L’Interdit Millesime Nocturnal Jasmine Review

[unpaid/sample] This new iteration of L’Interdit launches at the end of this week. I think memory is key to fragrance reviews and I know I haven’t mastered the art of describing fragrances (see @aliceduparcq for next level descriptions) but I do remember smelling L’Interdit for the first time and being completely charmed by the sweetness of it). The original was launched in 1957 but worn exclusively by Audrey Hepburn for a couple of years pre-launch. I wonder what she’d make of this version!

While the original version was an amber floral, this newest version is very much a chypre floral. There’s a lot of patchouli in there to give it some spice but if you love a moody jasmine and the intense, almost tropical headiness that comes from the evening flower burst, you’re probably going to love this! I must admit, at first spritz L’Interdit Millesime Nocturnal Jasmine was a bit much – but then jasmine’s strength is being ‘a bit much’ … it needs the lightest of touches not to take over a fragrance.

There are some big notes in this juice – orange blossom, tuberose, ambroxan, patchouli and vetiver (the latter three there to amplify the florals) which adds up to a very rich, very intense perfume. The jasmine is harvested (in India) while it’s in bud in the afternoon rather than fully flowering in the evening which means, apparently, that the extraction is at its most potent because the plant is yet to give any scent away. It’s the sort of fragrance that’s full of personality and not easily forgotten so it would make a wonderful signature scent – something for people to know you by. Once it has settled down, warmth appears – it’s creamy and at home on the skin. If you have a skill for picking out notes, you might find apricot, green tea and bitter almond there although I didn’t … it’s really all about the jasmine and patchouli for me.

L’Interdit Millesime Nocturnal Jasmine Review will be £77 for 50ml.