Thursday, April 7, 2011

Van Cleef & Arpels - Collection Extraordinarie - LYS CARMIN EDP - fragrance review

After the creation of the jewelry collection Les Voyages Extraordinaires, inspired by the books of Jules Verne, Maison Van Cleef & Arpels created an extraordinary olfactive journey into niche exclusivity, with nature's finest raw materials - Collection Extraordinaire, presents 01 refreshing cologne, and 05 fragrances unfurling magnificent flowers. Lys Carmim EDP is one of the most sophisticated distinguish of all 06 creations.

LYS CARMIN EDP - VAN CLEEF & ARPELS
Photo credit: + Q Perfume Blog


I have been wearing Van Cleef & Arpels since I was 15. While most of my teenager friends were wearing Anaïs Anaïs by Cacharel, I bought my first perfume following my nose, not a trend. First EDP by VC & A was the fist perfume that I actually bought for myself. (I had Lauren by R.Laurent, Oscar by Oscar de la Renta, Anaïs Anaïs, but those were gifts I received from adults). The reason I am telling you this is just to establish how emotional I get when I am reviewing a Van Cleef Fragrance. Words always seem not enough when mentioning their creations.
Collection Extraordinaire brought to Van Cleef & Arpels the final polish diamonds get before being displayed in beautiful black velvet cases. 06 amazing fragrances crafted with the finest raw materials, kept in a beautifully cut flacons, resulting in pure elegance and luxury. Real liquid diamonds! All of them were carefully presented to me while shopping in Spain. 
I was tempted to buy Bois d'Iris EDP(click HERE for my review), because it is one of the Iris-woody-creamy perfumes I love the most, but Lys Carmin EDP was simple so distinguish from all fragrances I have ever sprayed on my wrists! I mean, I have many Bois d'Iris fragrances, but not many lilies. So I started from there. I decided I needed a lily!

WET ORANGE LILY
Photo credit: Chalkie_CC (FLICKR)

I found an extraordinary lily in Lys Carmin EDP. A genetically deconstructed lily, blended with sensual ylangs, sprinkled with pink peppercorns, cinnamon & clove powder to create a new specimen: spicy lilylang!
The first whiff is a surprise to all of us used to fresh citrusy spicy top notes. The top notes are warm! No bergamots, no oranges, no mandarines...just pure spicy peppers, cloves, cinnamon and flowers.
I confess that if you have any kind of oral trauma from dentist's chairs, you might not be ready to explore the beauty of this fragrance. It does contain an eugenol presence that can take you from divine gardens to dentistry nightmares in a whiff of a second. What can I say, some people think of a dentist chair as a place to tie people and torture them. BUT, if you are brave and willing to forget your traumatized childhood, open the cap and be amazed like me!
Nathalie G. Cetto explored the woodiness of cloves and cinnamon and pink peppercorns, so they are less peppery and more woody flowery. They have a honeyed vanilla carnation aspect that is very special (although you will find the cinammon-carnation combo in many perfumes (Ivoire de Balmain, Egoïste, Giorgio Beverley Hills pour homme, Iceberg twice, Drakkar Noir, etc...). 

Photo credit: + Q Perfume Blog

The perfumer has also mastered the lilies in a way that it does not explode in a blooming feminine bouquet. This is the exact reason why I could buy this fragrance. Natural blooming lilies, or chemical white bouquets provoke me huge headaches, but this fragrance takes me to heaven. 

VAN CLEEF & ARPELS LOGO 
STAMPED IN A CHARM
Photo credit: + Q Perfume Blog

Heaven is dry, slightly powdery, slightly woody, slightly peppery, slightly flowery and slightly creamy in the end. Yes, it is a bunch of "slightlys" in one bottle! In a more refined English - a subtle fragrance. Close to the skin kind of fragrance if whiffed in small doses, a lethal weapon if not!
In very few words, Lys Carmin EDP is a sexy dentist. You can picture guys like Michael Vartan wearing blue scrubs or white vests and Lanvin ties, leaning his extremely sexy fragrant pecs closer to you and saying things like "It is not going to hurt, I promise!" or "Wider...wider please" LOL!



Just in case you are wondering where the hell I got this idea from - he played a doctor in monster-in-law with JLo and Jane Fonda and he plays a hospital director in a TV series about nurses - so we have seen him wearing the white vest already...

Photo credit: + Q Perfume Blog






Brand: Van Cleff & Arpels
Origin: France
Perfumer: Nathalie Gracia Cetto
Launch: 2009
Gender: Feminine - but men can profit from its beauty too.
Range: EDP - 75ml (2.5 fl.oz)
Olfactive family: floral - spicy
Olfactive notes: sophisticated lily, enhanced by pink peppercorns, powdery ylang ylang, cinnamon, vanilla and sandalwood.
Description by the brand: "a pure modern lily with enhanced sensuality"
Description by +Q Perfume Blog: EXQUISITE, spicy, BEAUTIFUL, elegant, fresh, woody.
Silage: Great
Fixation: Great
When to wear: any time, any occasion.
Could Pair with: nothing found so far...
Rating:★★★★★
Where:
★★★★★ - Beautifully constructed, a must have.
★★★★ - Lily elegance.
★★★ - Better than going to the dentist.
★★ - Eugenol whiff.
- Pure dental extraction.


You will find Collection Extraordinaire fragrances by Van Cleef & Arpels at Essenza Nobile.

My article about eugenol and other scary dental thoughts, click HERE.


If you wish to laugh a little today - click HERE for Steve martin playing the Elvis-dentist in Little Shop of Horrors movie.

4 comments:

osp said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
discount perfume said...

you written nice post about perfume

+ Q Perfume Blog said...

Thank you discount!

Liam Moore said...

Oh I adore VC & A. They discontinued their line in Dublin here. It must be a bit out of the usual price bracket lol

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