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Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Histoires de Parfums - 1889 Moulin Rouge

I've said it before, the best thing about having perfumes as a hobby is not the many great perfumes you'll get to savour or how good you'll become at recognizing scents. The very best thing is the lovely people you get to meet. A while ago I wrote about how I'd just realised that the mall next to my work had two perfume shops in it. Parfumistan over at Parfumistans blogg commented that she also works near a mall with two perfume shops. And, as Sweden is a very small country, of course it turned out to be the same mall! Since then we've been meeting up for "perfume lunch" once a month, or, as I like to think of it, no-limit perfume nerd fests. And we've been exchanging samples as well. One of the perfumes Parfumistan generously let me try is 1889 Moulin Rouge by Histoires de Parfums. I've had the sample for a while now and been meaning to write about it for some time, but it's a hard scent to write about. I'm a little embarrassed by my perceptions of it, and you'll see why.

Lets start with the name, "1889 Moulin Rouge", a legendary nightclub in Paris, mostly known for it's can-can dancers. How might it have smelled in 1889? Like lots of warm bodies, probably. Some of them wearing the same skimpy scene costumes night after night at a time when hygiene standards probably did not include daily showers or dry cleaning. Is that something you'd want bottled? If you're some kind of Victorian bent pervert, sure, but most us would likely prefer living in ignorance on this one.

The official notes of the perfume tell a different story, though. Top notes are tangerine, prune and cinnamon. Warm, fruity, spicy - Yum! Heart notes are absinthe and rose of Damascus. Liquorice rose, that could be nice. Base notes are iris, patchouli, musk and fur. Sounds good once again. But unfortunately I'm not getting a single one of these notes. What I'm getting out of 1889 Moulin Rouge, is this:
"Strawberry Strings" (=jordgubbssnören)
Strawberry Strings are my sons favourite candy. It's basicly strawberry flavoured liquorice. They are rather nice, I probably wouldn't buy them for myself but I happily gobble down a string or two whenever opportunity is given.

1889 Moulin Rouge starts with leathery strawberry strings. Almost immediatly on applying the scent softens and moves towards a sweeter and fruitier variety of strawberry strings. Toward the end it smells like strawberry strings that have been left out in the air for some time. Some of the aroma has evaporated but they still taste the same, just now a showing off a dustier, more mellow facet of themselves. And those are the notes I'm managing to pin down.

This is a really lame description, which is a pity because 1889 Moulin Rouge is not a lame scent whatsoever. It's just very hard to describe as the notes are all so well integrated it's near impossible to tell them apart. It's a lovely scent, comfy and cheerful and envelops your body in a sweet red-hued shimmer. Although sillage is low, longlivety is great. I've been wearing it for work as it's both encouraging and discreet, and it lasts all day. I've also been wearing it to bed as it's warm and cozy enough to induce happy dreams. Interestingly enough, the only thing it's not made for it's a grand night out, including absinth drinking and watching risqué dance acts - very much in spite of it's name.



8 comments:

  1. Nice that you appreciated MR 1889. I agree that MR is not as sinful and dirty as expected. To me it's almost refreshing even if carrying the powdery-lipstick notes. It is delightful and I have got compliments from my sons teachers wearing this, obviously MR fits in such everyday occasions as in school.

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  2. Haha, yes, I can imagine it fitting in very well there :) Actually my husband likes MR 1889 a lot as well, it's one of the very few scents he's ever commented in a positive way. The only others I remember from the top of my head are Ormonde Woman, Chanel 28 La Pausa and Vero Kerns Mito, so it's in very good company!

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  3. I do not like the idea behind Moulin Rouge (as a show) since I think those type of shows are degrading towards women. That's why I didn't want to watch the recent movie about it. And that's why I wasn't too interested in this perfume. I remember smelling it at the store from a test cone and it was ok, but not interesting enough for me to test it on the skin.

    On a separate note - enjoyed reading your review (and the one for Sarassins that I found yesterday while working on my recent post).

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    1. I completely understand and respect your point about Moulin Rouge being degrading towards woman and I also don't like when a place like that is romanticized. And about the Sarrasins review, that one was my most read post, according to the stats page, for a very long time. Not because that many persons were really interested in my views on that particular perfume but because they searched on google for "smells like vag..." :D

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  4. I had to laugh at your paragraph about why we *wouldn't* want the true scent of Moulin Rouge bottled. So true. This one doesn't do much for me either. It's okay, but not super special (although I only tried on skin once I think).

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    1. Thanks for looking in! Well, if there is one thing that's always true, it's that there are people for everything ;)

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  5. Although it doesn't sound scintiallating, maybe it's "sweet red-hued shimmer" is meant to express the state of exertion brought on by all of those can-can kicks? It is the kind of dance that leaves one red-faced and a bit breathless! ;)

    Okay, now that I strained to come up with that connection I'm off to look for some strawberry Twizzlers (the American version of strawberry strings, just less stringy). <3

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    1. Haha, maybe that's it :) I did look up Twizzlers and they do look like they'd taste very much like the strawberry strings here. Enjoy!

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