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Post by Willa Zheng
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Hi reader,
“Love no one but me” from the venerable but nowadays much overlooked House of Caron is, in my humble opinion, one of the great romantic perfumes of 20th century. Launched during the height of WW1, it also happens to celebrate its 100 year anniversary this year.
N’Aimez Que Moi by Caron 1916
N’Aimez Que Moi by Ernest Daltroff
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Lilac, violet, rose
Heart: Iris, cedar, vetiver, sandalwood
Base: Vanilla, amber, musk, oakmoss
Fittingly for a perfume that sounds like an Edith Piaf love song, N`Aimez Que Moi opens like an old skool rose fragrance – geraniumy and drenched in clove-like eugenols that IFRA could banish this juice at any moment. My 22 year old, Miu Miu wearing work colleague says it smells just like her grandma. Well darling, your grandma has excellent taste.
Five minutes in, powdery, cosmetic-like notes such as violets and lilac emerge to join in the waltz with garden roses. Ever prised open the lid of Caron’s famous loose face powders? This is its fragrance!
Ten minutes later, woody chypre base notes creep in to give the fragrance a bit depth and some character. The main experience of wearing N’Aimez Que Moi conveys a big, radiant rose fragrance sitting on a dry layer of sandalwood. Emotionally, it’s the olfactory equivalent of an operatic Aria. The wearer of N’Aimez Que Moi is beautiful, assertive and yet lamentful.
The drydown of N’Aimez Que Moi, which emerges after about 4 hours, is a classic vintage chypre-base comprised of amber, musk and oakmoss, not dissimilar to the base of vintage Arpege. It creates a heavy, dark, rounded base that is a nuanced melange of the sweet, the skanky and the dirty.
My N`Aimez Que Moi edp (vintage 2007) has moderate to heavy silage, depending on the body heat of the wearer. Like an olfactory forget-me-not, this edp sustains itself for an impressive 12hrs +.
Further reading:
LuckyScent has $100/7ml extrait
Surrender To Chance has extrait samples from $5/0.5ml
Do you have a favourite Caron?