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That wonderful butteriness is amped up creamy sandalwood and tolu balsam in the base. What starts out as a diva tuberose entering the party, ends with a silky caress of soft balms and woods that show a softer side and suggest that the diva is more vulnerable than you first thought. Even if you love heady florals, it may be best if you first try a sample, ideally for the vintage version. That Fracas is…. well, if you love it, words simply can’t do it justice. And, if you hate it, words can’t seem to convey the full depth of the fear or revulsion. Either way, one thing is undeniable: it is a legend which set the standard for all white florals which followed. I’m not saying Fracas is easy to wear. It's so glamorous, so ravishing, and has so much presence that there are certain situations when it feels too much; at an intimate dinner, for instance, it might make feel like a pushy uninvited guest. But in a crowd, it’s devastating: Just watch people’s noses twitch and their eyes glaze over dreamily as they try to sniff out the source of that bewitching sillage. Fracas is the big tuberose reference of perfumery, and tuberose is the most carnal of the floral notes. It smells like very, very hot flesh after you’ve had sex — that’s the bottom line. It’s very much in fashion just now, but current fragrances don’t use such an incredible concentration of it. While they may nod towards something carnal, Fracas is carnal all the way. [ via The Independent, 12/14/2002.] [Emphasis added.] I’m hesitant to give one of my usually detailed, hour-by-hour breakdowns for Fracas. Some masterpieces can’t be dissected. And, in all honesty, I couldn’t even hope to sum up its key elements as well as that quote by Chandler Burr just did. But there is also something else: Fracas is such a magnificently blended perfume that the notes often merge together in perfect unity to create a strong, buttery, indolic, narcotically heady “sum total.” It is a symphony of buttery, creamy white, even though there are things that cut through the richness, like the green vetiver and the airy, spring-like, green lily-of-the-valley and hyacinth.
tuberose perfume by Germaine Cellier for Robert Piguet A fragrance vlogger holds up a bottle of Fracas in 2017 What’s worse is that I have a confession to make, one that I am deeply ashamed of. Up until a week ago I didn’t actually own a bottle of Fracas. I know, it’s disgusting isn’t it? A tuberose nut like me not owning a bottle of THE most classic tuberose fragrance of all time. I hope that you will able to forgive me.
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Both Queens have stood the test of time and sit on their thrones, basking in the glory of being the absolute best. Do you know if they have again reformulated Fracas? Will I never wear this intoxicating fragrance again? It’s very sad. In the New York Times article, Chandler Burr explains that tuberose “is notorious among perfumers for being a difficult raw material to master” and that perhaps only Cellier could have managed to create a scent like Fracas. Or, perhaps, she and tuberose’s tempestuous, animalic nature were simply a match made in heaven: bottles of Amarige? Oh my! I really hope you love it. I’m a bit confused as to what you meant when you said, “I just read what is the difference between the fragrances?” Did you mean that you did read about the difference or are you asking me? Never before has there been a more apt name for a fragrance. The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘Fracas’ as; “a noisy disturbance or quarrel” [2] and that pretty much sums up this fragrance to a T. Fracas is an assault on the senses, she charges into the room, announcing her arrival, ensuring that all eyes are on her and letting everyone know that she is the centre of attention. No-one else is worth watching.
Fragrance notes] top notes: bergamot, mandarin, hyacinth, green notes; middle notes: tuberose, jasmine, orange blossom, lily of the valley, iris, rose, violet, coriander, osmanthus, geranium; base notes: oakmoss, vetiver, iris root, sandalwood, cedar, musk, tolu balsam, amber, benzoin. bergamot, orange blossom, greens, peach, tuberose, jasmine, violet, iris, lily of the valley, carnation, sandalwood, musk, oakmoss, and cedar. Cellier, then one of the only women working as a "nose" in formal perfumery, dedicated it to actress Edwige Feuillère, who had been the object of scandal when she appeared nude in the 1935 film Lucrezia Borgia. [1] Fragrance notes [ edit ]I should probably put some sort of comment to that effect in my post, but it’s a well-known, sad, basic truth is that every classic fragrance that is still on the market has been reformulated. Either it’s because of cost-saving measures, either it’s due to IFRA/EU ingredient restrictions, or it’s because of some combination of both. And very, VERY few companies will ever admit it. A handful do, usually mentioning reformulation generically as an issue resulting from ever more stringent EU restrictions/regulations, but even they don’t mention which specific fragrances have been changed. (You might want to read some of my posts on the EU/IFRA situation to learn more about the way the industry has been handling this or about the specific issues involved.) Fracas, released in 1948, was the third perfume to be released by French Couturier Robert Piguet. Like the two fragrances to proceed it, Bandit and Visa, it was created by Germaine Cellier and is considered by many to be the reference tuberose fragrance, the one that all others attempt to be in someway or another. But none, I repeat none can ever live up to Fracas – the diva of the tuberose world. Since inception, it has been reformulated and as of 2008 perfumer Aurélien Guichard was responsible for the newer versions. [2] Reception [ edit ]
In my defence, I have owned a small bottle of the Parfum but it got on my nerves because I am not a huge fan of the dabbing…. But you’ll be glad to know that I have seen the error of my ways and there is now a brand new bottle of Fracas taking pride of place on the perfume shelf at The Candy Perfume Towers. In the history of perfume, there are a few that rise, like the most effervescent of top notes, to a higher plane than any others. These are the textbook masterpieces, fragrances that are inarguably the best of their kind; timeless scents that have spawned countless copies and even more homages. Dior’s deathless Diorissimo, cited by every perfume expert on the planet as the sine qua non lily-of-the-valley fragrance, is one of them. Robert Piguet’s Fracas, the ultimate tour-de-force tuberose, is another. The fragrance is known as a tuberose powerhouse, but other ingredients amplify the effect. Reviewing the fragrance for The New York Times, Chandler Burr detailed its notes:
That creation “in dissonance” is one reason why Fracas horrified and bewitched people in equal measure. Another is that tuberose — and Fracas in particular — evokes carnal sex. The famous perfumer, Roja Dove, said bluntly: Heart notes: Tuberose, Jasmine, Orange Blossom, Lily of the Valley, White Iris, Violet, Jonquil, Carnation, Coriander, Peach, Osmanthus, Pink Geranium Cellier infamously dedicated Fracas ~a voluptuous tuberose scent conceived for ‘femmes’~ to the beautiful Edwige Feuillère, while she promised the butcher Bandit to the ‘dykes’. For all its glory, I would be the very first to say that you should never buy Fracas blind unless you are sure from ahead of time that you love powerful, heady white floral or tuberose scents. Never. One reason is the powerful projection and longevity of Fracas, which really cannot be emphasized enough. Read the comments on Fragrantica; they are uniform. When someone wrote that Fracas lasted through two showers, I believed it fully. When others write that it can induce searing migraines in even small doses to anyone sensitive to perfumes, I believe them too.
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