Hello Frag Friends,
Do you ever rummage around in your samples and find things you have no memory of getting? That is exactly what happened today. So finding something I vaguely remember reading about but not remembering a damn thing about it except the is it a Chypre or not question I was thrilled to find it to try for myself. I couldn’t find a lot of it for sale on the net and wonder if it’s been discontinued? Amazon has a few, so does Parfum1 but elsewhere there is merely white noise. Of reviews though there are many and they range from completely beserk adoration to thoughtful and questioning disdain. The premise and pedigree of this fragrance seemed to divide perfumistas and I though that was interesting too. So what we are going to do today is try
Plum by Mary Greenwell 2010
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Peach, bergamot, lemon, plum, black currant
Heart: gardenia, tuberose, orange blossom, rose, jasmine
Base: sandalwood, oak moss, patchouli, amber, white musk
Well Plum opens with a dirty great punch in the nose with a fruit basket, it’s fizzy and fun and harks back to some of the big ole perfumes of yore. Citrus, black current and plum, but not like you’ve taken a bite of a plum more like plum jam or an ideal plum plus sugar. The flowers follow behind, winding through the sweetness with a white flower trumpet call that, like the horns in a 70s disco song, call the fragrance towards the chorus, the top and heart play off each other for a while showing flashes of themselves before settling down to a slightly human, breathy bouquet with a bit of spice. Of course the modern re-inventions of oakmoss aren’t the same as the original, they are less deep, dark and humus rich but I do get a sense of them among the woods and the amber is not sweet on me but a little dry, maybe the patchouli has the upper hand here? The sandalwood is the last impression I have with Plum by Mary Greenwell, it warms the fragrance back up at the end while it gently becomes my skin again.
Photo Stolen VictorTheFlorist
I get quite good lifespan with 4 – 6 hours of noticeable fragrance, depending on my day. Where would I wear it? If I needed to be fragrant but not overpowering, if I wanted to be reminded of some of the fabulous but now defunct chypres, enticing or trying to befuddle then this is your frag. It is a strong persons fragrance, or someone needing a bit of strong, and sassy. This is what I imagine Charlize Theron and Anne Hathaway wearing to the Academy Awards.
Photo Stolen USMagazine
Further reading NowSmellThis and CaFleurBon
Parfum1 has 50ml/$100
SurrendetToChance starts at $4/ml
Did you try Plum when it came out? What did you think?
See you tomorrow for more merry frag madness.
Portia xx
AustralianPerfumeJunkies 
I have this fragrance. It only seems to come out in the summer for me, it’s pretty and sophisticated, perfect for when I want to feel like a lady x
http://www.catalinacan.wordpress.com
I reckon you always get to feel like a lady but Plum is enhancement!!
Portia xx
I love reading about a perfume that (gasp) ) I have never heard of! I’ve missed this one altogether. And yes, I rummage and find things I never knew I’d acquired. Like, well, Laura Mercier’s Nuits enchantées. Full bottle. No box. Where on earth from? It’s not my kind of fragrance, generally speaking (mocha gourmand). Must have swapped something for it. What, I wonder…? On topic: I’ve discovered that plum notes tend to work for me. Enter Frapin 1270, which I am all but drinking these days. End of fugue. 🙂
OMG! That was a fistful of thoughts. This is what happens and you know you are an addict when it is less about wearing than owning, we are naughty gluttons of scent. Eat up dear perfumedletters and as for plum notes I’m pretty new to them as a focus but it could become an acquired taste very quickly.
Portia xx
To me this reminds me of Chanel Cristalle EDP + purple fruit. I rather like it, but I don’t know that I love it.
Hey Zsusan.
I can’t give a comparison but you have tweaked my interest. Thanks
Portia xx
Cristalle EDP is a great love of mine… So I find Plum quite nice, but I didn’t need the purple fruit addition to love the base. If that makes sense, LOL.
I don’t think it has been discontinued: it’s still available from the bran’d website. For a long time nobody in the US carried it at all. Then Luckyscent had it for a while (sold out now). The fact that Parfum1 has it is a huge progress compared to, let’s say, a year ago 🙂
I know that much about it because for more than a year I kept reading Mals’ (Muse in Wooden Shoes) praises to this perfume but couldn’t find it to test.
I’ve tried it since and I like it but do not love. So I’ll probably use up those couple of samples that I have but won’t try to get more of it.
Aha! Try and find it in the fragrant backwaters of Australia Undina. No chance. I was pretty happy to find it on parfum1 too.
Portia xx