Perfume, beautiful on its own, also undeniably enhances experiences by senses other than smell.

The brand L’Orchestre Parfum appears to have built its foundation on this concept, with a specially composed piece of music to go with each of their perfumes, which in turn are dedicated to a musical instrument and the emotions that it can conjure.

I had bought a bottle of Rose Trombone because its initial greeting reminded me of Rêve d’Escapade by Givenchy. Fruity-florals (more specifically, orchard-fruity–roses) were a genre I coveted before I knew what they were. I first encountered them on other people—specifically, a presumably European woman who sat in front of me at a very large conference where about half the attendees were based in the United States and the other half came from all over the world. That was a few years ago and I don’t remember what the session was about, but I do remember sniffing the air the whole time with a feeling of fascination mixed with slight envy.

That sparked a renewed diligence in airport duty-free store sniffing, which led to my serendipitous discovery of Rêve d’Escapade, a peachy-rose dream of a getaway.

Now back to Rose Trombone. Its opening is pear, not peach, so already we’re not comparing apples to apples… or any stone fruit for that matter. Grapefruit adds a sweet zing and promises the fragrance won’t be too linear. As the day goes on and the scent warms up, it gets bolder, and the rose flourishes, bringing along a hint of something that starts to challenge me (I think it’s Amber Xtreme, but I don’t know if it’s in there). I haven’t figured out the aldehydes yet. Vanilla features quite prominently and teeters on the edge of being too sweet, but it’s quite comforting in the drydown with the white musk and rum.

This is one I will have to be careful not to overdose, as it’s a strong juice.

I like very much the idea behind the perfume, of creating a synesthetic experience with the scent and music. You don’t have to be a natural synesthete to enjoy it!