There's no way around this: you must love tuberose if you're to enjoy Kiss My Name by Ramon Monegal. Really really love it. However, if you're thinking Fracas, Amarige or Tubereuse Criminelle, this is not a clone or a spawn of the classics. Spanish perfumer Ramon Monegal carved his own path here, by making tuberose the main jewel of a luminous crown surrounded by other sparkling notes- most notably jasmine and neroli.
Tuberose perfumes can be very dramatic. There's a reason Fracas is known as The Diva. Kiss My Name is far more relaxed and luminous. In fact, it's downright sunshiny and warm, a feel-good perfume with just a hint of the narcotic qualities of heady white flowers. Kiss My Name feels like a modern version of the original Chloe (from the Lagerfeld Days); it shares the exuberant use of tuberose and jasmine, the femininity and the enormous sillage.
Kiss My Name smells and feels golden. It doesn't have an actual honey note, but the fragrance has a honeyed feel to it, slowly and lazily trickling down the skin, creating an exhilarating and uplifting sensation. While Ramon Monegal managed to avoid the usual tuberose cliches (butteriness, the usual pairing with gardenia, the over-the-top sweetness or the green medicinal accord), he ended up with an intoxicating perfume with a big and bold personality all its own.
The dry-down of Kiss My Name is sweet, balsamic, and warm. I can still smell the tuberose in the end of the day, hovering just above the sweet, almost oriental base. This fragrance hits the spot for me so well that right now it shares the top slot of my perfume wishlist with another Ramon Monegal perfume, Impossible Iris. Somehow, these two whisper to me about warm and lazy sunny days in a fantasy garden (one devoid of UVA/UVB and various insects) where I can lounge and daydream for hours.
Notes: tuberose, iris, Egyptian jasmine, Tunisian neroli and tolu balsam.
Ramon Monegal- Kiss My Name ($185, 50ml EDP) is available at Luckyscent, Parfum1, Bergdorf Goodman, and select Neiman Marcus locations, as well as from ramonmonegal.com. The sample for this review was sent by the company.
Art: John William Waterhouse- Dolce Far Niente, 1880.
Yes Tuberose can be difficult but I must try!!
ReplyDeleteSo glad to read that I can get a sample at Luckyscent!
I love this tuberose!
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I agree. She has a "big personality" but that's not rare when it comes to tuberose. I've tried lots of tuberose perfumes and this one speaks to me. I've yet to explain why, I just know that I like it.
ReplyDelete*Oh, Frink saved me from a bee today. I'll send him over to protect you while you lounge around in that garden :)
I know this is very late to the game but I wanted to say thank you for your review!! I am a HUGE Ramon Monegal fan with full bottles of Impossible Iris, Kiss My Name and Umbra. You described it perfectly!! It is sunshine in a bottle!!! I almost feel like it is effervescent. I live someplace where it snows 5-6 months a year so I will be using this baby all winter to help with the seasonal blues.
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