WHAT I SMELL: Wow…Baptême du feu has a wonderful opening that’scool to the touch, incredibly juicy and vibrant with a blast of bright citrus and bergamot. The perfume begins to warm quickly and the juiciness subsides to reveal a ripened osmanthus along with an orange rind like sourness. After 10 minutes or so, a ginger note begins to surface along with a wafting incense. What was joyous and bright has moved to a mysterious tonality. The perfume then takes another turn and the incense disappears and the perfume become fully ginger…and it grows exponentially in projection. But of course, Uncle Serge needs to contradict my words and once again, a wafting incense reveals itself. The ginger makes the perfume a little sweet, but not too much as there’s a light herbal base that resides under the candied root. After an hour, the perfume begins to dust and powder with a metallic edge as the candied aspects are lessened. In the end you’re left with a woody powdered ginger dustiness.
My emotions are fluid. Like liquid wax poured into a mould, they determine what seduces me—like this gingerbread heart. – Serge Lutens
The fragrance features gingerbread, powdery notes, tangerine, castoreum, osmanthus and woody notes.
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Pippi Longstocking…it starts off bright, juicy and full of candied ginger…but as it wears it loses its initial gloss and becomes rather tiresome.
THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE BAPTÊME DU FEU: semi-sweet, pleasant, semi-interesting
BOTTOM LINE: For the first 45 minutes of wear, I loved this perfume as its full of life and absolutely delightful. After that, its pleasant enough. Ho-hum.
WHAT I SMELL: Madrona opens with a moist lavender that’s creamy and lightly sugared. A light leather and birch bring a little bit of sour into the perfume along with a hint of burnt rubber. The initial feel of the perfume is quite outdoorsy and masculine while at the same time it’s also rather smooth with just the right amount of toughness. A smoldering woodiness creates the base which makes the fragrance feel strong and steady. As the perfume develops it begins to soften, while still confident, it adds a dimension of contentment as the lavender becomes more powdered and a woody vetiver begins to take over as a radiant base.
A fragrance born of the Northwest. Dream-inducing lavender fields mingle with towering cedar trees swaying gently in the misted Pacific breeze. An underlying sense of exploration, imbued through a Vetiver base note, keeps this ancient Northwest spirit youthful and exotic. Madrona, whose bark itself look like it was forged of polished bronze, lends more than just a note to this fragrance — it lays the roots of its name.
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: The perfume made for Lewis and Clark…at the journey’s end where the tall trees meet the cool ocean of the Pacific Northwest.
THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE MADRONA: secure, aged, solid
BOTTOM LINE: What started off as rather manly, in the end becomes a real comforting and easy to wear scent. The perfume is not large in its projection which makes this a perfect fit for an office setting.
I find it thrilling when classic perfume houses rise from the ashes and once again launch their legacy perfumes. These historical houses created luxury that few could afford in the day. Case in point, J. Lesquendieu’s new luxury line of French fragrances were inspired by an era when quality was valued above quantity, when fragrances were created for a discerning clientele. Lesquendieu, La Maison de Haute Parfumerie , founded in 1903 has returned to their roots to create this rare new line of fragrances continuing the legacy of the original founder, Joseph Lesquendieu, who believed “The quest for a true luxury product should have no boundaries.”
As part of this relaunch , J. Lesquendieu is reintroducing five perfumes under their original names: Bonne Fortune, a woody and spicy citrus perfume; Feu de Bengale, a vanilla floral perfume; Glorilis, a spicy floral perfume, Lilice, a powdery floral perfume (powdery, floral), and my favorite in the line, Lesquendieu le Parfum a spicy oriental.
Luxury in a bottle requires an equally luxurious bottle to house the perfume in. As such, each perfume comes in a hand crafted bottle requiring the work of eleven craftsman through the reknowned glassmaker Waltersperger. Although the company states that there are a limited or “modest” number of bottles that will be available, they don’t cite just how many that number is.
So what does my favorite in the line, Lesquendieu le Parfum smell like? Let’s take a look…
WHAT I SMELL: Lesquendieu opens with a flash of bergamot and then quickly moves to a smooth, velvety tea note that is tinged with a lightly spiced burnt ember. Subdued and calming, the perfume feels like it’s calculating its path forward to determine the best way to meld with your DNA to make the perfume exclusively yours. After a short while, the perfume begins to powder, the tea note retreats and a soft floral begins to appear with a lightly spiced iris that feels like its lifting upward as if through the soft motion of angel wings. But the powdery and light don’t remain in this heavenly state; instead, the perfume begins to warm and an ambered hue brings the perfume down to earth. The perfume has now become woody, but it still remains restrained and soft. At this point in the development, the perfume really retreats, leaving you wondering if that’s all there is. But after a short while, the powder begins to come back and a sweetened iris starts to radiate. The perfume is incredibly pretty, very sunny and bright. Finally, the perfume settles into the most beautiful powdered, yet lightly waxy ambered iris. It’s not sugared, but it’s just slightly sweetened to make it the perfect combination of pretty and fresh while still maintaining a classical sense of being.
A powdery floral fragrance pairing the nobility of Iris to the natural Italian essential oils of lemon and bergamot, resting on the more sensual base notes of amber and Virginian Cedar.
Top notes Bergamot, Tea, Birch Middle notes Jasmine, Tonka bean, Labdanum Base notes Amber, Cedar, Vanilla
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: The graceful elegance of a swan.
THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE LESQUENDIEU: delightful, positive, contented
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT LESQUENDIEU: None found.
BOTTOM LINE: Lesquendieu is a beautifully composed classical scent. Smooth and refined yet incredibly refreshing, it’s a superb perfume that could fit either a man or a woman. Lesquendieu is most definitely luxury in a bottle.
Bone Rating: 4.5 out of possible 5 bones
Scent: Spicy Oriental
Classification: Unisex
Expense: $520 Euros for 75 ml eau de parfum
Sample provided by J. Lesquendieu. Opinion my own.
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Pippi Longstocking…it starts off bright, juicy and full of candied ginger…but as it wears it loses its initial gloss and becomes rather tiresome.
The Scented Hound 