Best L’Explicite by The House of Oud Alternatives & Similar Perfumes

"This is Molinard’s 2023 re-issue of their iconic amber fragrance. This new format includes 90ml spray bottle and a 7.5ml roll-on.

Ambre Lumiere is retro amber with a hint of a patisserie counter deliciousness. This curious nuance comes from tolu which brings it's unique roast coffee aroma to the composition. This is combined with a special variety of chocolaty patchouli, sweet vanillic benzoin and creamy honeyed ylang-ylang."

In 1912, Houbigant's perfumer Robert Bienaimé picked up the ball from Paul Parquet (who earlier invented the whole fougere category while working for Houbigant at the end of the 18th century) and introduced Quelques Fleurs, one of Houbigant’s all-time great fragrances and the first multi-floral bouquet ever created.

The current owners of Houbigant take the heritage and history of the house very seriously and try to adapt the famous formulas from the 18th and 19th centuries to the 21st century's tastes and technologies while keeping the character and old-school flair as close as possible to the originals.

You might have read about Quelques Fleurs in books on perfume and the guides on the greatest perfumes of all time.

The current reincarnation is an adaptation of the original formula to modern times taste and it benefits from modern advances in perfume making.

Meet the 21st century Quelques Fleurs, a gorgeous romantic floral with a big history and an infinite number of floral facets.

The soft, gentle, enveloping fragrance of Teint de Neige in its most concentrated version. Recalling images and atmosphere of the belle-époque, with sweet and powdery notes of jasmine, rose, ylang-ylang on a base of musk, tonka beans and heliotrope.

In the aromatic universe, ylang-ylang exists in the planes of dark juicy green, intense vanilla and intoxicating florals.

Perris is fascinated by nature’s fragrant treasures, and make perfume materials THE story of each of their perfume. So much so, that they experiment with the same perfume material in two different perfume architectures: eau de parfum and extait.

How does this work? In Ylang Ylang Nosy Be EdP, the ylang-ylang’s floral potential is encouraged with mint and jasmine. The EdP is a rich powdery white floral.

The extrait version of Ylang Ylang Nosy Be has more happening in the base. The perfumer added more dark musk and vanilla, and this way the perfume became darker, woodier, even boozier.

As always Perris uses the best natural extracts perfumers can obtain. Their ylang-ylang comes from the tiny Nosy Be island north of Madagascar.

A rampage through a fantasy meadow. Lily-of-the-valley, orange blossom and lavender are crushed underfoot as you run riot across beauty. Lilac and lemon assert themselves in the carnage. Tonka bean and white musk ensures that this extrait strength perfume stays and plays.

Silky citrus.

A particularly silky fragrance, where Pierre Guillaume transforms citrus acidity into a scented caress.

The kumquat-sandalwood accord seems infused with sunlight and bestows on the skin the charms of a melting creaminess, soft and fresh.

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The Sniff on Sunsuality:
"[it] opens with a delicate white floral note, bolstered with a smooth citrus undertone. It doesn’t really matter if it is lemon blossom, or lemon and blossoms, either way the scent opens light, breezy, and expansive. It’s a transparent scent that conjures up images of white muslin curtains billowing in a Mediterranean breeze, all gauzy and floaty. The floral nuances are sweet, delicate, almost naive, whilst the lemon is sharper, sourer but never very aggressive."

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Purple line

Perfumer: Karine Vinchon

A beautiful floral abstraction, sheer delight for the olfactive imagination: is it a lilac, or spicy carnation or all the aromas of many humble meadow flowers mixed in the spring rain?

The shady cool and crisp orris (made very dry with cedar and tonka) offers a floral riddle which every nose solves in his or her own way.

I was inspired while visiting Kew Gardens in London in May. Every May there are hundreds of blooming magnolia trees in different sorts, sizes, scents and colours. Usually it is a very rainy season and my inspiration was to create a scent of the water and rain on magnolia trees.  

The symbol of this modern perfume is an American modern dance pioneer Ruth St. Denis. She is not only a very talented performer, but also very feminine. 

Divine Dancer is an ethereal, watercoloured, light, fresh, feminine floral perfume. It is modern and vivacious fruity floral scent .

The Divine Dancer perfume is dedicated to one of the first American modern dance and ballet performers Ruth St. Denis.

Her vibrant and spirited art of dance, influenced by the East and South Asia, her divine body move and incredible costumes made Ruth St. Denis a worldwide well known star. Her body projects as Temple of femininity. 

When the dancer emerged from the darkness of the stage, her presence was immediately captivating, the air suddenly fragrant with her appearance. Adorned in jewels from head to toe, radiant in a special gold sari, her hair crowned in jasmine, she is an embodiment of divine feminine, mirroring the images of goddesses of Lakshmi and Saraswati but with the talented Ruth St. Denis touch of modern dance and ballet movement.

The fusion of the Taj Mahal's cold marble and its surrounding garden. Marbre Rouge brings the flowers inside the palace walls.  Initially spicy, the fragrance warms up around cardamom before revealing its ylang-ylang heart. The amber notes of benzoin and Tolu balsam leave intensely sensual scents on the skin.

Perfumer: Sidonie Lancesseur

As the sun sinks over the dense tropical forest, civets emerge warily from the thickets. Under a carpet of narcotic flower blossoms, a smattering of coffee berries peppers the ground. The moist air is heavy with mossy aromas that penetrate every crevice, but the musky scent of the civets dominates; their marked territory daring one to enter at one’s own risk.

Civet pays homage to the age-old ingredient, civet, as well as chypre perfumes of bygone days – perfumes that refused to be intimidated by raw, alluring, animalistic musks. Civet is a moody and complex brew entwined in mystery. It opens with a spicy floral accord, threaded through with dark coffee tones. Slowly it prowls forward, unraveling base notes of leather, moss and vanilla that combines with distinctive civet musk to create a bewildering, sophisticated scent with the promise of a sultry nighttime rendezvous.

Perfumer: Shelley Waddington