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Notes04/10/2020
Drseid
765 Reviews
Drseid
Flechier's "Worst" Still Succeeds...
C'est La Vie opens with slightly nose tingling aldehydes and dulled peach fruit before moving to its heart. As the composition enters its early heart the aldehydes smooth, morphing into a play doh-like floury undertone to the remaining peach fruit that melds with an emergent starring carnation note, supported by slightly powdery yellow floral ylang-ylang, and a narcotic tuberose and jasmine led white floral accord, with semi-sweet sandalwood added to the overall mix. During the late dry-down the composition sheds most of its fruity-floral focus, with the remnants supporting the remaining sandalwood with a touch of balsamic, slight sweet powdery benzoin detectable through the finish. Projection is excellent, and longevity average at around 8 hours on skin.
C'est La Vie first caught my attention when I discovered that the perfumer responsible for the 1990 crafted composition was none other than what this writer believes to be the most consistently excellent nose in the business, Edouard Flechier. As I haven't sniffed anything from the perfumer that I disliked to date, a blind buy of a used vintage bottle of C'est La Vie seemed low risk. I guess the most important question is whether the win streak still holds? The short answer is "yes." The longer answer is a bit more complicated, as C'est La Vie seemingly throws everything but the kitchen sink into the composition. With anyone else trying this, the perfume near-certainly would fail. Luckily under Flechier, disaster is avoided, but complete success proves elusive. The composition is at its best in the early heart, where the amalgamation of red, yellow and white florals miraculously comes together with the aldehydic peach to provide a fine symphonic overall accord. It is far from the best of its kind (look to something like Gucci Accenti for that), but very pleasant smelling and relatively distinctive regardless. The weakest aspect to the perfume is the late dry-down, as the semi-sweet sandalwood and benzoin driven finish comes off as relatively ho-hum and short-lived. The end result is a composition that for most part succeeds, but is probably the worst thing I have sniffed from Flechier to date. That may sound like a pan, but actually it is high praise, as the composition is successful on the whole, while still being his "worst." I can't say that of any other well-respected nose, save maybe the great Jean Kerleo... Not bad company, Mr. Flechier! The bottom line is the $120 per 50 ml bottle on the aftermarket long-since discontinued C'est La Vie may be Edouard Flechier's least successful composition, but that only makes the "very good" smelling 3.5 stars out of 5 rated composition all the more impressive when looked at as part of his overall legendary career output. Recommended to collectors for at least sample, but a buy is probably not advised at current aftermarket pricing.
C'est La Vie first caught my attention when I discovered that the perfumer responsible for the 1990 crafted composition was none other than what this writer believes to be the most consistently excellent nose in the business, Edouard Flechier. As I haven't sniffed anything from the perfumer that I disliked to date, a blind buy of a used vintage bottle of C'est La Vie seemed low risk. I guess the most important question is whether the win streak still holds? The short answer is "yes." The longer answer is a bit more complicated, as C'est La Vie seemingly throws everything but the kitchen sink into the composition. With anyone else trying this, the perfume near-certainly would fail. Luckily under Flechier, disaster is avoided, but complete success proves elusive. The composition is at its best in the early heart, where the amalgamation of red, yellow and white florals miraculously comes together with the aldehydic peach to provide a fine symphonic overall accord. It is far from the best of its kind (look to something like Gucci Accenti for that), but very pleasant smelling and relatively distinctive regardless. The weakest aspect to the perfume is the late dry-down, as the semi-sweet sandalwood and benzoin driven finish comes off as relatively ho-hum and short-lived. The end result is a composition that for most part succeeds, but is probably the worst thing I have sniffed from Flechier to date. That may sound like a pan, but actually it is high praise, as the composition is successful on the whole, while still being his "worst." I can't say that of any other well-respected nose, save maybe the great Jean Kerleo... Not bad company, Mr. Flechier! The bottom line is the $120 per 50 ml bottle on the aftermarket long-since discontinued C'est La Vie may be Edouard Flechier's least successful composition, but that only makes the "very good" smelling 3.5 stars out of 5 rated composition all the more impressive when looked at as part of his overall legendary career output. Recommended to collectors for at least sample, but a buy is probably not advised at current aftermarket pricing.
Isabelle1
