Lilas Mauve
Fragrance notes
Character
Lilas Mauve opens with a brisk snap of green notes, like crushing a handful of stems before the lilac proper unfolds. Annick Menardo captures the flower not as a heavy, indolic blanket but as a gauzy, almost translucent veil, slightly sweetened and softened by a whisper of resinous warmth at the base. The effect is a faintly powdery, fresh floral that suggests a single lilac bush at dawn, dew still clinging, before the sun burns it off. That is exactly the problem. The longevity is dismal, barely two hours on skin, and the sillage hovers so close it might as well be a private thought. You get a lovely, natural-feeling bloom for a moment, then nothing but a memory of green sweetness. Who is this for? Someone who wants a delicate, non-intrusive spring daytime scent, perhaps for a breezy office or a quiet walk in the park, and who is happy to reapply. Skip it if you demand presence or endurance, or if you prefer your florals dense and opulent. This is a lilac cameo, not a soliflore performance. It suits the kind of person who enjoys the fleetingness of cherry blossoms, a fragrance that asks to be smelled up close and then lets go. For the price and the artistry behind it, that brief loveliness can be worth the trouble, if you know exactly what you are signing up for.
