Twenty-something years ago there would have been no chance I'd wear Péché Cardinal. I used to give my sister a serious stinkeye (pun most definitely intended) for her overindulgence in Tresor. Compositions heavy on peach and floral notes were just not my thing, and for years I used to find them suffocating and unpleasant. So how did I find myself luxuriating in the satin grip of Péché Cardinal by Parfums MDCI ?
I have to be honest: Péché Cardinal is so pretty it's sometimes overwhelming. I wear it and feel like I've gone through a rack of vintage designer clothes and came up with a piece that had belonged to Princess Diana. Stunning, but obviously not meant for this sharp-tongued short brunette. This is why I keep Péché Cardinal to a couple of sprays under my clothes, like a hand-sewn peach silk camisole against my skin. It's sexy and it's secret, and just a little bit wrong, which is part of the charm.
MDCI's Péché Cardinal also boast a massive lily note that fills my nose and brain with imagined powdery pollen. It's another note that's historically difficult for me (I don't even wear Uncle Serge's Un Lys or Malle's Lys Mediterranee), but in Peche Cardinal the lily is intertwined with threads of tuberose, sweet tropical dreamy tuberose, and you know how I feel about that. The official notes list coconut , but on my skin any of that is swallowed by powdery and extremely feminine white flowers, and the creaminess that lies in the base of the perfume is more accurately attributed to sandalwood. The fluid movement of Péché Cardinal's development ends in a pile of powdery sweet musk. It's like jumping into a heap of fluffy white feathers and playing in them with a carefree joy. Sometimes it's just the thing.
Péché Cardinal by Parfums MDCI ($250, 75ml eau de parfum in the regular bottle without the resin bust. See below if you don't know what I'm talking about) are available from OsswaldNYC and Luckyscent.
Art: Lê Phổ- Young Girl with Peach Blossoms.
PC is something I occasionally like a whiff of (from the sample I've had for years)--and probably would like on someone else, if I ever had the chance to smell it--but with the lily and the peach, it's just Not For Me. In fact, I feel that way about the whole line (tho admittedly I haven't tried any of their newer fragrances). Some of it is absolutely, absolutely lovely--yet somehow they never generate a "need" in me. Altho now I'm thinking I need to revisit them...
ReplyDeleteAs usual, you've chosen an absolutely perfect painting for this scent. I've been through three very large decants of this - not sure exactly why I haven't been able to commit to it and get a full bottle (very unlike me to wait this long). Maybe it's time.
ReplyDeleteAnna
Love the review. Love Le Pho! Great mood setter.
ReplyDeleteOoooh lordy I love this one. Like you, lily can be challenging to me, as can sugary sweet peach. But this hit all the right buttons for me. I think Princess Diana would have loved it <3
ReplyDelete