I find Frédéric Malle perfumes (and in particular those by Ropion) can undo my prejudices towards certain notes. This beauty totally flipped my opinion of tuberose, which I normally find very troublesome, bubble-gummy, cloying and OTT. I also normally hate coconut in perfume, but this has shown me that if the quality is high enough, and the blending expert enough, I'm in! The coconut kulfi dry down is almost as good as the superstar opening. I was in the bakery this morning, and a bunch of people started saying "oh my god someone smells amazing", and I was half mortified, half thrilled when they locked it down to yours truly. Thanks Frédéric Malle! Update: It's too strong for any time of year except high summer (outside), when the heat mitigates the effusiveness, thus it's a glorious fanfare of creamy tropical florals, whereas indoors or in cold weather it's,cloying.
Carnal Flower is a beautiful medley of white florals, and one of the more popular releases from Frederic Malle, for good reason. Despite my enjoyment for this, I don’t find it absolutely lives up to the idea of what I imagine a ‘carnal’ floral to smell - it lacks filth and lust. A heavenly concoction of heady white florals lead the way, namely jasmine and tuberose, countered by this dry, slightly green, nuttiness likely coming from the coconut and eucalyptus; it’s a very interesting and unique smell. There’s a presence of sweetness, not only from the tuberose, but this delicious whisper of melon. It comes together beautifully. This is not a fragrance for those unsure about white florals, you have to adore them to love this. And whilst I do, love this, as I said I find it’s lacking enough filth to be labelled as carnal - some addition of animalic facets would have made this perfect.