As the number of heritage brands continues to expand there is a burgeoning road map on how to succeed. The best path is to apply a modern sensibility to the aesthetic of the heritage perfume. That is the one chosen by Paul Richardot, Victorien Sirot, and Anthony Toulemonde with Maison Violet. That they learned about the brand while in perfume school gives them a little more freedom to experiment. Many of the heritage brands are in descendant’s hands making it feel like a family decision. The Maison Violet team was driven by their own vision of what a modern heritage perfume should be. Throughout the first four releases there was an admirable attempt to provide a vintage-y undercurrent. Maison Violet Nuee Bleue is a flag planted firmly in the 2020 world of modern perfumery.
(l. to r.) Paul Richardot, Anthony Toulemonde, and Victorien Sirot
As the trend towards transparency has taken hold, I have been most interested in perfumes which take classic sets of ingredients while imposing this new aesthetic upon them. Perfumes from the time of Maison Violet’s previous heyday were not delicate. Nuee Bleue is something much opaquer, suitable for the present day.
Nathalie Lorson
Perfumer Nathalie Lorson is again behind the composition of Nuee Bluee; as she was for the previous four new releases. Working with the creative directors it took them over two years to finalize a formula, according to the website. The original Nuee Bleue was the last release of Maison Violet before it disappeared. The new version is the last release looking back towards the origins of Maison Violet. As such it signals a new direction.
Mme Lorson uses iris and orange blossom as the heart of Nuee Bleue. If there is anything which has a callback to the past perfumes it is the way she uses lemon as a whetstone to sharpen the iris into a silvery floral scalpel. There was a time when this kind of sharp iris was all the rage. Mme Lorson takes that sharp iris and softens those edges by making it more expansive. A series of white musks don’t allow those edges to cut. It creates a lightness to it all which is immensely appealing to me. The airy citrus tinted iris cloud lives up to the translation of the name, blue cloud. A sturdy sandalwood keeps the cloud from drifting away.
Nuee Bleue has 12-14 hour longevity and average sillage.
Nuee Bleue is a remarkable re-interpretation of that classic vintage iris and orange blossom heart of many perfumes of the early 1900’s. The creative team has modernized it by hewing to the current trend for opacity while keeping it from falling into insipidness. Lots of time I think the name of a perfume has nothing to do with the liquid inside the bottle. This time the perfume allows to me ride on a scented blue cloud all day.
Disclosure: This review is based on a sample I purchased.
–Mark Behnke
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