Murmure
Van Cleef & Arpels (2002)

I bought this blind ...and immediately bought another after smelling it and finding it had been discontinued. A soft, warm, delicate floral that sits on the skin like a kiss of a breeze on a spring morrning. I agree with Lauraschoice, it does get softer and seemingly nicer over the course of the day. I Love it.

This is a strong seductive fragrance for a real grown-up. Sweet without being nauseating, it reminds me of Alessandro Dell'Aqua because of the musky quality. It gets softer over the course of the day and that's when I like it best.

Strangely enough I didn't actually like Murmure the first time I wore it. I bought the bottle ‘blind' (without testing the fragrance first) while I was going through my crazy ‘must acquire every perfume ever made' phase; shortly after I discovered my love for fragrance. I loved Van Cleef & Arpel's First so much that I thought Murmure would be in the same vein. I was very wrong, hence my initial disappointment.Murmure smells modern to me, completely contrary to the old-world glamour of First. Like the sound of a murmur it hums quietly but powerfully through it's stages. Upon first spray there is a strange herbal blast, slightly medicinal and my curiosity is piqued. I can't say that I particularly like the opening, but it's a little foreign and intriguing. As Murmure develops I detect cedar and vanilla. The base is soft, stays close to the skin and has a beautiful warmth. The vanilla is woven nicely with the cedar and rosewood to create a comforting scent without any food-like vanilla connotations.Overall Murmure is beautifully crafted and softly glamorous. I must also mention the bottle, which I think is stunning and perfectly representative of the scent. The top of the bottle looks very much like a sculptural interpretation of the opening of a lily flower, a strip of gold runs down the bottle and has the name embossed along it. It's a picture of modern beauty, much life the fragrance itself.

Like a less pungent Beautiful. Nice.

WHITE WHITE WHITE... It has done away with any romantic sensibilities. If this were a famous person in history I'd almost go with Elizabeth the Virgin Queen, ruthless and untouchable powerful woman. There is a very old Dior perfume my mother used to have which had much the same evocations (Diorissimo?? not sure). It's a floral for the strong willed, practical woman.

LIES! I opened the parfum and sniffed the stopper (yes I know better) to find an intense blast of nutmeg. Hoping for more, I put it on and found a completely different odor... A white floral!No fair! It's not a bad white floral, and parades around with a rather macho herbal backdrop which keeps it from being too cloying. I also smell the "flower shop" of both the flowers and the cut and bruised stems. Don't overdo this one, as I suspect it will cause headaches in sensitive noses as many white florals do. I just want the nutmeg...