Perfume Review: Ensoleille Moi by Parfums Andre Gas
January 10th, 2007
A few weeks ago I woke up, and said to my husband that I felt like I didn’t do enough to deal with “winter dandrums”. “Doldrums, dear”, he corrected me, as we both cracked up laughing. Whichever it is, about this time in winter you realize it’s actually barely started, even though it seems like we’ve had enough of this cold (although, I can’t complain this year). This is also the time when a tropical vacation isn’t just a nice thought any more, and you start craving the sunshine. If real sunshine isn’t an option, you look for it in perfume, naturally. Ensoleille Moi, the new perfume by Andre Gas, a famous French jewelry maker, promises just that - “liquid sunshine” and the scent of the tropics.
“Sunbathe me” it demands, with the notes of tiare, bergamot, ylang-ylang, coconut, vanilla, white musk, and sunbathe you it does. You find yourself lying in the scorching sun, by the water, with heavy-duty coconut-vanilla sunblock all over you. Everything is right with the world again, except it’s way more sun than you can handle, way more water than you need, and the smell of the sunblock is simply overbearing. This goes on for hours, and there’s no escape. Theoretically, I should have loved Ensoleille Moi but I cannot help but scream, “Tone it down!” as I flee the imaginary beach. After all, the scent is created by Mathilde Laurent, the nose of Guerlain’s magnificent Guet-Apens and crafty Guerlain No 68. Alas, it’s simply too much, and I’d rather save the dollars and go to the tanning booth instead.
Ensoleille Moi is available at Beautyhabit. For more information, please check Andre Gas Parfums.
Image source: www.vogue.fr
Entry Filed under: New Perfumes, Perfume Reviews
22 Comments Add your own
1. Marina | January 10th, 2007 at 11:05 pm
I make mistakes like dandrums-doldrums too…it makes me feel INTERIOR.
:-DDDDDD
The scent sounds vile, ugh. Thank you for bravely sampling it so we don;t have to.
2. Ina | January 10th, 2007 at 11:24 pm
Marina, you naughty girl! Now I have to tell the interior story? Tsk, tsk.
3. Leopoldo | January 11th, 2007 at 3:58 am
I like interior, almost as much as dandrums, which made me think of misery that makes your head itchy…
As for this scent, only imagining it give me a serious bout of dandrums and a severe aspergic reaction.
4. March | January 11th, 2007 at 7:33 am
You used the right word — January is dandrum month at our house. It’s a combination of dry scalp (due to parched indoor air) and general crankiness that leads to mild swearing. I’m thinking this fragrance wouldn’t cure it, though. Just reading your review made me want to run and hide.
5. newproducts | January 11th, 2007 at 7:59 am
“winter dandrums”!! That’s so cute!
I have a friend from France who thought the saying was “nip it in the BUTT” (as opposed to “nip it in the BUD”). Anyway, your vocabulary snaffu brought a little sunshine to my morning. It sounds like Ensoleille Moi is a dud though.
6. Elle | January 11th, 2007 at 8:09 am
I love “dandrums” - definitely plan on using it. But it almost sounds too cheerful for the despair I feel if the temperature drops below 50′. I’m as miserable w/ 48′ as I am w/ 10 below.
I do tend to reach for summery perfumes in winter as part of a magical thinking thing, but Ensoleille Moi sounds nightmarish.
7. March | January 11th, 2007 at 8:17 am
Let’s nip those fruity-florals in the butt. They’re interior products.
Off to apply something gloomy. I’m thinking Messe layered with Armani Prive Encens. There, does that sound sufficiently grim?
8. sariah | January 11th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
Hi Ina - is Guerlain No. 68 the same fragrance as Attrape Couer and Guet Apens? (haven’t smelled 68, but I thought I read that somewhere). Though you do not make this sound very appealing, I’m a huge Mathilde Laurant fan (love Shalimar Light and Guet Apens, Pamplalune is pretty great too) so will have to get a sample.
9. violetnoir | January 11th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
Dandrums, ha, ha! I love it!
Was this really that overpowering, Ina? It sounds great for warm weather, but I really do not want a fragrance smothering me.
Hugs!
10. tmp00 | January 11th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
It doesn’t sound like I’d care for this one at all. I don’t do the beach and really don’t like direct sunlight (which begs the question why I live in LA… I hate slush and freezing rain more: what a hothouse flower!).
My idea of a scent to take away my winter dandrums is Ambre Sultan…
An aquaintance of mine from Argentina got into the whole “Clueless” thing but never got the lingo right: he said “artever” instead of “whatever”. My friends and I have been saying it ever since.
11. Ina | January 11th, 2007 at 4:26 pm
Leo and all, “thanks” to Marina, now I have to tell the interior story. One time my husband and I were visiting our friends, and I said some English word/expression wrong, so on our way back, in the car, my husband lovingly expressed how he loved his immigrant wife which in turn annoyed me, and I blurted out, “Don’t call me immigrant! It makes me feel interior!” Needless to say, I completely failed to prove my point.
12. Ina | January 11th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
March, we have that “dandrum” problem, too. Once in a while.
13. Ina | January 11th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Newproducts, turns out this comment discussion is better sunshine than the fragrance!
LOL at what your friend said! Hilarious.
14. Ina | January 11th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Elle, I forgot to add my next sentence was how we needed a sauna around here…
15. Ina | January 11th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
March, LOL! But I must try that combo now! Wow! Killer incense.
16. Ina | January 11th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
Sariah, I reviewed No 68, and, no, it’s not the same fragrance. I quite like it, though! Ensoleille Moi could work better if it wasn’t so forceful.
17. Ina | January 11th, 2007 at 4:30 pm
Robin, precisely that - smothering. Too bad!
18. Ina | January 11th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Tom, LOL at “artever”! I know a girl who always says, “I’m so dork!” instead of “I’m such a dork!”, so my husband and I have totally adopted the phrase.
19. chaya ruchama | January 11th, 2007 at 7:47 pm
Inushka, my dearest-
Ensoleille someone else, I fear.
NOT a beach girl, me.
A propos, do you feel like Mahora?
[I’ll spritz some out, I’ve the EDP]
That’ll put the tropics in your step !
Sariah- I agree w/ Ina on #68.
It is a woody floriental, but different, subtly.
March- I think you need to add a LOT of Heeley’s Cardinal to that mix, to get a gooood gloom goin’…
20. Gaia, the non-blonde | January 11th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
As much as I wanted, none of the beach-smelling scents has worked for me so far. From Fire Island to that Azuree oil- it’s just not me. This one would probably be more of the same.
21. Ina | January 11th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
Chaya, I haven’t sniffed Mahora for a couple years now. Wonder how it’ll appeal to me now.
22. Ina | January 11th, 2007 at 10:08 pm
Gaia, beach scents usually don’t do it for me either, except perhaps Monyette Paris.
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed