Scentzilla!

As a joint venture with Chanel, Frederic Fekkai launched two fragrances in 1997. The scent in question today, Bouquet de Provence, and Eau de Jour, are both credited to Jacques Polge (via Now Smell This.)

Notes in Bouquet de Provence include:

peach, cassis, lemon, rose, oakmoss, and cypress

I would classify it as a fruity chypre scent.

It opens up with a strong blast of what I am going to call “just got back from the hair salon” note, which leads me to wonder if this fragrance was developed to compliment (rather than clash with) Fekkai’s heavily scented hair products.

I am not sure what’s the deal with the name of the scent… I don’t really think “fruit salad” when I think “Provence,” but then, I am not intimately familiar with the gastronomical habits of the area’s denizens.

However, there sure is a rose in it. But some funky thing happens to me with the other notes. You see, on my skin, they all somehow add up to “banana peel.” If I think about it I can perceive them as peachy and mossy. But really, when I don’t intellectualize it, it’s a rose on a banana peel. It’s unusual, and rather flummoxing. I have no idea if I like it, dislike it, or am “meh” on it. What do I do with a scent with appeal a peel?

Perfume possesses the power to invoke all sorts of emotions, and Bouquet de Provence induces a loopy mood in me. Usually I post images to accompany my words, but today, there can only be one thing to properly convey what I feel when I wear this scent. A song…

It’s been stuck in my head for two days now, and I’m hoping the earworm works like the flu does: once you pass it on to someone else you can finally get better.

I’m posting this today instead of tomorrow because it’s my birthday, and if all goes well, I’ll have an awesome hangover in the morning.

Enjoy the earworm!

Both Fekkai scents are discontiued, but occasionally one can spot them up for grabs on eBay.

Song entitled “Bananaphone,” by Raffi, off his album of the same name. It can be purchased through Djangos and Music Millenium.