Diptyque - Olène

Pretty please!

I used to be quite the snob about pretty perfume. Not for me, I said, the simple floral bouquets. Give me spices and woods and leather! If I wore florals, they were complicated with bitter moss or animalic bases to make them darker, bitchier femme fatales. I didn't do girly. Boy, was I missing out.

Olène is girly and sweet, but without being stawberry/carmel/cotton candy dreck. It's a simple, romantic floral  based on three notes: wisteria, jasmine and narcissus.

I've never smelled wisteria, but they must smell like lilac, because the first few minutes of Olène smell exactly like burying your nose in a big bunch of fresh lilacs. It's intoxicating. Then, a short while later, it switches to rich jasmine, wafting it's gorgeous, gasoline-edged and narcotic prettiness everywhere. The narcissus in the base is barely there but it adds a slightly waxy, earthy strength.

And that's it. Simple but lovely. And what's wrong with a little prettiness?  In the spring, who can say no to a little romance? Olène makes me feel like mushy love songs and cartoon hearts and bunnies and flowers.

House: Diptyque
Nose:Serge Kalouguine
Notes: wisteria, jasmine, narcissus

Diptyque - L'Ombre dans l'Eau

Perfume: L'Ombre dans l'Eau
House: Diptyque
Nose: Serge Kalouguine
Notes: Blackcurrant Leaves, Bulgarian Rose

Wet earth and roses beneath piles of dark green crushed leaves and cut stems.

When I first smelled L'Ombre dans l'Eau, from the cap at a boutique, my first thought was "dirt and roses." In fact, the SA even suggested "wet wellies and roses." It smelled like a walk in a wet garden, the dark soil covered in scattered rose petals. It was different than anything I had smelled so far, so I begged a sample.

When I wore it the next day, I smelled even more. Now it started with intense green notes, like crushed leaves and cuts stems. The green is so intense at the beginning, I even smelled tomato stems, the peculiar spicy green smell that is tied in my memory to summer. The tomato stem is only there for a couple of minutes; it quickly becomes green leaves with a hint of tartness. I wasn't sure what this tartness was until I read the notes: blackcurrant! Just a hint of blackcurrent to brighten the edge of the roses.

And, oh, what roses. Beautiful, high quality rose comes out from the green and shines. All afternoon I caught sniffs of rose and green leaves wafting up from my wrist. But the end of the day I was in love with L'Ombre dans l'Eau and I think I will be buying a full bottle soon.

The Diptyque website has a beautiful brief "history" of the perfume:

In her garden, Mrs. Merwin, a friend of diptyque, was pruning her blackcurrant bushes and rose trees. The mixture of crumpled blackcurrant leaves and rose petals was the inspiration for a perfume that is now one of the brand's best sellers. In L'Ombre dans l'Eau, the head note is the Bulgarian rose. To this lowery note are added the green notes of the blackcurrant leaves which provide its cool character.

Sample: Noor Boutique