Perris Monte Carlo Mimosa Tanneron, photo by Roberto Greco
“…I lead them to Tanneron, on the other side of the moors, on a day of howling wind, and vibrant sun. The passageway runs in the sky amidst an opulent landscape with slopes that fade away under the mimosas. I came home with yellow spots dancing in front of my eyes and a whirlwind of light inside me.” Albert Camus et Maria Casarès, Correspondances, Gallimard 2018
The Uninvited movie poster 1944 (Paramount)
In the wonderful 1944 film, The Uninvited, the haunting smell of mimosa blossoms signals the presence of the story’s ghost. The elusive but unmistakable fragrance of mimosa is perfect for wraiths, its characteristic face powder note suggestive of times past. And, in the right hands, mimosa can be …. otherworldly.
Jean-Claude Ellena photo courtesy of Jean-Claude Ellena
Perris Monte Carlo Mimosa Tanneron, from master perfumer Jean-Claude Ellena, is a watercolour mosaic of fragile florals that seem to float even they while they caress the skin. Named for the center of mimosa growing in France, Mimosa Tanneron is a stunning mimosa perfume: ethereal yet realistic, like fresh-cut mimosa blossoms whose fleeting scent carries and fades with the vagaries of a breeze.
Bouquet de Mimosa Marc Chagall
Mimosa is not usually a scent I am drawn to in fragrance because of the tendency amongst many perfumers to draw out its ladylike powderiness, and I am rather less well-bred in my tastes. But in nature, its fragrance, particularly when the blossoms grow in profusion, is achingly lovely, the smell of a late spring day of such perfection you cannot bear for it to pass into memory. Only lilac can match mimosa for its ephemeral grace. But where lilac’s scent is poignant and made for days of wet pavement and passing clouds, mimosa laughs and darts in and out of the sunlight and shadow of a brilliant Riviera afternoon in spring. In person, mimosa has a complicated fragrance with notes of vanilla, cucumber, rain, candied angelica and green almond, and these facets come out in profusion in Mimosa Tanneron. As the perfume opens, I am struck by how aquatic it initially seems to be. This is not to say that it smells of calone, salt or hedione, but rather, the cucumber facet of mimosa is very present and yet abstract, suggestive of cucumber without exactly bringing it to mind. In this way, the top notes give the impression of being near water.
Clayton J Mitchell Photography© digitalized by Michelyn
A waft of rice powder is certainly there, too, as you would expect. But it is muted, allowing the blossoms to sing in full harmony. Joining the mimosa is the milky-musky sweet smell of hawthorn, a note prominent in Chanel Beige. Here, it adds a full-bodied quality to the mimosa in the middle that gives Mimosa Tanneron a surprising touch of sensuality. Rose, pink, cottony and not fully open, meanders its way into the fragrance. Eventually, its petals open and their scent becomes silky and lush. There is a redolence of hay now, too, the smell of drying grass. Later, white musk pulls the fragrance close to the skin, but, walking back into the room where I first sprayed Mimosa Tanneron, it lingers in the air like an afterglow.
Route du Mimosa, Tanneron, France, stock photo
With each spray, this perfume draws me further and further in, to a place I remember well but have never been. Great perfumes can do that. Here, Jean Claude Ellena has given us a supremely elegant mimosa fragrance that conjures the winding road to Tanneron, where the mimosa fields sweep the roadside and illuminate the air like puffy orbs of sunlight, and their fragrance smell like first love.
Notes: Mimosa absolute, hawthorn, rose, white musk.
Disclaimer: Bottle of Perris Monte Carlo Mimosa Tanneron generously given to me by Perris Monte Carlo. My opinions are my own.
Lauryn Beer, Senior Editor
Perris Monte Carlo Mimosa Tanneron,courtesy of Perris Monte Carlo
Thanks to the generosity of Perris Monte Carlo, we have three carded 2 ml samples of Mimosa Tanneron for one registered reader in the EU, USA and UK. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what appeals to you about Mimosa Tanneron based on Lauryn’s review and whether you have a favourite Perris Monte Carlo perfume. Draw closes August 1, 2020
Available at Jovoy Paris Parfums Rare and other fine stockists; at the time of this post it is not available in the USA but will be arriving soon.
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Perris Monte Carlo Mimosa Tanneron is the fourth in the Grasse collection composed by Jean Claude Ellena which at the time of this writing includes Lavande Romaine, Jasmine de Pays and Rose de Mai
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