Perfume Review & Musings: Eau de Patou by Patou, plus Mother's Day Perfume Giveaway

The other day, while trying to conjure up the memory of some of my best-loved hot-weather fragrances of the past, I suddenly remembered Eau de Patou by Patou. How could I have forgotten it, neglected it? It is one of the best hesperidic fragrances that I know of and also one of the best fragrances I've encountered, period.

Why? Because it is a superbly fresh fragrance with a definite presence, character, allure, and sophistication. It was created by Jean Kerléo, the then official nose for the house of Patou, who introduced it in 1976. I believe it was reissued in 1991. Sadly, it is now discontinued and hard to find...

Jean Patou is well-known for having introduced the sportswear look for women, having even commercialized the very first tanning oil effective against sunburn in 1927, l'Huile de Chaldée, at a time when tan was becoming fashionable under the influence of Coco Chanel. He also created the knitted swimsuit look and designed the fundamentals of what we have come to consider are the typical tennis or yachting gears.

Eau de Patou keeps in line with this philosophy; the blue line on its bottle is a reference to a marine, yachting theme. It is however also a very sexy feminine scent and could be worn both to compliment a casual look or a dressed-up one. May I add that it works very well in a hot, humid climate. I used to wear it in tropical Thailand and I can only remember that it stays faithfully with you, developping beautifully on your skin.

The immediate two dominant notes for me are the citron from Sicily spiced up with pepper, blended together with nasturtium, further refreshed by oranges from Guinea and rounded off by petitgrain. The sexiness comes from the ylang-ylang, the animalic notes, and the spice. There is also rose and sweet honeysuckle in it. It mellows down to a warm base of musk, amber, and moss. Some detect civet and labdanum in it too. It is a wonderful scent that has remained popular despite its disappearance from perfume counters.

On May 14, I will be able to give away a 1 oz bottle of it to the lucky winner of a drawing. I will be fundraising for the Orphan Foundation of America as part of the Benevolent Blogging charity event organized by Katie from Scentzilla and will donate $1 for each comment that you leave under a specific post that I will put up on Mother's day.

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