Frederic Malle En Passant The scent of Spring passing through
In a search of perfumes made by the perfumer Olivia Giacobetti I came across the perfume En Passant. I already knew other perfumes made by her: Tilleul by Parfums d´Orsay and L´Ete en Douce by L´Artisan Parfumeur.
Olivia Giacobetti made En Passant for the exclusive brand Frederic Malle Editions de Parfums. Frederic Malle perfumes are very special in the sense that all perfumers were given the oportunity to create their own perfect perfume. All perfumers are displayed in the shop with their photograph.
Olivia Giacobetti´s perfumes can be very light and almost made for another realm, the one of elves and nymphs. Like making perfumes for Arwen Undómiel in Lord of the Rings played by Liv Tyler.
En Passant is a perfume inspired by the idea of passing through a branch of lilac flowers during spring. It means passing through in French. This makes En Passant an excellent scent to use in spring or if you want to invite spring into your life.
The most wonderful thing happened after I applied En Passant this week. After spraying En Passant, I passed a lilac bush near my home and I could smell a wonderful light trail of lilac. This was the whole intention of the perfume and I got it in an instant. Not complicated, just a light trail of lilac. The perfume En Passant is passing through as well on your skin as it leaves after two hours. Maybe that´s the whole idea although I have noticed Olivia Giacobetti has made more perfumes which do not stay on very long like L´Ete en Douce. When you spray it on, you get a wonderful fresh lilac scent. You would want it to stay that way for hours and hours. So personally I think it is a pity you can only smell it for a short while. The only remedy is to keep on spraying or to use it with the bodylotion and layer it that way. Haven´t tried the bodylotion but would really like to !
En Passant is simply lovely and fresh. Not fresh like fresh washed white cotton shirts but like light fresh white or pink flowers. Personally I smell lilacs, cucumber and linden blossom. Some others state notes are white lilac, watery notes, cucumber, orange tree leaves and wheat. En Passant really reminded me of another of Olivia´s perfumes, the linden blossom scent Tilleul by Parfum d´Orsay. This is an adaptation of an older version of Parfums d’ Orsay Tilleul and it is one of my favorite perfumes. Both Tilleul and L´Ete en Douce are wonderful summer perfumes.
En Passant is superb to wear right now that lilacs blossom outside and it is springtime. It would make an excellent gift for a young girl as her first perfume as well. I can imagine it be suited for people who do not like to wear perfume as it is so fresh and stays very close to your skin.
Bottom line: I love it. My advice: Just smell it !
Photograph of Olivia Courtesy of Guillaume Luisetti, http://www.luisetti.net/ Thank you very much !
Originally published: May 10th 2012
Photograph 1. Olivia Giacobetti. Made by Guillaume Luisetti
Photograph 2. Passing through lilacs in Amsterdam. Made by Esperessence
June 30, 2015 @ 20:30
I liked Frederic Malle’s brand for that introduction of perfumers into our lives: I don’t know how it was for others but even 6-7 years ago I wasn’t thinking about people who actually created those perfumes – just of brands. And I like lilacs. So I really hoped to like En Passant. Unfortunately, that cucumber note was a deal breaker for me. Still, it’s a nice perfume.
July 1, 2015 @ 12:34
6-7 years ago I did not think about perfumers either, Undina. Sorry to hear THE cucumber note was a deal breaker for you. It does not disturb me, luckily. I really like En Passant for iTS interpretation of lilacs.