There was a fun discussion among several fragonerds this weekend about perfume people would choose if they were to marry or remarry this summer. The star note among both men and women was rose, with lily-of-the-valley and other white flowers following closely. When I got married in 1996 my favorite perfume was Panthere de Cartier, a lush white floriental. I guess it was kind of appropriate. Panthere is now discontinued, so I've been thinking of other frothy lacy white flower bouquet with a sensuous dry-down. Keiko Mecheri is responsible to quite a few such fragrances, including the recently released Sousanne from her Bespoke Collection.
The perfumes in Keiko Mecheri's Bespoke line don't make a dramatic entrance and they don't shoot into the stratosphere when you spray them on a blotter. Instead, California-based perfumer Keiko Mecheri created seven almost living beings that need skin and warmth to show what they can do.
Sousanne is the haute couture version of Keiko Mecheri's Datura Blanche. Sousanne is more refined and somewhat less sweet. It has layers of tulle instead of puff pastry, and while I do get some powdery almond along with an almost chewy spicy note, the star here is a glorious white flower arrangement over a smooth and creamy sandalwood-musk base. I'm a sucker for this combination as it's just heady enough, just delicious enough and smells romantic and curvy. The smooth transition between flowers to sandalwood feels as seamless as a performance by a star ballerina that makes a complicated move look easy. You know it takes a tremendous amount of skill and dedication, but she glides and floats as if it was the easiest thing in the world. That's how Sousanne smells and feels on skin for hours upon hours, from day to night. A little drop on a scarf is still there days (weeks?) later, smelling as luxurious as before.
Notes: lily, rose, datura, sandalwood, musk
Sousanne from Keiko Mecheri's Bespoke Collection ($275, 50ml EDP) is available from MiN New York and Luckyscent. The sample for this review was supplied free of charge by MiN.
Photo: a Christian Dior ball gown by Louise Dahl-Wolfe, 1950, via myvintagevogue.com
This sounds absolutely delicious.
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