There are a couple of things that make the oenophile in me laugh, a lot. One of them is the insistence of going through the ceremony of uncorking a wine and offering a taste to whomever picked the wine before serving everyone else. I have opened hundreds of, maybe even a thousand, bottles in my lifetime and never encountered a spoiled wine. The whole ceremony is pompous and unnecessary because of the solemnity that is brought to the whole process. When I tell a server to skip the ceremony and just pour I’ve begun to get a knowing smile from the server letting me know they get the joke, too. The other thing that people do is ask a server to pull the cork and let the wine breathe a bit before pouring. Now if they would realize that the only part of the wine that is “breathing” is the very narrow surface in the neck they could let that wine stand there for a day and it wouldn’t breathe enough to make any significant change. To truly have a wine breathe you need to pour it into a decanter letting the whole bottle exchange with the air through that exchange. That can have a significant effect on a wine allowing subtle flavors to come to the fore and damping down some of the harsher tannins that can mask some of the nuances of a particular wine.
This idea of a sensual liquid breathing came to mind when I tried the brand new 2012 Eau de Parfum versions of the two previous Ellie D Perfume releases Ellie, in 2007, and Ellie Nuit a year later. Michel Roudnitska was the perfumer behind the original extraits and he is again composing the EDP versions. Ellie D is founder Jessica Dunne’s grandmother for whom the fragrances are named after. Ms. Dunne wanted fragrances that captured that easy femininity that the contemporaries of her grandmother possessed. The original versions of both of these fragrances captured that sophisticated sense of style. Ellie was an amazing white floral that is a great scent for the warmer months of the year. Ellie Nuit, despite the name, was a green formal fragrance. I can’t imagine a woman wearing this with jeans, more like a silk sheath, opera gloves, drop earrings, and a strand of pearls. This was a grand fragrance for someone attending a gala. What M Roudnitska does with these new EDP versions is to let them expand and allows what were nothing more than supporting notes in the extrait some time to shine in the EDP. This allows both of the EDP’s to carry a more casual sophistication perfect for someone in designer jeans, Manolos, and a t-shirt with a witty saying.
Ellie EDP has the same citrus opening but this time it feels more sun dappled. The same grouping of flowers holds the heart; lily of the valley, rose, jasmine, and gardenia. In the original the rose did not seem as present as it is in the EDP. All four of the notes listed hold an equal place in the middle part of the development of the EDP. In the extrait, one of the most fun aspects was the vanilla leavened coconut accord which is also present here in the EDP. This time it is just a quick intermezzo on the way to the vetiver and sandalwood in the base and where the sandalwood dominated the ending in the extrait; in the EDP the vetiver is much more pronounced.
Ellie Nuit EDP is, like the extrait version, a green fragrance but this is a breezy green fragrance which I think would be easy to wear for those who don’t like too much green. In the extrait, violet dominates the opening. In the EDP, currant and fig step up and smooth some of violet’s sharper edges while also adding some needed lightness. A fully fleshed out rose is in the heart and there is a bit of light wood around to support it but this is a rose middle. The base is very similar to the extrait as sandalwood, oak moss, and musk creates the same sense of elegance but in the EDP it seems less intense and a bit more approachable.
Both EDP’s have outstanding longevity and above average sillage. If you like the extraits because they were close wearing the EDP’s are much more extroverted.
In the Faith Hill video “Breathe” she stands on a sun-baked plain in a white silk dress while she sings the chorus. That elegance in a wide open setting is a fitting analogy for both of these EDP’s and if you liked the extrait versions I think you will really like these versions as they “Just Breathe”.
Disclosure: This review was based on preview samples provided by Ellie D Perfume.
Thanks to the folks at Ellie D Perfume we have a 7.5 mL rollerball sample of both of the Eau de Parfums to give away to two lucky readers. To be eligible leave a comment naming which one of these you feel you will like the most. Draw ends on January 10, 2012.
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–Mark Behnke, Managing Editor
-Art Direction, Michelyn Camen, EIC