keiko mecheri – This Side of Perfume

Lady Pointe by Keiko Mecheri

April 14, 2016

Notes: citrus, blackcurrant, orchid, suede, rose, white musk, tonka, patchouli, moss, incense, and sandalwood.

Lady Pointe was released in 2015 and is the newest from niche line Keiko Mecheri. A couple of years ago I had vowed to explore more from her line but, due to life stuff and too many perfumes, I haven’t really been able to keep up with that. I thought this latest release would be the perfect way to return to Keiko Mecheri’s creative offerings. As you might be able to guess from the name, Lady Pointe is inspired by the ballet. The marketing encourages us to think of Lady Pointe as a mood and a fantasy. This perfume is being pitched as a true vision of artistry in line with a night at the ballet. That’s some pretty grand marketing, but it’s actually fairly accurate for this lovely scent.

Lady Pointe opens on a fruity note with some citrus and blackcurrant. The fruit here is bright and lush without being overdone. This opening isn’t overly sweet, nor is the citrus too sharp or bracing. I find the blackcurrant yummy and almost edible, but the overall effect is more refined than anything else. One striking thing to me is that I actually sense the rose note quite early on here, even though I know it’s meant to be more of a heart note. It melds with the blackcurrant for me, and that’s what makes it seem like it could be part of the opening.

The middle stage of the fragrance is a both a little more delicate and a little bit deeper. The fragrance is a full on floral at this stage for me, since the citrus disappears and the jammy blackcurrant gives way to a lush rose. I sense more iris than orchid, but I suppose that’s the delicate powdery note coming through. The “mood” is very evocative during this stage of the composition. That powdery note is delicate but sophisticated. I can sense the makeup being applied backstage and pointe shoes being laced up.

The suede note really comes through after a few hours of wear, and it’s what makes and kind of breaks this composition for me. The suede brings a plush and almost tactile effect to the fragrance. I can feel the red velvet theater seats and can see the red stage curtain rustling as everyone gets into place. Unfortunately suede and white musk aren’t always a great mix on my skin. The musk starts to come through with the dry down and it completely takes over for a little while. It takes me out of the ballet/theater fantasy and drops me back into reality where I don’t want to smell like I’ve just literally rolled around in musk. If musk and suede are your thing, then this will work a lot better for you.

The final stage of the dry down is much more calm on my skin and I attribute that to the incense, which always wears very quietly for me. It even calms down the patchouli, which comes off as a dry earthy note here, not overly intense or dirty. I’ve tried wearing Lady Pointe to bed and I wake up with a lovely soft trace of rose/patchouli on my sheets the next morning.

It’s so strange, I love the beginning and middle stages of this fragrance. And I like the very end as well. It’s just one little stage of wear time that doesn’t work for me. I’ve worn Lady Pointe multiple times and, unfortunately, that transition from suede to musk goes weird for me every time. I will use up my current sample because, otherwise, I really enjoy this fragrance. A rose chypre isn’t the most original idea for a fragrance, but this is a very sophisticated example of the genre. And, for once, the fragrance does a good job of conjuring up the fantasy story that the marketing wants to sell.

________________________

Keiko Mecheri fragrances come in 75 ml bottles. Luckyscent carries the entire line, and that’s where I obtained my sample.

The list of notes is from Luckyscent while the image is from Fragrantica.

Summer Holiday; Keiko Mecheri’s Taormine

June 19, 2014

Notes: Sicilian petit grain, Calabrian bergamot, Italian citron, bitter almond, aromatic accord, subtle floral heart, leather accord.

Evocative of a Sicilian getaway, Taormine opens with a bright inviting warmth. I’ve never been to Sicily myself, so I’ll have to rely on the perfume and my own imagination to paint this picture. The hesperidic opening is lightly aromatic and just a touch herbaceous. It sets a sultry mood, like a salty sea breeze blowing onto the patio at cocktail hour. However, Taormine doesn’t open up into a big salty, beachy scent. I think that’s a good thing, because what it does instead is a little bit more interesting.

For me, the almond note is the star of this composition. It starts sneaking in about fifteen minutes after application and lingers for the rest of wear time. The almond is interesting because, while it adds a touch of sweetness and some depth to the aromatic citrus notes, it’s not enough to turn this into a full-blown gourmand scent. Instead, the almond keeps this composition dry and grounded, which helps make Taormine a lovely summer scent.

The leather in the dry down here is gentle. It reminds me slightly of Bottega Veneta’s Eau de Parfum, which is all the rich leather of Milan fashion week, high heels and handbags. However, the leather of Taormine is a little more comfortable and lived-in, like the shoes you wore down to the beach earlier, now covered in a dusting of sand.

Taormine definitely has a comforting feel, but there’s also a complexity to it, and, in that, a quiet elegance. I sometimes tend to think of summer scents (and especially the citrus-driven colognes) as being more sharply acidic and more simple in character than this fragrance is. With Taormine, Keiko Mecheri shows us that summery fragrances can be both soft and complex, and completely season-appropriate.

I can easily imagine wearing this fragrance while on vacation: relaxing during the afternoon with a book, or going out to dinner on a sultry evening. The only flaw is that I wish this one had a little bit more staying power. It’s very much a skin scent on me, which is fine. I get around 5 hours wear time from it, but I’d love for it to go just little bit longer, especially in warmer weather. Believe it or not, this is actually the first Keiko Mecheri scent I’ve tried. I’m happy with this as a first choice, and I’m looking forward to sampling more!

Taormine was originally released in 2010 as part of La Collection Hesperides. I’m not sure if it was intended to be a limited edition, but both samples and full bottles are still available from Luckyscent (which is where I got my sample).

Image is from fragrantica while info about fragrance notes is from luckyscent.