Caron Nocturnes
I have a complicated relationship with Nocturnes. It took me a while to figure out that while I admire it, I can’t particularly carry it off. According to Basenotes, it was created by Gerard Lefort for Caron in 1981.
Nocturnes smells as if the notes were blended together in a giant lacquered box before finding a home in a bottle. Its quality of being hidden away in a dark place, only lit by the stray reflections bouncing of the lacquer, gives the fragrance a somber feel. Rose and orange notes glance off the shades of Nocturnes’ cold wood and warm musk.
I don’t notice some of the other notes individually, such as neroli, ylang, tuberose, jasmine. They mix and swirl around one another without drawing attention to themselves. Despite all those white florals, Nocturnes doesn’t wear as light on me. It is not weighty or bogged down by its heavier elements, but the fragrance is most certainly characterized by moving shadows. Through the background of this fragrance I sense something rather amber-y glowing, lain within the wood like a strip of marquetry.
Nocturnes is a beautiful, smart scent, but as I mentioned, sadly isn’t one I believe I ought to be wearing since the fit isn’t quite right. I wonder if it is not a tricky scent to wear for many others, too.
Top image from jssgallery.org, of James Abbott McNeill Whistler’s Nocturne in Black and Gold, the Falling Rocket. Second image is Childe Hassam’s Fifth Avenue Nocturnes. I was sooooo tempted to exclusively use Hassam’s city street pictures, but this was the only one that felt right. If you have a moment though, do check out Hassam’s Paris Nocturne, as well as Whistler’s (yes, he’s the one with the mother) elegiac Nocturnes series.
December 16th, 2005 at 2:07 pm
This is one of the couple of Carons (one other being Narcisse Noir) that did nothing for me. They smelled like nothing on me. Well, sure I could smell them but, like Seinfeld was a sitcom about nothing, these are scents about nothing for me.
December 16th, 2005 at 2:24 pm
Oh that’s shame. Nothing, huh? This one to me seems so specifically about the smell of lacquered wood and the spots of light that reflect off of that sort of surface. Maybe not a whole lot more than that, but that’s okay. I’m still holding out hope that the parfum of NN will hold something good for me.
Maybe the “nothing” you find also stems from its shallow 80s roots. Here’s part of the old copy Caron used to use for it on their site: “Dressed in black, timeless color, NOCTURNES is most certainly in resonance with the 80’s : the colored border and engraved flower executed by a Russian artist deepen the connection between NOCTURNES and the fine arts.” Uh, how is black a timeless color? I wasn’t aware the other colors were being counted on the clock. And what do fine arts have to do specifically with the 80s anyhow? That doesn’t follow, and that colon is unfortunately situated. Did fine arts only begin in that decade, unbeknownst to any of the rest of us? Here’s the choicest bit: “The bottle is by Pierre Dinand, one of the greatest bottle designers in the world; the pictorial qualities of the packaging, with a royal blue dominant, clearly affirm the elitist character of the product.” *snerk* Elitest.
You know, when it gets below freezing here, I get cranky I think. Anyhow, I admire it, but I’m open to it being nothing, too.
December 16th, 2005 at 3:20 pm
The descriptions on Caron’s site are hilarious. I sometimes suspect they were translated from French using Alta-Vista Babel-fish translator.
December 17th, 2005 at 6:57 am
Thank you K for poiting out these fabulous paintings by Hassam and Whistler. I checked them out and wow, that dark light… imgaine being able to creat such masterful art.
December 17th, 2005 at 12:45 pm
Marina, yeah. These are slightly old, of course, from just before Caron changed their site, but still *snerk*-worthy to an extent.
Ylva, I’m glad you enjoyed them. I really love so much of Hassam’s work (although some of the more treacly stuff I can’t stand), and Whistler’s Nocturnes stuff I think are probably my favorites by him. That “dark light” he conjured is rather sad but beautiful.
December 18th, 2005 at 6:20 am
It goes without saying, K, that if you are reviewing it, odds are I’ve never tried it. Nocturnes might actually be the *only* Caron I’ve never tried.
December 18th, 2005 at 1:02 pm
Heh, this is nearly always the way it goes doesn’t it? I’m all sniffly today, so perhaps tomorrow I’ll pick an “oldie” but a goodie that we both know. If my electricity holds out - the wind storm keeps knocking everything out around here.
December 18th, 2005 at 7:21 pm
“characterized by moving shadows …” I love that line. xoxo
December 19th, 2005 at 1:11 pm
Thanks M :)