When I went to my first classical music concert it was Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee which introduced me to the joys of symphonic music. It had all the things necessary to provide a gateway into a much richer world. It was short, the melody was simple but memorable, and the energy of the string section madly sawing away with their bows was infectious. I walked around for days humming it and asked about going back to see another. When we did return it was to see Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony which was much longer but Flight of the Bumblebee had, pardon the pun, put the bug in my ear and I was off to a lifetime of pleasure.

I was reminded of the pleasure of a gateway which leads into deeper artistic pleasures upon trying the new Providence Perfume Co. Jonathan Joseph Peters Mousseline Peche by perfumer Charna Ethier. Ms. Ethier is one of our most talented natural perfumers and left to her own inspiration she composes beautifully complex natural perfumes but they might not be the best place for a fledgling perfumista to start. When I visited Ms. Ethier in her new shop in the Fox Point section of Providence, RI she handed me Mousseline Peche and immediately started apologizing to me about how simple it was and how I wasn’t going to like it. Fashion designer Jonathan Joseph Peters, who is a longtime friend, asked Ms. Ethier to make a fragrance which captured peach colored mousseline fabric. He requested it to be simple and Ms. Ethier respected Mr. Peters’ wishes making Mousseline Peche exactly what was requested, and then it is something more.

Peach Mousseline Fabric

Mousseline is described as “a fine, semi-opaque, crisp fabric”. I would say Mousseline Peche could be described similarly as a fine, semi-opaque peach fragrance framed with crisp citrus and vetiver. It has an incredible lightness of being and never feels challenging or intrusive. I wore this over two extremely hot days and I realized this had the proper heft to be a perfect beach fragrance. It has a sun-kissed quality that just makes you smile.

Charna Ethier

Mousseline Peche has an opening of grapefruit and yuzu over a foundation of rosewood. Ms. Ethier’s choice of rosewood is especially inspired as it creates a bit of woody structure to hang the citrus off of. The peach accord is a lactone-a-palooza as there is a creamy, ripe to bursting, quality of this heart. Ylang ylang provides the support but the peach is the star here. The base is a sharply delineated vetiver softened with a bit of tonka and the cotton candy quality that maltol (extracted from natural sources) adds.

Mousseline Peche has about six hour longevity on me and average sillage which is good for an EDT concentration.

As I wore Mousseline Peche there was never a moment that it didn’t feel like a Providence Perfume Co. fragrance. I also had to laugh after wearing it at Ms. Ethier’s warning that I wouldn’t like it. It performs much in the same way that Flight of the Bumblebee did for me so many years ago. It reminded me of the exquisite beauty of simple pleasures and perfumed paths yet to explore.

Disclosure: This review was based on a sample provided by Providence Perfume Co.

–Mark Behnke, Managing Editor