WHAT I SMELL:  Jardin Nocturne opens with a soft warm enveloping jasmine with a mildly spicy and intoxicating saffron.  The perfume moves deep into your lungs with a spellbinding sensuality.  A quiet oud meditates in the background as if it’s a secret veil moving oh so gently under a moonlit sky; and combined with the saffron it creates an effect of the lightest of leather.  A facet that I love in this perfume is that the oud is used in such a perfect and elegant manner, never coming to the forefront to overcome the perfume.  Instead, front and center is the night-blooming jasmine which radiates like the beaming moonlight.  As Jardin Nocturne develops, it weaves itself slowly down a garden path.  Each step along the way the perfume continues to unfold its mysterious secrets.  Its lightly wafting tendrils rise and tease the wearer and those she seduces as the warmth vibrates of the skin as if it has a pulse, enveloping the wearer with a carnal aura.  Jardin Nocturne is a magical perfume.

From Shalini:

Moonlight reflecting upon the water.  A night garden filled with night-blooming flowers, ponds, waterfalls, fountains, winding paths, discreet garden benches where lovers meet under the stars.

The peace, beauty and the light of the night in full bloom…

The soft sounds of the night, the fireflies lighting up the atmosphere…

Jardin Nocturne reflects the nuance and poetry of such a garden…

Jardin Nocture is inspired by the night air.

Notes: Night Blooming Jasmine absolute from India, Assam Oud, Saffron, Mysore Sandalwood, Musk

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  Ferdinand Keller’s – The Music of the Faun

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE JARDIN NOCTURNE:  seductive, serene, sublime

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT JARDIN NOCTURNE:  CaFleureBon, Colognoisseur

BOTTOM LINE:  Good things come to those who wait.  Over 10 years after introducing her debut perfume Shalini, designer Shalini, once again in a collaboration with Maurice Roucel has created a perfume that lives up to her debut perfume.  I loved Shalini for the fact that is was supremely feminine it all its white floral quiet beauty.  With Jardin Nocturne, the perfume is unabashedly sensual.  It’s a fragrance that fills the room with seductive mystery that will beckon anyone towards its heavenly refrain.  Jardin Nocturne was definitely worth the long wait.

• Bone Rating:  4.5 out of possible 5 bones
• Scent: Oriental Floral
• Nose: Maurice Roucel
• Classification: Leans feminine, but easily unisex
• Expense:  $500 for 50 ml parfum or $2,400 for the Lalique crystal flacon “Le Tourbillions.”  Available in November at Aedes de Venustas.