On me: Vintage Balmain Jolie Madame (parfum and eau de toilette): Violets, artemisia, galbanum, and leather.
On him: Guerlain Lavande Velours: Violets, violets, lavender and iris.
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The Black Narcissus · perfume obsession and the scented skin
Love this post…the photos and the song!
We just had a great day out. Pure schlepping hedonism on a shoestring.
There’s something about that phrase….’Violets for your furs’….. that is so appealing somehow.
(and Jolie Madame matches it perfectly I thought)
I adore Jolie Madame. The current one is pleasant but it can’t hold a candle to the vintage. The leather reminds me of kid gloves in a handbag with a scented handkerchief. I had Lavande Velours years ago but it wasn’t for me and I gave bottle away. Back in the day when the AAs were good. You two smell great together. 🙂
I also didn’t think much of Lavande Velours initially but I found a bottle cheap ( it now goes for 250 dollars on Amazon!) and it smells supremely fresh and elegant on the D.
I only wear the Balmain very occasionally but it is perfect when the time is right. Really distinctive and unique.
What an incredible photograph.
Such a nice thing to wake up to, Neil. I love both those scents, and also was thinking of the original formulation of Serge Lutens Bois de Violette: not entirely dissimilar to Shiseido Feminité du Bois. Also, Le Dix Balenciaga. Quite a lot of fur with those violets!
I LOVE ALL OF THEM. Le Dix is magnificent and really beautiful but too feminine for me to wear (Jolie Madame, despite its name, is hilariously almost too macho for me would you believe)
I wish I had a bottle of the Bois De Violette, actually. I like that side of Serge Lutens (and love the Feminite du Bois vintage parfum on D. It smells incredible).
The too-macho Jolie Madame IS funny.
I know: ridiculous.
Incidentally, have you ever smelled Serge Lutens Une Voix Noire, allegedly inspired by Billie Holiday? I still haven’t – a murky gardenia or something – I find the idea quite intriguing.
And I don’t like to be a reformulation harpy, but the new BdV is a shadow of the original. Like quite a few SLs. Unfortunately. Fortunately, you seem to have a nose for sniffing out vintage!
No I was just VERY lucky in once finding a parfum that we are still eking out. It only happened once. On the whole I now find almost the entire Serge Lutens range attenuated and weakened and nothing like what it was when the perfumes originally came out. They have really been watered down!
https://theblacknarcissus.com/2012/07/11/butch-jolie-madame-by-balmain-1953-5/
That CHEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Haven’t tried Une Voix Noire yet, but will keep a nose out.
Of gardenias, and although I’m not a fan of Tom Ford, his (retired) Velvet Gardenia was a blast of the murky-creamy dark-mushroom side of them. Yum.
And of course it had to be discontinued.
And the pictures – well, they are from a ‘thinking man’s gay rag’ from Amsterdam called Butt. I found it hilarious to physically place my parfum on its pages. The juxtaposition kind of works.
Love the picture of the white fur stole with the nose gay of flowers. Who is the elegant lady?
I believe it is one Marlene Dietrich…
“Pervy Madame” I love that. I really seem to go for the pervy old classics. I get bored with the clean, scrubbed ones, though I wear them as the occasion suggests. For myself, however, when it’s just me and I can indulge, it takes a little filth to keep my interest. This surprised me about myself but now I just roll with it. It’s not that I like pervy scents for the perviness per se – they have to be interesting and have some magic to them, not just club you over the head like some. But these old vintage scents with their mysterious bases have an aliveness to them. They’re fascinating and a little scary.
Definitely. The lingering of smudges of Madame on my black cashmere sweater today are undeniably erotic. They COMPEL. No violets, now, just animals.
Well said.
This post made me remember the second reason I love perfume so much–to heighten the experience of watching my beloved old movies and listening to my beloved jazz singers. It’s so timely because just two weeks ago I ordered a sample of Une Voix Noix and also Une Fille de Berlin. Have you ever tried anything from the Berlin-based perfume house Frau Tonis? They have one called 37 Violet inspired by Marlene Dietrich. I’d so like to try it.
I am so happy you are posting more and more!
And I love reading this; mutually inspiring. I actually quite like Fille De Berlin – it reminds me of Calandre or something like that but a pink, oompah loompah rose version. 37 Violet sounds interesting.
And I totally agree with the whole ‘sensurround’ approach. In these scary, crazed times we have to protect ourselves with beautiful things and people.
I just adore vintage Jolie Madame, there is just something so magical and mystical about it. It is a scent I am sure we will never see the likes of again; the reformulation is pretty grim.
Lavande Velours came out while I was working for Guerlain. I thought it was a very well constructed scent, very well thought out if you will. I could see it smelling perfect on D.
As I said I never liked it at first : sharp violets and lavender was quite an unusual thing in a way (although I can see some vague similarities with Fahrenheit now). Somehow though I now think it has a singularity to it and a very uplifting quality. The sillage is tremendous!