Anamandy

It's very strange that they named this Jasmin Lilas as it is neither. It is a Lily of the Valley scent. It has both notes in the name showing up early in the wear, but they quickly depart, and this turns into a Lily of the Valley soliflore on the dry down. Despite my initial disappointment I still like this as it is a beautiful perfume. I just wasn't looking for another LOTV scent.
I must say that the LOTV is the most natural I've ever smelled. There is no LOTV scent that I have smelled to date that captures that exact scent, but this does. Soft, creamy, and sweet and not excessively green. Smells exactly the same as the bouquets I bring into my house when they are in bloom. It is really pretty. I shouldn't be surprised by how good this smells considering it is a Pierre Bourdon creation. That is what tempted me to buy this in the first place. I just should have done my homework before I did and not been swayed by the name alone.
Oh well, it looks like I now have another LOTV scent to wear. Thank goodness I really like this a lot.

This had been on my radar for years and I finally took the plunge and bb this during the holiday sale at Harrods. I really love this now though at first, I was a little unsure because I didn't think the leather note worked very well. I found it a little jarring, which I think was because I didn't expect it to play such a prominent role. But the more I wear this the more I fall in love with the way it works here.
For a while now I had been searching for a tamer and drier Guerlain Insolence. I love Insolence, but she can be a beast in the performance department, and sometimes I don't want to make quite such a statement. This is everything I hoped for as it is more sedate and low key, though no less fabulous. A big plus is that it is different enough from Insolence where it is worth having both in my wardrobe.
A violet and iris perfume that is softly powdery from the musk, lightly fruity, with leather, benzoin and vanilla. I love how the tonka adds just a touch of sweetness and a hint of cherry, which I think is what is giving me that lipstick vibe. It really is a beautiful perfume. I am so glad I took the risk and bought this after all. I am just sorry I waited so long.

They aren't kidding when they say this is a Turkish rose. That is all I smell as if I am smelling an absolute. The health food store near me sells Turkish Rose Absolute in teeny-weeny bottles for an exorbitant price. This smells just like that. Honestly, I don't understand why a perfumer was even needed here if that is all this is. I'm not complaining, just confused. I do love it, just as I loved the absolute selling in the health food store but took a pass because of the price. This is much cheaper though no less beautiful. I just thought there was going to be other notes that are not listed. I assumed some mystery notes, but there aren't any. Just pure rose. Then again, a Turkish rose is multi-dimensional in its own right, and it certainly is here. Heady, full-bodied with lots of depth and lovely green and honey nuances. It's not too sweet, not too spicy, and very, very rosy.

I love this right now worn solo, but I think would work great for layering too. I can see this adding a rich bouquet to drier chypres and Orientals, fruity fragrances, and even gourmands. The Merchant of Venice also suggest you layer this with other perfumes in the Accordi line, so there are lots of possibilities here. To top it off, this has gorgeous silage with only a few sprays. This is a top-quality product at a bargain price. If you are a rose lover, as I am, I suggest you get your nose on this.

This is such a cute, girly, sexy fragrance. For some reason I think of the vintage pinup girl, Bettie Page, when I smell this scent. It's cute, fun, and sexy, all at the same time. Maybe it's that raspberry bubblegum opening that's contrasted by the sexy jasmine and iris dry down that is giving me that vibe. Whatever it is, this is a cute girl blowing out a big pink bubblegum bubble while giving you a seductive wink. A little too youthful for me but I think some girls out there could really rock this.

I don't mean to ruffle any feathers here, but I am smelling this much differently than most. I don't think this fragrance is dark or too dirty at all. For the most part, it actually wears quite clean on me, which is a surprise considering all the things I've read about this fragrance throughout the years. It is a beautiful fragrance, for sure, but I don't think it's the be all, end all of jasmine fragrances or deserving of the hype or cult status, particularly as a sultry jasmine fragrance. For me, that description better fits Perris Monte Carlo's Jasmin de Pays. Maybe Sarrasins achieved that mythic status because this fragrance has been a hard to acquire unicorn. I suspect that either knowingly or unknowingly, SL is to blame for this, as the sporadic production might have contributed to that air of exclusivity.

Of course, everyone perceives things differently, so my experience might not align with your experience. And since scent is subjective, that is to be expected. So, if my experience is different from yours, please don't take that as a personal affront, because it sure isn't intended that way.

I have tried this fragrance multiple times from a generous, pretty expensive decant I purchased. I wanted to allow myself multiple wears and to spray as much as I wanted to really test it out and have more than just a passing familiarity with it. I also purchased a 1ml. sample from another decant site to validate that what I purchased is truly the same scent. After all, I am looking at possibly making an expensive purchase here, so I need to be sure that I not only love it enough to do so, but that what I am trying is indeed the actual scent I will receive in the event I do buy.

Okay, now that I got that out of the way, onto the fragrance.

On first spray I get a bit of soapiness and an underlying aromatic spiciness from the carnation, which brings to mind a fine milled soap. It then transitions into a clean jasmine with grape and plum undertones. Hmmm, I have no idea where that is coming from because it's not listed in the notes, but supposedly, SL's always keeps some notes close to the vest. So, who knows. Then midway through I get a little bit of indoles and that rubber tire scent that some jasmine perfumes have, like Lush Lust and A la Nuit, but nowhere near Lust's level. As it moves along the jasmine loses the rubber and it becomes much creamier, still slightly indolic, then takes on a little bit of a vintage vibe as the carnation becomes apparent once more with its spiciness toned down by the musk. By this time, it is a little better than a skin scent with delightful wafts here and there.

I feel a little bit at a disadvantage testing this now, because even though it has been close to 50 degrees every time I tried it, I really think this fragrance needs heat to bloom. I have a feeling this would be just stunning in warmer weather, though I still don't think it would fit the dramatic descriptions I've read. Honestly, I'm a little bit perplexed as the descriptions from its devotees seem more fitting for Serge Luten's Fils de Joie or A la Nuit. This is almost safe by comparison. Put another way, I would have no problem wearing this to church, but wouldn't feel comfortable doing the same with some of the other Jasmine perfumes I own.

Would I buy a bottle of this? No, not with the way it smells and performs right now, especially at the price being asked. That might be subject to change when I try this again in hot weather, though I doubt it since I own so many very similar jasmine fragrances, like the already mentioned JdP, Jasmin Antique, Lush Lust, vintage Le Galion Jasmin, and AA Jasmina, to name a few (can you tell I'm a little crazy for jasmine?).

One thing I really dislike is the dabber bottle. It might look good but it's impractical as hell. For this fragrance, it's also a little deceptive because it might lead one to believe this perfume is so strong it actually warrants that mode of application. It doesn't. Mostly though, my dislike of the bottle stems from a fear of, horror of horrors, accidentally knocking it over - not to mention worrying about the expensive juice inside evaporating away.

So, to sum it up, while I think this is very, very beautiful, it's not my favorite jasmine fragrance, because I've already found that, (whose performance btw blows Sarrasins out of the water). But it was nice to finally try this after so many years of procrastinating. I will put the rest of this decant away to try next summer. Hopefully, it will come closer to the reviews than what I am experiencing now.