scent, and its greatest hits of brooding, fearless male (guaiac; cedar; sandalwood, mint; vetiver, mandarin, neroli, lime, basil; a fierce a prominent cinnamon note over citrus with a slew of brash and overwhelming aldehydes) does eventually, after some time, gradate to a warm, loveable hero – woody, aromatic; appeased.
The Black Narcissus 
One of the greatest of short reviews anywhere, anytime! The illustrations extraordinary! They alone eliminated the need for many words! Thank you!
Thank you for saying so. I was in the mood for more pictures more than words..
Great, succint review and fabulous photos! Loved it.
Thankyou. The bottle is too ugly to appear on The Black Narcissus so I had to find other images!
I meant succinct. Typo.
I own that ugly bottle, which stays in the box! Great review and a great fragrance.
Do you wear it?
I do kind of like the dry down.
I do wear it! I find it quite handsome and refreshing in the summer. It is a bit of a hot mess upon application but settles down nicely. I do not know how much it has changed but my bottle is relatively new and I enjoy it.
I actually purchased this the day it was released in the ave. Montaigne Caron Boutique. At the time I thought it was very interesting and I mean that in a positive way, but Caron reformulates so much now who knows what it has become. My boyfriend at the time loved it and it did smell wonderful on him. I do wonder if yours was a later version because the Ine we had was really nicely done.
Then again, as I said Caron is the reformulation leader now, that says a lot about consistency with their product.
I did love the review though, to the point with striking images. Happy to see you writing again on a regular basis.
I just adore that Montaigne boutique. The first time we went there we felt as if we had just reached Mecca. So divine.
Actually, my mini bottle was definitely from near the time of release, and I did like it on a friend of mine, as it smelled very sexy on him. I just remember it being a bit of a harsh mess in the opening section.
As for the writing, it does seem to be coming back again, at least for the time being! Thanks for the encouragement.
Too bad I no longer have it, or I would revisit it and really focus on the opening. I just remember the rich woodsy aromatic quality of it.
The Caron boutique is truly Mecca , so gloriously appointed and elegant, too bad Caron scents have become so meh.
The thing is, when we got there, the first thing I said was ‘God, I am in Mecca’.
But the assistant was Arab, and probably Muslim, and gave me a large frown.
Have you been in there recently? Have all the perfumes definitely deteriorated?
To hell with the Arab associate, she should always be courteous to clients. I used to know the boutique manager Michelle Cohen, who was lovely as possible.
Sadly, I have not been back to Paris in 10 years now, hopefully next year.
I do not even know if I would go back to the boutique. With all the reformulations, I would rather just seek out vintage. Which us such a shame since Caron was always one of my favorite houses ever. I used to purchase their face powders and poufs also. Damned reformulations.
Perhaps we should just start calling them ‘mutilations’ instead. It would be more amusing. ‘Have you smelled the new Poison mutilation?’ and so on.
Oh, also as far as the fragrances are concerned. They are like crude sketches of their former selves. One can recognize the, but one would notice the missing components, especially in Infini and Bellodgia two of my favorites.
Infini : ONLY vintage and you know how I adore adore that one. I have an original, really, musky, smelly fat parfum of Bellodgia that is not even remotely like the new version. CREAAAAAMY carnations. Would you like some?
I love the concept of calling them “fragrance mutilations”. Because that is exactly what they are. Infini is just glorious in vintage, the only way to go.
I appreciate the offer of Bellodgia, but that is one I have a couple of. It took me years to really love it, now I adore it and try to keep a backup of it always.
I also have to apologize for not sending out your package, I have been going through a bit with my mama’s health and that has kept me quite occupied. I literally just gave to package and post all the scents and that is all. I will most definitely make that my focus of Monday.
I cannot comment on such things, as you know.
And I hope your mother gets better.
*have (autocorrect damned it)
Thank you.
I LOVE the House of Caron, but there are a few fragrances which I have stayed away from, this being one of them. It seems so out of their normal realm…including that hideous bottle.
The bottle, o le bottle….
Reblogged this on The Black Narcissus.
Images are gorgeous and thank you for sparing us that bottle. This sounds like something Ric might be able to pull off, although I don’t know if he’d go for it. Sadly, I’ve never come across it. I do love vintage Caron.
Interesting to read about a Caron masculine, since just a few days ago I fell in love with Yatagan all over again. So . . . beguiling.
It is, but our bottle -a vintage find – is strangely lackluster and off. The version I knew was one of D’s favourites also. VERY sexy!
Ack, the bane of every vintage lover’s existence: bottle variation of the not-so-hot variety.
Yes, VERY sexy! But not overtly. Actually, overtly isn’t really that sexy, is it?
This is the thing.
It turned out that I was less Neanderthal than I thought.
Speaking of lacklustre and off, I just came across a version of Infini I’d lost in the depths. SO DAMN GORGEOUS in the first two minutes, just everything you’ve ever wanted and lusted after in Infini, that mind-blowing narcissus with that ridiculously chic aldehydic blast and the grassy-sweet green. Then, at two minutes and one second, Poof, it’s just a whisper. So frustrating.
Reminds me of some of those great old red Burgundies. Alive at the moment of uncorking, and comatose after a minute’s contact with oxygen.
Divine to read and I know EXACTLY what you are talking about