Mimosa is a curiously alien flower to those of us who live in the United Kingdom- and the fact Americans call that perennial breakfast cocktail bucks fizz mimosa seems to cause extra confusion amongst us. Mimosa the flower makes me think of the south of France and the south of America (rather than South America). It's beautifully yellow and everything which that means- sunny, happy and natural. I have long been an ardent admirer of L'Artisan Parfumeur's Mimosa Pour Moi, which is based around the flower, so when L’Artisan were kind enough to give me some to review as part of their Jardins Secrets work I was genuinely thrilled.
For me this scent is more than it seems and you need to look beyond the initial, albeit very pleasant warm floral smell. I have often thought of reviewing it and not quite found the words. What I want I want to say about it is yes it is abundantly golden and all that implies but more than it is a fragrance that makes me think about texture- in a way no other scent does. I once read a brief review of it, I think on makeup alley but I cannot find a link, which likened it to cats paws and that is what I always think of now, cats paws and also for some reason the fluffy quality of the buds on pussy willow (which I don’t think have a scent and if they do it probably isn’t fuzzy vanilla, but it should be).
For all the sunshine connections this scent isn’t warm in the sense of a hot day, there is a coolness about it’s purity, a coolness that is very welcome on skin in the summer. It’s a beautiful calming scent, more of a whisper than a shout. There is a reflective quality too and a serenity, like calm water.
On my first ever visit to America I tried the various Mimosa smells I found there and they were all pretty and totally lacking in complexity, all I could keep thinking was, wow L'Artisan have really won the battle to make the best Mimosa smell- and I still think that is true. I think many British people aren't as interested in this as they might be because they don't know the flower but I do urge you to try the scent- or any mimosa smells you can find.
Mimosa Pour Moi would be an excellent choice for anyone who wants to smell good but who wants to smell interesting too.
Pantone cocktail image from the ever interesting Apartment Therapy.
4 comments:
Mimosa is just everywhere at the moment. A passage about it in the book I'm reading (I shall be writing a post about it), walking headlong into the scent whilst in a National Trust garden recently and not even mentioning The Nail Varnish... and now your post.
Mimosa is one of those scents that couldn't be more perfect in warm/hot weather. I need more perfumes with mimosa; I've got a sample of Annick Goutal Le Mimosa, and I get it, it's just doesn't hold quite enough interest for a full bottle. It was enough to stoke the mimosa fires for me, though.
I once had a Diptyque Mimosa candle - you would have liked that one. Hope all is well. Looking forward to see you next week. xx
I had a Diptyque Mimosa candle too, it's wonderful! It was only a votive and the scent was so intense. One of life's little luxuries.
Post a Comment