In my little town in Maryland I am a known quantity in my local post office. They even accentuate the word “perfume” when asking me the contents of a package I am sending. When I go to pick up one of my packages from Europe they will joke with me that it was making the storage area smell good. When I arrived to pick up my latest package from England the woman behind the counter mentioned she really liked what she was smelling. I did too. I told her there were a lot of things in there but I’d let her know what it was. This is always a difficult moment because I worry that it is one of the expensive ones impossible to get in the US. When I got home the smell of neroli and something else arose from the box. I was thinking what neroli perfume I had asked for then it hit me; it must be Roger & Gallet Neroil Facetie.
In England, Roger & Gallet is essentially a drugstore fragrance available in the outlets with a perfume section. Roger & Gallet is one of those brands which has been taking a break not releasing much new since 2015’s Fleur de Figuier which was another example of the great perfume this brand can create. In August of this year they released a five-fragrance collection called Extraits de Cologne. I knew I was going to have one added to my latest care package. I chose Neroli Facetie because it combined the neroli with immortelle in the note list. With Fabrice Pellegrin as the perfumer I felt like it was a pretty safe blind buy.
Fabrice Pellegrin
M. Pellegrin interpreted the idea of extraits de cologne as providing a construction of airiness grounded with a few deeper notes. The neroli reaches for the sky but the immortelle keeps it from drifting away.
Neroli Facetie opens with the neroli out front. It is expansive and given some texture with angelica flower. Petitgrain intensifies the citrus effect while the neroli finds itself melding with the maple syrup beauty of immortelle. M. Pellegrin uses the immortelle with a light hand which allows it to keep the neroli on top. Ylang-ylang is also present but it is almost irrelevant to the neroli and immortelle. The base is vetiver spiced up with some angelica seeds making a nice circle with the angelica flower in the top accord.
Neroli Facetie has 8-10 hour longevity and moderate sillage.
I’ve already made a sample of Neroli Facetie to give to my postal worker with the good news that this will eventually be available in the US. This has been a congenial companion for these early days of autumn.
Disclosure: This review is based on a bottle I purchased.
–Mark Behnke
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