Even if you love heady florals, it may be best if you first try a sample, ideally for the vintage version. That Fracas is…. well, if you love it, words simply can’t do it justice. And, if you hate it, words can’t seem to convey the full depth of the fear or revulsion. Either way, one thing is undeniable: it is a legend which set the standard for all white florals which followed. I’m hesitant to give one of my usually detailed, hour-by-hour breakdowns for Fracas. Some masterpieces can’t be dissected. And, in all honesty, I couldn’t even hope to sum up its key elements as well as that quote by Chandler Burr just did. But there is also something else: Fracas is such a magnificently blended perfume that the notes often merge together in perfect unity to create a strong, buttery, indolic, narcotically heady “sum total.” It is a symphony of buttery, creamy white, even though there are things that cut through the richness, like the green vetiver and the airy, spring-like, green lily-of-the-valley and hyacinth.

bottles of Amarige? Oh my! I really hope you love it. I’m a bit confused as to what you meant when you said, “I just read what is the difference between the fragrances?” Did you mean that you did read about the difference or are you asking me?You can read about more fantastic tuberose perfumes here: Frederic Malle Carnal Flower and Gucci Bloom. At first blast, Fracas is sweet—but not cheap or candy-sweet like the mass perfumes of the last two decades. This is the sweetness of seduction. It has a darkness to it, though it’s not heavy; and the more it develops on skin, the more it feels alive and blooming. Put simply, Fracas is a tuberose bomb—a powerful, lush, heady white floral with a narcotic undertow—but Cellier’s genius was in the way that she couched the polarizing flower in other notes to make it three-dimensional, round, and soft. Bergamot and orange blossom top notes give it a freshness; a whisper of peach makes it creamy; cedar, musk, and sandalwood in the base add warmth. The composition has the effect of being confronted with a bouquet of flowers, but also of pressing your nose against salty skin. The ingredients are simple, but the mystique is undefinable. Cellier was] the creator of a striking style. ‘She transposed Fauvism and Abstractionism into perfume,’ Jeannine Mongin has written. ‘She created in dissonance.’… It is possible that the secret of Fracas (1948) is an equilibrium between the power of Cellier’s style and the power of tuberose. Fracas opens with dazzling bergamot and wonderfully indolic, luminous orange blossom. As much as Fracas may be known for being the Queen of Tuberoses, she could also be considered as an orange blossom too. It’s this coalition of tuberose and orange blossom that sets Fracas apart from the crowd. Yes she’s the Queen of Tuberoses but I think she would also stand a good chance of being crowned Queen of Florals too. Cellier, then one of the only women working as a "nose" in formal perfumery, dedicated it to actress Edwige Feuillère, who had been the object of scandal when she appeared nude in the 1935 film Lucrezia Borgia. [1] Fragrance notes [ edit ]

Fracas is the big tuberose reference of perfumery, and tuberose is the most carnal of the floral notes. It smells like very, very hot flesh after you’ve had sex — that’s the bottom line. It’s very much in fashion just now, but current fragrances don’t use such an incredible concentration of it. While they may nod towards something carnal, Fracas is carnal all the way. [ via The Independent, 12/14/2002.] [Emphasis added.] Do you know if they have again reformulated Fracas? Will I never wear this intoxicating fragrance again? It’s very sad. Just to let you know, the smallest size vials (1 ml) would let you put on the perfume twice, depending on how much you use, or possibly 3 times. They are never filled totally to the top and some of the perfumes they will say come in only 1/4 of the vial. Since you’re in India and can’t get these samples delivered to you within a week the way I can in the US, I would recommend trying out larger sizes to make the time and wait worth your while. 2 ml perhaps? That way, it still won’t be expensive for you? (I always worry about making people spend money on things.) But perhaps 4 ml on some that you think would be more to your liking? I have some other perfumes up for testing by Ormonde Jayne, Tom Ford or Chanel that could fit your tastes but I won’t get around to testing them for a while, so for now, read up on the ones I mentioned up above (and which I’ve reviewed here) and see if they intrigue you. Both Queens have stood the test of time and sit on their thrones, basking in the glory of being the absolute best.

Come back when you're older

Tuberose is one of the most difficult materials to master in a perfume craft. Perhaps, therefore, the brave and determined Germaine Cellier chose it to show all her knowledge, skills and gifts. Fracas is a perfume that will make you love white flowers, even if you previously despised it. That is how deep the genius Miss Cellier is and the power of the Fracas perfume. Although now we do not have the opportunity to smell the vintage version, the new version can still give us a charm of reminiscence of the time when the perfume creation, as well as wearing it – was an art. In my defence, I have owned a small bottle of the Parfum but it got on my nerves because I am not a huge fan of the dabbing…. But you’ll be glad to know that I have seen the error of my ways and there is now a brand new bottle of Fracas taking pride of place on the perfume shelf at The Candy Perfume Towers.