Do you ever encounter a perfume that the moment you sniff it, in whatever form, on whatever medium, be it skin or paper, you know that it is not going to be for you?
Well, I experienced this with Annick Goutal's Mon Parfum Cheri. I'll be totally upfront and state that I have not given this perfume a fair chance. However, the reason for this is that I can't get past first base - one sniff and I'm gagging. I know this perfume has received some very good reviews, but I cannot tolerate it. Why, you ask? It's difficult to put into words, but I feel as if this perfume is literally choking me, with a powdery, sneeze-inducing haze.
To call Mon Parfum strong is an understatement. To give you some idea, I had a strip of paper sprayed with some and after throwing the paper away about 10 days ago, my suit pocket is still emitting this most awful, choking, cloying smell of Mon Parfum. It just doesn't fade.
The interesting thing for me is that Mon Parfum has notes of heliotrope, violet, plum, patchouli and iris but smells bone dry and very peppery, for want of a better word. Aesthetically I can visualise (or olfactorise?) what this perfume could be, but isn't, for me and I can also understand why others may find it compelling and lovely.
I will end by saying please don't take my word for it, but rather try it for yourself, if you haven't already. It may turn out to be wonderful for you. You may ask why I bothered to write about Mon Parfum at all. I really wanted to convey how strange it still is to me how some perfumes, no matter how good (or not) they are, can almost repulse me, or trigger a viscerally negative response. It is at times like this (and equally when a perfume blows me away) that I truly believe perfume has a magical element to it.
