Parfums de Nicolai- Kiss Me Tender

Kiss Me Tender by Parfums de Nicolai is what happens when the Easter Bunny stops by a spring wedding. It opens up bright, sweet, and powdery with the most disconcerting mix of candy and fresh green grass that has just awakened from winter slumber. I don't know if it sounds good to you in theory, but when I wear it there's a certain disharmony that I find very distracting as the fragrance trails behind me (and, boy, does it trail!). The first half an hour or so of Kiss Me Tender is a neon green version of L'Heure Bleue; seriously, I feel like Particia de Nicolai makes me glow in the dark every time I wear this fragrance.

It takes a while before the green green green thing vanishes and leaves me to enjoy a slightly spiced marshmallow, marzipan, almond cookies covered in powdered sugar and other sinful little things. It's not quite as pink and frothy as By Kilian Love, and the tender anise and cinnamon keep it from becoming a real toothache. While all of the above is going I find myself again and again waffling about Kiss Me Tender: am I having fun yet? do I want a bottle? can I run and scrub this thing off?

I don't know how many samples I've used between the time the fragrance was first released in 2010 and now. It's the same every single time. Then the dry-down finally arrives (the late dry-down, actually) and all of a sudden I'm in a musky Turkish delight heaven. The candy store becomes a lot more upscale, the marshmallow is transformed from Peeps to the real gourmet handmade thing and my nose is planted firmly against my skin. So, the answer is that while I really don't need a bottle of Kiss Me Tender, I wouldn't be surprised if many other people do and it'll be lovely to smell it on them.


Notes: heliotrope, vanilla, anise seeds, almonds, fresh hay, orange blossom, jasmine, ylang ylang, cloves, cinnamon, woody and musky notes.



Parfums de Nicolai- Kiss Me Tender ($52, 30ml EDP) is available from Osswald in NYC,  Luckyscent, and Parfum1.com.

Photo: sweetsimplestuff.com