Tubéreuse 3 L'Animale
Histoires de Parfums (2009)

Deep, dark floral and fruit opening. Incense-like and somewhat boozy. Tuberose, done sideways; made different somehow.

An even darker heart. Tuberose and jasmine are in a happy marriage here. There becomes a grape-like smell. Sweetened herbs and grasses that contribute to the incense smell, make me fall in love with this particular HdP.

Tuberose fades a bit in the base. I get wood, slight tobacco, and labdanum. Slight cocoa vibe as time goes by. 4 stars.

The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with Sun by William Blake 1805

The fellas are wearing tuberose! Huzzah!

Look at those notes: you got tuberose on the top, tuberose on the bottom, and tuberose up the middle. This is my kind of juice. Add in neroli, a very ripe plum, some jasmine, hay and tobacco and you've got a (sort of) Poison pour Homme.

Although it's not as manly as all that. This is a plump, bodacious perfume capable of pleasing the most diehard lovers of the flower (i.e., me) and bringing aboard folks who might normally find this flower too strident, especially when it's in the company of its usual white-floral partners in crime like orange blossom and lily-of-the-valley. None of that here--instead, it has a big, bright heart, made more so by beautiful, mouthwatering citrus (there really should be more kumquat notes in perfume) and neroli. That heart pulses with the aforementioned tuberose/jasmine/plum trio, singing in harmony like a gospel choir on Sunday--loud, joyous, and full of soul.

I think I recognize hay absolute in here, although it's so smoothly blended that it's hard to pick out--except for the first time I tried this, when it came off as a little hissy and hairsprayish (which hay absolute can sometimes do). The hay has behaved itself since then, modulating into a
the darker tobacco-tinged manner of Chergui--but this tobacco has a slight acidity that reminds me of good cigars. Married to dark woody notes like my grandparents' old mahogany furniture, this unusually beautiful base rounds off this perfume with a satisfying depth charge that rattles the windows and sets off the splendid dregs of the tuberose beautifully.

A resinous, mellow labdanum, wrapped in equally mellow maple-syrup sweetness of immortelle, sings like a cello in the drydown. It's a stunning interpretation of the usual woody amber, making a virtue of necessity to complete the profile of a classic floriental. As the drydown continues, it shows notes of aged leather, almost as if the formerly fresh tuberose petals are transforming into animalic skins before your eyes (or nose, as it were).

This perfume comes without the usual Histoire conceits; no particular date is affixed to the name and no historical figure referenced. But if I may be so bold, I'd like to make a nomination, for 1972 - Brian Eno. 72 was the year of Roxy Music's first appearance on Top of the Pops in all their trainwrecked glory. And there was Eno, fully formed, all hollow cheekbones, yellow hair past his skinny shoulders, torso crowned with pheasant feathers, wearing more makeup than Dolly Parton and Karen Black put together. He looked outrageous, and people loved him for it, especially when he opened his mouth and sounded like the cybernetics geek he was. The girls went nuts. This is a perfume for the men who know that it's impossibly sexy to subvert the cliches of traditional masculinity. And it's also for the women that love them.

Tubereuse 3 Animale by Histoires de Parfums opens with intense grapy tuberose with a touch of menthol. The fragrance quickly settles down into an oak moss (maybe)and pipe tobacco combination that comes across as a bit vintage. I'm not really picking up on the “green grass” note because the composition leans a little towards musty books and fruit–a little reminiscent of Mitsouko. Also, I'm not entirely sure about the “animale” part; the tuberose is definitely full-on, but not as indolic as other tuberose fragrances. The quality/performance is decent, so I would definitely recommend this fragrance to someone wanting to smell like white flowers and old books.

3.5/5

Now there is tuberose ever present in this scent, convincing and quite natural, but it are the variations of accompaniments that makes this a particularly interesting creation. At first fruity-fresh with bergamot and a lychee-kumquat background. Green and herbal components are emerging in the drydown, with impressions of jasmine and autumn fields being conjured up. The base - no surprise here - adds woodsy notes, but an added tobacco sidekick gives the later phases a nice twist.

This then is a tuberose that keeps my interest awake throughout. Sillage is moderate, the projection good, and I get six hours of longevity. A Histoire worthy of being more than history only.

An outstanding tuberoseThis has been on my list to try for quite a while and when I found a 13ml size, well, I had to buy it!I have found another favorite in a tuberose which is challenging for men because of the sheer audacity of the note itself. Very heady and floral and potentially suffocating. But in this concoction the tuberose is restrained (bad choice of words) by immortal with a sweet hay like aroma. Added to that is a base of tobacco and some woody notes which can make this an interesting choice for a guy. But make no mistake about it, tuberose is present all the way through this scent from the first moments to the very end which takes all day to arrive. Added to all of this is a plum note in the middle (a favorite note of mine) that adds an interesting fragrant diversion in the middle.Sillage is impressive as is longevity. Both feminine and masculine and neither. Not sure where the "animale" is in this one but as far as I am concerned this is certainly a top tier tuberose scent. Of my three tuberose scents, Carnal Flower, Tuberouse Criminalle and this, Tubereuse 3 Animale, I simply can not choose a favorite. I love them all for different reasons, but of the three this one may be the most "wearable" for me.Pros: longevity, sillageCons: some guys may not like florals"