Green urban jungle. Or a garden in the middle of a crowded city. Someone walks by wearing L’Ombre dans L’Eau and the sillage fills the air. There’s a pond in the middle, right next to a deli serving a homemade guacamole adorned with basil. That’s Synthetic Jungle. Nice, but for me redundant. I own the vintages of which this is supposed to be inspired, and I can sense a passing resemblance to Private Collection in the opening stage, so it’s there, the inspiration and the style. N°19 is nowhere to be found. As a beginners green, this is nice. But for hardcore green and chypre fans like myself and others, this is pointless. L’Ombre dans L’Eau is the closest resemblance I’ve found, and I’ve never particularly enjoyed that one, but I find SJ more appealing. For me it’s a no, I’ve enjoyed my sample but I’ve no need to go after it. There are far better green fragrances on the market, both vintage (eBay) and new (the stunning Dryad is an exercise in all shades of green). Oh Malle! You had me hoping for more…
Federic Malle has a new perfume out, and people thought it was a meme or some fan fiction or something because of the slightly ‘off’ name & coupled with the fact I still haven’t seen it officially announced or on the FM website. Anyway I tried it. (07/08/21) (Even though I posted a picture some people didn’t seem to believe I’d tried it the other week. I think Selfridges must’ve stuck it out early.) I think if you look at the notes (which often don’t mean a lot, but in this case probably do) then you’d be expecting a kind of breezy, modern, muguet, white musk thing. That’s pretty much exactly what you get. But… Being Malle it’s superior. Not just fanboying. 💯 % truth. It’s very ‘clean’ and lean in the opening delivering lush greenery, the wet florals of a florists, tulips and narcissus, LotV etc… It’s been on my wrist a few hours and softens slightly to reveal a hint of jasmine perhaps. This is all about sparkle, pushing out and breezy, airy vibes like en passant or Eau de Magnolia. It’s hard not to like it. It appeals to me on a technical level because it’s relatively simple, smells like flowers & there’s nowhere to hide. Some might find it boring, I beg to differ. I want to wear it to find out more.
Like a William Morris jungle wallpaper that has an added scratch-n-sniff element. An exagerrated, dense, almost psychedelic rendition of nature which opens slightly acerbic, but is totally unique and addictive. It makes me feel youthful and fun, without it being an immature scent. Possibly the greenest perfume I've smelt, alongside Eau de Campagne.