Van Cleef & Arpels
Van Cleef & Arpels
126 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Blackcurrant blossom and violet leaf collide with mandarin orange, creating a brightness that's almost green, slightly tart—like smelling a violet bloom that still carries morning dew and earth. The top notes possess a crystalline quality, more stem and leaf than flower, with citrus offering fleeting luminosity before the florals begin their ascent.
Violet and jasmine emerge with hushed elegance, the rose adding a powdery structure that transforms the composition into something more cohesive and tender. The sweetness becomes apparent here, a delicate honey-like undertone that softens the green edges whilst maintaining the fragrance's architectural restraint.
Iris and precious woods settle onto the skin like faded watercolour, translucent and increasingly ephemeral as minutes pass. Vetiver provides only the faintest woody skeleton—a suggestion rather than substance—leaving an almost ghostly floral-powdery residue that diminishes with notable speed.
Féerie Van Cleef & Arpels arrives as a curated cabinet of violet obsessions—not the singular, dusty violet of classical fragrances, but a multifaceted exploration of the flower's many personalities. The blackcurrant blossom and violet leaf opening creates an almost tart, green-tinged fruitiness that prevents this from becoming merely powdery. There's a bracing quality here, a slightly herbaceous bite that grounds the florals before they have a chance to drift into saccharine territory.
What makes this composition genuinely intriguing is how the rose-jasmine heart doesn't overwhelm; instead, it integrates with those violet notes already established, creating a layered floral accord where each flower maintains distinct boundaries rather than merging into wallpaper. The jasmine brings a faint creamy indolence, the rose adds structure, whilst violet threads through everything like a connecting filament. There's an undercurrent of sweetness—a honeyed, almost confectionery quality—but it feels restrained, almost reluctant.
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3.4/5 (90)