Tubéreuse Criminelle - confident and powerful and gorgeous

^{The big, bold, gorgeous rather pricey silver bracelet - perfumeniche}

When I was in Paris with my dear friend Sophie I saw a big, bold, gorgeous rather pricey silver bracelet in a shop window in Le Marais. Well, I just had to try it on. I loved it, but I agonized for days after I first saw it – should I get it? Do I need it (as if!)? Finally, I realized I didn’t want to go home without it, so I splashed out and bought it.

I had it on and was walking around our hotel room trying it out in different imaginary scenarios “Oh, lovely to meet you too! This old thing? I’m surprised you noticed it…Thank you, yes it is fab…Oh, I can’t remember where I bought it…I seem to have had forever…” All Sophie had to say was:  “You know, the only fragrance you can wear with that bracelet is Tubéreuse Criminelle”.

Sophie was right, of course. Some clothes are like armour and wearing them makes you feel a certain way -  that’s why they call them power suits.  Fragrances can be like that too. Tubéreuse Criminelle has a confident, powerful and gorgeous presence. And it makes me feel confident, powerful and gorgeous too. So on our last morning in Paris, I bought a bottle of Tubéreuse Criminelle and I haven’t been without it since.

Launched in 1999 Tubéreuse Criminelle has gained cult status over the years becoming one of the ‘great whites’ along with Carnal Flower and Fracas. And, like the other members of the great white trinity, Tubéreuse Criminelle is no gateway tuberose fragrance.

Its calling card is a unique and defining opening of camphor/menthol, like something you get off a magic marker. Wow! What an entrance! This camphor/menthol accord occurs naturally in tuberose but instead of restraining or refining it, perfumer Christopher Sheldrake just let it be. It’s a good thing too because it’s this accord that makes Tubéreuse Criminelle unique and potent.

As the top notes fade, the lush, fatty, creamy aspects of tuberose come forward, and stay centre stage, enriched by jasmine, orange blossom and hyacinth. The florals are warmed by nutmeg, clove and musk. The oriental base of styrax, musk and vanilla gives it a drydown that is mellow and gorgeous on the skin.

The buzz on Tubéreuse Criminelle is that it smells like death and decay. I suppose it’s the medicinal smell that puts some people in mind of formaldehyde, which when combined with the florals gives Tubéreuse Criminelle its association with death and funerals. I think that's reaching too far and I don’t experience it that way. I’m just taken with a gorgeous fragrance that lasts and lasts on me. Tubéreuse Criminelle makes me feel so gorgeous and powerful that sometimes I wear it without the bracelet….

Check out Tubéreuse Criminelle in our Shop.