Olibere Les Insoumises Collection: Le Jardin De Madame Chan

The house of Olibere Paris introduced the Les Insoumises Collection in 2018, four eau de parfums based on iconic movie heroines. It was the lovely graphics on the box and bottle that first attracted me to these scents. Yes, I am one of those people swayed by the label on the wine bottle. Today I am  reviewing  Le Jardin De Madame Chan, and it references, of course, the movie In The Mood For Love from the year 2000. This was a much lauded film, and not since the scene in The Age of Innocence where Daniel Day-Lewis unbuttons Countess Olenska's glove (played by Michelle Pfeiffer) and kisses the pale sliver of revealed skin, have we seen such furtive glances, accidental touches, and restrained longing.

Marjorie Olibere is the brand founder and she is inspired by films, be it their fantastic locations, iconic heroines, or revered movies. "Cinema and perfume feed my life with equal passion," she states on the Olibere website. Luca Maffei is the perfumer for all the fragrances in this collection. 

Photo wwwOlibere.com, Les Insoumises Collection

In The Mood For Love is based in 1960s Hong Kong. Two couples, the Chows and the Chans, move into a crowded boarding house. Mr. Chow and Madame Chan become friends as their spouses are often away, and in their loneliness they turn to each other. They discover their spouses betrayal but vow to fight their growing attraction, as they don't want to be like their unfaithful mates. Madame Chan is played by Maggie Cheung, and an unattributed star of the movie are the gorgeous cheongsams she wears throughout the film. I lived in Singapore for over a decade and would see these dresses hanging in designer shops, where they would be carefully fitted to hug the wearer's figure, which had better be good because cheongsams are not forgiving! I longed to buy one, but it is a truth universally acknowledged that a blonde firangi is never going to look as beautifully at home in this outfit as our Asian sisters. They are made for swan like necks, willowy-boned bodies, and dark hair to contrast with the beautiful floral patterns. 

Maggie Cheung in In the Mood for Love, Google image.

The opening notes of Le Jardin De Madame Chan are bergamot, coriander, and geranium. I smell the sharp bergamot and the dry geranium briefly, but the ylang ylang comes in quickly on my skin. The heart notes are ylang ylang, rose, and jasmine. Here the ylang ylang with its exotic and sligtly fruity scent is the star. On my skin its most overwhelming characteristic is a powder note. I always find ylang ylang to be powdery, but it is not the scent of baby powder or makeup-like rice powder. It is more akin to the powder aspects of a carnation but without the scent of carnation itself, although I do find the clove note often found in carnation-based perfumes to be present. It is heady and slightly sweet and blends well with a very subdued jasmine note. The rose note is very light and drifts in and out during the wear of the perfume, as if on a breeze. It adds a lilt and delicacy.

Base notes are patchouli, peru balsam, sandalwood, vanilla, and musk. The powdery ylang ylang is the most prominent note on me, and then eventually light vanilla, balsam, and musk. Le Jardin De Madame Chan is lighter than I first expected, but after wearing it a couple of times and thinking about the character of Madame Chan, I think it is a good representation. 

In The Mood For Love, Google image.

This is not a big perfume on me; it is muted and plays out in soft sepia tones. This fits the reflective and soft spirit of Madame Chan and the gentle yet passionate nature of this love story as it plays out. In this pandemic era I have discovered a new found appreciation for softer, non-demanding scents that surround me with lovely gentle fragrance but don't command too much attention. Olibere states it as a mission to represent French perfumery traditions and this fragrance is an example of that attitude. I enjoyed wearing Le Jardin De Madame Chan, and as an added bonus I found that when it came time to go to sleep, the powder-soft florals and fuzzy musk were the perfect accompaniment to my rest.

I will look at the rest of the perfumes from this line in the next few days.

NOT PERFUME RELATED

In the spirit of acknowledging the cinematic origins and inspirations of Olibere's Les Insoumises Collection, I am providing a couple of links that I found interesting in regard to dissecting In The Mood For Love from a film critic's aspect. It appealed to the inner nerd in me who took film appreciation courses at university.

Here is "frames within frames". 

And here is a study of all the beautiful cheonsams that Madame Chan wears in the film.

Top photo from Olibere website. Thanks to youtube.com for videos. I purchased the sample myself from Olibere Paris.