Peach: 9 posts

Few desserts can compete with the perfection of a ripe peach. Topping it with a dollop of crème fraîche is like gilding a lily, but if one seeks utter indulgence, it is the ultimate recipe. The melting sweetness of peach and the tartness of cream were made for each other, resulting in a beautiful balance of flavors.

In cooking, like in perfumery, an interesting sensation can be created by combining either two complementary notes or two dissonant ones. In the case of peaches and cream, the flavor of both is highly dependent on the creamy, milky notes. (If you’re curious to dig deeper, this flavor occurs thanks to the presence of lactones, a diverse group of organic compounds with creamy nuances; lactone is derived from the Latin lac, lact-, which means milk.)

If peaches and cream form a perfect gustatory marriage, nothing can serve as better inspiration for exploring peach notes in fragrance, especially when they appear as a luscious accent, rather than as a canned fruit salad.

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Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

Yvresse attests to the fact that it is possible to capture the sensation of champagne bubbles bursting on the lips, while the warmth of the golden liquid relaxes the limbs and melts away worries. From the effervescent top accord to the crystal bottle designed by Joël Desgrippes to resemble a champagne cork, the elements of Yves Saint Laurent Yvresse (formerly known as Champagne) coalesce into a vision of sparkly, exuberant liquid.

Created by Sophia Grojsman in 1993, Yvresse prompts me to recall Napoleon Bonaparte’s “I drink champagne when I win, to celebrate . . . and I drink champagne when I lose, to console myself”: Yvresse is a fragrance that I wear when I want to feel elegant and glamorous, but also when tenderness and comfort are what I seek. …

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Star rating: 5 stars–outstanding/potential classic, 4 stars–very good, 3 stars–adequate, 2 stars–disappointing, 1 star–poor.

“Let me tell you, I created [Rochas] Femme in 1943 in Paris during the worst days of the war in a building that had a rubbish dump on one side and paint factory on the other,” remarked Edmond Roudnitska about one of his most sensual compositions, a perfume that smells of woman’s skin and ripe summer plums.

Some perfumes become classics because they are based on appealing, commercial accords (carnation and patchouli, patchouli and maltol, to name some examples), and others gain the status of legends because of their haunting beauty, even if it presents a challenge. Femme’s beauty is arresting and spellbinding, its main accord heavy like a heart filled with longings. …

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Guerlain Mitsouko is the scent of golden autumn days, ripe peaches and burnished wood. Created by Jacques Guerlain in 1919, Mitsouko was a variation on the avant-garde fragrance of the period–Coty Chypre.

Chypre was based on the startling contrast among the bergamot top notes, the jasmine heart and the richness of oakmoss. Though undoubtedly beautiful, Chypre was brutal in its impact. Guerlain took the idea behind its famous forerunner and made it elegant and refined. A soft accent of peach skin gives Mitsouko a tender quality and a teasing gourmand impression. A classical Guerlinade accord of tonka bean, vanilla, iris and rose further refines and rounds out the composition. Mitsouko is a kiss to Coty Chypre’s slap in the face, and for this reason, its popularity endures to this day.

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