It is somehow human nature to think if there is something out there that you cannot easily get it must be great. When there is a limited edition fragrance exclusive to a store hundreds of miles away, or on another continent, we believe this mysterious elixir to be THE ONE! If only we could find it close to home. If only I could try this I could lie down a happy person. Such is the pull of the seemingly unobtainable.
What happens when that precious perfume does become available, what then? Can you remove all of the anticipatory emotion? Can you objectively approach it and compare it to everything else? To use a very lowbrow example during the 70’s and 80’s Coors beer was mainly available in a few Western states surrounding Colorado. The reason for the limited distribution was mythological. They didn’t pasteurize their beer and it had to be shipped refrigerated and so it could only be found west of the Mississippi River. Coors beer was the golden-hued beer of the gods because I couldn’t get it. When I finally made it out west getting a six-pack of Coors was high on my list. Of course bringing back a six-pack and having it in my East Coast refrigerator was also high on my list. We all thought Coors was awesome…and then in 1987 they opened a Virginia brewery and it was available everywhere and you know what? It wasn’t better than anything else we could buy. It was still good but it wasn’t amazing.
I am reminded of that story because I just got to try Mary Greenwell Plum. Mary Greenwell Plum was an exclusive release to the House of Fraser in the UK. It was released there in October of 2010. It was described as a “contemporary chypre”. It was the first fragrance by “Award winning makeup artist Mary Greenwell”. It was being composed by Francois Robert of Les Parfums de Rosine fame. It was unobtainable and most everyone that encountered it waxed rhapsodically about this is how it is done. Scent mules were dispatched to the House of Fraser and samples were shipped to those left out. Those people raved about it. Then in December of 2011 it became available in the US, and to me. Is it the second coming of chypre for the twenty-first century or is it Coors beer all over again?
The short answer is Mary Greenwell Plum is not a chypre by any way I understand the term. It is in my way of categorizing things a straight-up fruity floral. When it comes to that category it is a very good example of a fruity floral done correctly. As a reviewer I had to let go of some of the, to my mind, overheated praise and judge it based on everything else. With that qualifier Mary Greenwell succeeds as a fruity floral and fails completely as a chypre. Depending on what you are expecting, fruity floral or chypre, will tilt the way you feel about Mary Greenwell Plum.
M Robert chooses a fruit basket worthy of Carmen Miranda’s head to open Mary Greenwell Plum. Of course the titular plum is there and it is the linchpin of the top notes as currant, peach, and lemon set up shop along with the plum. The peach is the most prominent note to go with the plum and together they impart a juicy quality to the early going. The floral bouquet in the heart of Plum is no less overflowing with notes. Tuberose is the central player and mimosa, rose, gardenia, and jasmine support that note. At this point in Plum I was very pleased with the amount of well-thought out balance that was on display as this all-star cast of fruit and floral notes were combining in a very memorable way. If the base was the promised chypre of oakmoss, patchouli, musk, and sandalwood this would be a memorable chypre. Unfortunately the base notes on my skin are only patchouli and sandalwood and it is mostly just sandalwood. If there is oakmoss here it is in very short supply as I never was able to detect it and the musk used is the sheer white musk which, in my opinion, is the wrong choice if you’re going for a chypre fragrance.
Mary Greenwell Plum has outstanding longevity and above average sillage.
I really liked the early going of Mary Greenwell Plum and wished they had never used the words chypre in their description because it created expectations. As it is Mary Greenwell Plum is an excellent fruity floral and if you love those kind of fragrances it is worth seeking out. If you are looking for a modern chypre I would advise against looking for it here.
Disclosure: This review was based on samples purchased from Luckyscent.
We have a 3mL mini of Mary Greenwell Plum to giveaway. To be eligible leave a comment on what is your unobtainable desire, perfume or otherwise. Draw will close on January 31, 2012 and one winner will be chosen via random.org.
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–Mark Behnke, Managing Editor