Madame Grès
Grès (2013)

I have a back up bottle of Cabaret and Lumiere Noire is in regular rotation on my dresser, it was time I ventured to connect with 'Madame Gres'
My pineapple references are 'Courtesan' (Worth) and Amor Amor (Cacharel) and Madame Gres is superior to both, for the pineapple is controlled by a clean magnolia and wasn't as sweet as I was led to believe. In my quest for great cheap and cheery perfumes Maurice Roucel's 'Tocade' is points leader but all of the perfumes mentioned here exhibit classy elements whilst being inexpensive.
The dry down is quite sudden and the perfume lacks duration but the base, slight as it is, is well behaved and doesn't leave a nasty musk. I like that in a perfume.
Madame Gres is probably best suited to women over twenty five but qualifies as a good day time perfume. Others have commented on a resemblance to Miss Dior, but if I had to compare it to that of a well known house I'd veer towards Chanel's 'Allure'.

From my perspective, in Madame Grès I find a perfume that is reminiscent of either Miss Dior Le Parfum or Chanel Coco Noir. Madame Grès is a well-constructed perfume. I don't detect a huge amount of cardamom, but it is there to give a bit of distinctive spicy-ness to the floral blend. I also don't detect a huge amount of Patchouli in the base, but I'm sure it is there to ground the fragrance and lend some warm and woodiness.

Madame Grès is quite lovely and indeed reminds me strongly of Dior Le Parfum. It opens with the brightness of the pineapple and grapefruit and settles into the soft warmth of Magnolia over a base of sandalwood and vanilla.

I find Madame Grès to be a lovely go anywhere, wear anytime perfume. It is sophisticated and elegant. I also enjoy the look of the bottle's minimal elegance. it is a classic design which bodes well for a classy perfume.

A blind buy at the discount store, perhaps hoping that the low price reflected a great deal on some out-of-fashion chypre like Madame Rochas. I really need to get a smartphone so I can check in with Basenotes before making such silly mistakes. But wait... no one has reviewed this yet?

OK, here goes: Madame Gres is a totally modern synthetic fruity woody floral thing with pale pinkish juice, a plain boring bottle that looks like Lagerfeld overstock, and a really cheap plastic cap. Considering the very stern-looking black and cream package that evokes Chanel boxes and labels of the 1960's, I was expecting the fragrance to be something throwback-fabulous, but whatever. Don't buy this if you were thinking of Cabochard. It's much more like Cabaret.

On balance, it's not a style I favor, and it's not a smell I'd associate with anyone with 'Madame' attached to their name. But it's not bad, either. Actually, it's very similar to Adam Levine for Women... and maybe half-a-million others.

The fragrance pyramid indicates basenotes of sandalwood, vanilla and leather... but I'd urge you to temper your enthusiasm for any of that. Buy it for your sister, assuming she's under 35.