Have you ever been in a Rose field when the may roses are picked up and transformed into the precious liquid, one of the most refined essences ever? During my ISIPCA studies I visited the Chanel rose field just in time when the roses where prepared for the extraction. We literally jumped into the big Chanel extractor being covered with rose petals and this was a very unusual experience we immortalized in pictures. That's how Coup de Foudre smells - like the first meeting with a divine rose in the morning when the dew is actually a rain of fresh petals. It is "Love at first sight" at Granville in the exquisite Monsieur Dior personal garden and house where the freshness of flowers is taken by the cold breeze. This rose is refined and delicate, tender and shy, musky and innocent. It is not the opulent and majestic rose found in Annick Goutal perfumes, but a rose that blooms in the early morning in a romantic garden. Coup de Foudre is the scent of dawn when the sky is "rose-dust" pink, the air is cold and the petals still retain their morning dew. It is a type of scent much related to the skin odour of very young european women and this idea was already present in the unusual Mythique (DelRae). The perfume starts with a sharp green, bitter lemony and almost spicy note offering the fresh resinous sweet facets of pink pepper. This combination evoke a verbena-mint French tisane served with rose confiture. It also smells of mint (a common facet in several roses given by a specific molecule found in rose extracts) and green grass. It suggests clearly some beautiful peonies with their camphor freshness. A pure pleasure of "herba fresca" precedes the profusion of roses, softly underlined by the coldness of a lily of the valley. But this lemon-petaly rose-muguet is also the heart of a white magnolia, a flower of an unusual sensual freshness. The special may rose used in this perfume created by Yann Vasnier brings a very vibrant facet to the petals. It is the Orpur quality of Givaudan, a CO2 extraction that preserves the entire freshness of the raw material for a greater than life effect in luxury fragrances. On the top of Coup de Foudre you can feel the sensation of crushing fresh rose petals with your fingers. It is an airy transparent interpretation, like the petals of the flower in the wind when the scent is taken by spirals elsewhere. This incredible cold bitter freshness is contrasted with a very soft velvety drydown, almost powdery but very musky with even a faint woody-mossy accent. There are also some honeyed-fruity facets specific to rose oils and even a very small green white jasmine (more the bud than the sensual flower). All these notes suggests to me a rose of a pale pink color, almost a white magnolia shade, quite different from the opulent dark red rose. This type of natural fresh rose found also other interpretations in fragrances like the modern Chloé, Stella, Idylle, but unlike these examples, Coup de Foudre is pure "rose de mai" with almost a vintage feeling. It is not the Creed Rose nor Rose Absolue (Annick Goutal), a creation based on the scent of the rose absolute and rose concrete. Coup de Foudre from DelRae is the rose in the garden, unique, ephemeral and delicate with hundreds of petals like the stolen kisses of the first love. Again, I wish this perfume was more tenacious, the same thing we always complain about romantic love. I wouldn't mind more sensual passion in "Love at first sight" at 8 o'clock in the morning.
Coup de foudre was also the name of a forgotten perfume made by Paul Poiret. It was a devastating aldehydic jasmine fragrance.
Coup de foudre was also the name of a forgotten perfume made by Paul Poiret. It was a devastating aldehydic jasmine fragrance.
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Fragrance is the 8th Art - Octavian Coifan - Le Parfum est le 8ème Art
