Once upon a time there was a very beautiful red rose. She had an unhappy "cold" Idylle and from her tears emerged a clean musky ocean where finally she found her tragic end.
The new feminine perfume from Kenzo, called Once upon a time pour femme, starts with a very beautiful and rich rose oil note, underlined with fresh and cold spices. It evokes the "oriental rose" perfumes created with a very deep sandalwood-oud drydown but, unlike those heavy creations, this is rather airy and delicate, with touches of red fruits, raspberry and cassis. There are some similarities with a recent Cartier perfume from Les Heures, created over a "mûre et musc" accord, but the Kenzo creation has less contrast and personality. Sadly, this beautiful "rose essentielle" note is not well balanced and shortly the perfume turns into a conventional soft musky base with a hint of vanilla and raspberry, diluted into a transparent rose-peony accord, very common.
Once upon a time pour homme is a very conventional cold&sweet fougère like Armani Code with a spicy metallic and woody facet, found in perfumes with something blue on the packaging. There is a very clean and cold lily of the valley-watery freesia inside with a distinctive soapy note, specific to several Bvlgari fragrances. The perfume is of little interest as its cousin in nutmeg-ginger called Bleu de Chanel (a little bit more sophisticated).
Once upon a time (Kenzo) celebrates the 40th anniversary of the brand this year and is a limited edition. Why did they choose these perfumes is a mystery to me.
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Fragrance is the 8th Art - Octavian Coifan - Le Parfum est le 8ème Art
