With her new creation, Patricia de Nicolai takes us by surprise with an aesthetic vision that we might have completely forgotten. The guardian angel of the Osmotheque secrets (she is the president) turns the clock back to the end of XIXth century, the beginning of modern perfumery and the discovery of new molecules that have re invented nature. She demonstrates us that nothing is outdated in the hands of a master perfumer using the best available ingredients. The name of the new creation, Kiss me tender, is maybe a "clin d'oeil" to a forgotten but cherished perfume called Kiss Me Quick launched around 1880 by Wright. It had also a companion called Kiss Me Sweetly and the perfumes were prized by collectors because of their bottle and label. Both refer to forgotten songs and flowers of the Victorian era and there is an irresistible charm in those cliché images.
Kiss me tender, is a modern interpretation of the heliotrope note but it offers a nostalgic and poetic image of the forgotten flower and a very refined interpretation of the theme. It is not the strong purple shade, so fashionable in the late Victorian era when Perkin had discovered the aniline dyes (and the world became mauve!) but the delicate shade, almost a pastel, as it was made popular by Jacques Doucet in 1900's Paris salons. This change in the subtlety of the shade is parallel with the interpretation of the heliotrope note and we have some major examples at Guerlain. What was once crude and almost violent with pure heliotropine plus an accent of crude synthetic almond oil became soft, subtle, natural with many shades. Kiss me tender is also the story of a non european scent that changed our tastes. In the mid XVIIIth century Heliotropium peruvianum was introduced in France and with its strong colour and delicious scent this plant seduced the elegant salons. 100 years later in 1869, heliotropine was discovered and 10 years later it was produced an industrial scale. Since then, heliotropine is everywhere but the heliotrop perfumes have slowly disappeared from the market.
The perfume of Patricia de Nicolai is the poetic interpretation of the natural scent of heliotrope flowers, those that hypnotized me in the Jardin des Plantes. The perfume depicts with accuracy the sweet almond note, the balsamic underdone, the light floral note, but also the green pungent accents of the plant. Her creation is the artistic and elevated interpretation of gourmandise - the pastry notes like meringue or guimauve are suggested and not overloaded, it is not the caramel bomb nor the candies of the hyper caloric diet proposed by the mainstream brands. There is even a suggestion of the whipped cream served with a silver spoon because the perfume plays on contrasts that enrich the natural floral note. In a brilliant interpretation, Patricia Nicolai did better that some contemporary Guerlain perfumes, too much infused with flavors than real perfume.
But Kiss Me Tender is also a delicate interpretation of the vanilla scent with its mesmerizing sweetness, a note than can be found in several tropical orchids where the delicious desert becomes airy surrounded by fresh and green notes and sometime spicy, peperry (like candied ginger). Here the floral note is ylang ylang and jasmine with small accents of orange flower, just to make the perfect balance between citrusy and more honeyed sweet notes. In this perfume, the heliotrope is served with a lemony note and this combination of contrasts (bitter acid vs. sweet) creates the illusion of a candied flower that melts into a divine nectar.
The heliotrope flower becomes a purple loukoum of an irresistible charm. This exquisite effect reminds me one of the most fabulous products of old perfumery - a solid of an uncertain color and divine smell called Heliotropine amorphe. That's how the cherubim from rococo paintings used to smell in real life when they cleaned their wings from powdered sugar.
Image: one of the most famous ragtime piano melodies composed in 1907 by Louis Chauvin and Scott Joplin.
Image: one of the most famous ragtime piano melodies composed in 1907 by Louis Chauvin and Scott Joplin.
Did you enjoy my article? Sign up for updates about new fragrances, reviews of artistic perfumes and exceptional vintage masterpieces. I would be very happy if you would consider joining 1000 Fragrances, throughRSS feed,GoogleFriend connect, Facebook (more personal), or any other way that appeals to you.
Fragrance is the 8th Art - Octavian Coifan - Le Parfum est le 8ème Art
