Moroccan doorway, stock photo

Imagine every seductive move you’ve ever seen; the courtesan’s sideways glance, the screen siren’s crooked-finger beckon, the ladykiller’s slow, predatory smile. Now, mix in a warm, hazy afternoon, orange blossom and ylang adrift on a lazy breeze, jasmine tumbling over dark doorways that promise adult pleasures later. Add sultry, indolic, animalic and spicy notes that dip and rise in between the syrupy blooms like ripples of heat. The profusion of flowers, fruit and animalics is so heady that simply breathing it gives a sensation of tipsiness. Welcome to Casablanca.

Diane St. Clair of Saint Clair Scents

St Clair Scents Casablanca, the first extrait (at an astonishing 50% concentration) from Vermont perfumer Diane St. Clair, is a gorgeously rich, orange blossom-drenched perfume, a cousin to sloe-eyed vintage beauties such as Caron Narcisse Noir as well as current bad girls in the vein of Papillon Salome. But while Casablanca shares their raunchy DNA, a veneer of masculine spiciness gives her a modern polish. If you set Maitre Parfumeur  Michel Roudnitska’s Malle Noir Epices next to aged sauternes in an orange grove, then amped the result tenfold, you might come close to St. Clair Scents Casablanca.  

Image found at sammlungfotos.online

But before you walk away thinking St. Clair Scents Casablanca is all retro heaviness, the unexpectedly beaming top notes will make you realize how modern this fragrance really is. A pink grapefruit so effervescent that I initially mistook it for aldhehydes bubbles up alongside the unmistakable sauvignon sharpness of blackcurrant to set the scene. The choice of bold, bittersweet fruit notes as a foil to the saturated floral and animalic notes that follow gives Casablanca a brightness all the way to the dry-down that keeps it from falling into retro homage.

Orange Blossom stock photo

All through the opening, the orange blossom is seeping like honey into the fruit notes, until it reaches an apogee of creamy richness. I’ve rarely smelled a denser floral note – it is like being in the middle of a grove of orange blossom in full bloom on a still day. Indolic, fleshy flowers – jasmine, tuberose, ylang surround the orange blossom in a dizzying procession. Even with all those opulent notes, the balance between the sharp fruit and sappy flowers is so finely tuned that it does not overwhelm.

Photo by Annie Leibovitz for Vogue, July 2018©

Civet and musk also come out boldly, bodily, complemented by the leathery tang of labdanum. These notes don’t snarl into skank but bring an arch animalism to the floral heart that reminds me of Rochas Femme extrait. The musk has a furry quality that I’ve never found in a perfume more recent than the 60s, and which emphasizes the vintage aspects of the fragrance. Later still, there is a hint of loamy, green oakmoss to round out the composition.

Kay Francis in The Keyhole (1933)

St. Clair Scents Casablanca has a timelessness that could place it on a boudoir table of the 1930s, in the patent leather clutch of a 50s society bad girl, or the bedside of a present-day perfumista. Its extravagant, compelling beauty could well make it a classic.

Notes: Pink grapefruit, red mandarin, blackcurrant bud absolute, orange blossom absolute, tuberose absolute, jasmine organic extract, ylang ylang, labdanum, oakmoss, vetiver, hyraceum absolute, civet, benzoin, musk.

Disclaimer: sample of St. Clair Scents Casablanca kindly provided by Diane St. Clair. My opinions are my own.

–Lauryn Beer, Senior Editor

Thanks to the generosity of St. Clair Scents, we have a 2 ml sample for one registered reader in the U.S. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what appeals to you about St. Clair Scents Casablanca based on Lauryn’s review and what perfumes transport you to another era or place. Draw ends 12/11/2018.

We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so Like ÇaFleureBon and use our blog feed … or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.