Screw it. Just give me Vivienne Westwood's Libertine. It's the first perfume I've worn for more than three days straight since I started seriously feeding my perfume habit.
With hundreds of choices at my disposal, this is the only scent I've wanted to wear for the past eight days. And I''ll wear it again today, so make that nine days.
In my perfume-wearing book, that is a record well worth noting, and the reason I'm writing about Libertine today.
Considering the fact that I gave away my first bottle of Libertine several years ago (I thought it smelled like rotten fruit on my skin), I find it amusing that I now like it so much.
Can't help it. It just smells good. Really, really good. It's like the last bowl of porridge Goldilocks tries: just right. Not too sweet, not too fruity, not too sour, not too loud. And it's sexy in that understated way that makes me feel confident. Don't have to shout it. Just know it.
I have tons of fruity chypres in my scent wardrobe, but Libertine doesn't remind me so much of them as the fantastic dry down of Miller Harris L'Air de Rien. I admit I can't wear L'Air de Rien because it actually (not literally, actually) smells like cows pooped on my skin, but about 14 hours in, L'Air does change into an amazingly earthy and sexy aroma. Libertine cuts out all the barnyard poopy smells that L'Air de Rien revels in and gets right to the sexy, earthy part. Bless its licentious little soul.
And I don't know how they did it, but with Libertine they managed to take three notes I often have trouble wearing and make them work on me: grapefruit; muguet; and honeysuckle. They muted the sour, screechy, and sickly sweet qualities of those notes and got them to behave beautifully. I can just see them sipping tea with their pinkies out.
Maybe it's the effect of the viburnum, a favorite flower of Westwood's. I'd like to smell viburnum solo to find out. I do detect a hint of her Boudoir playing hide and seek in Libertine, so perhaps it is the viburnum I find so appealing, since it plays a role in both scents.
Could Libertine be a signature scent for me? Definitely. I wouldn't mind it at all if people associated me with this aroma. In fact, I'd like it a lot. It's that good. And I like that it surprised me after several years. I didn't go looking for it, it found me.
Libertine is also a scent that can take me from drinks and a traveling Broadway show to barbeque at the Rodeo. (As it did just last week.) It's sophisticated and intriguing yet earthy and real.
Why they decided to discontinue Libertine is and always will be a mystery to me. Good news is you can still find it online. I suggest you grab some while you still can.
Libertine's notes include: pineapple; grapefruit; bergamot; muguet; honeysuckle; viburnum; oak moss; patchouli; musk.
Ack Ack Ack! I tried this fragrance based on your review and it is truly the worst thing I've ever worn. It starts out smelling like a department store or one of those stinky magazine ads that you have to rip out and toss in the outside trash before you gag. After the first shock to my system it smelled like gasoline mixed with the eye-watering stink of the candle and potpourri aisle at Target. I desperately wanted to wash it off, especially because I was losing my appetite for dinner (thankfully I was home, alone), but I wanted to wait it out in case something better happened. It didn't. The next stage was the stench of onion rings and funnel cakes cooked in rancid oil. While it did bring back memories of the Grange Fair it wasn't quite what I had in mind.
I guess it only proves that chaq'une a son gout.
Posted by: Martha Bright | December 21, 2009 at 08:22 PM
ha. well, i have to admit, it wasn't love at first sniff for me with this one, either. i actually gave away my first bottle of it to someone at work. traded it for dolce and gabbana red cap.
at that time i didn't get the pineapple and grapefruit thing at all. smelled like rotten fruit to me. now i totally love this scent, and guys love it on me. what a turnaround.
so, i would recommend you put it away for a year or two, keep sniffing as many challenging aromas as you can, and then come back to it. it's not an easy scent. but it's well worth the trouble.
Posted by: scentsignals | December 21, 2009 at 11:31 PM