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Bigser – :
Bought a partial vintage, hoping to relive what I remember of the scent from 40+ years ago. The juice has turned syrupy dark (which is to be expected). Happily, the lily of the valley and some “green” are still — quietly — there. However, the aldehydes have completely dissipated, and it’s a too-powdery shadow of what it once was. Despite splashing it generously on myself, it doesn’t stay around long. Ah well.
Sparcle7 – :
I hesitate to make this my first review, but Ma Griffe was a deep disappointment when I bought it almost 20 years ago. Blind buys are always risky, but this scent came with rave results, so I bought a big bottle. Tragedy! There’s something horrible in the scent, and I can’t identify it … but I can’t take it, either.
It’s a well-crafted scent, it’s a classic, but my bottle will go on the swap board soon.
Sorry, Ma Griffe, I wanted to love you, but I can’t. You’re just too nasty.
moc0000 – :
I love this fragrance! On me it’s a soft subtle green scent that has a light floral and powder dry down. It’s been on my want list for a while but was a bit expensive to blind buy. I saw it up for bid on ebay and bid low thinking I’ll never get it as I bid before on it in the past and stopped bidding when the price got to high. Went to sleep got up and lo and behold I won it! I can’t believe I got this fragrance for such a steal!
nofizunh – :
Being curious as to what a “dirty” perfume smells like I got myself a splash bottle of Ma Griffe from the 1980’s off ebay.
I was expecting a powerful 80’s perfume with lots of muskiness, but my bottle is very soft with little projection. This may be because it has softened with the passage of time. It is definitely an old fashioned scent and is musky and powdery. The notes are very well blended, I can’t pick any one thing out really.
I like its quietness and old fashioned vibe, it transports me back somewhere in time. It is a little melancholy in a way and I find myself wanting to wear it on days I am feeling a tad blue. It suits that mood, but is also just nice in its perfumey character. A 1980’s advert shows a young woman in an expensive striped green and white dress on a summer’s day having lunch outdoors with friends. I tend to see this as being worn by an older woman, but of course, it is that young woman from the 1980’s who is now in her late 50’s!!
I’m glad I got this perfume as it has broadened my tastes into the realm of “grubby”! I like discovering new avenues of vintage perfume. There is a great clip of Patricia Routledge on youtube, doing one of her funny characters back in the 80’s and she mentions Ma Griffe. She says, “I sat down near this woman and I said, “Oh dear, what is that SMELL!” (wrinkling her nose) and she says “It’s Ma Griffe” and I said “Well, it needs a wash!”. I smile every time I hear that!
zakadroviy – :
A protean personality that either shows some great zeal for metamorphosis or it simply cannot act in any other way since constant changhing is part of its very nature. And when it does not venture into about-facing then it just becomes facilely two-faced. Just like the ancient Roman god Janus and befuddling you in toto; for you cannot decide which face stares at the past and which peers into the future.
Thus, it’s launch couldn’t be anything else than antithesis itself by being so silently loud. A nice day back in 1946, Parisiennes and Parisians saw hundreds, thousands even, of small boxes descending with tiny white and green striped parachutes from the sky. Each box contained a sample of Ma Griffe. I suppose you can easily imagine how the French capital would smell for days after this fanciful “invasion”. I also suppose that this certain campaign, taking place more than 70 years ago, spoiled promotion tactics for good by making every faddish “innovative” contemporary campaign look dull as dishwater.
However it’s not just in olfactory terms that Ma Griffe fancies to bewilder us. It also lies in its very name. Griffe in French means claw or talon but it also means signature. Thus its name coud be interpreted in three possible ways.
a) I’m feral hence I expose my claws.
b) I’m commanding hence I put my signature on you.
c) I’m feral and commanding hence I claw my signature on you.
The diminutive Marie-Louise Grog-Carven (née Carmen de Tommaso) however, did not bother to clarify which of the three was that she meant, although she had more than 70 years to do it between 1945, when she founded her house, and 2015 when she departed at the age of 105!
Ma Griffe’s multi-faceted and perhaps mercurial character could be the reason behind the numerous different bottles (and maybe different compositions) in which it has appeared trough the years. Nevertheless, its earthy and somewhat animalic character was always there. Just like a bar of expensive soap lying forgotten next to an outdoor washbasin in the garden of a summer country house and exposed to nature’s elements and to the constantly changing between subtle and brisk whiffs of weedy soil, till its revived by the next spring rain.
Some nights I think I can hear it clawing its box, trying to get out. Who knows, maybe it craves to leave its signature on me before I venture into some dream, where I shall land with a white and green striped parachute in Bois de Boulogne so as to conquer the City of Light…
Tatarin0401 – :
Lemon soapy aldehydes.
Very soapy (not clean bubbly) with allot of Lily of the valley, clean vetiver, oakmoss, iris, ylang, clary sage, sandalwood, orange blossom, musk, and gardenia.
This is Lily of the valley based fragrance with allot of soap stuffed in. Fair.
link87 – :
Ma Griffe hasn’t taken me a single second to get to know it and it’s already a firm ‘love’ with a capital ‘L’
It opens up in a way that strongly reminds me of Miss Dior and I’m not sure why. As I have the parfum de toilette (I’ve been informed that it is 70s-80s, I don’t really care but its nice to know its a vintage) and this just sits perfectly on the skin and changes and morphs accordingly over the hours. I’ve been wearing this for around 3 hours and it’s not faded at all, just evolved.
It’s green, it’s sparkling, it’s a bit labdanum & ylang ylang heavy… and it’s mine, finally.
It’s the type of chypre that the women in your family probably all wore at some point (or men, why discriminate) and now you get to pick up (as the only child, I wear enough for two or three offspring)
Dyrokolic – :
No one could define this perfume better than Madame Carven herself: “an outdoor fragrance without the heavy overtones”.
This wonder behaves so well in the summer of the Brazilian southeast that was a plague around here in the 60’s and 70’s.
My aunt had a can of Ma Griffe dusting powder in her boudoire when I was a little child and I used to spread that powder all over the room to get involved in the scent.
There’s something about Alice going down the rabbit hole in this one.
sensor77 – :
A very firm dislike. I have been exploring vintage green chypres, and have learnt if the note pyramid looks like everything AND the kitchen sink I wont like it. I find this extreamly dated smelling.
I want green, but this just is not green to me. Its floral, bitter, oakmoss and soap and a bunch of other muddled notes. Oh and foul, that too.
So far Vent Vert is a Chypre i like, but I think its time of me to give up on vintage and look to modern green, even if they dont last at least it smells good, no offence MaGriffe fan girls!
⛤
DarkTsar – :
Well… I am going to depart here from formalities and conveniences. Every time I smell it from the bottle or put it on, this is what comes out of my mouth without me even realising it: “Oooh, you are such a bitch”…
Take it or leave it…
I’ll take it any time.
xren – :
Ma Griffe is one of the all time greats. Totally unique and sharp. Not a sweet note to be found. Just to the point, sophisticated, and daring. One of a kind– could not be mistaken for ANYTHING else. A proud treasure.
carpinteyrofmh – :
I am wearing a very vintage Ma Griffe parfum today. I also have a vintage edt and some powder and I use them together. Strong aldehydes give way to a greener powdery fragrance which to me is so comforting and lifting on grey cold days. This perfume is for a person who likes chypres I think. Not for those who only like flowery and fruity fragrances. I feel it brings green and heady outdoors into my being.
BLACKSAGE – :
Ma Griffe is a very dry green chypre with no sweet notes. It’s very sophisticated and unusual. I would say this is best for someone with an adventurous sense of smell.
jibladzea – :
There are a few other fragrances loved by many that I cannot abide but Ma Griffe sucked the air right out of the room and left a trail of bitterness so extreme that I swear my teeth hurt.
I do enjoy many unusual fragrances, those thought to be “quite different” (Secretions Magnifique was a tame floral on me),but Ma Griffe proved simply unbearable.
I love aldehydes and I very much like bitter fragrances and all the ingredients that produce the bitter effect, but as if oak moss, styrax and vetiver weren’t bitter enough, Ma Griffe’s recipe includes ASAFOETIDA, the most bitter of the bitter, the stinkiest of the stinky – yes, the limburger cheese of the fragrance universe. Asafoetida is the very first thing I smell when I apply Ma Griffe and just like a sniff of limburger cheese will hijack your nose so you can’t smell ANYTHING ELSE for quite some time, Ma Griffe paralyses my sniffer.
I imagine the perfumer was having an argument with Madame Carven over payment or creative control, perhaps under contract to produce something/anything by a particular date because Ma Griffe smells to me like revenge. Revenge perfume… yup. Truly this is the worst thing I’ve ever smelled.
katenokBlack – :
Ma Griffe is most definitely a floral aldehydic chypre, without question. It has the citrus, labdanum and oakmoss requirement of a classic chypre with a musky dry character. In addition to the chypre elements, it has aldehydes and other features as well. And it’s gorgeous and far too overlooked it seems. But it is a classic floral aldehydic chypre. Luca Turin calls it a chypre. Books on perfumery list it as a chypre. It is considered to be one of the great green floral chypres. All noses work differently and fragrance is subjective but it has the required notes and character of this specific type of chypre.
kadet5 – :
Oh DIVINE Ma Griffe!!!! It is a jewel of a perfume. Wonderful. Superb! Supreme!!! I die a thousand deaths every time I wear it. I have three glorious bottles of it, which I have inherited from the ancients in my family line, and feel completely blessed!!!
It is so elegant, feminine, strong, oh SO strong………..and beautiful!!!!!
TEHb212 – :
I find Ma Griffe intriguing more than enjoyable. It’s an odd genre-crossing exercise, combining green chypre and floral aldehyde elements. It starts off sharp, green and citrusy, then turns spicy thanks to cinnamon, before drying down soapy thanks to the aldehydes and moss. The overall effect is interesting, but ultimately nowhere near as refined as the icy green chypres that would rise to prominence two decades later. Still, like its contemporary Vent Vert, Ma Griffe was an important stepping stone in 20th century perfume history. A must-sniff, if not necessarily a must-buy, for green floral fans.
alinade – :
This perfume is classified as a green mossy floral. It is not a chypre. This page is rife with people incorrectly classifying mossy and woody florals as chypres. Also, the name means “My signature” and signifies “it’s mine”. The launch of this famous classic perfume included dropping thousands of miniature bottles of the perfume over Paris by tiny green and white parachutes. It is innovative in that it was the first perfume to use a synthetic obtained from gardenia which added a dry sharpness. Stop calling it “old fashioned” or “mature” because it was created especially for young women. I have a sealed bottle from the 80s. Here are the notes: Top:gardenia, citrus, galbanum and aldehydes. Middle: jasmine, lily of the valley, rose, ylang-ylang, iris. Base: styrax, oakmoss, sandalwood, cinnamon, benzoin, labdanum, musk and vetiver.
kapitosh2010 – :
Back when I was a member of a perfume swap I became interested in at least trying vintage scents and this one had me intriqued as it had been described as green yet spicy and often unisex because of that.
However, this was a failure for me. Folks, I just don’t get all these florals mixed with cinnamon and, yikes, vetiver.
It’s a melange to be sure but it doesn’t mix well and never has for me (since the initial sample of an older bottle of MG I’ve sniffed and worn samples of several years’ worth).
The initial spray is exciting due to the help of the aldehydes, which initially make Ma Griffe fresh. But the dankness left on my skin, unlike patchouli or a better-blended oakmoss, quickly turned flat-out sour and rotten for me.
Sadly, Coriandre did the same thing except it was a bit more palpable and not an instant scrubber.
I highly recommend wearing this before buying a full bottle even if one is a big spicy-green fan.
Vovochkak – :
This is my mother’s signature scent, although she wears the modern version. Unfortunately, it is not the best perfume on my skin, which, I have been told, always makes perfumes smell sweet. I think that the greeny bitterness doesn’t agree with my chemistry. But I do really enjoy how this scent is so different from the regular sugary concoctions.
Ma Griffe begins with sparkling aldehydes and some sort of note that smells like urine. I have no idea what this is. Maybe asafoetida doesn’t agree with my skin? Spices don’t usually give me any problems. The scent is very green and sometimes aromatic, with a lot of unusual notes, many of which I have not had the pleasure of smelling before, so I can’t really describe them, but this is earthy and green and it is not sweet. Then I get soapy greenness, (which is presumably the combination of citrus and green notes/white florals on my skin), followed by urine, then some sort of earthy dampness, which I think could be the oakmoss, and it keeps yo-yoing back and forth, and throughout this there is also something faintly spicy. Perhaps this is the phantom asafoetida? Who knows.
After about three hours later, I finally get the soft, delicately powdered, woody dry-down, and this is absolutely my favourite part, that pretty and comforting sandalwood with powdery iris. My overall impression is of something light, discreet and never overpowering, as Ma Griffe is such a polite and feminine little scent, with a well-mannered sillage that is always soft and a longevity for about 9-10 hours.
By the way, I always thought that the meaning of Ma Griffe was “my signature” not “my claw” (and according to the advertisements, it is definitely my claw) 🙂
fuckingguy – :
Ma Griffe is the smell 80s airplane cabins for me. I must have been seated next to someone wearing it and the memory of the scent is seared in my brain. I bought a vintage oz of pure perfume recently and when I opened it my first thought was ” United Airlines !”
Don;t take that to mean it’s a bad scent. It’s not. It’s just that smells have idiosyncratic meanings for all of us.
ZYBrad – :
Ma Griffe has been among my very favorite scents for 35 years or so, and was my introduction to chypres. I wear it mostly in the winter.
One of our high school French teachers, an elegant elderly French lady, explained to me that the name meant “my claw” or “my talon” because it hooked the man and drew him to you, lol. (She didn’t say that second part, but merely gestured with her fingers.)
Sorman – :
Ma Griffe was designed for Carven by Jean Carles in 1946, but it is still in production and it seems to be quite a chameleon. Every reviewer seems to describe something different, or perhaps we are all experiencing different reformulations. To me, Ma Griffe is a warm green chypre, which opens with galbanum and herbs and softens and warms up as it worn with notes of cinnamon and resinous styrax or benzoin. It’s an autumnal chypre for me. I get no trace of the fearsome asafoetida in the vintage parfum and vintage PDT that I have. I’ve always been captivated by the story that Carven released bottles of Ma Griffe attached to mini parachutes over Paris, but it seems Helena Rubinstein may have done this first, as I’ve read in a recent biography. Rubinstein dropped samples of her 1940 perfume Heaven’s Sent tied to balloons from the roof of the Bonwit Teller department store in New York. I wonder if the impressive (and similarly diminutive) Mesdames Carven and Helena Rubinstein ever had the chance to meet. I also wish someone would drop lovely perfume from the sky onto me…
portas – :
Fragrance Review For Ma Griffe By Carven
Top Notes
Aldehydes Green Notes Gardenia Clary Sage Asafoetida Lemon
Middle Notes
Iris Orange Blossom Orris Jasmine Ylang Ylang Lily of the Valley Rose
Base Notes
Labdanum Sandalwood Cinnamon Musk Benzoin Oak Moss Styrax Vetiver
6AM
As I write this review on my laptop the fragrance is working it’s deep magic. I sit in the basement of my townhouse which I converted into a studio (I’m a niche indie fashion designer) and I’m getting pleasant whiffs of this scent which I know will last all day, if not until the afternoon. This is a beautiful floral sandalwood with vintage appeal. Released in 1946 and reformulated numerous times throughout the 60’s 70s and 80s, this is a perfume that wears like a real perfume, composed of ingredients and notes which were traditional of most classic perfumes for women, namely of the green-floral kind (i.e. Quelques Fleurs, Vent Vert and Oh! de London). This is entirely on a league of it’s own as it does not smell anything like Vent Vert. It makes me think of spring time, and the soft caressing breezes which are already scented with flowers and oak moss. It has a refreshing and soothing effect and for some reason it makes me think of a Baseball Stadium.
The opening is of aldehydes, distinct bright aldehydes but bigger on green notes of green leaves and clary sage with a dash of lemon. It’s not very citrusy and it’s more herbal and green with sage and something that smells like grass. The opening is rather masculine and like a man’s cologne and quite strong at the first instant it’s on me. But I know that even if it’s this harsh, it will soften soon. The performance of this fragrance begins in the first 20-30 minutes. Once the green scent is gone, the flowers begin to emerge. It’s like you were at a distance from flowers that you begin to approach.
I don’t know what it is about this fragrance but it has a very outdoorsy and even sporty, athletic vibe. Mmm. Oh it smells like a country club, a golf club, a large lawn. The greenery of the opening is a greenhouse scent and before long the flowers show up. I detected jasmine, gardenia, orange blossom iris and lily of the valley. The white flowers are the more dominant flowery smells. That gardenia is definitely in there, the jasmine and the lily of the valley. It’s a green and white flower scent and it almost falls into a Fracas type of mood but it has so much going on that it does not and will not become a dupe. It’s also more of a wildflower scent to me even though I know these are cultivated feminine classy flowers of gardenia, jasmine and lily of the valley, not to mention the iris and orange blossom. Oh and the rose. It’s definitely a floral by definition. The flowers are the key players.
The dry down is woodsy with a fragrant sandalwood but it’s joined by strong benzoin which is like a myrrh, incensed with a warm touch of styrax. It’s still big on the green notes and the outdoorsy feel I get from it. The oak moss is also evocative of being out in nature and getting scents of hanging moss from trees. Woods and woods and woods for the duration of the dry down and the finale of the fragrance’s life. It’s beautiful.
A classic vintage of beauty, artistry and elegance. My type of perfume and I’m so happy to wear it today!
jon01 – :
This is a very likable fragrance, but a little too subtle for my personal tastes. As chypres go, I prefer sledgehammers like Gucci No.3: something that slaps you in the face with aldehydes and smothers you with oakmoss. I agree with other reviewers that this is a much more “sensible” scent. I have a vintage mini and I get surprisingly poor longevity and sillage – maybe I need a more voluminous application.
The lovely thing about this fragrance is its cohesiveness: it all blends into one very pretty picture. Overall I get an iris scent with hints of green herbs and oakmoss. Discreet, classic, and sophisticated.
Update: One interesting thing: I believe the translation of “Ma Griffe” as “My Claw” is too literal – I think colloquially it translates to something like “my hook,” meaning “my style” or “my signature.” I dig that. This is very much the signature of a restrained, refined lady who understands the power of suggestion.
eva001 – :
I remember it was distinctly mossy and very powerful and lasted for quite a while even in the minuscules quantities my mother dabbed it. It was one my father’s beloved perfumes along with Cabochard and Arpége.A great scent from the 40s.
emilly – :
I have 3 different versions of this from the 60s, 80s and 2000s. I found it originally in a antique shop and just bought it on a whim. It took a while to appreciate it a day care for it. Now? It’s love, the kind of love you have for your most sensible friend that you admire so much. She’s smart, dresses well and never seems to make all the stupid decisions you do. This is that perfume. It makes me feel sensible when I am being silly or I’m worried over nothing. It makes me feel smart and confident. That’s pretty powerful for a rather forgotten perfume. For a character, it really rather reminds me of Hermione Granger. It’s that clever.
Depending on the version, this scent seems to vary a bit. The oldest from the 50/60s seems to be a lot deeper and mossier but perhaps it’s a bit off? It’s like a deep, calm mossy forest where the trees are old and they make you calmer remembering how small your worries are in comparison to all the human suffering they have lived through throughout the centuries. Possibly stronger vetiver here.
The 80s or so version seems a bit heavier on the asafoetida or galbanum perhaps. It’s greener and less mossy but not as light and floral as the newer version. More lemon than the older version. There is a bit of a tang to it, slightly sharp.
The newer version that’s pictured has way more lemon, light floral and hints of powder. It is easier to wear if a little colder. This is the one I’d choose to wear out although I find the others provide comfort at home on mad days.
It’s certainly been a wonderful education and introduction into chypres and green notes that has entirely changed my perception of the whole group. Well done Madame Carven.
Boys_Tm – :
Beautifull very well crafted floral aldehyde. It is evident that it is constructed by so many notes. I think that I recognize a part of Ma Griffe in other later creations, a compliment for Jean Carles, and very well deserved.
DimaDroid – :
Clinique Aromatics Elixir, Tabu, by Dana, Cabochard Gres, Ma Griffe Carven, Miss Dior (the original one, not its new and heinous usurper)…it’s easy to know why such wonderful perfumes have so much haters in our days (leaving apart the criminal reformulations that have maimed many of them). We are living, today, in the age of the democratization of the mediocrity, and the said perfumes are not for everybody. Certainly not for the squeamish or the milquetoast, but for people with personality, nerve, temperament.
Of all them, Ma Griffe was perhaps the greenest, the youngest and the most wearable. It makes me to think about a young Katherine Hepburn going out for a picnic. Beautiful, but not in a conventional way. Intelligent, with character. A bit edgy. Discreetly sassy, but never loosing their polite demeanor.
The current formula, in the beautiful chemist-like bottle is very close to the perfume I remember from the late 80’s, with a very vintage and chic quality, although not as powerful as it used to be. Worth of trying.
Xeroxehosm – :
I received this perfume as a sample at Galerie Lafayette the other day. I didn’t know it before and I thought it was a men’s perfume since they gave it to me.
The description, backstory and reviews actually are relatable to my experience. After the first spray I immediately thought of my grandma. It has this vintage. The first note is too sharp for my taste. It has a nice floral sweet but not too obvious scent dry out. I kind of like it but I wouldn’t wear it. And I love women’s perfumes.
stalker3452 – :
I loved the smell from the bottle, a lovely soft powder scent, but does not work on my skin. The lemon becomes prominent, lemon/powder never works with my chemistry, kind of like Chantilly
omen747 – :
I got this as a sample with some perfume I bought online. On first spray I didn’t like it – and it accelerated a headache that I had that day! Had to wash it off!
But I didn’t give up on it!
I have tried it since – and find it quite unique and enjoyable!
It reminds me a bit of Nag Champa incense …. it seems quite exotic to me.
Now I just need to find a proper bottle of this for my collection 😉
potapp – :
Vintage: I am kind of ashamed to say I have a vintage bottle, from the 70 s, and it still is marvelous. I agree it is green, with a complex mix not found in many these days. Strong. Serious. And I’m going to do more research to find out when this classic was updated. I can’t believe I collect so many scents and hang onto them so long. Embarrassing.
Nodspoil – :
Ma Griffe has been my beloved scent since the mid-60s when a family friend gave it to me. And it has been my signature scent along with Niki de Saint Phalle, Weil Antilope, Courreges Empreinte, and lately, Yvresse. Even the overly asafoetida-ed versions have held charm for me, strange to say.
All these reviews are perfect — a green sparkling chypre with crisp aldehydes, clary sage, cinnamon and pine at drydown along with the chypric oakmoss and everlasting gardenia… and everything else continually triggering different scent-recepters, like a fine wine slowly savored. Someone called it a perspective-shifter: so true.
But my reason for writing tonight is to address the name/claw confusion. Yes it’s true that Ma Griffe means ‘My Claw’, but that’s the literal translation. The actual usage of the term “My Griffe” means “My Signature”. That’s the true meaning of the perfume’s name. Makes sense, doesn’t it? Just as Empriente means Imprint, but also means Statement, or Signature.
I am at a loss as to why the advertising shows nails scratching a lover’s back. Unless it’s some kind of visual ‘pun’– a play-on-words?
vikmaus – :
Have to agree with jtd about purchasing vintage but to add my own story — remember when samples weren’t readily available by mail? My Ma Griffe purchase was many years ago, based on one of those magazine sample inserts. Turns out I didn’t care for the fragrance after all but didn’t know why. It just seemed to be missing something. Took forever to finally figure out what: a soupçon of magazine printer’s ink.
enlictuct – :
I met Ma Griffe in 1970 when I found an eau de toilette version on sale at Christmastime at a price I could afford. I had no idea it was really a high-dollar scent (if I’m not mistaken $148/ounce and comedienne Phyllis Diller’s favorite scent). I loved it because it was a soft scent with a kick. Back then everyone was wearing Avon. You had to think outside the box if you didn’t want to smell like everyone else. Ma Griffe did that for me. People would stop and ask me what I was wearing.
When it became hard to find, I carried a small vial around with me for years to remind myself how much I loved it. My Aunt found some at the closing of a store in NY and sent it to me so I was able to get by a few more years with the good stuff! I recognized the years I purchased most of the different bottles shapes, which helps!
The reformulations changed it into a sharper scent that I wasn’t wild about and my husband hated. I’ve found vintage pre-1970 bottles that gave me an idea what the original scent smelled like and it wasn’t sharp. Today, by accident because someone didn’t know, I received the newest bottle that the woman had posted as vintage on eb*y. It wasn’t vintage (it’s the bottle pictured above) but it sure smells similar to the older formulation! I liked it very much! There is no sharp after tones – just sweet, soft and romantic! Still crazy about it after all these years!!
waq264speagoessenda – :
31 août 1909 – 8 juin 2015
Madame Carven vient de nous quitter.
Nous ne vous oublierons jamais Madame.
Vos parfums nous accompagnerons et un peu de vous aussi au travers de vos créations….
Reposez en paix Madame.
Iris
vodil – :
I have a vintage miniature, and the top notes are probably all spoiled. But when you wait just a few minutes, beautiful dryness, along with bitter greens start to emerge. It’s surely complex, elegant and undoubtedly timeless. The amount of oakmoss in this vintage formulation is what balances out the overall humid white floral garden atmosphere. So it’s a creation of contradiction, the wild untamed nature, versus cold, astringent and dry powdery vibe. It’s about a lady, that has everything in her own grasp, for she lives not to please others but she accepts the world as it is, knowing of her power, but remaining humble.
zaripov60 – :
I have never experienced the original 1940s version as I happened upon it in the 1980s, but I loved it then and still do. The fresh green notes are still there over a chypre heart, but the overall impact on me is of warmth rather than freshness.
Johntheterrible – :
This was a total blind buy and I am so glad I bought it! I love reading everyones takes on all fragrances when I buy something. So way before I write, I’ve read almost all your awesome reviews 🙂 This perfume reminds me of the movie Cool Runnings where the guy says ” I am a bad ass mother who don’t take any crap off of nobody!”. I feel like that’s what this sweet little perfume tells me and I love her gumption. It is pretty and polite so I can wear it just about anywhere but there is something edgy underneath.
sanek21.77 – :
I’ve just been given this by my friend’s aunt, a lovely lady who knows I like perfume. I’d never heard of it and tried it on with trepidation, having read some pretty negative reviews here.
Honestly, I’m delighted. The greenness wasn’t anywhere near as sharp and astringent as I’d expected. I was surprised by how soft it was, including the sillage. My first impression was of a complex, glamorous floral – gardenia and aldehydes, with a spicy undertone. I can’t smell any of the unpleasant things others notice.
Too often I think we wear perfume for others, hoping to be noticed, or to be desired. But this strikes me as a perfume for a self-possessed woman: something you wear just for your own delight. I’m so impressed that Auntie Helen guessed I would like it – I really do!
mr_posssitive – :
This was one of my late mothers favourite perfumes. I remember it as a very special favourite of hers and to me it has always been a fond memory of Mum; seing her in a shantung silk dress, ready to go to a party, putting on Ma Griffe to get in a festive mood.
Ma Griffe then was green, very green and with base note of spices. As I remember it.
Today I was foolish enough to try it in my local beutyshop. Big mistake!
The asafoetida was overwhelming. Actually it made the whole experience really unpleasant. Why reformulate a classic perfume to smell like poo?
I am sorry to say so, but this is one of the worst reformulations I have ever come across.
It coul