I became interested in the Parfum d’Empire line after getting to know Ambre Russe and after Ines commented that it was one of her favorite perfume houses.
Research in my sample box turned up a forgotten sample of Osmanthus Interdite, I had not yet had the chance to even try. Well, now I did and I like it. I am glad my sample box yielded another gem.
Osmanthus Interdite was released in 2007 . Parfum d’Empire, as the name suggests, creates perfumes dedicated to great empires. Osmanthus Interdite is meant to represent China. (Ambre Russe stands for Tsarist Russia.)
Notes include chinese tea, citrus, osmanthus, rose, jasmine, musk and leather. The perfume was created by Marc-Antoine Corticchiato, Parfum d’Empire’s founder.
Osmanthus is a small, white flower native to Asia that has an interesting and distinctive smell of apricots. I really like this note in perfume. Be it the combination with tea in Hermessence Osmanthus Yunnan, with sparkly and spicy pepper and citrus in Ormonde Jayne Osmanthus or the sweet, almost jammy facet of osmanthus in Serge Lutens Jeux de Peau.
In Osmanthus Interdite I have found a happy, sweet, very fruity and simply delicious version of osmanthus. It is perfectly lovely.
Opening with a refreshing combination of citrus, green tea and osmanthus, the perfume is relatively linear, showcasing the apricot-sweetness of this astounding flower. The heart is bolstered by rose and jasmine that mostly serve to round out the star of the show, rather than having their own moment in the limelight. The drydown is softly musky, with a hint of leather, bringing to mind another Lutens fragrance, namely Daim Blond, although here it is a much, much softer and more muted leather-apricot combo.
Osmanthus Interdite is a great spring/summer scent, it is happy, carefree, but not without substance. It has a very good lasting power and the sillage is there, but not overpoweringly so. All in all, I am very happy with this perfume. It is my second winner from the line, so I will make sure to explore it further.
How does Osmanthus Interdite compare to the other osmanthus perfumes I have tried? It is softer and more feminine than the Hermessence and the tea note is less pronounced. It is fruitier than Ormonde Jayne’s version, whose opening is a lot harsher too.
Osmanthe Interdite is one of those instant smile inducing perfumes that are very good to have at hand when life throws you a curve ball again.
You can take a deep breath and think. “At least I smell great!”
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I’m now interested to see what will you think of the rest of the line. 🙂
Btw, there is a little of Wazamba on your way as we speak… 😉
Wazamba! That sounds like a cry of triumph as well as a perfume. Let me add my own – Yippie! 🙂
Ha!
I just saw on Dee’s blog – happy birthday! 😀
Please let us know what fragrant gifts come your way today.
Thank you, Ines! I will certainly report back. 🙂
Happy Birthday Birgit!
May a lot of love to be around you in all forms – from your family, your friends, your readers and even SAs in the snobbiest boutiques!
Thank you! Especially for the good wishes concerning the SA’s, that it where it’s most needed! 😉
Happy BDay, Birgit – have a wonderful day with your loved ones (or a few moments for you only, if that’s what you rather wish…). And I hope there will be a fragrant present today…
Thank you, M! I hope for a fragrant present too! 🙂
Happy birthday! What do you smell like on your special day?
Thank you! I am wearing Praliné de Santal by our mutual friend PG! 😉
I suppose you smell as gorgeous as PG looks….
🙂 Now I only wish I’d look as gorgeous as he smells…
Happy birthday – best wishes of peace of mind, good health, lots of fun – and great perfume! 😀
Thank you very much, Marie! 🙂
Thanks so much for this review B, it’s so helpful for me as I know the other Osmanthus scents you compare it to. I keep trying with Osmanthus Yunnan but it’s a bit too dry for my tastes and as you say this is sweeter, it may well suit me better. Another one to add to my Les Senteurs sample list thanks to your lovely reviews!
Sending you fragrant birthday wishes! Glad the Praline de Santal arrived in time, you smell GREAT 🙂
Thank you, Tara for being the first to actually say something about Osmanthus. I am glad you want to try it, it’s lovely.
My sotd has changed already, the morning was for PG, now I have changed to Amaranthine. Evening will be the time for Frapin. There is a progression there… 🙂
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Happy Birthday, B!
I own Osmanthus Interdite, and don’t read much about it, so thanks for putting it on the map. You know where to come if you drain your sample…
We really have very similar taste. I have agood feeling concerning Flora Bella! Thank you for your gnenerous offer! 🙂
I left you birthday greetings on your most recent post, but I’ll join the well-wishers here to say it again, Happy Birthday, and hope you’re enjoying a charmed day.
Your description of this fragrance makes it sound dreamy. I love osmanthus, too, though maybe I shouldn’t say that since I don’t have any osmanthus-specific fragrances in my collection. But to me, it’s one of the most defining notes in Jean Patou 1000 and adds to the uniqueness of that very sophisticated perfume. I think that will be what I wear today in honor of your birthday. 🙂
Suzanne, I am pained to say I have never smelled a Patou perfume, it is a hole in my perfume knowledge, I know. But I have never even seen a bottle up close, somehow they are invisible to me or hard to find.
Thank you for your lovely wishes!
I’m excited to try this line, and already have a few of these hanging out in my Luckyscent cart… looks like I need to add one more! I really like the osmanthus note, as you say, that apricotty-vibe is quite lovely…. 🙂
Which ones are you getting? You must try Ambre Russe (but you would do that without me saying anything anyway) and Equistrius!
This sounds very intriguing! I didn’t really understand what osmanthus was supposed to smell like until Michelle Krell-Kydd (glasspetalsmoke) sent me a package of osmanthus infused green oolong tea along with a small vial of osmanthus absolute essence. I smelled it, and was like, “OH! Okay. I get it now”. And the only perfumer who has gotten it right in a blend (that I’ve tried so far, that is), is Liz Zorn. She must use a high quality natural essence, because it smells just like the stuff Michelle sent me (mixed with other notes in Winter Poem). It is a fascinating note, and I am glad I can recognize it now when I smell it, synthetic, natural or otherwise. 🙂
Oh, the absolute must smell amazing! And you reminded me of Liz Zorn, I must try her perfumes one day…
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Hi B,
Thanks for the review, I am glad I found your blog pages. What do you recommend between ‘Yuzu fou’ and ‘Osmantus Interdite’ to wear in hot African summer months. thanks.
Nana
Hi Nana,
I’m glad you found me too!
I have never been farther south in Africa than Tunisia and Morocco myself, but I can imagine Yuzu Fou to be the better choice of the two. It is more bracing, refreshing and has that pleasingly bitter citrus tang of the yuzu fruit. I would choose this one in the heat. Here is the review of Yuzu Fou
Hope that helps. 🙂
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Hi Birgit,
I am becoming addicted to your blog and reads it everyday at lunchtime…it is so beautifully written 🙂
thank you very much for the advice…I am going to get the Yuzu Fou and save a few bucks to get the Osmanthus Interdite next month. I love both reviews and actually, the weather in South Africa (Johannesburg) is only starting to heat up now but it will get much warmer around Dec/Jan. Technically speaking, we’ve only started with spring.
By the way, the reason for my question was that I was looking for something fresh to wear but I wanted something with a little complexity and long lasting. I love green notes and citrus a lot but they tend to wear off quite fast on me. During the cold months I wear more musky/oriental fragrances (am a big fan of Serge Lutens ) and I stay completely away from florals because I just can’t do sweet stuff! My favourite fragrance of all times is “L’Heure Bleu” de Guerlain. I could wear this perfume any day, of late though it has been impossible, because I am pregnant and my sense of smell has gone a bit crazy…
Please could you suggest other fragrances that I could try which are fresh not soap smellin’ stuff.
Warm regards,
Nana
Hi Nana, Congratulations on your pregnancy! 🙂 Longlasting and fresh – there is a great line out there for you: Atelier Cologne. You can read reviews of all their six perfumes on my blog. They offer 30ml bottles as well as big ones and all are very well done. Another good line to check out, and maybe more easily available for you in South Africa, would be Hermes. Jean-Claude Ellena is the master of light and transparency, many excellent perfumes of the kind you are looking for, can be found among the Hermes scents. Just click the Hermes category on the right for a bunch of reviews. I hope to have helped with those suggestions, let me know how it goes. B
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