Les Heures de Parfum - XII L'Heure Mystérieuse
Cartier (2009)

The main ‘mysterieuse’ thing about this perfume is the damp place it seems to want to take me to. Another is that though it feels straightforward enough, it is doing a number of unusual things. Such as essaying a patchouli aspect with a marshmallow floral gloss, so that it comes across as cloudlike and delicate instead of the power chord it usually is. Such as cutting through that soft cloud with the sharp resinous tones of elemi and a sprinkling of nutmeg. Such as presenting the whole thing with a light Parisian elan while still giving a dark almost sepulchral impression. Of course, the overall lightness may trick inattentive noses into missing its subtleties.
Something very clever is happening here but I’m unsure whether I’m sold on it. And that impression is confirmed by the leathery slump of the deep drydown which seems a bit too mono for its own good.

I love Cartier L'Heure XII. To my nose, it smells like XIII with vanilla being added. It still smells exceptionally delightful to me, and they smell great when layered. I think XII and XIII are my favorites. What I don't like though is that Cartier has changed the bottle design. It now comes in a clear bottle with a plastic cap wrapped in string. To me, it looks cheap and they should have left the old bottle alone, the brown gradient glass with clear top and gold striping. Who makes these decisions??? When they change the bottle design, it also makes me wonder if they changed the formulation, too? They did it with Red Door (Elizabeth Arden). When they changed the bottle, they reformulated the fragrance, which then became a very weak version of rose water, no longer the rich long-lasting fragrance of the original Red Door. Why can't these perfume companies leave well enough alone, or just produce a new fragrance under a different name. They should leave classic vintage fragrances alone!

I'm usually into perfumes that try especially extra to be different, but I'm not really liking XII. I would never have guessed jasmine and incense without reading the other reviews - to me this mostly smells like dry cement powder, but candied and sweet. It's also kind of musky, in that old-school plasticky musk way, and there's also a dirty hamster cage cedar note hovering over the musky candied cement.

In a way, it all melts together to smell like that really fake chocolate note you smell in really bad beauty products, but plasticky and off.

As much as I want to appreciate this just for being weird, I honestly don't like it. The pieces don't seem to fit together, resulting in a gross clash of mineral, animal, wood, and candy that doesn't work for me at all.

Almost sugary, a resinous sweet opening. Jasmine seems drowned out, as I usually notice her with no delay... More resin, femme incense, a balsamic feel. This one is hypnotic. I get a distant flower. I smell a honey accord. Mysterieuse begins to feel powdery for me after awhile. Alas, I am hooked. It's a beautiful oriental!

It becomes slightly earthy, less sugary, a bit more jasmine unfolds later. This isn't a long-timer. It fades from my skin in about 4 hours.

Spicy, aromatic, resinous floral fragrance is L'Heure Mysterieuse by Cartier, another pleasant outing from the haute parfumerie "Les Heures de Parfum" collection.

Jasmine combines well with the incense, spicy coriander and nutmeg, and the resinous frankincense and elemi gum. The patchouli doesn't overtake any of the other notes, adding its lovely mentholated accord to the mix.

The result is a really rich, dense experience that inspires me with confidence! Excellent fragrance for men or women, and a masterpiece overall. :-)

This is a wonderful yet simple fragrace that completely complements...my husband's skin. On him, it's smoky like a campfire with just enough resin and jasmine to prevent a headache. On me, it opens with an enjoyable blend of patchouli and coriander and then quickly (within two minutes) collapses into a faint resin. Just resin.

However, I layered this with another fragrance from this line that was even more disappointing on me: X - L'Heure Folles. The two combine beautifully and bring out the best in each other, though I'd never buy a full bottle of either.