Unlisted Brand • Niki de Saint Phalle • Fragrances

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CobraRose on 7/17/2012 10:43:00 PM more reviews by CobraRose

Age: 56 & Over   Skin: Very Oily, Fair-Medium, Neutral   Hair: Brown, Straight, Medium   Eyes: Hazel    

Reminds me of my garden at the end of the season, when the only thing left blooming is marigolds and chrysanthemums with their dry, pungent scent. Very evocative, but not something I personally want to smell like.

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SniffingAround on 12/19/2010 10:34:00 PM more reviews by SniffingAround

Age: 44-55   Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Hazel    

I picked up a vintage bottle of this online quite cheaply and am delighted! The bottle I have is circa mid-1980s, and it's the EDT. It's a very distinctive green chypre--sharp and takes some getting used to, but it's so fresh and, hmm, confident I think is the word I'm looking for: it just says "Hey world, I know what I like." It sparkles. It's not the kind of fragrance that is actively trying to seduce someone else (though I like those too!)--more like the kind that seduces because you want to be with someone who just exudes that kind of fresh, damn the torpedoes confidence.

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*TOP REVIEWER* fragranceisall on 10/1/2010 9:09:00 PM more reviews by fragranceisall

Age: 56 & Over   Skin: Dry, Fair-Medium   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Green    

The saying, "Never judge a book by it's cover" - not true. I saw the ad in the morning Sunday "New York Times", 1982. By afternoon I had a bottle in my possession. The photo of the parfum bottle is what did it; I had to know what this fragrance was like and yes, the juice matched the beautifully distinctive bottle. After going through 2 bottles, body creme, dusting powder, the scent became unavailable -- until now. I discovered it on the net and have ordered a bottle of the edt (the parfum is out of reach -- for now) and can't wait for delivery and first application. I wonder if I'll be as entranced as the first time.....
UPDATE: Yes, I am, totally! I'm in love again! Next on the agenda is a 1/2 oz. bottle of parfum

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*TOP REVIEWER* LittleGnome on 8/18/2010 12:42:00 AM more reviews by LittleGnome

Age: 36-43   Skin: Oily, Olive, Warm   Hair: Blond, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Hazel    

This fragrance took its time to grown on me; especially since when I first tried it, I was in a more 'gourmand' state of mind. Now, during this summer especially, I am enjoying chypres of all kinds (in light amounts) and this is a wonderful, herbaceous/green chypre with a nice, resinous and leathery base. The floral notes are also a bit hypnotic (especially the orris-jasmine-ylang- heady); and, although not listed in all note dictionaries, I believe there is also marigold (tagetes) in the "green notes". Formulated in 1982, and with gorgeous cobalt blue packaging with famous mosaic twin snake motif, notes to the tenuous juice are:
Top notes: artemisia, mint, green notes, peach and bergamot;
middle notes: carnation, patchouli, orris root, jasmine, ylang-ylang, cedar, rose;
base notes: leather, sandalwood, amber, musk, oakmoss.
It's a beautiful, a bit off beat, creative green chypre that dries down more beautifully and becomes more wearable with time, as do most great chypres with the right chemistry.

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sharviss on 9/21/2009 1:12:00 AM more reviews by sharviss

Age: 30-35   Skin: Sensitive, Fair, Cool   Hair: Red, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Blue    

A gorgeous green chypre. This doesn't smell anything like what you'd normally find in a department store - mainly because it doesn't smell like it's trying to be sexy. To me it's a cool, elegant scent. A scent that is worn by people who aren't that interested in what others think of them. I only wish I were that kind of person!

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*TOP REVIEWER* essija on 10/28/2008 9:13:00 PM more reviews by essija

Age: 30-35   Skin: Dry, Fair-Medium   Hair: Red   Eyes: Blue    

Very different, I like the way this smells on me. It reminds me of Christmas time and I think I will like this the more I wear it. I just got a bottle so I will update soon. I really get a lot of the pine...Update: There is something in this that does give me a headache and it's very potent. I don't find I wear or reach for this too often, I do like it, piney, green and has a grown up touch, just not really my thing.

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*TOP REVIEWER* Gingerbreadgirl on 11/8/2007 5:48:00 PM more reviews by Gingerbreadgirl

Age: 30-35   Skin: Normal, Fair   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Green    

On first contact with my skin, the EDT blasted a distinct note of my favourite fruit: lychee. Fresh lychee, with its spicy, earthy sweetness. Within instants, it melts back into a forest of woodsy chypre accord. On the drydown, it becomes quite demure, though still warm and exotic. It's a sylvan scent, like a forest in September, bright evergreens and glowing amber and copper leaves. It is a brighter, lighter and more cheerful version of EL's Knowing to my nose. A very good daytime scent for those who like Opium and Coco - this perfume has the same vibe, but doesn't have the dirrrrty of Opium or the gravity of Coco. It smells very clean to me, but doesn't have the nose-stabbing detergent sharpness that I dislike so much in various "clean" perfumes or the horrible aldehydes of "sunshiny cheerful" perfumes like Sunflowers and Clinique Happy, both of which make me positively ill. I added a second spray to retest the lychee hypothesis on the same hand: big mistake. It became a little too aldehydic, a little cloying. I don't think I would like this in EDP. Used with a light hand, this scent in EDT form is really lovely - it actually reminds me of Vitabath Green on the drydown. Anyone who likes Vitabath Green would be very pleased to be able to get the pick-me-up of the skin scent of a hot shower with that soap with the spritz of the finger. I can't imagine it would have much sillage, but it would be perfect for the office, travel, an afternoon tea, etc. - I'll definitely be reaching for this pretty often. Considering that I mostly bought it for the gorgeous cobalt glass bottle with the entwined silver serpents on the cap, and didn't have particularly high expectations for the scent given its low price point, I'm pleased with it.

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mildred on 4/18/2007 10:37:00 PM more reviews by mildred

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination, Fair   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Blue    

I love the uniqueness of this perfume!People notice it.It is warm yet bold.Hard to pull off in warmer weather,as it can overwhelm the wearer with its heady pine,citrus and oakmoss.And friends,if you LOVE this perfume,but can't find or afford it,please try Ivoire de Balmain-it smells EXACTLY like Niki.

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FERGUS on 10/12/2005 9:16:00 PM more reviews by FERGUS

Age: 36-43   Skin: Acne-prone   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

I've had this around forever, very deep, very exotic.. Love it!

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*TOP REVIEWER* Wyrmiax on 7/2/2005 9:07:00 PM more reviews by Wyrmiax

Age: 44-55   Skin: Very Oily, Fair-Medium   Hair: Brown, Straight, Medium   Eyes: Hazel    

I reviewed this as snakeskin and found it too piney. Now that my nose is a bit more educated, I say....
There are some notes I normally hate that actually do work for me in certain fragrances--the carnation in Iris Poudre, the anise in Apres l'Ondee, the cinnamon in Mitsouko. The blend is greater than the sum of its parts. In the case of Niki de St Phalle, though, I respond to the individual notes--I like the galbanum and moss, dislike the grapefruit and pine. But this is an interesting and unusual fragrance. Its varied notes enable it to be both deep and fresh. EDIT--9/10/07--Tried it again. The green chypre beginning is very different from the drydown, where the marigold and geranium are quite prominent. Reminds me of the garden at this time of year, with dry and pungent flowers.

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Kseniya on 4/25/2005 7:25:00 AM more reviews by Kseniya

Age: 30-35   Skin: Dry   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Blue    

My favourite perfume so far - so unusual, mysterious, but not 'headachy' at all. Deep and fresh simultaneously, that is rather rare for the perfume.

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onmycue on 3/14/2005 9:35:00 AM more reviews by onmycue

Age: 36-43   Skin: Normal   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Blue    

I was hoping this might be the pine scent I want, but it's not quite right. Maybe too many conflicting notes all fighting to be noticed. Not awful on me, but just not fabulous.

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jungirl on 12/26/2004 8:00:00 PM more reviews by jungirl

Age: 19-24   Skin: Normal   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Hazel    

A nightmare from my childhood. Mother, why did you wear this? I can smell none of the complexity in this fragrance that some of the other reviewers do: all I can smell is unsweetened Dimatap, boozy whisky hangover breath, and some ferril beast odor. This fragrance is so unrelenting that if you can detect the fragrance at all, it's already overwhealming and has likely caused a splitting headache. For years I associated *this* perfume with the name "Poison" because of it's intertwining snakes emblem, deep-purple glass bottle and toxic contents. It's a lovely bottle, but the smell is extremely datedly nineteen-eighties in the category of prestigeous neuvo riche scents, and unfortunately, even once this association is forgotten, it's still an olifactory sock in the stomache. I'll be a happy person when this scent is long forgotten.

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snakeskin on 9/6/2004 4:42:00 PM more reviews by snakeskin

Age: 44-55   Skin: Very Oily   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Hazel    

I've always liked the bottle, but only recently got to smell this. Pine + fruit is an interesting combination, but ultimately too weird to wear.

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*TOP REVIEWER* jennyb on 9/12/2003 1:41:00 PM more reviews by jennyb

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination, Fair   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Green    

Niki de Saint Phalle, who died recently, was a French sculptor, celebrated for her 'Nanas', sinuous and colossal female figures lavishly decorated in jewel-bright tones. She helped create this scent which bears her name, and also designed the distinctive parfum bottle, a bristol blue cube with smiling multicolored serpents rising entwined from the lid. The bottle for once perfectly expresses the fragrance - clean, angular and austere, hard and cold to the touch, yet crowned with exuberance, sensuousness and drama. A faerie forest, gnarly roots beneath huge dripping leaves, tiny flowers and blowsy fallen fruits. Tropical ylang and tuberose and juicy mediterranean peach and grapefruit punctuate the bracing pine-forest top notes, and soften the dry woody base. A perfect balance of intellect and playfulness, a cerebral scent which doesn't take itself too seriously. Maybe lacking in seductive power, but perfect for daytime use.(This review refers to the parfum version of this scent.)

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