Most great symphonic pieces are made up of movements usually different in tone and style but when taken together they make up some of the most indelible musical pieces known to man. Rarely would I apply this analogy to a perfumer but it seems like Mathilde Laurent is composing a perfumed symphony as she works her way around the clock in Cartier Les Heures de Parfums. The first movement of this fragrant tour de force was released late in 2009 with five fragrances. XIII La Trezieme Heure was considered to be the best of that original group of five, winning Fragrance Foundation awards among others. As I’ve mentioned before it is tough when there is one standout fragrance when a collection is released as it tends to overwhelm the other members. As 2010 went on and I spent more time wearing the other four fragrances I realized they were much better when they were allowed to not be directly compared. X L‘Heure Folie and VI L’Heure Brillante both went much higher in my estimation when being worn in warmer weather. .
IV L’Heure Fougueuse (The Ardent Hour)
Cartier calls this a “modern chypre”, a term which I’m tiring of because very often it means “we wish we could use oakmoss but we can’t because of IFRA.” I try to ignore this category because it feels more like marketing than fact to me. Except L’Heure Fougueuse actually seems to do what it is advertised to do. It feels like a chypre and it is achieved without using any oakmoss. The early development is bergamot and the woody floral quality of magnolia which is combined with a “horse’s mane note”. It definitely has that light animalic quality you smell when walking around a zoo or barnyard and it is balanced very nicely. For those of you who like the barnyard quality of L’Artisan Dzing! this is much more subtle than that but similar. Mate’ and vetiver combine in the heart and this combination is what creates the chypre feel of L’Heure Fougueuse. Mate’ somehow makes an acceptable understudy to oakmoss and adds a lot of the same qualities oakmoss would add to a true chypre. There are some green facets surrounding these heartnotes but overall it is the mate’ and vetiver that hold the center. The final phase of development starts with musk and it then adds leather. As in the opening these strongly animalic notes are kept very attenuated and soft which makes it all the more memorable because you feel like you have to come to L’Heure Fougueuse instead of it coming to you and those around you.
VII L’Heure Defendue (The Forbidden Hour)
One of my favorite perfumes of 2009 was Liz Zorn’s Soivohle Oudh Lacquer and one of the reasons it was so enchanting to me was the deep rich chocolate accord that she opened that fragrance with. Mme Laurent has created an equally opulent chocolate opening to L’Heure Defendue and it shares many similarities to the opening phases of Oudh Lacquer on my skin. The biggest difference for L’Heure Defendue is patchouli is the note to rise through the chocolate versus the oudh in Oudh Lacquer. The patchouli feels like it is bubbling up through a cauldron of molten cocoa as at first you experience it in bursts and then eventually it rises out of the pot and becomes more prominent. This makes L’Heure Defendue extremely dark and rich. Over a very long time the cocoa and patchouli allow other notes to join the fun. The two most prominent basenotes are sandalwood, in its creamier richer form, and vanilla to add a little needed sweet contrast. The vanilla when it appears reminded me of how far down the dark path the early development of L’Heure Defendue had dragged me and provided the needed beacon for me to find my way back to the light.
VIII L’Heure Diaphane (The Diaphanous Hour)
Camille Pissaro: Bather in the Woods
In the Cartier press materials I was once again confronted with words that feel more marketing than true description; “fresh”, “green”, “fruity”, and “floral”. Doesn’t this sound like 50 bottles you could find on a department store counter? Let me assure you L’Heure Diaphane smells like nothing you’ll find in any department store while managing to live up to all those tired adjectives used to describe it. L’Heure Diapahne is fresh and green as it opens with peony front and center. Peony adds the floral and the fruit comes from lychee. The slightly exotic nature of the lychee is wonderfully orthogonal to the peony and the early phases of L’Heure Diaphane are a joy to experience. Rose deepens the floral nature as L’Heure Diapahne moves along leaving the peony behind but the lychee remains still adding a unique contrast to the rose. The base turns powdery and woody over time and there is a hint of amber along for the final moments, too. In a field as crowded as fresh, fruity, floral fragrances is it is nice to know true artists like Mme Laurent can still show us there is something new to be seen. Even though I’ve been testing this in the colder months I think this is going to be a spectacular summer fragrance and I am looking forward to a clear sunny and warm day to confirm that thought.
All of these L’Heures de Parfums had the same longevity which was quite good and only L’Heure Diaphane had slightly more sillage than the other two; none of the three leave much of a vapor trail.
The Commoners by American Painter Bo Bartlett
Based on reading the other reviews out there it looks like both L’Heure Fougueuse and L’Heure Defendue are gaining most of the early attention and that attention is warranted as both are special examples of a modern chypre and gourmand respectively. I hope everyone who might not think as highly of L’Heure Diaphane wait for a few more months to form a final opinion because I think that is as much a warm-weather fragrance as L’Heure Defendue will be a cold-weather favorite. It all goes to show that there is an hour to wear any of Mme Laurent’s Les Heures de Parfums and I can only wonder at what the next movement in this fragrant symphony will bring.
Disclosure: This review was based on samples purchased from The Perfumed Court.
Picture of Mathilde Laurent by Rob Walbers: robwalbers.com
My review of XIII La Treizieme Heure can be found here.
Art Direction: Michelyn Camen
–Mark Behnke, Managing Editor
For the draw we are offering a special edition of all three fragrances. Please leave a comment to be eligible on which sounds the most appealing to you. Draw ends August 13, 2011.