Green is my favourite colour – always has been. Any shade, any tint. Given a choice, unconsciously, I keep going for the green - in clothes, in decor, in art and in scent. Especially in scent.
I have no trouble with smelling like an old church (Incense: Avignon) or a circus (Dzing!) but there is something about fresh, herbal and, well, just green scents that move me. Le Temps d'Une Fête by Patricia de Nicolaï is one of those fragrances.
Patricia de Nicolaï is one of my favourite perfumers. As the granddaughter of Pierre Guerlain she straddles the past and the present. She has old roots, but puts out new shoots in the unusual scents she creates. Le Temps d'Une Fête represents this. It is a fragrance reminiscent of the ‘old’, but is very ’new’.
Let’s start with the name: a time to celebrate. Celebrate what? Spring? Rebirth? Life? I don’t know, but I know what when I wear, it’s a celebration.
Le Temps d'Une Fête opens bright and herbal from galbanum and opoponax, which also adds a spicy warmth that sets the stage for the flowers - narcissus and hyacinth. Narcissus is strong and complex, a floral that can smell like urine, it adds an earthy, animalic element to LTdF, while hyacinth gives it a lovely floral note and softens the rich narcissus. Sandalwood, patchouli and oak moss at the base give it creaminess that counter the greens and enclose the strong narcissus.
The overall effect is like smelling a whole garden – the green leaves, warmth from the sun, animals that might have wandered through, flowers - anchored by a woody base that balances it all and makes it creamy and long-lasting on the skin. What a beauty, what an experience!
Maybe, it’s time to celebrate Le Temps d'Une Fête.
Le Temps d'Une Fête is listed in our. Decants are $5.00 for 1 ml.
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