Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540 Body Cream

(affiliate links)

 I've chosen a very odd time to become a perfume obsessive, but I suppose it was going to happen sooner or later. With the continual presence of Covid and therefore constant, looming threat to my sense of smell, my subconscious could be to blame for my sudden change intense interest in fragrance. Well, my subconscious and the Escentual #EscentualScents blind trial boxes I've been enjoying every month. It's only really since I started participating in the trials that I've paid attention to fragrance notes and genres and I've become a frequent visitor to the Fragrantica website. I've literally spent hours in bed reading through reviews and becoming increasingly fascinated with other people's perfume collections (my own isn't even worth a mention - just a quarter of a bottle of Dolce and Gabbana Dolce sits on my chest of drawers at the moment).

It was Escentual Scents that introduced me to Ariana Grande Cloud which in turn introduced me to Baccarat Rouge 540, which I ordered a small sample of, fell in love with, recoiled at the price of, then received the body cream version of for Christmas.

My precious bottle of scented lotion arrived via Net a Porter so it was beautifully presented in a chic black box with ribbon and tissue, making it extra special when opening on Christmas morning.

The squared bottle has a twist function on the cap, just a small turn to the right creates an opening at the top, then you turn the bottle upside down and squeeze to dispense. Sort of like a very expensive condiment I suppose!

I've always found the lotion or hand cream version of perfumes to be just as good, if not better at lasting on the skin and the Baccarat Rouge 540 lotion performs as expected.

It's a lightweight cream which I've applied quite sparingly to my arms and collarbone and found that it absorbs so quickly that if it weren't for the scent it would almost feel like I never put it on at all. It doesn't feel greasy on the skin at all.

The body cream has a moisturising Shea butter base and smells just like the perfume; bittersweet saffron and woody cedar combined with musky Ambroxan and fresh and floral Hedione compound (a sort of jasmine and lemon-smelling synthetic note). I think it's such a weird scent but at the same time it's utterly beautiful. Weird doesn't necessarily mean bad anyway, does it?

Fragrances smell different on different people in general, but the special thing about Baccarat Rouge 540 is that the large quantities of Hedione and Ambroxan really amplify that effect. It is a scent that comes into its own on the skin and is basically unique for everyone. Some people smell something quite medicinal and clinical, others get a straight-up dose of burnt sugar, some smell barely anything at all. On me I pick up something semi-sweet and musky with more than a touch of what I'd describe as a jasmine bush after quite a lot of rain.

The only slight difference (to my nose) is that the perfume I sampled had a bit more of that sort of ozonic Ambroxan vibe than what I can detect in the body cream. Perhaps if I apply the lotion a little more generously I'd get more of an Ambroxan hit?

Either way, I'm loving the body cream incarnation of Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540.

As mentioned, mine was from Net a Porter (sold out at time of writing) but you can find it at John Lewis, Selfridges, Harvey Nichols, Harrods and of course Maison Francis Kurkdjian for £70 for 250ml.