Sleppy94

"Warm, spicy, extraordinary. I wish every woman smelled like this. The warm embrace of a Juliette Binoche :) "

That's what my statement sounded like after I got hold of a vintage miniature and was downright infatuated with the scent inside. So of course (like with Trésor) I had to order a big bottle of it. And (as with Trésor) I had to wonder if my nose is broken, because what I heard there smelled completely different from what was in the vintage miniature.

While the old scent was really warm and spicy - resembling the sweet embrace of a free-spirited aunt - the new one is cool, elegant, and lacquer-like. It's as if Juliette dropped her paintbrush before all the wealth and has since been sipping cocktails with rich people covered in hair lacquer.

Much like Trésor, the heat has been kicked out of this one. Both feel too cool (for hugs) by now. They should probably rather radiate a little more authoritarian coolness - for the job or otherwise where you do not want to come across too close.

For me personally, this is very sad, because the old fragrances had, in my opinion, everything that I miss in the new releases. But now they are also not me what they were. I feel sorry for everyone who thinks to get the one and end up stuck with a completely different scent.

What's going on at Lancôme? As far as I know, Hypnôse was also changed beyond recognition. Does the brand feel under pressure to adapt to new trends, but can't afford new flacons or marketing campaigns. La Vie est belle seems to be selling well, along with its flankers? I somehow doubt that it's because of ingredients that have been banned in the meantime. Are the new fragrances the result of advice from some marketing geniuses? Maybe someone knows more. I think this sort of thing should be banned. It simply misleads loyal buyers. Personally, I no longer trust the brand and have no desire to try other fragrances of the brand.

"A restaurant in Spain. Flowers everywhere. Ripe baked peaches under a noble vanilla sauce. A chilled sparkling wine to go with it. Simply divine!"

This was my statement about the Trésor EdP which a few months ago as a vintage miniature got to know. After such a positive impression, I had to order me of course as soon as possible a large bottle. Here in the Souk I also found it quickly for a VERY pleasant price. (Thanks again to @Eberlin!!!)

I liberally sprayed the newest member of my collection and didn't understand what was going on. What's stinging like that? What's that green thing? Leather? Now where the hell did the leather come from? There's nothing about it in the pyramid!!!

I read my statement again and it did NOT fit AT ALL. I smelled the mini again and it made sense again. So now I have to clarify here in a review: Lancôme has hidden a completely different scent here under the same name and in the same bottle. He is not bad and I also wear him very much. At some point, more peach comes out, but the leather note remains through and through. The peachy dessert has turned into a cool rose leather scent with peaches. This is no longer a 90s mommy like the scent people often associate. This is a self-confident woman who goes to the office in leather jacket and brightens up the day with her green peach freshness colleagues.

Conclusion: Old and new formulation both revolve around peach + rose, but that's it with the commonalities.

For a very long time, I couldn't stand it when Douglas put the sample of the latest version of the oh-so-famous and still best-selling Chanel No. 5 in with the purchase. The scent reminded me of grannies, toilet spray, cat urine and rusty jewellery all at the same time. Was there nothing better on the market back in the day? Did people have no taste? Did it become famous because of a ridiculously high price and subsequent hype, and is therefore bought by image-obsessed people with no sense of smell? These are all questions that came up in me every time I heard about Chanel.

After a year of Corona boredom in home-studying, I started bidding like crazy on eBay for old perfume miniatures I heard about from Russian and American perfume YouTube channels. A little world history in cute little bottles for a few euros delivered straight to your door. Meanwhile, I've become a bit of a shopping addict with all the auctioneering, but that's another story.

Anyway, because it cost just a few Euros and can't be missing from a vintage collection, I acquired a nice old looking half-full bottle of the eau de parfum version. Before I put minis in my little antique glass case, I always try a drop first. "Well, good" I think to myself and put a drop on the back of my hand.

"Gold" is the first thing that comes to mind. The old metal, what I mainly heard before, is here just a tiny layer, which is just present in vintage jewelry. What I remember as stinging is here merely a shining. The gold reflects the sun's rays. And what I never noticed before is the warmth. Golden, pleasant warmth. Like a room lit by a fireplace.

Is the scent different? Am I different? I dig out the tester of the newer eau de toilette version from Douglas and spray my other hand with it. The answer is: both. The old EdP version is indeed warmer and less pungent than the EdT version. But meanwhile, the EdT version is also more multi-faceted for me.

Verdict: No.5 actually doesn't seem that bad in the EdP version (or at least the older EdP version). Warm, soapy, elegant vintage gold. I might even get it someday when I'm over 40 - if it won't be reformulated for the worse. However, experience with vintage fragrances seems necessary to perceive it in its fullness. Going straight from current fruitchoulis and sugar bombs to No. 5 would be too crass.

So before I ordered this fragrance, I read and looked at countless reviews. During Corona it is just hard to try a fragrance. I thought I knew what to expect, but no! Here are a few points:

Powdery: when something is described as powdery, it is usually associated with more mature ladies. The grannies who still used those giant fluffs to powder just. One of my favorite fragrances is Chloé, which is also often described as powdery. In fact, it gives me certain associations with vintage and elegance. Narciso Poudrée is not vintage at all! The kind of powder in here is more like a kind of light pink blush pouder that is marketed to teens.

Vanilla: for some reason, people talk about vanilla when they smell this one. As a person who absolutely cannot stand recognizable vanilla in perfumes and foods - it makes me nauseous quickly - I can't detect any vanilla in there. Yes, there's a warmth to the scent, but I don't smell vanilla. Vanilla isn't listed as a note anywhere either. Instead, on fragrantica, I found coumarin, which is extracted from the tobbean, which reminds people a lot of vanilla. More often, however, coumarin is described as hay-like.

Gum: how come no one talks about the gum quality of this perfume? Or is it just me being weird? There used to be these pink extra gum strips that I sometimes got from the dentist in one of those flat paper packets. They were light pink and powdery too. That's exactly what this perfume reminds me of. Maybe less juicy / fruity and more of this warmth, but still that's my first thought.

Overall a very interesting, cozy, playful scent. Very linear and remains noticeable the next day as a skin scent. Narciso is for me the best, what there is currently under designer perfumes, in terms of quality and stability of the compositions. Can only highly recommend their fragrances to discover instead of rushing to oversweet overfruity marketing gimmicks.