Discontinued

Piment Brulant by L’Artisan Parfumeur
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Piment Brulant by L’Artisan Parfumeur

Hey there ULGers. Summer in the Northern Hemisphere so I’m going cooling yet cuddly. Yes I’m talking about another discontinued gem. Sorry, but also not sorry. It’s nice to reminisce, especially when the waves of new product keep crashing over us. Sometimes it’s nice to look back and remember the good things that are no longer. Available from 2002 to approximately 2012 Piment Brulant came out as a part of a trio of non sweet gourmands, Poivre Piquant and Safran Troublant, known as the Les Épices de la Passion (Spices of Passion) trilogy. They were all signed by the legend herself, Olivia Giacobetti. I feel like I could stop writing there and you’d already know how lovely, and forward thinking these scents were. No such luck, you’re getting a review.

Piment Brulant by L’Artisan Parfumeur 2002

Piment Brulant by L'Artisan Parfumeur

These were the offered featured accords:
Amber, cinnamon, musk, poppy, vanilla, dark chocolate, cacao, clove and chili pepper

The smell of fresh cut chili opens Piment Brulant! It’s about as real as you could hope and it jumps off my skin in the first minute or two like I’m in the kitchen. This first juicy moment doesn’t last long enough. Not even two minutes in and other spices start making their way to my noses attention. It’s too quick but these spices are like you’ve thrown them into the pan together and they are sizzling.

The vanilla and a very mocha smell of chocolate come in with a dusting of flour. There is still that green snap of the chili and spiciness that follows deep into the heart and on towards dry down.

All the major freaky gourmand fireworks happen in the first ten minutes, so just for you. This is not about going into the world making a statement. It’s like, WAKE UP and enjoy this magic because it’s fleeting. Then you get to wander around the world in a more traditional fragrance.

Piment Brulant becomes a lightly spicy green fragrance with warm undercurrents of amber sprinkled with mocha. It’s not boring but it’s not going to cause a riot either. At about the 30 minute mark it has noticeably softened and is very introverted. Just for you to smell, and those that get very close. By about three hours it becomes a wash of very lightly green amber and stays that way till it gently fades away.

What is a favourite discontinued L’Artisan Parfumeur fragrance you wish was still around?
Portia xx

Gilded Lily by Ineke
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Gilded Lily by Ineke

Hey Looking Glass-ers, If you’ve been a perfumista for a few years you might remember the days when the whole scentbloggosphere was completely full of the brand Ineke? It was really fabulous. There were all the mass-tige brands vying for attention and a few women also getting us all excited. Brands like Keiko Mecheri, Miller Harris, Annick Goutal and Ineke were all high on my radar and every new release from these crews would be met with widespread interest. Gilded Lily always struck me as a bottle that was delightfully festive. Red glass, golden pickings and black. It was the bottle that caught my eye yesterday when looking for something else. I just looked it up and sadly it has been discontinued to make way for their new Jaipur Chai. Ineke’s perfumes have stayed very affordable at US$145/70ml. Unheard of in the modern day of ridiculous aspirational pricing. They also do an affordable 7 x 1.5ml Discovery Set.

Gilded Lily by Ineke 2010

Gilded Lily by Ineke

Ineke gives these featured accords:
Top: Pineapple, rhubarb, grapefruit, elemi.
Heart: Goldband lily
Base: Patchouli, oakmoss, labdanum

The sweet screech of pineapple and grapefruit opens Gilded Lily, almost cartoonish in its intensity. I’m no perfumer but I think there is also the sparkle of aldehydes running through. The fireworks are quickly damped by smooth, calming, resinous elemi. Suddenly we are in the gilded age of perfumes. Very movie star glamour like a vintage Caron or Dior. Smooth but glittering. The lily plays through here. It’s not a white floral but a does have pieces of that scent profile. I’m going to say it sits halfway between a yellow flowering bulb and iris. Beautiful.

The base is not a typical 1970s chypre but a less dry and resinous amber adventure. A clean patchouli and some earthy woods. Forest-like. Calming. Gilded Lily ends in a peaceful mountain retreat.

Were you a fan? Are you sad to see Gilded Lily go?
Portia xx

 

Cote d’Amour by L’Artisan Parfumeur (Long Gone)
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Cote d’Amour by L’Artisan Parfumeur (Long Gone)

Hi Crew, Cote d’Amour byL’Artisan Parfumeur was released way back in 2009. I remember first trying it a few years later and it was already impossible to find, especially out here in Oz. Then it turned up on Surrender To Chance a few years later in the 8ml sale. So I bought some. My decant is nearly 2/3 gone and after that there will be no more. I thought you might like to enjoy one of my last ever wears of this beauty together.

It caught my eye that this is a Celine Ellena fragrance. Cool!

Cote d’Amour by L’Artisan Parfumeur 2009

Cote d’Amour by L'Artisan Parfumeur

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Rosemary Grapefruit Tangerine
Heart: Immortelle Cypress Rose
Base: Pine Woodsy Notes Laburnum

My memories of first smelling Cote d’Amour are very fuzzy now, the where is completely gone. I do remember being told that L’Artisan were trying an All Natural route but smelling its now that seems highly unlikely. What I do remember is thinking how differently the pieces were put together. That it smelled like pieces of things I knew but nothing smelled quite like it. Also the name, it felt like love as an adventure. Something you’d travel great distances to find. Haven’t we all?

Anyway, let’s smell this long lost beauty eh? The happily strange greenly herbaceous citrus is gone way too quickly and overtaken by crisp green woods. There are still tinges of the opening, hollow reminders. The immortelle is clean, all that gooey, sticky, stanky fabulousness shorn off. It’s still recognisable but barely. This is immortelle light and if its presence is often a huge no for you then this will sit quietly enough I’m sure. I’m getting some very vanilla vibes, and some cedar-ish pencil shavings. Funnily, Jin just bought persimmons and the scent is a little like them with woody overlay.

Cote d’Amour L'Artisan Parfumeur

Though this has very typically L’Artisan low longevity when it starts to fade off and meld with my scent it becomes a sexy me but WAY better. So manly. Well, clearly that’s some connection I’m making from past olfactory experience. Can’t place it but that soft overtone on my own smell is bloody good. Not fragrant anymore but a sheer overlay. Very cool.

Do you remember this? Did you get to try it?
Portia x