Pink by M. Micallef, for Fortnum & Mason, debatable release date

I wore Pink by M. Micallef (also known as 1707 Pink) every day for a week so you don't have to, and here are my thoughts about it...

Source: 50 ml bottle, Fortnum & Mason

• How much I like it: 6 wearing it daily, but 8 for the right occasions

• Composition rating: For its type, 7.5

• Lasting power: 8, but close to the skin

• Did my view change as the week went on? Yes, from one day to the next

• Did I get bored of it? Yes, I'm sorry!

• Any Compliments? No, but I wasn't around people so much this week

• In three words: Fairy's powder compact 🧚‍♀️

• Cost and value for money: Very limited edition, small-run, beautiful bottle, pretty smell = worth it

• Will I buy it? I already did; may replace with another Micallef as I'm intrigued by this brand

• Husband's notes: "I wouldn't mind if you smelled like this" and "I haven't really sensed your perfume this week much" and "Yeah, it's nice"
  

Fragrantica notes:

Jasmine, Rose, Geranium, Ylang Ylang, plus presumably woods and musk as the blurb calls it a 'floral woody musk'

Perceived notes:

Jasmine, Rose, Ylang Ylang, Violet, heliotrope, Oak Moss, Woods, Musk

The Week's Review

Oh dear, this one had a bit of a rough ride because many things went wrong on the day I started wearing it. I almost jumped ship in favour of something more familiar but as I started this scent experiment on such a challenging day, I knew I probably wouldn't ever want to return to it unless I pushed through.

That's what scent memory is like. It's binding, unless you persevere and make new memories.

So I did persevere, managing to stick with it though my little one and I both had Covid this week and I wasn't able to leave the house. It's a very nostalgic scent, not quite belonging to 'old school' perfumery, but close to it (think 90s). It's soapy, powdery, delicate and tunnel-visioned on the florals. Fragrantica has 1707 Pink (which I believe to be the same fragrance) as a 2014 release, but I found a Micallef post from 2012 on it. From its particular facets, my guess is that the formulation could have been kicking around a while before that.

Because this is a limited edition made by Micallef for Fortnum & Mason it conjures up to me the history of the store and the kind of woman who may have shopped there to purchase a hamper in the 1700s before before hitting the road in her carriage. It also makes me think of lady poets of a certain age who pin their hair in Kirby grips and of small cobbled street towns and 3pm sun.

The boring references bit

References might be Donna Karan's Cashmere Mist (1994) and Penhaligon's Artemisia (2002), but I also get hints of Paloma Picasso (1984) and Teint de Neige (2000).

7 Day Test

Well, despite the drama of the week (two hospital visits, pressure at work, a dash of Covid etc) I did enjoy wearing this fragrance for the first few days. I know why I purchased it: there is this inherent loveliness to it that smells of other people who aren't me. I think most fragrance collectors have perfumes like that. They provide a chance for you to wear someone else's shoes.

However, by day five, I wanted my own shoes back, and so for the last couple of days I experimented with layering it, first with its own delicious stable-mate, Note Vanillee (didn't really work), and on the last day, with simple floral scents: Secret Gardenia by Miller Harris on one arm and Jasmin de Pays by Perris Monte Carlo on the other (both were highly successful layering combinations that I will try again).

Where I've landed with this is that it's lovely to put on as a bit of escapism, but not for daily wear for me personally. I can see myself pulling it out for visits to stately home gardens, village jumble sales or a picnic by a river.

Though not fully for me, I can absolutely see this as a signature fragrance for someone out there since it's so pretty, lightly sweet and clean. It has definitely ignited my interest in the M. Micallef brand, with its lovely bottles and thoughtful blends.

Pink and Note Vanillee are both available from Fortnum and Mason; Note Vanillee is also available from Parfums Micallef.