Purple Flowers Week 2014
It should come to you as no surprise that I’m a “Caron gal” if you read EauMG. There’s something about this house that I’m attracted to. Could it be the glamour? The powder puffs? Perhaps. My absolute favorite from Caron is Aimez-Moi. I’ve went through so many bottles of this “cute” violet. My relationship with the perfume is complex. It represents a shift in my perfume preferences that happened when I ventured down the perfume rabbit hole and learned a lot about myself. Before Aimez-Moi I found myself only wearing “serious” perfumes with notes of rich woods, spices and incense because I felt that I had to be perceived as “serious”. I talk about this realization in this post from 2011.
I’ve always viewed Aimez-Moi as slightly immature and desperate, the name means “Love me” and it has made my list of Saddest Perfume Names. However, I find this frivolous naiveté charming. One day Aimez-Moi is going to grow up and be something spectacular. She just needs a few more life experiences and hardships. And for now, I love her.
Aimez-Moi opens as violet syrup, like Monin syrup. It’s sweet, fruity violet. An anise note peeks through. It’s a waxy licorice rolled in a powdery coating. The scent is spicy/sweet with velvety violets in an herb garden. The opening is one of my favorite perfume openings in the history of perfume. Delightfully complex. The heart is peach nectar and lemon-tinged magnolias in full bloom…with violets. The dry-down is like cherry-almond with softest, powdery vanilla-amber-iris. The base is surprisingly warm and soft.
Unlike most frivolous fragrances, Aimez-Moi has the “it factor”. Aimez-Moi is naïve but isn’t a ditz. She’s merely young and inexperienced, but underneath all of that, she’s really intelligent. This scent is complex – gourmand, floral, herbal, powdery, amber…so many layers. I had to grow up fast and I’ve always been too mature for my age. It’s nice to have an optimistic, joyful fragrance in my collection.
Notes listed include magnolia, violet, mint, caraway, vanilla, iris, peach, amber and musk. Launched in 1996. PERFUMER – Dominique Ropion
Give Aimez-Moi a try if you like sweeter violet scents. Or if you like perfumes like Annick Goutal Quel Amour!, Guerlain Insolence, Guerlain Meteorites, Ramon Monegal Lovely Day and/or Malle Lipstick Rose.
Projection and longevity is average. There is an EDP which is gorgeous but not as easy to find. The base is “deeper” and I would say it’s “moodier”. I’ve also had the “vintage” from the mid-90’s. It’s gorgeous as well. It’s very similar to the more current EDT but “amped up”. To complicate matters even more, Caron has re-launched it in those boring square bottles. I have no idea if they have reformulated. I hope not.
The 3.3 oz bottle retails for $155 at Amazon.
Victoria’s Final EauPINION – A complex spiced-violet. It’s my favorite Caron and my favorite violet. It’s in my “top 5” favorite perfumes. Ever.
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never smelled a caron… but i adore the kitty in pic!
and i do aime-toi. i DO!!!! 😉
A wonderful review! This is also my favourite Caron perfume, a fun and complex violet. I love to wear this in Autumn/Winter, its quite cheery. I do also love Lovely Day, Quel Amour, Meteorites & Lipstick Rose, you are very spot on with the choices! Thank you 🙂
Being a Caron, it has enough “heft” to be worn in those cooler months.
Oh, Lipstick Rose, another one of my all-time favorites.
This is another I need to try. I had convinced myself I don’t like violet scents but I’m finding lately that what I think I like and what I actually like are not necessarily the same things. It is important to try new things and to go back and retry scents and samples.
Those new bottles are so dull. It’s making me a little sad.
I’ve ate crow on so many notes (and even some perfumes). I wouldn’t say that tastes change but they do expand. Now immortelle and I still don’t get along but I don’t avoid perfumes even if the note is listed. You never know.
Caron boutiques are beautiful fantasy lands with powder puffs, gold, mirrors and crystal. They’re beautiful and unlike my boring life. I felt the bottles represented that aesthetic. The new ones are dull, boring and lack the magic. I’m not a fan. There’s no character in the new packaging.
[…] L’Heure Bleue,Guerlain L’Heure de Nuit, Oscar de la Renta Esprit d’Oscar, Caron Aimez-Moi and/or Le Labo Poudre d’Orient (a discontinued LE scent for […]