thank you so much for your support. I appreciate it a lot. I have prepared the first bunch of perfume empties from 2024 for you. You know I do not take perfume purchases lightly and I am committed to use up my beloved fragrance bottles. If I seriously do not like a scent, I either return it or re-sell it as soon as possible. The most of my perfumes I am using and enjoying my life with them. Fragrance makes makes me feel alive!
Here, on my blog and YouTube channel, you can explore the journey with me. If you want to see Etat Libre d’Orange, Lancôme, Hermes, Dior and Ormonde Jayne and much more, keep on watching …
La Vie Est Belle Iris Absolu by Lancôme Floral Fruity Gourmand Anne Flipo and Dominique Ropion
La Vie Est Belle Iris Absolu is a flanker of La Vie Est Belle from 2023. How many flankers are we going to have? Isn’t it time to make a new fragrance from scratch? This is a topic for another conversation.
So, Iris Absolu. Do we need you? Do you offer a new thing to the game? I suppose, it is a new take on La Vie Est Belle. There is plenty of iris – a powdery and stand-offish note. The twist is it is still La Vie Est Belle; therefore, we are getting louds of sweetness in addition to the cold iris accord. I do not get much fruitiness, to me, Iris Absolu is very much about iris and sweet syrups. I like it.
It maybe a more serious La Vie Este Belle but the playfulness and optimism are there, you bet.
If you are a fan or collector of LVEB, Iris Absolu is different enough to the original hence why not to add it to your wardrobe. It is feminine, sweet and relatively easy to pull off. I am not going to go for a full bottle because Iris Absolu is a way too similar to Miss Dior Absolutely Blooming and Babylonia by Ormonde Jayne which I both own. Nevertheless, if you like sweet powdery scents and you don’t have anything like it, maybe it is about time.
Idole Now is the newest release by Lancome in the Idôle range. It is a rose orchid and vanilla perfume. A strong floral with a sweet vanilla base. A less innocent, more powerful version of the original Idôle from 2019. It is a solid release; however, there is something about the musky, light, airy rose that the original Idôle represents.
Idole Now is not fruity at all and feels more grown-up. I like Idôle Now, not as much as the OG, but it is a quality floral. If I got a full bottle from somebody as a gift, I would not be mad and would probably use it up. It is easy to wear every day. However, would I buy a bottle of Idôle Now myself? Oh, definitely not. I am not in love. I know a handful of rose fragrances that I personally prefer.
I cannot believe I have used up 28 perfume bottles in 2023. Yay! Okay, okay, minis, travel sizes, but full sizes too. I have to show mostly summer feminine scents but some heavy stuff also. You can look forward to Vetiver D’Hiver by Armani Prive, Delina La Rosee by PDM, Figues & Agrumes by Maison Lancome and much more.
It is a great feeling to not only display the fragrances but actually use them and enjoy them. In other words, to spice up your daily routine with a bit of aroma. There is something magical about a fragrance … and to see me tenaciously going through them brings me joy. I created this video for you to enjoy as well.
Idôle Aura by Lancôme Floral Woody Musk Adriana Medina-Baez, Nadege Le Garlamtezec and Shyamala Maisondieu
Although I absolutely love the original Idôle and think that Idôle bottles are drop-down gorgeous, so far I have not found anything special about this Idôle flanker Aura.
It is a salty vanilla fragrance with a bit of flowers. It has been advertised as an effervescent marine summer perfume but I find it to be the opposite. You expect a fairy airy queen but you get a funky musky clown.
It does not smell like the OG. Perhaps it is reminiscent of Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker in the sense that it is stuffy, floral and musky.The musk is modern though, somewhat reminds the musks of Narciso Rodriquez. And yes, there is salt, so I slightly smell Levante by Nobile 1942 and I adore Levante … but when you combine the muskiness, saltiness and floral components you get something strange and claggy.
It is strong and lingers well which is no good this time. But if you love the scent I am pleased to report that in regard to performance, Idôle Aura is tenacious as a maze runner.
Long story short, I am not going to be wearing Idôle Aura neither during summer nor any other season. It lacks sweetness and airiness as far as my personal taste is concerned. It is looking pretty in a box, ready to go to another owner.
La Vie est Belle en Rose by Lancôme Floral Fruity Anne Filipo and Dominique Ropion
I went through different stages with La Vie est Belle. At first, I did not like it – I found it too strong, too sweet, and too generic. L’Eclat was still too potent for me plus heavy on orange blossom. Fragrances strong on orange blossom tend to give me a headache. My favourite so far is Intesement – I like the creamy combination of raspberry and iris.
Based on this, I really thought I was going to adore en Rose, just because it is a fresher less gourmand and more floral version of the original. Which it is! However, being an EDT concentration, its subtleness and lightness are almost extreme. I kind of miss the original La Vie est Belle with all its fullness and candy-like stickiness. You see?! I did the full circle. This is how I became a La Vie est Belle fan.
My advice is if you want a scent like La Vie est Belle, pull the trigger and go for the original or the intense one, just spray less than usual. There is no point in owning every single flanker of La Vie est Belle. It is hard to keep up anyway.
With that being said La Vie est Belle has become a classic in the fragrance world. Its appeal to a wide range of audiences, likeability, longevity and projection are undeniable. Even if you are not into sweet scents, try it, at least for reference.
Figues & Agrumes by Maison Lancôme Aromatic Fruity Alex Lee
I love the taste of fresh figs, just picked up from a tree. I cannot imagine a better time than relaxing under a fig tree in Croatia in August. Me sipping coffee; my older son jumping on a trampoline. A family portrait. You want to stop time and remember the moment forever.
It is apparent I have a thing for fresh vacay perfumes during freezing Christmas time 🙂
Oh well, you may think I am too young to be nostalgic, but “scent is life”, and life is full of memories. That is why I associate figs with The Adriatic Sea. Figs are, actually, quite common in fragrances worldwide, and their popularity is even growing.
Fig has a sweet creamy smell. It is often combined with woodsy ore tea notes. Then it results in an aromatic masculine scent. Figures & Agrumes leans feminine with citruses, sorbet ice cream and jasmine.
What a superb composition. It is the most elegant fig I have smelt so far. It is fresh yet waxy, a little bit sweet, a bit tart, bit bitter. It is a simple freshie you can dress up and make a special occasion scent. It is a scent for a woman, not necessarily a girl.
Basically, it has everything I could ever want in a fig perfume. It is undoubtedly a fruity scent but you do not feel like a weird fruit concoction. Class, sophistication and lightness are omnipresent written in the aroma DNA. Well done Maison Lancôme.
Idôle Nectar is a candy-like airy likeable rose. You must like sweet gourmands though.
It is a beautiful commercial sugary perfume, nothing more nothing less. As a perfume enthusiast, I am not blown away. It is lovely fresh wearable but nothing you have not smelled before. It smells like a good designer perfume, not polarizing. It is a less original younger version of Mon Parfum Cristal by Martine Micalef. You can find a lot of roses sweetened and deepened by caramel, popcorn and vanilla.
I can see this being loved by men on women given that it is sensual and feminine. I would not buy a full bottle with my own money; however, if I got it as a gift, I would use it up gladly.
La Vie Est Belle Intensément by Lancome Amber Floral
My experience with La Vie Est Belle has been an enlightening journey over the years. La Vie Est Belle belongs among the best selling perfumes worldwide and I have always respected it for that. Nonetheless, I was not head over heels in love with the original. Then I tried L’Eclat and found it more bearable. The more I dive into fragrances the more I wanted to step outside my comfort zone and try sweet gourmands which would usually not be in my alley. Recently I have been craving these sorts of scents; and today, I find the Intensement version calming and comforting.
I really enjoy the strong raspberry at the top, I also do get the iris. I think it is the combination of raspberry and iris in here that naturally works for me. So eventually, I got to the point where I can say that La Vie Est Belle Intensement does it for me. It is very well made and smells like a soft cashmere sweater, with no harsh or sharp notes whatsoever. I have never thought I am going to say it but I even find it unique.
It is my favourite La Vie Est Belle so far. If you want to have at least one from the line in your perfume wardrobe, the Intense is the way to go. The performance is also great, the sweetness is not too much. It is a loveable sophisticated scent.
The fragrance first hits you with a fruity burst. It is a yummy and sweet, almost kids-like aroma, at first. A little bit later, the scent becomes classier. I would perhaps say it is a classic on its own. Let me explain …
Tresor Midnight Rose is not your distinct niche scent, it smells extremely familiar but that is exactly what I like about it. It is an elegant classic rose for a nighttime occasion. I imagine a pretty young lady going somewhere special. She wants to be taken seriously hence she takes Midnight Rose with her on a journey and she feels fabulous.
Tresor Midnight Rose has been out for a while but is not getting older ladies and gentlemen. It still has its fans who buy it over and over again and also new favourites like me who give it unexpectedly, a lot of new love.
It is timeless elegance in a bottle. Sweet and delicate rose powdered with musk.
alexaperfumes 