Saturday, November 28, 2009

Le FEU D'Issey


Just a short post today- I'm wearing Le Feu D'Issey after wearing Aimez-Moi for Thanksgiving and most of Black Friday. The anise and rose notes shared by both bridges the two scents beautifully. But the thing that drew me to this 1998 Issey Miyake release was the bottle. A solid Lucite globe of reddish orange, it reminds me of a Christmas tree ornament. The firey orb also reminds me of the sun setting over the Pacific ocean on a cool fall evening. But despite the sun metaphor, Le Feu resonates cold to me- it's a frosty solar scent, if that makes sense. The heart of Le Feu is Bulgarian Rose and fresh Coriander, which creates a "modern contrast of energy and sensuality." Le Feu is an easy wearing, casual perfume, although it has a quirky, almost medicinal opening which fades quickly to reveal woody rose facets, smoothed over with a subtle milky-salty caramel note. Although it was created in 1998 and has been discontinued, Le Feu is incredibly well blended and perfectly balanced. It is one of the few perfumes I would describe as futuristic (even today, it remains so). Jacques Cavallier created Le Feu and he has authored a number of other perfumes that I've owned and admired including YSL's Cinema and Nu, Jean Paul Galtier's Women, Alexander McQueen's Kingdom, Stella by Stella McCartney, and Givenchy's Hot Couture. Unfortunately for those who haven't smelt it, Le Feu is something of a cult scent, and it commands ridiculously inflated prices on EBay. Sadly I haven't been able to find a substitute but Clarins' Eau Dynamisante may come close (I don't have any on hand to compare to it directly). So, what rare vintage, discontinued or throw-back scents have you been wearing this holiday?


The Vintage Perfume Vault, where the scent of yesterday's vogue lives.

2 comments:

Perfumella said...

I'm wearing some Violet Mist by Tuvaché - very violetty and gorgeous (but not much tenacity).

Talking about Le Feu, I've always thought smelling it was like watching a train wreck - repulsive, but at the same time, compelling.

When I wear it, I feel I should be sitting on the Left Bank in a black beret, smoking a Gauloise in a holder and mumbling "Hoh hoh heh hoh".....

Amelia said...

I love wearing violet scents for fall... but I've never figured out why I crave them as it grows cooler. I'm also compelled by certain scents that have something repulsive running through them- Charles Jourdan's eponymous EDP is like that for me.