Review:
Vintage Rosine Nuit de Chine
Today am
reviewing another Paul Poiret masterpiece from the long lost vintage house of
Rosine. Not the rose garden Rosine of today,
but back when it was a high end competent French house that held its own
with the likes of Guerlain, Chanel, Jacques Fath, and even Houbigant.
Upon first
smell, I noticed much of the top is no longer with us, but that was to be
expected from an 80+ year old perfume. At first blush, I would categorize Nuit
de Chine as an oriental fougere and its similarity to Mouchoir de Monsieur is
uncanny though not unusual as they were released within eight years of each
other and probably of popular style at the time.
The
opening is dull and unexciting, but the coumarin/tonka accord so cherished from
MdM comes to the fore except that Nuit de Chine uses real—yes, that’s right—real
civet and deer musk in the composition. I have smelled these tinctures before
and can say with much certainty that this is so. The longer it sits on my skin the
fecal yet floral nutty aspect of the civet becomes greater.
Nuit de
Chine is also known for its resplendent sandalwood note—natural Mysore, of
course. It is restrained and adds a light buttery texture and slight hints of
Chinese incense.
I am not
sure why Rosine chose to name their fragrance “Chinese Night”—perhaps it was to
inspire visions of the Orient. Nuit de Chine was also a popular French song in
the 1920s, though it was released after the perfume. Poiret had originally
named his fragrance Nuit d’Orient as he favored Oriental perfumes.
It is
difficult to give a note construction for such a long lost perfume that is so
disconnected from what we know as fragrance today. I would guess that it contains
an opening lavender-coumarin accord for the basic fougere effect inherited from
Parquet’s not so distant Fougere Royale in addition to some florals and spices
perhaps jasmine, tuberose, cinnamon, orris, and rose. The base is a coumarin
haze augmented by civet, musk, sandalwood, and vanilla. There may also be
traces of vetiver and cedar here.
Overall,
if one has smelled Mouchoir de Monsieur, especially a vintage formulation, one
is not missing much in Nuit de Chine. However, if artistry and the best
ingredients available are important, Nuit de Chine is not to be missed (also
note that Turn of the Century perfumers likely had easy access to the best perfume ingredients ever available).
Unfortunately, Nuit de Chine and Poiret’s other masterpiece, Le Fruit Defendu,
are probably the things of which perfume dreams are made—far outside our grasp.
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