Parfums MDCI: Reviews & Discussion

MDCI stands for “Marchal Dessins et Créations Indépendantes“ and came about in 2003. LT’s praise for Invasion Barbare got instant attention but FK’s Enlèvement au Sérail and Promesse de l’Aube took it to a new level. And then, along came Bertrand Duchaufour’s Chypre Palatin… and MDCI became an oft repeated name. Perfume bloggers had a big role in it becoming a well known house outside EU.

Use of sculpted-busts as stoppers was an unusual take as well.
Needless to say focus was materials, perfumes and perfumers. The company says their muse is the age of classics, Italian renaissance, 17th century French revival…
That said, the marketing was never in a ‘in-your-face’ manner (which, at times, Frederic Malle felt like), but in the quietest, least obtrusive manner, which is (to me) ‘the perfumer’s way’. The less you say the better, and let the wearer, the customer decide.

Very much like MPeG, MDCI has a dedicated following and which has kept it afloat midst a lot of financial upheaval.
I wish they would make their site more 21st century savvy, easier to shop since they’re generous in giving out large samples when you buy directly from them.

Ma maman wears Promesse de l’Aube, so MDCI does hold a special place (for me).

Here is the entire list:
Ambre Topkapi (2003)
Invasion Barbare (2005)
Enlèvement au Sérail (2006)
Promesse de l'Aube (2006)
Rose de Siwa (2006)
Péché Cardinal (2008)
Un Cœur en Mai (2009)
Vêpres Siciliennes (2009)
Le Rivage des Syrtes (2009)
La Belle Hélène (2011)
Chypre Palatin (2012)
Nuit Andalouse (2013)
Cuir Garamante (2013)
Cio Cio San (2015)
Les Indes Galantes (2015)
Le Barbier de Tanger (2016)
Fêtes Persanes (2016)
L'Homme aux Gants (2019)
Cuir Cavalier (2019)
Bleu Satin (2019)
La Surprise (2020)
L'Aimée (2020)
L'Elégant (2021)
La Ravissante (2022)

Look forward to reading everyone’s input.
PS: obliged for not quoting.

(There are 2-3 small threads but all have a rejoinder attached (make recommendations, the best from, are they worth it, etc), so thought why not start a new one for Parfums MDCI).
Other threads:
Parfums MDCI Recommendations? | Basenotes Forum
The best from MDCI | Basenotes Forum

That's a much bigger list than I was aware of. I've only tried about four of them.

Invasion Barbare is fairly close to being a signature scent for me. I wore it a lot when I was still working. I guess it's fundamentally a fougere, but I mentally don't really register it that way. I find it unique and pleasant to wear.

In my opinion, Chypre Palatin is the best perfume in the line-up. It is so much superior to all the others that it puts them in the shade. And yes, I have tried most of them. I don't find them to be great but not bad either. Quality yes but a bit of a repetitive theme especially with the women's line. The flacons I agree, are some of the most beautiful around. The house is not as great as some other French houses that I enjoyed/enjoy such as Serge Lutens, F Malle, Parfum D'Empire, and even the one you mentioned, MPG. Far overpriced for what they are. Again, all except for Chypre Palatin. I think Chypre Palatin is one of the best perfumes of this century. And yes, it has been reformulated (even though Claude denies it) as I have both versions and they are different. I love them both. An honorable mention goes to Enlevement au Serail which is also worth checking out.

only tried a handful

palatin went from like to love to mindblowing for me & now I adore it - the opening is just THAT good - never tried the OG

that Kafka thread was bonkers https://kafkaesqueblog.com/2017/08/23/reformulation-woes-mdcis-chypre-palatin/

enlivenment is beautiful too & I also got a bottle the recently relaunched / reformulated version

barbare was alright - not a fougere fan

looking fwd to read impressions & recs

Dr B1414 said:

In my opinion, Chypre Palatin is the best perfume in the line-up. It is so much superior to all the others that it puts them in the shade. And yes, I have tried most of them. I don't find them to be great but not bad either. Quality yes but a bit of a repetitive theme especially with the women's line. The flacons I agree, are some of the most beautiful around. The house is not as great as some other French houses that I enjoyed/enjoy such as Serge Lutens, F Malle, Parfum D'Empire, and even the one you mentioned, MPG. Far overpriced for what they are. Again, all except for Chypre Palatin. I think Chypre Palatin is one of the best perfumes of this century. And yes, it has been reformulated (even though Claude denies it) as I have both versions and they are different. I love them both. An honorable mention goes to Enlevement au Serail which is also worth checking out.

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I love Chypre Paladin's opening, but it falls completely flat after that. If its beginning notes stuck around, or if it evolved into something interesting, I would buy it in a heartbeat.

I find Enlevement au Serail simply stinky, and that's coming from an animalic-lover. I wish it didn't depend so heavily on indoles for its entire lifespan. I know everyone else loves it, but I find it too simply linear to be interesting.

(Sorry for the negativity!)

I find the house very solid, elegant, and classical. Yet among the new releases, nothing stood out for me enough to buy it-somehow they were missing that extra something.

I own and like a lot Enelevement and Invasion Barbare. Enlevement has been reformulated and the new one is as Starblind said is animalic. But in a way I like.

Way too busy for me. As time goes on I don’t seem to value these multi-note fragrances like I used to. I find the line incredibly boring but I can see the appeal in the greater public.

Until 2017, I knew every MDCI as it came out, but after that have not kept up. So, for this thread… will revisit each and see how the current perfumes on the market fare.

This is what I wrote recently (so many MDCI individual perfume threads!) about one of my favourites:
“Enlèvement au Sérail in its first edition was a chypre of some import, and it belonged to the “Mitsouko and Femme” class. It was the seamless blending of peach, jasmine and oakmoss notes etc which made it what it was… there use to be ylang ylang and tuberose mentioned a lot in briefs (and I didn’t understand why), because although present, those were not so prominent in the perfume of old.

This new version maintains its original character but it is more floral, ylang ylang & peach are more prominent, but that marvelous base is gone. GCMS can confirm (aroma molecules) but what does that matter… what matters is that oakmoss is (almost) gone and so is that velvety feel. A real effort has been made here but it falls short… this compared to the 2006 scent has a lack of depth making the perfume airy, as if untethered.”

I still like it a lot but a side by side comparison bothered me. I realized then, that this right here is the culmination of EU restrictions and IFRA pseudo-spineless drama. Nothing good has come off (of) it. I’m hoping in future, with more allergen details & ways to curtail the side effects, may help short-circuit this delusional dermatologist lobby. Time will tell.

Chypre Palatin was, still is a whole different ballgame. One of those rare perfumes I carried in my pocket even at work.

MDCI may not be radical but from its early days, it was focused and restrained. They don’t do simple scents and once I have tried the last 6-7 perfume-releases, then can comment more accurately.
So, more to come.

PS: obliged for not quoting!

I have L'Elegant.. which I find very elegant
and Invasion Barbare.. which is absolutely outstanding, and a must have for lovers of the 'barber shop' scent.
great idea to bring this house up to date, by the way..

Have all the men's and unisex launches in my collection and love them all. Excellent house.

Thus far, I’ve only tried Invasion Barbare, Ambre Topkapi, and Péché Cardinale. I wasn’t terribly impressed with any of them. Still curious to try Chypre Palatin.

I absolutely love Chypre Palatin and Invasion Barbare, but that's about it really.

Only smelled Invasion and Palatin.

This is not a house that crosses my path, as someone without access to more than a single niche perfume boutique anymore post-Covid (Neiman's gone, Barney's gone), and I don't tend to buy samples/decants because of how that adds up.

Still, they've always seemed interesting, I'm just not in the income bracket to gamble on large sample hauls$$$$.

I am a big fan of Chypre Palatin. My bottle is from 2015 and I know there has been some drama with later formulations (someone already linked to the thread).
I tried the new version of Enlevament au Serail, and while it is nice I am not in love with it.
Rose de Siwa did not click with me, can’t remember why anymore
I liked Belle Helene and wanted to get a full bottle at some point but never followed thru.
Peche Cardinal was nice but did not make it on my full bottle list. Felt like a high quality materials with good execution but somehow did not click with me.

I love Invasion Barbare and really want to finally get it into my collection.

Le Barbier de Tanger is really good too, albeit a bit more easy going, fresh, less unique.

I don‘t really like most Chypres and Chypre Palatin was therefore rather unpleasant to me.