Tuesday, January 26, 2016

LCM Fragrance


LCM Fragrance hosted a giveaway on Instagram recently and I was pleasantly surprised to see that I (and my friend Nancy! WooHoo!) won the prize, along with a couple of Nancy's friends. The gift was a generous 5 ml sampling of all three of LCM's current fragrance collection: Autumn/Winter 2015. 

LCM (Le Cherche Midi) is ran by the couple Cecile Hua and Nathan Motylinski. Cecile attended the Givaudan Perfumery School in Grasse, France, becoming classically trained in the art. The couple has created each scent to be worn by both men and women, with numbers marking each scents' name. They feel this allows the wearer to experience the scent holistically without branding influence. The thing I find most interesting is that the couple releases their scents seasonally and in limited edition runs. Currently, only No. 19, No. 28, and No. 30 can be readily purchased even though there have been at least 20 fragrances created since 2012. It would be nice to sample more of their past collections.


No. 19 Notes: Black brandy, cigar box, salted caramel.
Lit cigars, a tobacco haze of smoke, an evening at the local humidor. After chumming around with a stubby, dark Macanudo between your teeth the conversation moves outside and down the street for brandy and dessert. Worn leather seats and vintage brandy casting amber prisms greet the senses at the heart. Slowly aged cedar and caramelized vanilla reveal themselves during the dry down and remain for the duration. A stunning seductive fragrance that I quite enjoyed wearing.

No. 28 Notes: Gunpowder, wild gardenia, mother's milk.
An mirage of blazing white gardenia rapidly burns into an explosive saltpeter filled mushroom cloud. Black sticky tar, gun powder residue and peppercorns assault the nose. After you wake up, stunned from the unexpected, raw leather remains, salted and clinging to the wrists. This is the fragrance is the equivalence of taking off with the local bad boy on his Harley in equal parts terror and anticipation. 

No. 30 Notes: Japanese shiso, grapefruit givre, silver fir.
Airy essence of Meyer lemons and Key limes just peeled, with eyes squinting, rise from the top notes. A clean, cottony grapefruit pith follows, not sticky or juicy, but soft and dry. The base holds musky tones of sandalwood and vetiver. A beautifully constructed fragrance the feels lightly fresh and cooling without being linear or harsh.



Sample sets such as these are available for $29, which comes with a $29 credit towards any full-size bottle purchase. Full 100 ml bottles cost $229. My heart belongs to No. 30 and No. 19. I do adore No. 28 but my husband did not. I recommend following LCM Fragrance's Instagram account and other social media outlets to keep abreast of new releases and announcements. Which of these three scents draw you the most? 

2 comments:

  1. I feel like No. 28 would be my top pick, followed my No. 30.
    Bah, one of these days I'll finally make an Instagram. I find it funny that I essentially grew up on the internet and yet I'm so resistant of social media.

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    1. No. 28 was so crazy! Like a bomb went off, crazy. But unexpected fragrance is exciting. No. 30 really is beautiful and calming.

      I hope you do! I love seeing all the photos. But you know, the internet has many cool things, cats, Amazon, Etsy, and how to pronounce just about anything, but social media can be a big headache. Sometimes I wish I was still on my extended Facebook hiatus. Then I could save some money and not know about any openings. ;-)

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