Purple Flowers Week 2014
I’m fairly certain that Phaedon Rue des Lilas has been discontinued. And this is a shame because it was one of the few that I liked when this brand launched.
Rue des Lilas opens as a honeyed, powdery floral – heliotrope, lilac and possibly some orange blossom. The heart is a powdery, waxy lily with tons of indoles. This is not a squeaky clean spring floral. This one has some hints of worn lingerie under the clean, powdery florals. It smells like lilacs which are indolic and have a tinge of “rot” in them when they’re on the tree. The dry-down is powdery woods and a soft musk.
What I love about Rue des Lilas is that it’s not this innocent “purple floral”. Lilacs tend to bring to mind grandmother-ly guest soaps or sheer linen sprays. Rue des Lilas is a voluptuous, debauched lilac soliflore. It is a throwback to those vintage perfumes that threw some raunchiness in with those feminine florals.
Notes listed include white lilac, lily of the valley, palisander wood, and powdery musk. Launch 2011. PERFUMER – Pierre Guillaume
If you like vintage “purple” florals, you need to try this. If you like powdery florals, try this. If you want something that captures the “ugly” in florals, try this. or if you like perfumes like Malle En Passant, Guerlain Apres le Ondee, Pacifica French Lilac and/or Diptyque Jardin Clos. I perceive Rue des Lilas as a feminine perfume…but a very experienced feminine perfume.
Projection and longevity is average for an EDT.
This one is not available on the Phaedon website. I don’t know if it was discontinued or if it it is being “reworked”. I hope it’s being reworked into an EDP so I can buy bottles of it. Samples and decants are available at Surrender to Chance.
Victoria’s Final EauPINION – Worn, powdered lilac lingerie. II’m really surprised by how much I love wearing this since none of the other Phaedon scents have stood out to me at all. And of course, this is the one that may be no longer available.
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I also heard that this one was discontinued. Too bad, because I liked it. Not enough to use up my sample right away, but I’m glad I still have a little bit in the sample so I can try it a couple more times.
Last year, Guillaume said he was reworking a few (to improve longevity, etc) and changing bottle design. He didn’t say which ones but I had a feeling that less popular ones would be axed.
I like these sort of florals. This was on my “to buy” list but other things were in front of it. Oh, well.
is it just me or does Apres L’Ondee smell like my grandmother’s old refillable Max Factor powder compact?
So many cosmetics were (and still are) scented with rose/violet. And Apre L’Ondee has that nice powdery orris. I’m sure it does remind many people of vintage cosmetics…which strangely is an entire genre in itself. I get asked quite frequently “which perfumes smell like vintage makeup?”. I guess some people find those nostalgic.
I like this one and will finishthe decant I have but I didn’t feel that I needed more of it. I would have preferred though for it to be still available – incase I change my mind later.
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I do like these sort of fragrances but I rarely wear them. Saying that, I love to smell them. And when I’m in the mood for them, they’re absolutely perfect.
And I wish it were still available. Mainly because there aren’t many lilac perfumes out there – I can think of i Profumi di Firenze and Pacifica. The Pacifica one is good for the price. And Liz Zorn had a really good one too but I think it was limited edition.
[…] Amber Nude, Dior Tendre Poison, Guerlain Shalimar Light, Guerlain Vega, Gucci Rush, Bvlgari Omnia, Phaedon Rue de Lilas, Donna Karan Gold, Lancome Cuir de Lancome, Tom Ford Amber Absolute, Tom Ford Purple Patchouli, […]
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