The Number One Award for Most Wearable High Quality Vanilla Fragrance goes to... Casmir!!! Triumphant elusive gorgeous vanilla from an exclusive jeweler-house that makes exceptional fragrances. Some of the finest fragrances in France are made by jeweler houses: Boucheron and Chopard. Chopard makes more radical and different fragrances than the more 'mainstream Boucheron'.
Casmir is otherwordly gorgeuous, mysterious,addictive, hypnotic. It is different, it is radical, it is 'something else'. In the vain of toally wearabable 'radicals' like 'Alien', 'Lolita Lempicka'... It was made in 1992! And is still going strong. It is the mother of 'vanilla-with-a-twist hits' like 'Addict' and 'Hypnotic Poison'. If you like these, maybe go back to the roots of Addict and HP, Guerlains Vanille Spiritueuse and test this. To be clear the vanilla frag 'Casmir' has nothing in common, fragrance wise' with the artificial sugary milkshake vanilla's past 2005.
The name 'oriental vanilla' has become mostly meaninless. But 'Casmir' really smells like an 'oriental vanilla'. The cinnamon and opoponax give it the 'eastern' edge. 'Casmir' was made by master nose Michel Almairac (a lot of 'Bond nr 9''s!, Gucci, Rochas...). The key to the uniquenes and fatal attraction of 'Casmir' is the mixing of the very strong vanilla-tonka bean-benzoin base with the natural scents of peach, apricot, strawberry, the spices of the middle and mixed wit a peppery floral;, plus freshened up by mandarin...
We're talking 1992 here, so these fruit fragrances are not über sweet glucose monsters like some celeb scents but add a very natural and yet special aspect to the fragrance. Natural peach smells very different from artifial peach extract drowned in sugar. And Almairac added spices and resins to the mix which all together make the magic of Casmir happen: cinnamon and opoponax. These notes are much more prominent than the fruit and floral note. That gives 'Casmir' it's edge, personality, mystery and uniquenss. While still a vanilla fragarance.
Let's look at the notes:
Top: Peach, apricot, black currant, strawberry
Middle: Mandarin, carnation, cinnamon
Base: Vanilla, tonka bean, benzoin, opoponax.
We're in 1992.So the fruit and the vanilla are not turned up to notch eleven, deep in the red of vanilla-sugar overkill, like in today's legion of 'fruity florals'. They are part of a balanced mix. The fruit, even if it is in the top, is very subdued and gives a hint of natural flavor without drowning everything out. This fruity top is -contrary to most frags- less prominent than the middle and the base. These base and middle rule 'Casmir' and keep the fruits in their modest place. The base is a formidable force. The natural vanilla is reinforced but also steered away from 'sweet-vanilla wasteland' by the tonka bean and the benzoin. The incensy opoponax (also known as 'sweet myrrh') gives the vanilla edge and depth. This strong base gets freshness from the middle's mandarin, spice from the cinnamon and the peppery, spicy carnation (unmissable in a good oriental, but now considered by some as an 'old lady note', wich is always a good sign, since in my book something called 'old lady or note' fragrance always turns out to be great). The mix is done with a pharmicists scale. The star is the vanilla, but it is a very different vanilla than the artificial vanillin in modern vanilla 'fragrances' like 'Fantasy' and 'Fancy'. This is is a smoky, deep, incensy, intriguing, mysterious, hypnotic and addictive vanilla. Like 'Vanille Noire de Mexique' or 'Guerlains 'Spiritueuse Double Vanille'. No need for a shot of insulin if you sprittz this frag.
It is Chopard quality. That means quality ingredients which makes 'Casmir' certainly strong, great sillage, very good longevity. Chopard has after 'Casmir' maybe 'experimented' for 'experiments sake' and produced some less wearable fragrances. But 'Casmir' is totally wearable. Especially for special occasions. Like 'Le Baiser' du Dragon' and 'Tom Ford's 'Black Orchid', both of which have the feel of 'Casmir'.
And it was created in 1992! Long before Dior's 'Addict' and 'Hypnotic Poison' on which both are very clearly based. 'Casmir' was ahead of his time. But it is still produced. And found on ebay for a very fair price. If you want a better and cheaper alternative for 'Addict' and 'Hypnotic Poison', try 'Casmir'. A gem that was conceived and born too early, but is still visionary for the most popular perfumes to come. Enjoy!
Jan
02
2012