Languid. Tropical. Humidity and high heat. My skin makes it come real close to Songes, so I don’t get the Fracas/Jicky association unfortunately. But it’s a rough Songes. There’s a prominence of camphor in the first hour or so, something that Songes lacks. It doesn’t veer in the direction of the menthol queen Tubereuse Criminelle, but the feel here is camphor with something else. The gardenia is quite pronounced and smells very authentic and saturated, the kind which we haven’t smelt since Boutonnière from Arquiste. But here, it has a halo of freshness curtesy of the magnolia, so it’s a humid tropical smell. The mushroom aspect is subdued but present enough to provide authenticity. From the second hour onward, it becomes less humid and more dry, kinda like the 2 o’ clock sun at the beach. The gardenia transforms to a more spicy melange and a very nice sandalwood with just a hint of vanilla and body warmth emerges. Blending is superb, like most PdE creations you can’t grasp the full effect from the start; it comes with wear. But these first weeks of wearing it in extremely high heat, I’m getting the promised heady gardenia, accurate and authentic, saturated with magnolia and slightly funky base notes that show a 90/10 ratio of sandalwood vs vanilla. It can be familiar to some, easy to love by many but never an easy cash grab or functional mainstream turd; I think I’m on the start of my Bel Amour, the infatuation. Give us a couple weeks and we’ll make it a very naughty Bel Amour d’Été! Sillage and longevity on par with the house; generous but never crass! From 2024, my favorite release so far (not yet gotten my hands on Epona and Venice Rococo to complete the perfect 2024 threesome). Edit: blooms in autumn in a glorious way! Somehow it becomes extremely gardenia forward 😍