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vimfdd – :
Feral vegetal. Would perfectly suit Princess Mononoke riding her wolf siblings through the forest. Shocked me the first time, liked it the second—as so often happens with greens, there’s a getting-to-know you phase.
The opening is strong, bitter and dusty-spicy with the artemisia, chrysanthemum, marigold and mint notes. There’s milky sap alongside the green, reminding me of the time I took a natural history pamphlet too literally: on a walk through a Maine meadow, I crushed milkweed leaves against my arms as an improvised sunscreen.
After the opening roar, there’s a distinct sweetening (rose and ylang?), and the carnation comes in on a bed of cool orris dirt. The drydown is similar to Bandit but more user-friendly, lacking the industrial vibe and staying in nature.
I received a compliment from a customer when I layered Niki with some dabs of Papillon Tobacco Rose. Something about it was deeply familiar to her, though she assumed I was wearing Tom Ford. That seems to sum up Niki—weird but compelling, lodged somewhere in the collective unconscious.
Танита – :
Just got my new 30 ml splash bottle, courtesy of a guest newly arrived from the States. I didn’t have high hopes for it since it’s not the vintage and my last bottle (the 60 ml.vapo-spray)that I had for well over a decade was already a reformulation.
This new bottle does smell fresher though and the notes have more definition, AND it has the colorful snakes on it. Looks gorgeous on my dresser.
I haven’t been without Niki since it first came out 35 years ago but I only just realized that the dry down, after a good 4-5 hours, strongly recalls Halston Classic- (another old love of mine, pre-reformulation). Indeed I just checked the notes and there is a very extensive overlap. I don’t get much leather, if any, in this version of Niki. Maybe that’s why it recalls Halston now. The oakmoss predominates now in both.
батон – :
I found a really good deal on one of the horoscope 2oz bottles. It wasn’t my “sign” but it was cheap and these bottles comes with a spray! WAHOOOOOO!
Strange, the box/bottle doesn’t say EDT. I’m assuming it is. It smells exactly like regular Niki. Except, call me crazy– but one squirt on a tissue has HUGE sillage. Dare I say– much more sillage than any of the splash EDTs. Perhaps it’s the amount of liquid that comes out the sprayer? Anyways, I’m STOKED to have a spray bottle now.
I’ve previously put my Niki splashes in atomizers, but now I’ll just refill these 2oz bottles. Too bad it’s not my sign tho. Haha.
I also put my Niki bath oil in an atomizer, and it still sprays/works despite being oil. The bath oil is thicker and has this “doughy” aspect to it. So the bath oil smells a bit diff than the EDT.
I also have a mini vintage, and honestly– I can’t really find a difference in smell.
Gawd, I love this. Minty greeny piney fresh soapy woody earthy. Sublime.
I get a lot of mint in this version, which I wasn’t sure I’d like/want. But I do. I love! Minty pine!
dakota2208 – :
This was not good for me, in any way or shape . I had a splash bottle that I received a a gift . This just smelled like any other inexpensive splash fragrance that had turned bad , to me . The bottle was a newer formulation and was apparently new stock , it just wasn’t good, and there were no decipherable notes . Maybe I got a bad bottle, but I won’t bother trying again.
17yasha17 – :
I have a vintage miniature. This has the aura of a classic and well made perfume. It’s my first wear so I have yet to decipher it. Although I have not knowingly encountered its scent before, I have a strong feeling of being taken way back in time; perhaps to the 1970’s although I note this wasn’t launched until the eighties. I associate very different scents to this with that decade. This is a real hit of Oakmoss which is lovely as, living in the EU our perfumes have been stripped of their inky intensity. Of this type of perfume, the mood evoked is similar to that when I wear Miss Dior (Original), Empreiente, Aliage, Gucci No. 1 and Jean-Louis Scherrer, Givenchy III maybe. For me personally, it’s a more prominent carnation note that is the difference between a perfume smelling Vintage or ‘of it’s time’ as compared with ‘timeless’. I need to be in a specific mood to wear a scent that evokes the past.
dimon_chic – :
A leather, chypre and vetiver mix. I do not remember this from when it was released. A bit too dry for me but it may be better when tested again in cold weather
Xpan – :
My best friend in high school bought me a spray bottle of EDT (early 80s) right after my tiny sample had run out, saying, “I had to get it for you because it’s so weird. Like you.” Intelligent and observant as well as generous, that one. 🙂
We both loved the cobalt blue glass bottle, the golden cap with embossed intertwined snakes…even the ads were magnificent.
Not for conformists, conservatives, nor the faint of heart, this scent literally turned the heads of admirers, the curious, and the frightened. 15/16-y-old strawberry blonde Michigan girls certainly weren’t supposed to smell like THAT!
Niki de Saint Phalle is sharp and sweet, light and deep, cool and warm, bright and dark, and all at once. A sweet smile, a rather intimidating glance; a light touch, a profound sexiness. Green, floral, but with a heavy and spicy base. It’s simultaneously lighthearted, mysterious, innocent, and sophisticated. It is many things, but it is never submissive: this is for a woman with an independent mind.
Only an artist – or alchemist – could create a smooth blending of such diverse elements and make it work. It worked well enough it convinced a miserable punkly teenager at least one more human out there understood her, and they made this perfume. (I have neither owned nor smelled any reformulations.) It lent an enormous amount of moral support and confidence.
Wear this for dancing in a meadow, whilst examining those avant garde paintings you’ve considered for your modern Parisian penthouse, or beret and bongos at a coffeehouse. Yeah!
gky968InsuffBooni – :
Vintage smelling greens/woods/chypres are my obsession, and I happened upon this page– I have never heard of this?!
I read the reviews, and went right to Fragrancenet to buy a 2 oz bottle.
Mmmmm… this is good. GREEN, but soapy, earthy, and woody. I don’t get any mint (good). I get the “pine” like green but it’s so well blended and smooth overall. A little bit of every note put together so well. Along the same lines as Bandit IMO. I just love how it’s still clean/fresh but green ‘n dirty. Good stuff! Totally unisex. Compared to vintage femininity like Miss Dior, Intimate, Bandit, Aliage, Animale, Dioressence, Charlie, etc… this is very feminine. But compared to today’s opinions– this is masculine. So anyone who wants should wear this! 🙂
This must be a recent formula, it’s not very potent (edt). But I def love it! I went over to ebay to check out the other products, and I’m beyond stoked that I got a 100ml bath oil for $25. I hope it’s the kind of bath oil that doubles as a skin perfume! (I have Youth Dew bath oil and prefer that as a perfume)
Any have experience with Niki bath oil?
Update: 3 hours later, this EDT on skin is still going! Only I get a light velvety spicy/wood/patch. I’m going to decant this into a spray when I get home and GO NUTS! I love this!
smertn1k.san – :
A tale of two perfumes; it was the best of scents, it was the worst of scents (you get the idea). Niki de Saint Phalle wears very strangely on me; two entirely different scents exist within the perfume, simultaneously. One is amazing and beautiful and would easily hold a spot among my loves (and, in fact, did for several weeks), the other is blah and headache inducing and would surely place it firmly in dislikes). So is it the temperature? Do I just have to be careful about when I wear this? Sadly, no; this is where the strangeness arises; they are both present in each wearing.
The scent I love is at the skin; rich, green, and EARTHy. Oakmoss. Artfully cut with dashes of licorice and mint and all rounded and grounded out in woody resins. It is truly one of the most beautiful “brown” scents I’ve ever smelled (beautiful, earth-toned brown; richness and comforting nature). All the loveliness of a secluded cabin in the woods.
And then there’s the scent in the sillage; painfully dry, powdery musk. This is thrown off in wafts. It took a few wears to realize what was happening because I was so enamoured of the “wrist crack” I couldn’t fathom where the other scent was coming from. (It’s different enough from the other aspect that I didn’t immediately connect them). A colleague commented that it smelled like a container of Lysol wipes was open somewhere. It’s actually headache inducing. I’m sure that this thrown scent is a difficulty of my own chemistry; powdery effects are one of my scent nemeses (and the reason I can’t wear Shalimar.)
If only the two scent profiles were reversed, icky at the skin but beautiful in the sillage, I’d wear this scent with abandon. Sadly, I will ultimately not wear it at all.
dmpavel – :
My husband and I are hanging out on the deck, drinking wine and taking in the cool fall air. Niki D smells like the mountains and turning leaves…it’s perfect right now.
The EDT starts out with pine, mint and rose. Then there’s the creamy, soapy era and then there’s secondhand smoke…outdoors with a little breeze.
It’s amazing. Not for wallflowers.
karkushaAA – :
I received a lot of vintage, first edition (1982) NdSP products for my birthday. When I first opened each of the bottles, it seemed that the juices inside had turned.
Epic sadness.
So I left the bottles open overnight and, while they were open, every couple of hours I would close each bottle and turn the bottle to blend the air into the fluid before reopening the bottle to continue to rest open. I then let them sit in my collection (which is kept very cool and is only ever exposed to artificial light).
Now I’m wearing several drops of the parfum and am finally reliving the rich, mysterious, to my nose unisex glorious beauty that made me fall in love with perfume as a child (not yet a teen).
I thought I had an allergy to oakmoss but that must not be the case; the oakmoss is prominent here, gorgeous, earthy, dark-green and deep, and I have no headache or asthmatic response which is awesome.
The furry musk and smooth suede give it this composition a playful, dirty-sexy vibe that takes me further down the rabbit hole. NdSP is luxurious, rich, complex, elegant, beautiful! This is sophistication in a bottle.
I prefer the parfum to the EDT but plan on seeing how the new releases compare to the first edition.
Now, although I admit to being insane, to my nose/ mind, Tommy Hilfiger’s TH Bold is similar in complexity, depth, body, unisex earthy-foresty goodness although not nearly as dark-green as NdSP.
malkov76 – :
Wow, I didn’t know that this still existed, or that anyone remembered it… I have a vintage bottle with the entwined snakes that I have had for years, and it is still fresh and new. Heavy come-hither licorice-like scent with a floral backdrop. Very old world and appealing.
fkfk777 – :
Well, after years of wearing and sampling many other perfumes (and coming to appreciate quite a few), I just have to give in and say: It will ALWAYS be Niki de Saint Phalle for me! Even with the ingredient meddling by the IFF, it still manages to be so versatile, many-faceted, and pure magic to wear. There are other perfumes that come close, but my heart belongs to Niki!
Recently I noticed there’s a new? line of perfumes ‘by’? Niki de Saint Phalle, called Zodiac Eau Defendu, one perfume for each Zodiac sign. I’ve searched for descriptions, and found none!
So, I’s asking the Fragrantica family for help: what can these undiscovered gems smell like? Etc! Thanks, All.
biappyhal – :
I had tried and loved this one way back when it came out, and loved it. And of course, back then….young and dumb….lol….the bottles we my main infatuation, probably…lol. However, I ignored this one, after finishing a small .085 oz spray, and never re-purchased it. But it was on my mind alot….memories. Well, I received my 2 oz round blue Zodiac spray bottle today.
I was scared that it would be a horrible re-form mess.
I can tell it is a true vintage bottle due to what came in the box with the bottle. A beigey leaflet that show images and descriptions of the whole line,,,,lotion, gel, powder, soaps…edp & parfum and the variations of the bottle styles….wow….surprised. I spritzed my left arm….and I waited patiently…to discover the scent again. It does smell “different to me, but only because I first wore it 30 years ago…OMG !!!…so I know I have changed as well as my chemistry and psyhology. Right ???…. I am still really liking the scent…ahhhh…nostalgia…I do gey the herbal light chypre/flora vibe….and soapiness, yes, but this one is a “senses soother” for me, so I will keep this as my fond memories of times past….and revel in it !!
Now that I know the house of Guerlain pretty well, I would say NdeSP is very Guerlainade-ish to my nose…making me a quite happy person !!! Cheers Niki !! And thanks for the memories.
hrom29 – :
I don’t know what bush I was living under in the ’70s but I just don’t remember this, perhaps it wasn’t shipped to the colonies, so those of us living in Australia missed out. At least I did, so I cannot compare the new to the old, I can only comment on the new.
Yes it’s in the ’70’s style, reminds me of the Molyneux perfumes, maybe Vivre? It’s soft and woody, and seems to have a touch of citrus to balance the heaviness of the leathery wood. In any case, I do like it, and would recommend it.
It’s definitely not an old lady style person to those younger readers who are terrified of ’70’s fragrances and think they’ll turn into Miss Havisham.
Painkiller333 – :
I had a small vintage bottle of EDT. It wasn’t particularly pleasant. It smelled like a musty library and did nothing for me. I’m reading EDP is better.
Lohengrin – :
Reminds me of Halston Halston Classic for women. Lovely unisex beauty. Just wish longevity was better (only 2 hours on my skin).
yucca – :
Typical woody chypre
kosoj458 – :
I was rummaging through my vintage stuff and stumbled on Niki. This was my signature frag for YEARS. I don’t remember why I stopped wearing it. It did disappear for a time. Anyway, this is such a wonderful scent. Green w/o being too herby, grassy, or lettuce-y, all of which I hate and the aldehyde is not too bitter (which I also hate). There is some sweetness in it, which balances the above-mentioned beautifully.
Someone compared this to Knowing and L’Arte di Gucci. I have both those lovely scents. Knowing is much stronger and harsher than Niki. I think L’AdG is closer, but Niki is softer.
Anyway, I’m very glad I found this. I think I will buy another bottle … OMG, I hope to goodness it hasn’t be reformulated! Please tell me it hasn’t been reformulated …
JIox – :
I got so lucky and found this bottle at the local thrift store with about 75% still left in it. It looks like it’s an original 1982 bottle but I can’t tell because there’s obviously no date on it. It is the oval shaped bottle with the intertwining snakes on it and the artwork is beautiful. I love the cobalt blue of the bottle. Now onto the scent, all I can say is that it’s vintage in a very charming way. It was very warm in the thrift store yet the smell didn’t seem overwhelming so I think that it can still be worn for spring but I would definitely recommend it as a nighttime fragrance. Unfortunately it didn’t have a price sticker on it and my local thrift store usually will not sell something if they have not priced it yet.I pouted my lip out and ask them if they could please price it in comparison to some of their other perfumes and they said they’d sell it to me for $2.99. So I got a very good steal! It’s a beautiful scent it was made the year I was born and for no other reason than that I love it. The smell wins me over.
ASASINS204 – :
A soft, supremely well-blended fragrance, what I smell is mainly oakmoss, supported around the edges by a very tender marigold, warmed grass, and hay. This is HEAVEN. I usually love oakmoss for the sharp, pungent depth it gives my favorite chypres, but the oakmoss in Niki de Saint Phalle is something else — a dreamy, pillowy, sunlit mossy green breeze that I just want to float in. I have the round cobalt blue mini with the intertwining snakes, and have just ordered a 4oz bottle of EdT in the same design. I never, ever want to be without this soft, strange beauty, for the rest of my life.
P.S. I’ve just layered this with L’Artisan’s Timbuktu, and I think I’ve just found my summer holy grail.
igor114 – :
Along time ago in a galaxy far, far, away I picked this up and spritzed. I was horrified and ran and washed it off. Fast forward thirty years, I remember my reaction and ordered a decant of the edt just for fun and remembrance. Time really changes things, cause I think this could be a contender for a signature scent. It’s a masterpiece. I adore the oakmoss which has always been one of my favorite notes and ahh the green notes. Well I will no longer be without this beaut. No matter that it took a long time the wait makes it that much sweeter. Does anyone know what the parfum smells like?
tyd854elipseskism – :
This perfume reminds me of a sophisticated confident woman who keeps her secrets to herself. There is an air of mystery about her as she goes about her activities.
Truthfully, years ago, I was repelled by the artwork, entwined snakes on cobalt mini bottle. I just did not have Fragrantica reviews to help me understand this dark green mossy composition. My thanks to a Fragrantican friend who sent me an almost full bottle. I love it.
sanja651 – :
Thank you Luna Rebel for your review clarifying the difference between the versions. Based on your info, I’m pretty sure I have the EDT. I received this in a swap and the label was too smudged to read. There was about an hour of this horrible choking powdery note. I was too lazy to scrub and I’m glad because now I get the pine-y oak moss-y goodness in the base.
Very nice.
lommaxyCoca – :
Interesting flacon, but has a gaseous, rotten odor after it dries down, sort of kept me wondering, “what’s that funny smell? I hope it isn’t me.” I gave up with this perfume years ago — shortly after it came out.
etb211bedyWelty – :
This is one of the hardest reviews to write in years. As an admirer and collector of several old school chypres, this one fails me. I obtained a vintage bottle and was somewhat anticipating a nice alternative to Halston or Ivoire.
I gave a spray on a tissue and it seemed safe enough. Then I braved my wrist and it became a disaster! I love green notes, yet there is this bitter artemesia that dominates the entire composition in the worst possible way. I generally love rose and leather and wear them contentedly. This leather is like a blue handbag that hits you in the head making you see stars.
The rose is soapy and out of context. It reminds me of the rose that used to scent toilet paper in the 1970s. The drydown sustains these notes and makes it a scrubber.
I had to use Clorox to remove it from my skin. I can imagine a dominatrix wearing this as it is more painful than any of her torture devices. Sorry fans. I will say it-this is the worst vintage I have ever encountered. Evident, that older is not always better.
razor_troy – :
I love this scent but it gives me a horrid headache unfortunately. Beautiful woodsy fragrance. Subtly sweet and a very intimidating fragrance. I had to grudgingly give this one away. Stunning bottle too.
demin2336 – :
To me untrained nose it is green and powdery, and the dry down is very much like Dove soap..
eon694intitytek – :
I just splurged and ordered a new (old) bottle of this, after the bottle and name caught my eye and I read just about every review on here, I clicked around all my usual ‘fume sites until landing on the ‘Bay. Scrolled down a few and not only was it an old, unopened bottle, but the special Zodiac edition Eau Defendue spray – IN THE “CAT” VERSION! IT MUST BE PERFUME FATE! (I am most certainly a crazy cat lady, and a Leo.)
I have a soft spot for chypres, the greener and mossy-er the better — and I’ve recently begun to discover that contrary to my expectations, I dig on leather accords as well. I found my recent acquisition of Mitsouko to be a disappointment, it’s just ~okay~ from what I can gather. It’s a vintage EDT and I spent the entire first two days thinking maybe I got a bad bottle or was anosmic, I could barely smell anything! Now I get faint shadows of scent, but barely enough to really fall in love as I was hoping. My fault I suppose, for going for the less expensive EDT. I couldn’t find for sure whether the Eau Defendue/Zodiac version of NdSP is EDT or EDP, I’m just hoping to be pleasantly surprised. In any case, I am dying for the beautiful bottle, now I can get rid of my gnarly Katy Perry Purr and Meow that I really only own just to have a cat represented on my perfume tray. (Anyone interested, PM me.)
Thank you all for your reviews (good and bad), I tend to be more intrigued by the more uncertain or negative ones I read, and I’m literally bursting with excitement to try NdSP! I can’t wait to smell like a mossy old book, left forgotten in an enchanted forest. I’ll update once she settles into her new home.
UPDATE 3/2015: Perfection! Dark and mysterious spicy woodsy mossy heaven. Earthier than my beloved Coriandre but reminiscent of all of my favorite things about that scent. Projection/sillage and longevity are moderate, probably to the benefit of those around me as I tend to overspray my favorites.
ikoss – :
Niki de St. Phalle is a woman who does not take herself too seriously. She is still in touch with her inner child and thus the whimsical notes of orris root which smell more like violets and pixy stix grape flavor candy on me. Interesting without trying too hard. The leather notes come out in the initial spritz and then fade out to a sweet violet candy. She invites others to play…
Addition to comments: After playing with NDSP I am entranced by what is really a very complex composition. It is a fragrance that cannot be completely discerned at first instance…The green woody chypre can be detected by smelling the whole bottle–the forest so to speak. In that forest you can then linger on what entices you the most, be it the moss on the ground or a meadow of wild violets. The powder is very prominent as well, a princess is lost in the forest and is enjoying the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves of the trees.
ARchEr.Tek – :
I started wearing this in the 80’s, I just immediately loved how strange it was, strong and yet really lovely.
for a time, it was very hard to find, I looked for a substitute, something similar and was recommended to try Ivoire De Balmain, which was nice enough, but no, not a satisfactory replacement. then someone said, try Cabotine de Gres. and that is also not enough like Niki to please me.
now I am able to find it again and am so relieved.
there really is nothing else like this.
hard to describe objectively.
cool refreshing and complex.
greerfent – :
So excited to try the EDT, so baffled after I did. This is not my cup of tea. All I smell is cloying sweetness. I can’t get rid off this smell in my nose. Maybe the EDP is much better for me? Or should I be more patient and wait. Until lady artist Niki de Saint Phalle shows me her real face. I strongly hope she does.
Edit: Unfortunately she didn’t. At least not to me 🙁
vasilii040938 – :
If you like Knowing and L’Arte di Gucci you will appreciate this one. Very potent.
Solyaris090492301066 – :
Intriguing, sensual, moody.
This brought out that crazy sour note on my body that makes me wonder what in the world I eat or do that causes that to happen! I wanted to love this. I am GAH-GAH over the blue bottle. It is a collectors item in itself. Very Parisian and artsy looking.
I do sort of grasp the Olympic Rainforest comparision. I lived in the Olympic Rainforest on the WA peninsula.
It often smells of dank, dark earth, moss, mushrooms, saltwater, low tide, musk/civet from all of the racoon & skunk spray, black-berries, oak, cedar, resins, mercury/metal. It makes sense and all of the elements combine into a lush woodsy masterpiece that just didn’t work on my skin.
If you like this, try Avon’s Mesmerize…they are perfume parallels in more ways than not.
FreertRapsese – :
Unique…. a lovely masterpiece.
redgrin777 – :
grayspoole and Joshua CB – “Deep, somber and lovely” and an olfactory version of “Nocturnal Me” are dead on.
This one doesn’t get worn much by me down here in Texas. This is a nighttime perfume – deep, dark night in the deep, dark woods. It’s also for winter, and sometimes for Fall if it’s not too warm. This is a 40f and below fragrance. It’s just so heavy, like putting on a cloak before stepping out into the moonlit world. Deepest evergreens, moss, old and wise, and yet something very warm and alive and feminine quickening under the surface. Like the future promise of Spring as the evergreens stand there alone, waiting and waiting and remembering. I love it.
The best way I can describe it is this: I picture myself on a moonlit path at the edge of a wood. I’m very small against the trees. I have a mission to accomplish of great importance – gathering herbs, or maybe just getting to the other side, as that is no small thing in and of itself. It’s a magical place full of hidden beauty, but also the promise of beasts and pitfalls and other unseen dangers. To go into the woods means being ready to face whatever comes into the path and charm it, outwit it, fight it if need be. But the myriad wonders of this place await you as well, if you’re heroic enough to make the journey. I only wear this one on the cold nights when the wind howls and I’m feeling particularly heroic. It’s always rewarding.
myncgrikirm – :
I am wearing the Eau Defendue in the round zodiac bottle, and I am loving this beautiful scent. The mossy green notes, bitter wormwood, and fresh cedar are tempered by some light flowers and just a drop of sweetness. I do not perceive the presence of either rose or leather in this perfume, and those are two of my favorite perfume notes. If you like chypres, you might enjoy this, It isn’t weird or medicinal, bitter or bone dry, just deep, somber, and lovely.
Medkz390Bessinepome – :
I would probably have loved Niki de Saint Phalle if it wasn’t for my nemesis the leather.
I love everything about the lush opening, the grassy patchouli, the carnation, the woods and the light touch of fruits. But then after a little time it arrives with it’s sharp, sour and inevitable strenght.
After it’s arrival I can only smell green leather eventhough it softens after some time. I have the same experience with many adorable fragrances that I had to sell or give away: La Nuit, L’Arte di Gucci, Chanel no 19 extrait and so on. The leather simply outrivals all other notes. So for that reason Niki de Saint Phalle not going to end up in my wardrobe.
Стас Ш. – :
Niki de Saint Phalle, Niki de Saint Phalle vintage EDT
I once had an instructor say that all good art should elicit an emotional response. It doesn’t matter if it’s a positive emotion like awe or acceptance, or a negative emotion like fear or hate. Art that has an emotional impact is good art. Personally, really beautiful art, art that is painfully beautiful, makes me weep.
Niki de Saint Phalle is among the best of the best. I acquired a vintage EDT in a blind swap; knowing nothing about the fragrance nor the designer except that it had a cult following and that it was vintage, which was enough to make me want it. I really had no idea what was in store for me.
This fragrance is so beautiful I want to weep. I cannot believe this fragrance hadn’t crossed my path before. It’s so unbelievably green and lush, but also vibrant and unbelievably colorful. On my skin, the carnation arrived first wrapped in green and mint. The heart was a perfectly blended leather, cedar, artemisia and orris with a hint of fruit. The drydown was sandalwood and a mossy green with amber.
Years ago, I went to Niki’s sculptural garden Queen Califa’s Magical Circle. At that time I knew nothing about the artist, not even the name of the park, but I knew I had never seen such beautiful structural mosaic before! The pieces were so colorful and whimsical that I remember them clearly to this day. Now that I’ve worn this fragrance and I’ve experienced her beautiful mosaic sculpture in the park, it all makes perfect sense! This fragrance really is a liquid interpretation of those glittering vibrant joyful mosaics. Niki received the artistic equivalent of the Nobel Peace Prize in art, and what she created in tile, mirror, and concrete, she has recreated in fragrance. This is absolutely exquisite.
SityHunter – :
Just got a new vintage edt bottle, little strange green start for a minute with powdery drydown, long lasting, easy to ware, nothing scary there, however i swaped it shortly after, waiting now to try a new perfume from Spain.
Wassallela – :
Master piece one.Very good unusual.I love green note from one.it has a character, I’m man but it’s good smell on me,and long lasting too.Bottle is good design I love to wear.Try it.
warlock6120 – :
This was definitely love at first sniff! I bought it when I was 16 or 17 and ever since I have loved it, adored it, dreamed about it!
A mystic and sophisticated scent and very spicy.
Love it so much!
Though it may not be my all time favourite it’s one of the best fragrancies I know of. A scent I can’t do without. Lovely with a huge personality and even more so in the winter with snow outside … it kind of brings the scent to life when it’s cold and damp …
Another masterpiece – special and unforgettable!
Goodzon – :
I am a lover of green fragrances but Niki has never been one of my favorites. I had two bottles back in the mid 80’s. One was EDT and the other is the fabulous dual snakes parfum bottle, which I still have. I never finished the EDT but gave it away.
I liked so many things about this fragrance, it had so much going for it, particularly the leather, sandalwood,mint and carnation. What I think ruined it for me was the funky Artemisia.I do remember that the mint was very prevalent from start to finish. It’s been a long time since I have smelled this fragrance on someone else. Nor have I ever smelled any of the newer formulations. It may no longer contain Artemisia.
allex13 – :
maybe a bit too masculine a bit too medicinal ..earthy dusty heavy..a greenish note..it reminds me of au de soir..a mature cent
i just retested this beautiful hidden old school gem..a long lasting deep perfume..
i found myself appreciating it more and more it has a hidden beauty a mysterious woodsy oriental opulent side perfect for layering ..i was wearing amuge jubilation and sprayed niki and omg it was a sudden beautiful blast of beauty..
those who like drier perfumes such as au de soir or gress or pier balmain ivorie will like this ..
edt 100 ml
perfume ratting 4 out 5
bottle ratting 4.3 out 5
my own personal liking 3.4 out 5
sporher – :
Such a strong stuff! Too mature for me, sorry but i can’t stand it!
Nikolashka – :
There was something almost cursed about my attempts to own and wear N de St. Phalle. Two different vintage parfums came to me spilled. Many small bottles found at flea markets of the edt smell like nothing at all or else were turned. When able to dig up a precious drop, I did note that the vintage version has a rich leather and amazingly complex herbal and greenhouse quality: very witchy potion and apothecary stuff. At last I was able to find one of the ‘eau défendue’ series (does that mean ‘water of protection?’) which is not quite vintage but one of the earlier less watered down reformulations, or so consensus says. I can finally wear this enough to get a real impression of the edt.
This incarnation is soapier and greener than the original. Clean but tinged by madness: like someone very engaging with OCD. Lingers forever. Ca