Bourbon French Mon Idee

Once upon a time, there was a great American perfume called White Shoulders. A classic floral bouquet of lilies and carnations, underpinned by beautiful green sappiness, it was surely dabbed onto many a wartime love letter after its introduction in 1943 and inhaled with a weary sigh by the GI on the receiving end. It was a work of creamy yet natural loveliness, a simple creation that managed to last relatively untweaked for a good 25 years or so.

And then something happened. And it wasn't pretty. White Shoulders wasn't just tweaked, it was raped and pillaged. Gone was the heartbreaking loveliness of the lily. Gone was the pretty freshness of the carnation. Gone were the delicate green of the stems and leaves. Replaced by a brew so nauseatingly sweet, so insipid, so chemically laced, it now stands as a penultimate example of a good perfume gone very, very bad.

I thank the Goddess for Mon Idee by the New Orleans perfumery Bourbon French. In this perfume, there is an echo of the original White Shoulders. The topnotes are quite strong, but the scent disperses quickly. The musk in the base is dry, not the sharp, piercing kind that is a deal breaker for me. Mon Idee smells old-fashioned, which is exactly what I'm sure that Bourbon French intends.

It's different in many ways from White Shoulders, but similar in sensibility. The carnation is spicy rather than fresh. The green notes are hazier, murkier. It's more powdery than creamy. But I feel that this scent could be White Shoulders' Creole sister. She's Dark Shoulders.

Thank you, Gracie.

Court of Two Sisters restaurant, Rue Royale, French Quarter. Had a fabulous meal here once on my birthday.