Way back, when I thought any perfume that Luca Turin 'five starred' was a dead cert., I bought a sample of Fracas by Robert Piguet. After sampling some other of Turin's 'five star' perfumes like Secretions Magnifiques, Knize Ten, Cool Water, Jicky, Dune and Rive Gauche, I put Fracas at the bottom of my 'to try' box. Which, in retrospect is a bit of a shame.
This is how the tester packet describes Fracas:
Tuberose combines with jasmine, jonquil, gardenia, lily of the valley and iris in a lavish profusion of fragile white flowers.
Hmm. Interesting. I'm a fan of 'fragile white flowers', having been converted by L'Artisan's delightful La Chasse aux Papillons. But Fracas is entirely different. I've mentioned before the 'dirty pants' aroma of Joy by Jean Patou and Fracas certainly has a tinge of the dirty pants, which could be down to the jasmine.
In my ignorance, I had mistakenly confused rose and tuberose as one and the same thing for quite a long time. They are, of course, totally different. There was an excellent article in the Long Island Press which pictured tuberose amongs the midnight garden flowers. The lovely Stefanie, from The Lip Print, also pointed out that Michael Kor s (one of my perfume staples) is a tuberose.
So, Fracas has at least two elements that I love, tuberose and the magical 'white flower accord' including jasmine. And, in summary it's a great perfume that I've been scared of for far too long. If I had to criticise it, I would say that it's a bit old fashioned. There's a bit too much going on, which for some people can smell sexy, but to me, just reminds me of old ladies' handbags.
If you're interested in Luca Turin's other five star perfumes, here's the list:
31 Rue Cambon by Chanel
100% Love by S-Perfume
1740 by Histoires de Parfums
L'Air du Desert Marocain by Andy Tauer
Amouage Gold by Amouage (Guy Robert)
Angel by Thierry Mugler
Apres L'Ondee by Guerlain
Aromatics Elixir by Clinique (Bernard Chant)
Azuree by Estee Lauder (Bernard Chant)
Azzaro pour Homme by Azzaro (Gerard Anthony)
Badgley Mischka by Badgley Mischka
Bandit by Robert Piguet (Germaine Cellier)
Beyond Paradise by Estee Lauder (Calice Becker)
Beyond Paradise Men by Estee Lauder (Calice Becker)
Black by Bvlgari (Annick Menardo)
Bois des Iles by Chanel (Ernest Beaux)
Boise de Violette by Serge Lutens (Pierre Bourdon and Chris Sheldrake)
Boucheron by Boucheron (Jean-Pierre Bethouart)
Breath of God by B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful
Calandre by Paco Rabanne
Calyx by Prescriptives (Sophia Grojsman)
Ca Sent Beau by Kenzo (Francoise Caron)
Chamade by Guerlain
Chinatown by Bond No. 9 (Aurelien Guichard)
Cool Water by Davidoff (Pierre Bourdon)
Cristalle by Chanel
Cuir de Russie by Chanel
Derby by Guerlain
Diorella by Dior (Roudnitska)
Dior Homme by Dior (Olivier Polge)
Dune by Dior
Dzing! by L'Artisan Parfumeur
Eau de Guerlain by Guerlain
Eau Savage by Dior (Roudnitska)
Enlevement au Serail by Parfums MDCI
Envy by Gucci (Maurice Roucel)
Le Feu D'Issey by Issey Miyake
Fracas by Robert Piguet (Germaine Cellier)
Givenchy III by Givenchy
Grey Flannel by Geoffrey Beene
Habit Rouge by Guerlain
L'Heure Bleue by Guerlain
Homage by Amouage
Insense by Givenchy
Insolence eau de parfum by Guerlain (Maurice Roucel)
Invasion Barbare by Parfums MDCI (Stephanie Bakouche)
Iris Silver Mist by Serge Lutens (Maurice Roucel)
Jicky by Guerlain
Joy parfum by Jean Patou (Henri Almeras)
Knize Ten by Knize (Francois Coty and Vincent Roubert)
Knowing by Estee Lauder
Kouros by Yves Saint Laurent
Lavender by Caldey Island (Hugo Collumbien)
Lolita Lempicka by Lolita Lempica (Annick Menardo)
Loulou by Cacharel (Jean Guichard)
Missoni by Missoni (Maurice Roucel)
Mitsouko by Guerlain (Jacques Guerlain)
MoslBuddJewChristHinDao by Elternhaus (Marc Buxton)
La Myrrhe by Serge Lutens (Christopher Sheldrake)
Nahema by Guerlain
New York by Parfums de Nicolai (Patricia de Nicolai)
No. 5 eau de toilette by Chanel
No. 5 parfum by Chanel
Odalisque by Parfums de Nicolai (Patricia de Nicolai)
Opium by YSL
Or Black by Pascal Morabito
Ormonde Man by Ormonde Jayne (Linda Pilkington)
Ormonde Woman by Ormonde Jayne (Linda Pilkington)
Osmanthe Yunnan by Hermes (Jean-Claude Ellena)
Oud Cuir D'Arabie by Montale
Patchouli 24 by Le Labo (Annick Menardo)
Pleasures by Estee Lauder
Poison by Dior
Pour Monsieur by Chanel
Pour un Homme by Caron
Private Collection by Estee Lauder
Promesse de l'Aube by Parfums MDCI (Francis Kurkdjian)
Rive Gauche by YSL (Jacques Polge)
Rush by Gucci
Sarrasins by Serge Lutens
Scent by Theo Fennell (Christophe Laudamiel)
Secretions Magnifiques, by Etat Libre d'Orange
S-eX by S-Perfume (Christophe Laudamiel)
Shalimar by Guerlain
Sycomore by Chanel
Le Temps d'une Fete by Parfums de Nicolai (Patricia de Nicolai)
Timbuktu by L'Artisan Parfumeur
Tocade by Rochas (Maurice Roucel)
Tommy Girl by Tommy Hilfiger
Le Troisieme Homme by Caron
Ubar by Amouage
Vanilia by L'Artisan Parfumeur
Vol de Nuit by Guerlain
White Linen by Estee Lauder
Yatagan by Caron
Yohji Homme by Yohji Yamamoto