Nuit de Tubéreuse (L'Artisan Parfumeur)

By Andrew

Nuit de Tubéreuse may just represent the most disappointing work that Bertrand Duchaufour has done for L’Artisan Parfumeur to date. It launches on a piquant pink peppercorn, citrus, and cardamom accord that recalls his earlier Magnolia Romana, but with tuberose in place of the previous scent’s perky green floral notes. It’s an engaging accord while it lasts – which is all of about ten minutes. What comes after that is nearly indistinguishable from Etat Libre d’Orange’s abrasively synthetic-smelling Vierges & Toreros. All those enticing notes in L’Artisan’s pyramid are overwhelmed by the same nasty pencil-shavings-on-steroids base note that ruins Vierges & Toreros for me. Too bad – on paper the composition looks pretty exciting. On me it smells like one crude, grating “woody” aromachemical.

Nuit de Tubéreuse smells interesting for much longer on a test strip than it does on my skin, since the perky top notes and the tuberose hold out far longer against the obnoxious imitation wood. Since the synthetic woody foundation will be comfortably familiar to any man who’s worn a cheap “sport” fragrance, Nuit de Tubéreuse could play as a convincingly unisex take on its traditionally “ultra-feminine” title note. Ironically, this echo of masculine perfumery’s most banal cliché may also leave Nuit de Tubéreuse smelling much more interesting, original, and bold to women than to seasoned male fragrance lovers. Meanwhile ladies, I suggest you save yourselves the trouble and layer a tiny dab of Fracas with a big splash of something like Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue pour Homme. When I want tuberose, I’ll skip Nuit de Tubéreuse’s clumsy “wood” fake moustache and wear Tubéreuse Criminelle or Canal Flower.

Year: 2010
Nose: Bertrand Duchaufour
Notes (from the L’Artisan Parfumeur web site): Cardamom, clove absolute, pink berries, pepper, citrus, tuberose, orange blossom, ylang-ylang, rose, mango, angelica, gorse, palisander, sandalwood, musk, benzoin, styrax