Description
Herve Gambs Paris, company known for their beautiful room fragrance, presented their perfume collection Collection Parfums Couture. at TFWA 2013 in Cannes. The new collection includes five fragrances in metal flacons colored in gold: Jardin Prive, Coup de Grace, Hotel Particulier, Rouge Cardinal and Coeur Couronne.
After 25 of work on artistic flower arrangement and luxurious room scents (fragrances and candles), Herve Gambs has boldly stepped into the world of perfumes made from the highest quality ingredients with French perfumers. Perfumers from Grasse Looking helped looking for special raw materials, following “recipes” of traditional French perfumery in order to create the highest quality compositions. Fragrances come in bottles of 100 ml as pure perfume, intended for men and women.
This oriental-chypre perfume is refreshed with irresistible orange blossom in top notes. Lavender and geranium start a story and create an aromatic overture to incense, patchouli and Tonka in the heart. The base of the composition is mysterious and saturated with incense and vanilla scents.
Aleksandr562 – :
The drydown is nice and uncommon, it feels vintage, thick and classy without being old school scent. The opening is not the best part of this scent so be patient and wait a few minutes if you try it. I was thinking of disliking it but it’s good.
You must love patchouli because Cardinal has tones of it and it’s quite to much at the opening. The dominant notes are strong patchouli and strong incense. At the opening it has very strong patchouli then the incrnse take the first place. Lavender and geranium are intensive. The last one gives to the blend a nice brightness, a happy vibe among the dark and austere vibe of the dominant incense/patchouli combo. Vanilla is somewhere at the background along with orange blossom. They exist only to support the blend. Only at the final stage I can get noticeable tonka beans.
It is long lasting with moderate sillage. Overall it feels totally unisex and safe if you love patchouli. Suitable for cool weather, fall, early spring and winter.
This could be the scent for Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones. Or the scent of a mysterious and powerful Cardinal who keeps big secreets. If it was a movie, it would be the DaVinci Code.
If you like smoky patchouli with a faint sub-sweet vibe at the background, give it a try. This is not a sweet scent though.
Mr.Alex – :
Patchouli, incense, chili peppers, & lavender.
I can sense the powerful incense mingled with the patchouli, and i guess the rouge lipstick, or the rouge is interpreted by the red chilies and it shows it’s flame quite clear. However, I really wonder where are the flowers & sweetness other comments are talking about! It’s just pure incense with an extreme doses of patchouli & chilies beside some lavender for the powdery look alike effect!
I really don’t know now! as i am sweating from that chilies! it’s fine but too peppery hot for my taste.
bigmen1974 – :
A fragrance that knows ancient…elegant! The strong note of incense is evident in the pyramid from the beginning to the end, but not a church incense or other, but an incense made soft and dusty thanks also to the orange flowers and patchouli I suppose! The drydown is very nice, in the distance I feel vanilla and tonka,but lightly! I like this perfume!!!
Sillage: 7./10
Longevity: 8.5/10
Scent: 8./10
Overall: 8.5/10
1234567 – :
Oh my!, this one is really cool, an amazing modern chypre with an extra charge of patchouli, with sweet flowers and a long sillage of powdery “elegance” ! Really a beautiful composition, I’m definitely going to get a bottle of this.
PS- Quite similar to its brother HOTEL PARTICULIER, ‘though HP is slightly sweeter and more powdery to my nose.
appatiduatulk – :
On my skin this is a sweet patchouli pleasure in a bottle! Dark and mysterious. Balsamic and spicy, but soft and warm at the same time. It opens beautifully on womens as well as on mens skin. Very wearable, very unisex. And it smells gorgeous on leather clothes! 😉 Rouge Cardinal is a long lasting fragrance with a moderate sillage.