A Flutter of Loveliness: Blush by Marc Jacobs

As I sit here in the doldrums of summer experiencing a humidity rarely felt in California I am feeling the extreme desire for nothing heavy or sweet. When it gets to this point I reach for colognes or a cooling fresh floral. My answer for the cooling fresh floral is Marc Jacob's Blush. Marc Jacob's Blush is one of those forgotten scents of the early 2000s. Once again it was a bit too early for its time. If released now I suspect it would have stayed on the fragrance counters for a bit longer than it did.

Blush is in the family of L'Artisan's La Chasse aux Papillons, in fact they smell very similar in some aspects that I have wanted to call Blush an almost dupe. Yet, I actually think Blush is the edgier scent for the inclusion of one note in particular: star anise. Blush takes the clean musky florist florals of La Chasse and adds a hint of spicy licorice star anise and in addition it then adds a green peach skin note. The scent then takes on an almost animalic cleanness that is furthered by the clean sweet jasmine note that I find so similar to La Chasse. Blush is interesting combo of the cool florals of La Chasse and cool green spiced peach note, it feels like an almost spiced peach oolong tea scent. In hot weather it is absolutely refreshing. The spiciness of the star anise lending exquisite grounding effect to the scent. It also is the rare scent that emphasizes jasmine that I can handle.

Try Marc Jacob's Blush if you like La Chasse aux Papillons by L'Artisan, Jennifer Aniston's original scent, Estee Lauder Private Collection Tuberose Gardenia, or Hermes Jour d'Hermes.

Image: Sigrid Hjerten 'Still Life' 1917

SOTD: Marc Jacob's Blush

My relationship with jasmine has always been on the tenous side, some how I bring out the indoles in even the least indolic of jasmine fragrances, but something strange has happened. A few years ago I tried Marc Jacob's Blush and well I detested it, I mean seriously did not LIKE it, it bloomed on my skin in the most perverse way, others spoke of how easy and lovely it was, and me, well Pooptown, USA would have been a good description. And then the other day through a swap I received a sample of it and because I constant curiousity decided for the hell of it to retry Blush. What hit my nose was not indolic at all but rather something very similar to L'Artisan's Le Chasse aux Papillons but hints of wonderful delightful peach. As I said inwardly to myself "Holy Skin Chemistry Change Batman!"

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image: Peach Tulip Trio by Tulla Booth