Queen of the Night

Whenever I smell jasmine my heart aches a little. The piercingly sweet little blossom that is full of the concentrated indolic smell of humans has a way of catching my breath.
Jasmine was really only possible to “get” when enfleurage was introduced: the apparently “disgusting” method of extracting a flower’s essence by immersing it in fat and then extracting from the mixture the pure essence using solvents. Very costly as tons of flowers are needed for just a little oil.
However, it is with pride that most prestigious perfumes include jasmine, natural or synthetic (like hedione, a synthetic molecule that smells like the greener part of jasmine). Indeed, along with rose, it forms the heart bouquet of most feminine perfumes and it is also featured as a note  in some masculine ones.
To really capture the true smell of an enfleurage jasmine, one absolutely has to turn to A la nuit by Serge Lutens of Palais Royal Shiseido in Paris. It is part of the export range that can be bought outside Europe as well.
Composed by the artist perfumer Chris Sheldrake, A la nuit encompasses every nuance of natural jasmine possible: the freshly-cut  stem, the mellowness, the decay. Only the flick of an eyelid on a dying man’s head captures a life’s journey better.

Jasmine forever reminds me of a scene in the gorgeous and very realistic French film of 1994 La Reine Margot, by Patrice Chereau. Based on the roman by Dumas , recounting the story of nymphomaniac catholic Marguerite de Valois (daughter of Catherine de Medici) , her arranged wedding to protestant Henri de Navarre in 1572, her short affair with Leyrac de la Molle and the resulting St.Bartholomew Night as an addendum , it is a fascinating sight.
Starring Isabelle Adjani and Vincent Perez as the ill-fated lovers, it features a memorable scene: as the night falls and Margot is out on the streets seeking carnal pleasures which she denies to her husband, she wears a black mask on her alabaster flawless skin. She encounters an attractive stranger ( La Molle) and goes on to make love to him in a dark alley as if she were a nameless whore-albeit for free- standing against a wall, while the other visiting Protestants to Paris, who have come for the royal wedding, surround them sleeping on the street, deprived of a bed.
“You smell of jasmine” he says adoringly and everything takes its place. “I could be ugly behind the mask” she retorts, and we know she is devastatingly beautiful.
A la nuit is both in the most wondrous way.

pic from Amazon.co.uk

I want 'A La Nuit'! Jasmine and I are near-perfect lovers. Wish I could afford it, sigh!
Snarkattack - 19 08 06

A la Nuit 's artist perfumer is Serge Lutens, the "nose" was Chris Sheldrake!!

http://www.perfume2000.com/Home/Articles..
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