Marie Saint-Pierre is one of Montreal, Canada’s foremost fashion designers. She is best known for her wedding dresses but her couture collection is also a standout. She enjoys working in bold primary colors and then adding flourishes, like ruffles, to soften the lines. The one thing I have admired about her collections is they all have a consistent flow as they come down the catwalk; strong but still feminine.

 

 

Late in 2010 I saw a press release that Mme Saint-Pierre had released a pair of fragrances which were only available in her Montreal boutiques. While reading the press release I thought they sounded pretty good and looked forward to trying them out sometime. Mme Saint-Pierre has decided to allow her neighbors to the south, and everywhere else, a chance to enjoy her fragrances as B and C are now available in the US.

 

 

It is always an interesting process to see a haute couture design aesthetic rendered as a fragrance. What will the perfumer and designer come up with to represent the fashion in a fragrant way? Working with Evelyn El Koubi from Luxe Alternative to create her first two signature fragrances Mme Saint-Pierre chose to break her strong but feminine aesthetic in half. B is a strong spicy unisex fragrance and C is a floral enticing feminine fragrance. Both together encompass Mme Saint-Pierre’s sense of style quite beautifully.

 

 

Marie Saint-Pierre B starts with a redolent maple syrup note that when I first tried it thought it had to be immortelle but it never softened the way immortelle does when I find it in other fragrances. In B Mme El Koubi has created a sugary viscous accord that is simply maple syrup and it is a nice choice to open the fragrance. Mme El Koubi chooses to add a set of orthogonal notes in cardamom, cinnamon, and most prominently clove to achieve contrast with the sweet. The opening stages of B are my favorite with a spicy sticky sweetness that worked very nicely on my skin. The heart is a duet of rose and violet. The rose picks up the spicy aspects in the top notes and the violet cuts through all of it like a palate cleanser. There is a period where the rose and violet feel more like competitors than partners but it is short and each has its moment at the forefront. The base is a classic mix of sandalwood, vanilla, and musk. There is nothing new here but it is an appropriate closing for B.

Marie Saint-Pierre C feels like Mme El Koubi chose to use as her focal point a white musk of very fine quality because it is present throughout the development of C and it is what she chooses to pair with it that makes C a memorable fragrance. The first partner is orange blossom with a little lemon and bergamot added for depth. The heart brings iris into the picture and it is here where C begins to change character from sparkling ingénue to sultry seductress. The musk and the iris together create a sensual pair which are quite intriguing. The sensuality is enhanced with a soft suede-like leather and clean cedar in the base. The leather is an inspired choice to go with the musk as it adds a softly animalic finish to C.

Both Marie Saint-Pierre fragrances have average longevity and average sillage.

It is always a treat for me to see a partnership of fashion and fragrance which works as well as the one between Mmes Saint-Pierre and El Koubi seemingly has. Based on the evidence in the bottle I am hoping there are further letters in the alphabet for this duo to explore.

Disclosure: This review was based on samples provided by Luckyscent.

Luckyscent has kindly offered a sample set of both Marie Saint-Pierre fragrances. To enter leave a comment on your favorite Canadian Celebrity  (like Michael J Fox ) or your favorite Canadaian 'export' . The draw will close July 3 2011.

–Mark Behnke, Managing Editor