How Nice to be in Paris with a Tiger By Her Side – Sana Jardin perfume

I have just returned from a trip to Paris that was short in duration, but long awaited. Planned in April 2020, delayed and delayed until November 2021, I had a good deal of time to consider what to wear when I finally returned to the City of Light, and what to wear, of course, includes perfume. I knew as soon as I invested in the Sana Jardin sample pack, back in July 2020, that when I finally got to wander Paris again, I wanted to be cette femme with a Tiger By Her Side.

My trip was for business purposes, and involved spending the majority of my time exploring and sleeping in the fancy 1st arrondissement. Lucky me, I also had some time set aside to fulfil my long-held desire to wander aimlessly around Belleville. And as it was November, and bloody freezing cold, I needed a fragrance that would give me some psychological heat.

Place Vendome Paris – as captured by me in a hasty panoramic – possibly the epicentre of European snootiness

It didn’t hurt that Sana Jardin Parfumerie is the kind of brand that one can assume cuts ice with the snootier kind of Parisian doorman. French workwear is all the rage in London but one or two of the male door-bitches around Place Vendome flinched at the sight of me in my favourite jacket (navy blue with see-me-in-the-dark reflective patches) and clearly thought I should be at the tradesmen’s entrance to take the bins out. I sailed on past with my snoot in the air – a bottle of  Tiger By Her Side retails at £180 for 100ml ml: I might have looked utility, but I smelt of luxury.

Sometimes, it confuses me: this whole rigmarole of luxury. To me, my French workwear coat is a luxury item because:

• it’s strong and durable
• form and function are in perfect harmony, so it looks good and does the job of being wind and  rainproof to perfection
• it’s made with craftsmanship, by skilled workers
• it will last forever and as long as I don’t get drunk and leave it in a bar or a cab, my children can squabble over it after I have gone

These are the main criteria that go through my mind when I’m tasked with reviewing a luxury product. Perfume and cosmetics are a little bit different, in that they have a use-by/use up window, but the principles are broadly the same, don’t you think?

So with that in mind, let’s take a closer look at Sana Jardin Tiger By Her Side

First of all, I spent the princely sum of £25.50 on the Sana Jardin sample pack simply to get my hands on one-tenth of it: the vial of Tiger By Her Side. And I did this, not because I’d read anything about the notes, or the brand, but simply because of the perfume’s name.

Tigers are a huge weakness of mine: the perfume I’d most like to own if money were no object is the essence of Tiger itself. That’s been handily captured in a box for you to smell at London Zoo. And it’s gorgeous – no other animalic scent has half the effect on me.

So, does the Tiger At Her Side fragrance live up to the name? I think it does! Remember, the Tiger is at her side, not charging ahead laying waste to all her enemies, nor sat in her lap and licking her face. This is a confident, but quiet fragrance: a stealthy tiger, if you like. 

Sana Jardin summarise Tiger By Her Side as ‘Amber. Spicy and Arresting.’ Amber has the same hold on me that tigers do – I once messed up a really fascinating lesson in how to build a cologne by getting my hands on the bottle containing Amber and refusing to let go. I love the warmth of Amber, and find it psychologically comforting, and for me it’s a note that meets all my various moods. If I want to curl up alone, read and daydream, Amber supports me in that, making me feel safe and cocooned. But if I want to flirt or to party, Amber quickens my pulse …

Rose Absolute is at the heart of Tiger By Her Side, and Bergamot in the top notes, and these add freshness to the Amber. I also get a stately grace and a welcome sensation of grit and grounding from this fragrance too, which I put down to the presence of Labdanium Resin and Patchouli.

I wore Tiger By Her Side for all three of my days in Paris (see if you can spot the tiny vial in the photo of my Paris make-up, above), and when not masked, spent a considerable amount of time with my nose to my wrist, enjoying how Tiger By Her Side performs. It’s not a wild scent, and it’s not over-powering in any way. As it has Cinnamon in the top end and Vanilla in the base, there are also hints of the gourmand baking cupboard. This led me to conclude that the tiger of Tiger By Her Side is from the same feline family as the Tiger Who Came To Tea.

The Sana Jardin Tiger By Her Side is a tiger who took the trouble to arrive in your life with his coat meticulously brushed, his claws trimmed, and his fangs gleaming, all ready to squire you around the bars and restaurants of the 1st arrondissement, if that’s your fancy, but who’s equally at your service if your fondest wish is to roll down the hills of Parc des Buttes Chaumont together.

If Puss In Boots wore fragrance, he would wear Sana Jardin Tiger By Her Side.