My fourth stop of the morning was the darling L'Artisan Parfumeur, just around the corner and down the street at 24 Boulevard Raspail, 75007 (01 42 22 23 32). This cheerful boutique, founded by Jean Laporte in 1976, features a wide range of unique eaux de toilette, home fragrances and fragrant objects. I fell in love with the limited edition Fleur de Narcisse 2006 Eau de Parfum. Last year was a bumper crop for the Narcissus flower, and this exquisite fragrance is the sweet essence of elegance in a bottle.
I also enjoyed the trio of eaux de toilettes, Les Epices de la Passion, translated as Love Potions. These three fragrances are inspired by ancient recipes for bewitching magic spells!
Safran Troublant (Saffron Spell) is the sweetest of the three. It combines saffron and vanilla with red rose and sandalwood into a lovely golden elixir.
Poivre Piquant (Fiery Pepper) is the the spiciest scent, combining strong notes of white pepper with the slight bitterness of licorice and velvety softness of honey and milk.
Piment Brûlant (Hot Pimento) is my favorite in the set. It is warm and spicy like red pepper, softened with a bit of chocolate, all blended with a touch of vanilla, poppy and cloves.
This trio of three 15-ml sprays is packaged in a beautiful red satin cylindrical case in a black gift box for $75 which can be ordered on the L'Artisan Parfumeur website.
Also interesting is the special 5-piece collection eaux de toilette Sautes d'Humeur (Mood Set). These five fragrances, “Lazy mood”, “Angry mood”, “Jealous mood”, “Joyful mood”, and “Spiritual mood” are a means of expressing or changing your mood in a very elemental way! I will be describing these in a later post, after I have time to feel their effects!
Finally, I also stopped by the L'Artisan Parfumeur flagship store near the Louvre.
This boutique offers a 3-hour perfume-making workshop in the upstairs studio. Cost is 95 euros. The class is offered sporadically, so do check in advance if you are interested in taking it. I was told by the sales associate that on a clear day the cozy atelier has a spectacular view of the Eiffel tower. Sadly, it was hidden by clouds on my visit!
Thus ends my first morning in Paris! Stay tuned for a description of my intriguing afternoon visit to the hip new parfumerie, Etat Libre d'Orange.
4 comments:
Hi Christine,
I fell in love with Fleur de Narcisse too. However, I did not purchase because I didn't want to blow my fragrance budget on one pricey scent. Did you succumb?
Hi IrisLA,
No, alas, I did not succumb either, for the very reason you mentioned. I'm afraid Fleur de Narcisse is just a fragrant memory to me now...
Christine
I have never tried any of their fragrances. (snivel)
due to budgetary constraints, I would purchase one of the sets ... this has worked well for me in the past, because I end up liking two or more things --enough to justify the purchase.
Hi, d. chedwick bryant,
I agree...if at least two out of three fragrances in a set are a hit, it seems like a good deal.
Chris
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