Iunx Eau Frappee What real roses should smell like
Iunx Eau Frappe was made by perfumer Olivia Giacobetti. She is one of my favorite perfumers and made wonderful perfumes like L’Artisan Parfumeur Dzing!, D’Orsay Tilleul, Frederic Malle En Passant, L’Artisan Parfumeur L´Ete En Douce. I have scented a lot of her perfumes but not a rose perfume. En Passant, a beautiful lilac fragrance was reviewed by me before.
While being in Paris some time ago I went to the Iunx shop next to the Costes Hotel. The Iunx shop sells home fragrances and perfumes solely made by Olivia Giacobetti. These are very exclusive as they are only sold here. It was owned before by Shiseido and closed for some time but is open now, fortunately.
The shop is quite small and uncomfortable, very minimalistic. All fragrances can be scented through a kind of diffusers. It is a very pleasant way to scent fragrances. Shopping in this shop is made quite interesting. Photographs of these tubes can be seen on the website of the Non Blonde. In all the excitement I forgot to make photographs while visiting. After hearing a fellow perfumista, Ron Slomowicz was visiting Paris I asked him to make some photographs. He was not allowed to make photographs inside the store but he did make some wonderful photographs from the florist next door.
After reading about the fragrance L´Ether on several websites I tested this several times in the shop on skin and on a blotter as well. But I felt a bit like the story of the emperor not wearing any clothes. I did not scent anything, a very strange experience in a perfume shop. Fortunately I found another amazing scent, No 6 Eau Frappee.
Eau Frappee instanty gave me the feeling of what a beautiful bouquet of roses should smell like. Very fresh, slightly citrus, soft and slightly powdery. Its notes of combava (kaffir lime ), sweet lemon and citron are meant to mimic the scent of soft rose. Eau Frappee is sold as an eau de toilette in a large 150 ml very large and not very practicle spray bottle for 135 euro. My bottle was a gift from my boyfriend. The package is beautiful as you can see on the photograph.
I can imagine some will not find Eau Frappee a very interesting scent. It is not layered, does not change its scent after some time. But to me it is the interpretation of Olivia Giacobetti of the scent of a rose, soft light citrus fresh almost transparent. It would make an excellent room spray in a rose flower shop, as the flower shop next to the Costes Hotel on the photographs which Ron Slomowicz made. Roses in a bouquet in the Netherlands do not scent any more, but if they would, I would like them to scent like Eau Frappee.
Rose shop photographs were specially made by Ron Slomowicz. Thank you very much !
Photographs from the Iunx shop:http://www.thenonblonde.com/2011/09/iunx-perfumes-postcards-from-paris.html
More information on Iunx: http://boisdejasmin.com/2005/06/iunx_10_edts_sp.html
*Previously published: Octobre 26th, 2012
Re edited August 12, 2016
August 27, 2016 @ 20:09
Eau Frappee is the only perfume from the brand that I’ve tried – and I’m among those who doesn’t find it “very interesting” (it’s curious that you used these words because my most recent note after testing that perfume was “It wasn’t that interesting.”). I can see how it might work for you: I have my share of nice, pleasant but not earth-shattering perfumes. I think sometimes we enjoy perfumes not for the scent itself, but for memories and experiences related to them.
August 28, 2016 @ 21:10
Undina, interesting what you write about Eau Frappee 🙂 my main reason for finding it a very interesting fragrance is that I see it as a rose accord made by Olivia Giacobetti. Which I find intriguing to analyse and smell. The experience accompanying the fragrance, the fact it is exclusive, it being a gift, plays a great part as well when I wear it. I can imagine you don’t find it very interesting though as a perfume on its own.