Caron Pour Une Femme  bottle and Anjelica Huston (Addams Family Values, 1993), photo edit by Nicoleta

 ”Who is your favorite couple, imaginary or real?” My answer in a blink of an eye is Morticia and Gomez (I hear you whispering Nicoleta?! Really? Still haven’t outgrown your teenage goth phase?”).  Yet the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. The dynamic of Morticia and Gomez is still a prime example of an out-of-the-norm blissful yet passionate domestic partnership that I still hold quite close to a cartoonish ideal (and a modern and ahead of its time depiction of a couple, if we think the cartoon series was first published in 1938).

“Morticia : So… you still desire me after all these years? The old ball and chain?

Gomez : Forever!

Morticia : I’ll get them!”

 

Caron Pour Une Femme, photo ad courtesy of Caron Paris©

Ask me to answer, without thinking too much – what my favorite note combo in a perfume is –and in a heartbeat, I will say rose-incense. Judging by today’s standards, Caron pour une Femme is not particularly original, dramatic, or complex, but is my beloved ball and chain/rose- incense scent that I shall forever love (*insert here a dramatic Morticia gesture).

 

Caron Pour Une Femme perfume bottle, photo by Nicoleta

The first edition of Pour une Femme was launched in 1947 (Michel Morsetti), but today we will focus only on the still available re-edition, created by Richard Fraysse in 2001 – a warm ambery orange – floral scent, centered around a timeless rose-incense accord, with a classic chypre mossy dry down.

 

Orange tree decoration source thinlyspread©

Setting: An austere, wood-paneled living room, 12 days* after Christmas. The kids are taking down the Christmas tree, packing up the decorations. The smell of the dry orange ornaments shuffled about fills the air – the joyous tart citrus smell they once had is replaced by a dusty, ambery nostalgic orange specter.  *There is a Christian tradition that marks the Twelfth Night as the end of Christmas and the Eve of the Epiphany (marking the Magi – the Three Kings or Wise Men – visiting baby Jesus in his manger in Bethlehem, with their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh), as the time to take down your Christmas tree and pack away the decorations.

 

 Greenhouse, Willem van Dijke photography©

The amber has honeyed edges, curved along the contours of the crimson bushes of roses that frame the entrance to the greenhouse. There’s a slight metallic aftertaste in the air – as if the many rainfalls that had seeped through the cracks of the skylight brought along microscopic rust particles into the soil, turning the thorns to iron, and making the buds creek when blooming. If you worry that things were to get too gothic and moody-brooding, fear not! the Caron spirit takes over and keeps the whole construction elegant and timeless. The fragrance veers to the gardens, with a mossy vetiver overlay that calls to mind great chypre classics.

 

Caron Pour Une Femme photo ad 2002 and Anjelica Huston, photo edit by Nicoleta

I can’t think of a better scent to start 2021 with – an homage to a timeless rose-incense combination; a bit dark, but with ambery sparkles of light and hope; introspective but not gloomy, comfortable yet put-together, and in perfect tune with the cold January weather.

Notes: Mandarin, Orange blossom, Centifolia rose, Benzoin, Amber, Incense, Vetiver

Disclosure: My bottle, opinions are my own

Nicoleta Tomsa, Editor

Editor’s Note: I have not touched upon Caron Paris’ house name and legacy, as its history was perfectly covered in this article. Also, please read Michelyn’s ode to the closing of the Caron Boutique in New York here.  And I can’t miss the opportunity of mentioning again my undying love for Parfum Sacre (that I have reviewed here) and Aimez Moi (mentioned here).

Caron Pour Une Femme was “recreated” in 2001 and the nose was Richard Fraysse. Bottle Design by Serge Mansau.

You can purchase Caron Pour Une Femme at The Fragrance Vault in the USA

We extend our condolences to the family of Patrick Ales (RIP 2019) and Romain Ales (RIP 2021), father and son, former Presidents of The Ales Groupe who sold Caron in 2018. -Michelyn Camen, Editor in Chief

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