| MESSAGE BY CHRISTINA |
| Alliage is French for "alloy" or "mixture", but I think it was the beautiful sound of the word, rather than its meaning, that must have recommended it to Lauder when the company launched its "sport" perfume in 1972.
Like most green perfumes, you´ll either like or loathe Alliage. It´s a hugely uncompromising perfume, and fearless in its nose-thumbing, which extends even to its fellow greenies.
For a start, with the exeption of a very quick whiff of jasmine, it ignores flowers altogether and even goes easy on the woods. There´s no sweetness in it, no attempt to soften the blow of strong green harmonies with the audacious quantities of nutmeg and citrus oils.
Its basic note is galbanum, a strong green sap from the middle east that is both sharp and pungent. To this is added a zesty crush of green leaves and citrus, before the middle note of nutmeg adds its characteristic haunting spiciness.
This is pretty strong stuff, immediately steering the mix in a most adventurous and assertive direction, which turns out to be the forest floor, where oakmoss from the Balkans and vetyver from Java are taken on board to give a soft, almost musty, mossy pervasion.
Alliage isn´t heavy - but it is insistent. Its evergreen spirit is perfectly aligned to people possessing a sense of fun, of competitiveness, and with an uncomplicated attitude. All - American, you might say.
It is hyperactive, tenacious and very compelling in its unorthodox way. In the Lauder lineup it´s not madly popular, but has a devoted clientele who prefer its dry honesty to the hotbeds of over - cultivated sophistication.
What to wear it with, where and when ?
Anything green exept a ballgown will do ! Wonderful in the heat of the day but a flop at night.. |
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