Loulou

Loulou brings together twenty-one materials on three tiers, around a vanilla that was the starting point of the composition.

A fruity, aniseed opening

The opening gathers seven materials: plum, blackcurrant, violet, tagetes, anise, bergamot and mandarin. Tagetes, a flower with a bitter, slightly poisonous green, gives this fruity start the strangeness readers talk about most.

A sunny, powdery center

The center counts eight. Tiare flower, ylang-ylang and jasmine provide the sunny side, iris, mimosa and heliotrope the powdery side, orange blossom and tuberose the white fullness.

The almond that several descriptions mention is not a material of the fragrance. It names a facet of heliotrope, a flower whose powdery scent naturally leans toward almond and vanilla.

Tuberose is the exception: some lists omit it, while readers mention it in almost every comment.

Iris sits in the center, even if some descriptions announce it from the opening and one review sends it to the base.

A base of vanilla and balsams

The base gathers six. Vanilla, benzoin and incense bring balsamic warmth; sandalwood, tonka bean and musk extend the whole.

Vanilla is not an accessory, it is the declared starting point of the composition. Everything else was built around it, which explains why it dominates the base without ever seeming added as an afterthought.

The disputed notes

Mace, rose, lily of the valley, cedar, vetiver and lily appear in some descriptions without recurring in the others. Cinnamon, which some readers perceive at the start, remains an impression.