Frederic Malle Synthetic Jungle perfume review on Persolaise Love At First Scent episode 210

[@arthurscargill8010]

Thanks for the review Persolaise, I've been waiting for your take on this since I tested this a few weeks back. So, I wouldn't be in this hobby if it wasn't for Freddie Malle and and as such my problem with this release, and I'm well aware that it's my personal problem, is that I can't help but find it disappointing when they put out perfumes that are obviously good, enjoyable, pleasant but are nowhere near the absolutely-stop-you-in-your-tracks brilliance of their past releases. Have begun to think that perhaps no new FM release can ever bear the huge weight of expectation I am going to bring to it... Anyway thanks again, take care x.

[@Persolaise]

Yes, expectation can be a dangerous thing. As always, thanks for watching.

[@a2zin125]

I hate to live in a world where synthetic completely replaces all traces of organic and natural, no matter the closeness in simulation, but I have to say I am intrigued by how green it can actually be. And yes, you going on and on about a perfume is precisely why we tune in sir. Thanks again

[@Persolaise]

That's too kind, thank you.

[@LiaAndrews]

I like "old perfume smells" then 🤣 My favorite perfumes contain a mix of high quality naturals and synthetics. It doesn't mean predominantly/purely synthetics can't be beautiful or brilliant or art, but they don't move me in the same way.

[@Persolaise]

I think a lot of us like old perfume smells. Many thanks for tuning in.

[@inthebellyofmoby]

I like to think of naturals as the flesh on the skeleton(synthetics).

[@chasecunningham5340]

I love seeing a new Persolaise video on my feed!

[@Persolaise]

Ah, too kind, thank you.

[@lynnleglaire4819]

I’m looking forward to sniffing this. I think I’ll love it right away. I like the name and I liked how Malle compared it to a Rousseau jungle scene. The adamant /ik/ sound with the lushness of a jungle imagery….I think this perfume will be around for a long time. The green perfumes that I know and love are harsh and bold and gutsy and, most importantly (to me) beautiful. Synthetic (harsh and aggressive word) +jungle (beautiful and dangerous word). It’s better than Fat Electrician which is turn off name to me (until I got my nose in the stuff and loved it). Good job! Thank you!

[@Persolaise]

I love the comparison with Fat Electrician (in terms of the name). As always, many thanks for watching. Do let me know what you make of the scent.

[@B.B.M.R]

I have been looking for something similar for a long time, something that reminded me of my grandfather when he returned from the salon where he was shaved cleanly. Every day he wore a suit, classic shoes, and looked like a gangster. How handsome he was. He was a man of strength and will, qualities that fading with time as i see now. I’ll be honest, I love my French Lover very much and nothing else caught my attention from Frederic Malle, and then recently I was buying something in a big store and running past the Malle and i tried the jungle. To say that I was not fascinated is to say nothing, and i am a very prejudiced boy. The jungle is an ode to the era of the 20th century, at times how real men smelled from the time of the Thompson machine gun. I remember at the break of the 80s and early 90s this style began to become a thing of the past. To create an ode to a whole century is a challenge, and the perfumer did it like a real artist. A very modern interpretation. Even if people wear space suits, I will always wear Synthetic Jungle. Bravo, Anne Flipo!

[@Persolaise]

What a wonderful comment to read - thank you for sharing.

[@ReichertDaniel]

Was it Roudnitska who wrote/spoke of the importance of being "shocked" by a great perfume? Well, to my nose this one sure has a WOW factor. Startlingly green, floral without being too sweet, and hyacinth for days. I love it. (By the way, three people wondered if I was wearing Ralph Lauren's Polo! I definitely get that in the first few minutes on my skin.) Thanks for this review - you're a "must watch" critic: always insightful and entertaining. Cheers from sunny downtown Los Angeles!

[@Persolaise]

Yes, it was him. And I agree that this has that shock factor. Thanks for the kind words.

[@fiddyteen]

It shocked me! I’m besotted.

[@Persolaise]

Enjoy it!

[@Hannah_BananaStand]

Watching this 2 years late, tossing up whether the snatch up a remaining bottle of synthetic Jungle or get a bottle of Synthetic Nature...Would love you to do another episode.SJ has been on my wish list for a while. Also fangirling that Renaud Salmon is casually hanging out in the chat. 🙂

[@Persolaise]

I'm pretty sure the scent itself hasn't been changed. You never know when Renaud is going to pop up!

[@cedriceccentric]

Synthetic Jungle reminds me at first of Sisley's Eau de Campagne, but much, much greener. On my skin it really softens after an hour or so. At that moment it reminds me a lot of Issey Miyake A Scent. It smells more of Normandy than of a lush jungle. What is modern about it is that (while there have been green scents launched in recent years), the regular customer is more used nowadays to sweet or amber scents. So when they smell something like Synthetic Jungle it is utterly modern and new to them. I was at the Bon Marché in Paris the other day, a F. Malle SA was distributing blotters to passing by shoppers and people were reacting very positively:" Wow! Mais que-ce que c'est cela?"

[@Persolaise]

Yes, you make a good point: green often seems novel, because it's relatively rare. Thanks for watching.

[@susan88165]

I ordered a sample of Synthetic Jungle several months ago and I must say I LOVE it! I love the green, green, green. I love the way it wears on my skin. I'm considering purchasing the perfume. I do want to check out Channel No 19 though to see where they compare. It's been forever since I tried it. I'm a complete lay person when it comes to perfumes, but I'm enjoying learning from lovely people like you and ordering various samples to see what appeals to me. So far out of the 15 or so I've tried, Synthetic Jungle is the only one that I adored.

[@Persolaise]

Thanks for writing, Susan. And I’m so pleased you like the Malle. It’s a striking piece of work.

[@ColeDano]

Haven't had a chance to try this one, but totally agree with the dry down issues on French Lover and Rose & Cuir.

[@Persolaise]

Do let me know what you think of it when you smell it. Thanks for watching.

[@MyWorldofFragrance]

Ugh, just missed it! Watching the recording 🌹

[@LiaAndrews]

Same happened to me!

[@Persolaise]

Never mind -- there recording's always here for you.

[@humbertobarbosa610]

Love it. This one is Balmain Vent Vert + Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Herba Fresca + Chanel Cristalle

[@Persolaise]

Ah… wonderful analogy. Thanks for watching.

[@VeraVictoria]

Carnal Flower was my scent of the summer this year… that touch of coconut & cool eucalyptus was just the thing in humid Memphis, Tennessee. Not one for green perfumes, so I will likely give SJ a skip, but happy to hear everyone’s thoughts!

[@Persolaise]

Oooh, Carnal Flower in Memphis. What a gorgeous image. Thanks for watching.

[@inthebellyofmoby]

Don't forget to include Piguet's Futur in the discussion of green brutalist fragrances.

[@Persolaise]

Thanks very much.

[@elizabethchurch6969]

Hello Again! I took this to be an urban jungle, and this verdant pungency is indicative of a person's idea of a jungle, without any direct experience. Like Alien representing jasmine in a way that was disproportionate, this too feels like an other-worldly fantasy of something once represented by nature.

[@Persolaise]

Wonderful comparison, Elizabeth, thank you.

[@jaypirate31]

Glad you’ve got a review up so quickly! Hoping to try it at the LA Malle Boutique before buying, but very tempting to blind buy! As an aside, would you recommend trying Etruscan Water over a smattering of Malle decants including Iris Poudre, Noir Epices, and En Passant? Been on a Malle kick, but could stand to try something new. Thank you for your work and any advice!

[@Persolaise]

Oooh... that's a tough one, but personally I'd go for those Malles. Thanks for watching.

[@gazzabethyname]

I watched that online interview. What a great watch. French subtitles. After watching it, I felt like I loved the creations even more. This I have still yet to experience. I wonder what feelings it will evoke with me.

[@Persolaise]

Let me know what you think of it. Thanks for watching.

[@cheapimitation2242]

Yay, I was looking forward to your thoughts on this. I was so excited I bugged them about it at the boutique here in NYC almost a week before official release and they did have bottles for sale, I went with 10ml to get to know it better for now before committing to a full bottle.

[@Persolaise]

So what do you think of it? Thanks very much for watching.

[@cheapimitation2242]

@@Persolaise I like it but also not sure I love it enough to need a full bottle. I think it has a lot of subtlety in that it seems quite straightforward at first but then little facets peak out as it wears like jasmine, black currant, a hint of earthy patchouli. I did also recently happen to get a bottle of No. 19 pure parfum which has maybe now set my standard for green perfumes impossibly high.

[@Persolaise]

No. 19 takes some beating.

[@armallthetime]

I need to try this. She did one of my favorites in Mont de Narcisse.

[@Persolaise]

It's well worth trying, I'd say.

[@tinamanske2865]

Des Esseintes, protagonist of "A rebourds" by Huysmans would be proud of FM! :)

[@Persolaise]

I shall have to look up this reference. Thanks for watching.

[@suleikahorz8651]

As much as I love Frederic Malle's collection (especially Musc Ravageur by Maurice Roucel and Carnal Flower by Dominique Ropion), I was not taken by Synthetic Jungle. Too green and too screechy for me-despite the fact that I like nature and jungle ;-). Also smells too synthetic, too metallic to me. I really would like to smell natural jungle better. Jungle on steroids doesn't do it for me. ;-) I wish I could associate it with Rousseau's Jungle but I just don't see it. Last 2 releases (Synthetic Jungle and Rose&Cuir) didn't impress me. But I have to test it on skin to get a definitive opinion. I find it interesting as a conceptual scent maybe for a modern art exhibition but not to be worn on skin as a perfume. And I missed being transported in another dimension, a sort of lush tropical jungle on another planet. As for the general synthetic vs. natural debate, I was never against synthetics in perfume before as long as it served the aesthetics of the fragrance. Nowadays, it doesn't seem to be the case anymore. Where there could be seen art and creativity there is now too much artificialness. Especially since the aquatics molecules and ambery woods are used in excess. It makes the smelling experience a real pain in the "nose"...and brain sometimes. Same impression with music. All seems so dense, so cloying, so overcrowded...and generic. There is no harmony and melody anymore. (By the way, I do love classic music and electronic music on the other end, so I don't mind, beat and modernity, but there always has to be a kind of beauty in it). Perfumes tend to scream too much. Also considering the great progress in extracting techniques, it's a pity that natural smelling molecules are not used more. Ok, it's a matter of costs but considering the prohibitive prices of perfumes, it would be the least to get good quality in return. :)

[@Persolaise]

Thanks very much for watching. Rose & Cuir and Synthetic Jungle do seem to be taking the brand in a 'louder' direction.

[@patchoulipapi]

I love the name and have a bottle already as well but it's not the jungle I was expecting. I was really looking forward to a wet jungle along with some heavy oakmoss and patchouli but instead we got a bright, tame jungle with no animals or dirt. Would have been nice to see some animalics incorporated in some way. Still enjoying it....just didn't live up to what I was expecting but that's entirely my fault. Cheers!

[@Persolaise]

I suppose we have to accept that it's the Flipo/Malle vision of a jungle. Thanks for watching.

[@newman3313]

Do you know anything about synthetic jungle being released as synthetic nature?

[@Persolaise]

It's the same scent, but with a different name. I expect someone kicked up a fuss... perhaps Kenzo...?

[@newman3313]

@@Persolaise oh true! You could be onto something here!

[@carolineevans2508]

I love the idea of renaming this “Synthetic Hothouse in a Garden Centre”

[@Persolaise]

I’d buy that! Thank you for watching.

[@sotirligov3981]

Is there any agreement between you and Amouage, so you cannot present their new releases on your chanel? If you have any paid articles about Amouage, could you tell us where we can read them? Is that the reason for not having a single Amouage on your 2020 top 10 perfumes (I've been under impression that you've really liked Meander from last year). Thank you!

[@Persolaise]

Sotir, thanks for this. Please take a look at the video description for this video; it contains a passage which will hopefully answer your question. I should add that, no, there is agreement as such, and Amouage have not placed any demands on me. The decision not to review Amouage at the moment was made entirely by me, as I felt it was the right thing to do.

[@sotirligov3981]

Thank you for your answer!

[@Persolaise]

Not at all. As you’ve raised the subject, I’m curious to know if you feel I’ve taken the right line.

[@-HRH]

I have a feeling they ripped the name - and concept - off Costume National's Cyber Garden (by Antoine Lie). 🤔

[@Persolaise]

That is quite a similar name.

[@terrysmiles8599]

Very Nice Persoliase!

[@Persolaise]

Thank you.

[@terrysmiles8599]

@@Persolaise Your Welcome!

[@Evolutionistz]

🙌🏻

[@Persolaise]

Thanks for watching.

[@ВероникаЯсько-д2г]

There was another naughty girl on board, Fanny Bal with her Sale Gosse. Might be that after this strange release Malle decided to slow down with feminine experiments.)

[@Persolaise]

Ah yes, you're absolutely right. And my apologies to Ms Bal for forgetting her composition, which I have yet to try. Thanks for writing.

[@ВероникаЯсько-д2г]

@@Persolaise , strangely, i did not find her composition on our national official site and i-shop. Is it because of a removal from the range or because it wasn't so big a sale in our country, i don't know. So, perhaps this may be quite a task to search for in some places... Lucky you if it is available with yours.)

[@IanFleming808]

Does anyone know of a good green gourmand niche scents?

[@Persolaise]

Please feel free to jump in with suggestions.