Parfums de Nicolai Angelys Pear (Photo/Digital Collage & Effects: Despina Veneti)©
I’ve always found pear, with its distinctive, delicate fruitiness, to be one of the most interesting, versatile fruit notes in perfumery. For years (with notable exceptions like Annick Goutal Petite Chérie, released in 1998), it seemed to have been underused, if not neglected; however, in the last decade or so, pear has been increasingly declaring its dynamic presence as main note in many designer fragrances (Hermès Un Jardin Sur Le Toit, Marc Jacobs Pear, Dior J’Adore, Jimmy Choo For Women, Louis Vuitton Cœur Battant, JPG Ultra Malle, La Belle and Scandal à Paris), but also in several niche ones (Jo Malone English Pear & Freesia, Miller Harris Poirier d’un Soir, DSH Perfumes d’Anjou, Miller et Bertaux Bois de Guaiac et Poire, MDCI La Belle Hélène, Slumberhouse Pear + Olive). A great personal favorite among pear-based fragrances has been no other than the 2012-released Parfums de Nicolaï Musc Intense, which combined the fruit note with a sensational floral bouquet. Eight years later, Patricia de Nicolaï revisits pear in her latest creation Angelys Pear, an utterly charming, effortlessly elegant composition, named after a French winter variety of the fruit cultivated in the Loire Valley.
Still life with roses and fruit by Henri Fantin-Latour, 1863 (N.Y. Metropolitan Museum of Art)©
Although Parfums de Nicolai Angelys Pear is itself an airy, flirty, easy-going fruity/floral, it is nonetheless strikingly different than Musc Intense, including its treatment of the pear note. While Musc Intense features a liqueur-like pear opening that leads to a feminine-leaning floral heart (rose, jasmine, carnation, violets), and a sensual ambery/musky base, Angelys Pear features an astonishingly realistic pear – green, fresh and juicy – which, laced with flowers, inhabits the fragrance’s heart, with the added sophistication of a chypre-like base.
Patricia de Nicolaï at her lab (Photo: Despina Veneti)©
Kindly meeting me at her lab/office at the Nicolaï Boutique on 28 rue de Richelieu in Paris, Patricia de Nicolaï shared with me her insights on the creation of the fragrance. With a remarkable career of more than thirty years as an independent creator, the renowned perfumer still expects – and welcomes – challenges with every new fragrance she composes; the main challenge Madame faced while working on Angelys Pear, was achieving a harmonious balance between intensity, diffusion and delicacy. Smelling together some of the ingredients of Angelys Pear was a proper testimony to the perfumer’s skill and art, especially in the case of the pear base: the ingredient itself was of dense texture and sweet, boozy character, which made even more impressive how Madame de Nicolaï succeeded in giving it the juiciness and freshness of the actual fruit.
Rose and Pear by René Magritte, 1969©
Parfums de Nicolai Angelys Pear opens citrusy and green, with a revitalising combination of effervescent lemon, bright bergamot, tangy cassis and an assertive note of freshly cut grass, which ideally announce the pear. The latter fully blooms on my skin within the first ten minutes, and its aromatic effect is that of having just taken a bite at a sun-ripened, dewy, most delectable fruit. This beautiful fruity accord is tenderly cuddled by a subtle, yet tenacious, floral heart of jasmine and rose, with the latter enhancing the pear’s own rosiness and pomaceousness (just like roses and apples, pears also belong to the Rosaceae family). The chypre-like base acts like a catalyst to the composition, providing depth and earthiness that somewhat restrain the floralcy, while boosting the fragrance’s gender-neutral character. In view of further upcoming restrictions on natural oakmoss (even the low-atranol version seems to be becoming an increasingly limited option for perfumers that have to abide by the IFRA rules), Madame de Nicolaï has done a remarkable job constructing an oakmoss accord based mainly on patchouli, labdanum, lentisque and seaweed absolute – an oakmoss facsimile that enables chypre-lovers, like myself, to feel a bit more hopeful about the future of our beloved fragrance genre.
With Parfums de Nicolai Angelys Pear, Patricia de Nicolaï proposes an immensely joyful, exemplary take on fresh pear, where the fruit stars and shines in all its cool, crisp, delicious glory. Wearing this refined, suave (yet widely accessible) fragrance, it feels like spring will be a little early this year.
Notes: Bergamot, Lemon, Cut Grass, Blackcurrant; Pear, Jasmine, Rose; Patchouli, Oakmoss, Musk.
Disclaimer: This review was based on a 30ml pre-release bottle provided by Nicolaï Parfumeur-Créateur – my thanks. The opinions are my own.
– Despina Veneti, Senior Editor
Parfums de Nicolaï Angelys Pear (Photo/Digital Effects: Despina Veneti)©
Thanks to the generosity of Parfums de Nicolaï, we have a draw for a 30ml bottle of Parfums de Nicolaï Angelys Pear for one registered reader WORLDWIDE. You must register here or your comment will not count. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what you enjoyed most about Despina’s review, if you have a favorite Parfums de Nicolaï fragrance, and where you live. Draw closes 2/5/2020
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