Puredistance- Opardu

My alter ego wears Opardu by Puredistance. She's just like me but her hair never gets wild and all over the place and she doesn't need to check herself out for cat hair on her clothes. Her handwriting is small, neat and perfect and she never overpacks her bags, no matter where and how long she's going to be away. Yes, Opardu is that kind of fragrance.

Perfumer Annie Buzantian of Puredistance has already proven herself as the Queen of Pretty. Her first creation for the line, Puredistance I, was a classic French little thing around a jasmine-muguet-rose theme. Antonia won me over with its beautiful greenery, and now we have Opardu, a musky floral to end them all. And not only that, the floral part is lilac-centric. I can count on one hand with fingers to spare the really good and expensive smelling lilac fragrances (and I can't wear most of them). So, yes, smelling and testing Opardu has been somewhat of a revelation. I've been mourning my depleting mini bottle of Jean Patou Vacances and I know I'm not the only one. While Opardu is not a clone or a spawn of Vacances it comes from the same school of classic perfumery where the flowers are gentle, the musk is a sheer silky veil and there's a light green thread delicately woven into the fragrance's fabric.

Lilac perfumes, including Patou's, tend to be a bit melancholy. However, Opardu is brighter and and sunnier. It's a fragrance that keeps a stiff upper lip and a straight back no matter what. The floral notes even give an impression that's more pink than pale purple, making it easy to wear and welcoming. There's no hint of sweetness and only a smidgen of powder from the heliotrope. Opardu doesn't try too hard to please-- it's confident enough in its beauty to know that it already does. There's just enough heft in the base to ground Opardu and make it unfold slowly and last well. I've only been dabbing the perfume from a sample (Puredistance samples are beautifully packaged), so I haven't experienced the effect of  happily spraying (and then spraying some more for good measure); I can only imagine the stunning effect.

Notes: violet, heliotrope, lilac, woody notes, musk and green notes.

Opardu by Puredistance is launching in November. It'll be available from puredistance.com. 17.5ml in a plain vial is priced at €165/$198 (samples are available). They also offer special limited edition crystal bottles if you're into that stuff and don't tend to faint at a four digit price tag. The sample for this review was sent by the company.

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