Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Magie Lancôme. The Best Elvis impersonator contest

Vintage Magie (supposedly from 70’s) smells of an apricot kernel: sour and poisonously inedible. May be it’s gone off. Both vintage and modern versions resemble quite well what Magie was designed to be:
a dusty violet mixed with sweet amber and musk. Though modern Magie from the limited La Collection is a bit heavier with all sharp angles removed. It is as round and heavy as a jubilee coin and as impractical too.  Surprisingly musk in the modern version is much more animalic. All in all most contemporary nosed will identify Magie as a grannie’s perfumes (not even mum’s).
I have a feeling that THE Magie was over in 50-s after Armand Petitjean left. He was the founder of Lancôme and creator of Magie. What is the trick? While the author is alive and takes part in perfume’s commercial life it smells good. The perfume is alive, inspiration does wonderful things to it. Sadly, nowadays the perfumes of that period can only be taken as museum pieces (no matter how skillfully recreated). They have as much life and inspiration as wax figures at Mme Tussauds. All these legends which are few decades old: from the Robert Piguet range, Lancôme, Yves Saint Laurent  and so on – are all participants of the Best Elvis contest. Contemporary legends live somewhere among niche adventurers: maybe Etat Libre d'Orange, Frederic Malle, Heeley, phenomenal Swiss guys, others… here and now.

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