Launched in 2008, Féerie is a woody floral built by Antoine Maisondieu around violet, which Van Cleef & Arpels dresses in a faceted jewel bottle topped with a fairy perched on a branch. Violet leaves, blackcurrant buds and Italian mandarin open onto Bulgarian rose and Egyptian jasmine, before a base of iris, vetiver and white musks.
Robin, of Now Smell This, finds it a delicate, slightly fanciful floral, worthy of its bottle, but too close to the fruity florals aimed at tweens to justify its price.
Olfastory’s review
Robin, Now Smell This
In September 2008, Robin finds the opening difficult on a blotter: a shrill blast of sweet berries over a creamy, powdery violet. The fragrance soon improves, drier, and even better once worn, as the top moves faster from cloying to merely sweet.
She judges it delicate, feminine and a bit fanciful, in keeping with its bottle, with enough beauty that she found herself redesigning it in her head each time she wore it. But its red lollipop opening, which she likens to the fruity florals sold to tweens, clashes with its luxury positioning.