Ava Luxe - Mousse de Chine (perfume review)

The more perfumes I try, the more I realize how many I haven't tried! I have been rather unorganized in my sampling since delving into the perfume world - following individual tangents (such as particular notes or houses) or simply going gaga over the rhetoric surrounding new releases. 

But there's a huge world of perfumes out there and to be quite frank, I am missing whole families of them in my testing so far! For example, chypres. I had never tried a chypre on skin (and have only sniffed a few at most). In fact, to really highlight my ignorance - I can't even tell you what the famous, iconic chypres are. Clearly I have some reading ahead of me. (If I get any credit at all for this, I do know that Hiram Green's release Shangri La is a peach chypre, and I'd like to try it). 

So, in an effort to rectify my chypre-virgin nose, I raided my sample box and decided to give the Ava Luxe chypre Mousse de Chine a try.   

The opening of Mousse de Chine offers about 10 seconds of crisp and loud citrus, then dives straight into sharp lavender and powder. Very shortly thereafter, the lavender powder becomes quieter and is joined by the earthy fern and moss. 

mossy, weedy grass

These greens are slightly herbal and pungent - and lean a touch masculine to me. For some reason, the green notes in Mousse de Chine never feel warm or inviting, instead remaining cool and stoic. This is a little unsettling for me. I guess I like warmth.

moss covered concrete stones

About 20 minutes in, the citrus notes seem to reappear and waft about me - though I don't necessarily smell them when I sniff my wrist. They just float around for a bit.

About an hour in, the lavender fades and the powder remains. The ambergris makes a slightly salty appearance, but it's not particularly loud and I mostly get powder with just a touch of something peppery.

I had to try (and re-apply) Mousse de Chine several times to even get this characterization of it, and it generally became barely noticeable by the 2 hour mark (though it's nearly imperceptible scent remained on my wrist much longer). 

To be fair, I received the sample I tested as a freebie from another lovely perfumista, so I can't be sure if it was very fresh or if time has compromised the sample at all.

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My rating of Mousse de Chine: 2

1  -  - -  -  2  -  -  -  -  3  -  -  -  -  4  -  -  -  -  5

   Nausea/Gagging         Meh        Decent       Great         Olfactory Elation    

This is the first chypre I've ever tried, so honestly I have no idea how it compares to other chypres. I'm not a big lavender fan though, so Mousse de Chine was not for me.

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Mousse de Chine as described by the Ava Luxe perfume website:

Family: Chypre

Top Notes: bergamot, lime

Middle Notes: fern, lavender, amber, spanish moss, oakmoss

Base Notes: labdanum, musk, ambergris

Perfumer: Serena Ava Franco

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Have you tried Mousse de Chine? What are some of your favorite chypres?