Tubéreuses Castane

Strongly dislike this scent. The prominent chestnut note is nauseating.

Everything I've tried from the Maison Lancôme line has been a winner. I wish I could collect them all, but the steep prices and large bottles keep me from doing so. And that's the only reason why Tubéreuses Castane is not on my wishlist: I love Lavandes Trianon, Roses Berberanza and Oud Bouquet (new version) even more and can't have them all. I know I said this several times and sound like they paid me (I wish), but if you love intense, sweet, well-blended floral gourmands, look into this collection. Tubéreuses Castane smells just like the name sounds. Hypnotic, narcotic tuberose and sweet roasted chestnuts. To be fair I'm not 100% sure if I would have identified the chestnuts on my own, but it's really a very nutty fragrance, awakening memories of roasted nuts with a crunchy sugar crust you get on funfairs and Christmas markets. The tuberose is creamy and clean, but not too light in this, which is a nice contrast to the gourmand notes. I just love it when tuberose notes are intense and narcotic, but not powdery and musty. This kind of tuberose smells so feminine and sexy to me. This is a really sweet fragrance that opens up loudly and doesn't change that much. The floral and gourmand notes just melt together to a very harmonic blend on my skin. The longevity is as great as with everything from this line.

I have quite a bit of the Maison Lancome line so I was expecting to love this. I DON'T! Upon initial impact on my skin it smelled like a poorly blended concoction of another Lancome fragrance that I also am not fond of... La Vie Est Belle. Yes, La Vie Est Belle with a humongous helping of some sort of salty buttery element that made the fragrance smell oily.. in a really bad way... like perhaps salted caramel gone wrong. Made me nauseous. In terms of performance... it clings to the skin like the old boyfriend you want nothing to do with but they still keep calling years later. I mean even after you tell them you're happily married!😳😩 I literally washed my arm off 3 times to get this off me. Just a NO for me.

This is pleasant but strong, overwhelmingly so to the point that if you spray too much it'll start smelling like urine. Another exhibit of how strong it is: I have a habit of spraying perfume fresh out of the shower and take a sniff occasionally throughout the evening to test them out, and the next morning after I'd tested this the water in the cup I had on my desk tasted of this scent. No, I didn't spray it anywhere near my desk - the smell had diffused into the water gradually and only after night's sleep when I didn't drink from the cup did I notice the change thereafter. Out of all my perfumes this is the only one that does this.

This is a slightly nutty, floral vanilla in a base of white musk with a thickness and richness that makes it very luxurious to wear. The nutty aspect feels like vetiver and tonka, it is juxtaposed with the tuberose to cut the sweetness of the core accord. The perfume announces itself with dark green floral and slightly lemony fresh note which recalls vintage perfumes, especially of the chypre sort from the 50s and 60s. This accompanies the tuberose itself, which is an extremely sheer, bubblegum version of tuberose (banana ylang?) providing a hint of green soapiness to keep it fresh. This hangs like a sheer stocking over the rest of the (chestnut-ish?) confection. Thy drydown is vetiver and tonka to my nose, referencing the oakmoss/Amber of the chypre. Despite Tania Sanchez’ review, which calls this an oversexed suburban housewife of a perfume, and despite some of the reviews below, this feels like quite a sophisticated combination for a floral vanilla perfume, many of which lack the heft and opulence of this version, and the clever use of a tuberose which ought to be too much but here somehow is just right. Although it’s not a classic chypre, it seems to reference the chypre structure with more gourmand ingredients. It’s clever and thoughtful. I usually don’t like these kind of gourmand vanilla perfumes but this one is cozy and comfortable and smart. It’s a pared down boudoir scent, that goes just as well with cashmere and pearls as lingerie and stockings. Very nice.