WHAT I SMELL: Mousse Arashiyama opens with a warmed and softly bright bergamot highlighted with a brush of incense. It’s comfort right from the start as the bergamot soon settles into a beautifully radiant fig with hints of soft and lightly creamy moss. Here, the perfume feels like a lullaby with hushed and quiet tones as it has been sung for hundreds of years. The perfume then moves from the branches above to the ground below as an earthy base settles softly under the fig. Here, the fresh overturned soil makes Mousse Arashiyama feel rooted in time. At the same time, rising above the warmed earth is a combination of fig, incense, moss and wood in a radiant but weighted manner. And with it, just a tinge of greenish vetiver to give the effect of rays of sunshine peaking at the grounded root. From beginning to end, Mousse Arashiyama is a dream of a perfume.
From the Le Jardin Retrouvé website:
You walk in this forest as in a sacred place. Cradled by the softness of the moss, your steps obey an old instinct, a deep intuition. At the bend of the trail, your eyes finally meet this powerful tree you know, but whose name you do not remember. Your soul, freed from gravity, subtly separates itself from the ground and lingers to savor the scents of oak moss, patchouli, lentiscus and frankincense.
Inspiration: Arashiyama Garden, Kyoto, Japan
Top Notes: bergamote , encens, lentisque
Middle Notes: notes aquatique, accord figue
Base Notes: mousse de chêne, vétiver , cèdre
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Victorian Japan. Connecting the ancient to the modern.
THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE MOUSSE ARASHIYAMA: reflective, calming, grounded
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT MOUSSE ARASHIYAMA: CaFluereBon, The Sniff, I Sniff Before I Sleep
BOTTOM LINE: Mousse Arashiyama is a beautiful perfume comprised of peace, harmony and reflection. The last couple of unsettling years have seemed to blend into this new year. Thankfully, Mousse Arashiyama will bring you back to the center and with it, promises of hope for 2022. Thank you Le Jardin Retrouvé.
- Bone Rating: 5 out of possible 5 bones
- Scent: Aromatic Green
- Nose: Maxence Moutte
- Classification: Unisex
- Expense: 98 Euros for 50 ml eau de parfum. Also available in 15 ml and 3 ml. Available exclusively from the Le Jardin Retrouvé website.
Perfume sample provided by Le Jardin Retrouvé. Opinion my own.
WHAT I SMELL: Jersey’s opening consists of a soft, cottony lipstick tinged lavender that is soon met with a warmed, lightly brown sugared and caramelized vanilla. The vanilla isn’t heavy nor overly sweet, and as such it’s the perfect companion for the powdery lavender that resides on top of it. At this juncture, Jersey feels as if it’s made from cotton which has been milled and then folded into a bottle. As the perfume continues to develop, the lavender and vanilla begin to add a bit of cream that softens the perfume and turns it from the muslin towards a lightly sweet lotion. And basically that’s it; Jersey is a simple…no make that…Jersey is a simply beautiful perfume.
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Dreamy lavendered cottoned clouds.
WHAT I SMELL: 31 Rue Cambon goes on cool with a peppered bergamot that’s fizzy, but fixed within the pepper. The florals come quickly with a beautifully creamy and waxy ylang-ylang. The perfume seems to exist in the middle; not too light and not too heavy, but riding this really easy wave of florals that as time goes on becomes accented with tinges of the pepper. But that soon dissipates and the perfume moves completely to the creamy. Here, 31 Rue Cambon is incredibly pretty as the ylang-ylang gives a bit of leeway to allow for the rose to come forward. And here they sit in harmony with each other in the most beautiful of ways. After some time, the perfume moves to a cool iris and begins to powder and expand and sweeten just so slightly giving the perfume a light lipstick vibe. Not too far after, a patchouli makes a lightly sharpened entrance and the perfume becomes more woody and edgy. There’s also just the lightest of leather that appears as the perfume becomes drier and more rooted in the straw. Looking at what I just wrote, it seems 31 Rue Cambon makes quite the journey, when in fact it’s all so seamless that it really just glides along with incredible ease.
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: A handmade henequen purse. Classy in a laid back kind of way.
The Scented Hound 