The year Caron Nocturnes was launched, 1981, marked the kick-off of a decade of excess. In 1981, Ronald Reagan took office, ending Jimmy Carter’s era of turning down the thermostat. The first De Lorean sports car, a symbol of wealth, rolled off the assembly line. Pope John Paul II was shot and nearly killed, Prince Charles and Lady Diana were married in a lavish ceremony broadcast around the world, Anwar Sadat was assassinated, and the first test-tube baby was born — all in 1981. Nocturnes, however, retains the spirit of the calm before the storm, fuzzy and ozonic, portending changes to come.

Perfumer Gerard Lefort created Nocturnes, giving it top notes of aldehydes, bergamot, and neroli; a heart of rose, jasmine, ylang ylang, tuberose, stephanotis, lily of the valley, orris, and cyclamen; and a base of vanilla, amber, musk, sandalwood, vetiver, and benzoin. Nocturnes is a quiet but lush, well-behaved aldehydic floral. Its aldehydes are rounded rather than sharp, and its flowers, which read like a funereal wallop, feel gentle, soapy, and sometimes green but sometimes sweet as amber and vanilla reach through…

Read the rest of this article »