Elie Saab Le Parfum is the first perfume to be released by Lebanese fashion designer Elie Saab. It was composed by Francis Kurkdjian (Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male, Narciso Rodriguez For Her and Juliette Has a Gun Lady Vengeance etc) and is billed as a Woody Floral.

Ellie Saab Le Parfum is described as an ‘ode to light’.

From the Press Release:

“Composed as an ode to light, ELIE SAAB Le Parfum celebrates the splendor and the brilliance of radiant femininity with a floral solar woody theme. The permanent exchange between flowers and wood is what gives the fragrance such captivating resonance.”

The Notes

Top: Orange Blossom
Middle: Jasmine (Grandfilorum and Sambac), Sun-Drenched Notes, Patchouli
Base: Cedar Wood, Rose-Honey

How Does it Smell?

Pretty damn good actually! I wasn’t entirely sure about Le Parfum before I tried it, we do see a slew of first time releases from fashion designers and on the whole they aren’t anything to write home about. However, reading that Le Parfum was composed by the great Francis Kurkdjian (yep, in my eyes he is classed as a ‘great’) filled me with some confidence.

The top notes are all about orange blossom and in Le Parfum the orange blossom positively sings. Orange blossom is an unusual note and in some fragrances it can come across as harsh or smelling like kitchen cleaner, but here it is used wonderfully, it is bright, honeyed and slightly indolic. A touch of something slightly peppery and some citrus, perhaps mandarin, lightens the orange blossom enough to stop it becoming too skanky and in this case that’s a good thing, Le Parfum wouldn’t suit a great deal of ‘skank’.

The honey and orange blossom are joined by a big old dose of patchouli and thankfully Kurkdjian decided to avoid the dull, sanitised patchouli used in a lot of other modern fragrances and instead he has gone for a more earthy and textured form of the note. The patchouli adds a lot of depth to the fragrance and gives it a wonderful earthy quality that compliments the lighter nature of the florals.

As the fragrance settles the orange blossom and honey fade, but they never quite disappear. The base is warm, woody and is slightly sharp and sour due to a strong cedar note. Those of you who have read my review of Le Labo’s Rose 31 will know that cedar is far from my favourite note, but in Le Parfum it doesn’t bother me, perhaps because it is kept under control by the patchouli and sweetened by the honeyed florals.

I wouldn’t say Le Parfum is a linear scent, but for the most part it is all about the honeyed orange blossom and the patchouli. Every now and then a dash of green jasmine peeks through the warmth but for the most part it hides in the background.

Le Parfum reminds me of another Kurkdjian composition, Fragile by Jean Paul Gaultier. Both fragrances are very similar in style; a rich floral note with a warm, woody base, but where Fragile used a cold, tuberose note, Le Parfum uses a warm, indolic orange blossom.

This is an exceptionally crafted woody floral, and although it may not be breaking any new ground in terms of being edgy or daring, it does smell wonderful. When sampling for this review I wore Le Parfum for four days in a row, which is incredibly unusual for me, I’m a ‘different scent per day’ kinda guy, but Le Parfum is a fragrance that I could happily wear for a good few days without getting bored.

There seems to be a lot of buzz around the release and I can see it selling really well, it is no great shakes but it is a comfortable well made fragrance that I would highly recommend.

The Bottle

” A Jewel of Glass and Light”

The flacon for Le Parfum is a solid cube of glass cut like a diamond. I love the simplicity of the bottle and as Le Parfum is an ‘ode to light’ it seems fitting that the bottle reflects light beautifully and it fits in really well with the Elie Saab aesthetic.

Availability

Elie Saab Le Parfum is available in 30ml, 50ml and 90ml Eau de Parfum, prices range from £38 – £71.50. Matching body products are also available. Le Parfum is on sale now and can be purchased from most department stores and online retailers such as Escentual.com.

Disclaimer

This review is based on a tester of Elie Saab Le Parfum supplied by Escentual.com

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