Votre

One of the few fresh green floral perfumes, so naturally, it was discontinued many years ago, just as I discovered it! I'm still using my small stash up sparingly. It's perfumey, in the elegant classical way, but isn't the longest lasting fragrance I have either. Don't know if it's still as rare as it used to be. Green floral scents were on the scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s and then have basically either vanished, or been remade with the addition of tons of fruit, first melon, peach, plum, apricot, etc., and later with fig, rhubarb, etc. Even in their heyday they were not the easiest to find.

My very first perfume, worn in my twenties until no langer available in the Netherlands. Got so many compliments. I combined it with Mystere Rochas for special occasions. Bought a bottle on eBay : it brings back memories and emotions and I still like it so much! To me the true essence of perfume is the immediate connection with emotion.

By the way, the perfumer, Jean-Louis Sieuzac, also created Dune, Fahrenheit for Men, Oscar for Women, Angelique by Shiseido, and Opium for Women. Thanks to this website for enabling me to discover this info so very quickly!

1978! I was a small kid and already messing with mom's things. A bottle of Votre came to my house, i don't know how, maybe a gift? My mom kept it on her dresser mirror thinking that it was safe and high enough for a babygirl as tall as the slice of cheese you can buy with a single penny. She always underestimated me. I made a construction with shoes boxes to climb the dresser, grabbed the bottle, opened it and pour it on myself! Lucky enough I didn't drink it! I felt dizzy and stoned! LOL My mom cried and clouted me, before checking if I was still fine. I was after all. That bottle was taken higher and closed. Learned the lesson a couple of years later (that was a typical duration of perfume bottle for my mother, that was not Fidji) I took that bottle again to smell it in a proper way and I liked it sooo much that I wanted to keep it for myself for playing perfumes. I kept it for many years, so I know how it smelled. It was an intense floral-aldehydic with interesting woody undertones and a greenish opening. I would have said galbanum but no galbanum is listed. The rose was dominant in the heart but also hiacynth and maybe that's why I loved it. I loved hiacynts in my aunt's balcony. I have a clear memory of this scent in mind and now I see why: sandalwood and woody notes were not sophisticated yet. They were true to their nature. I think that the last part of a perfume helped me to remember the rest. It smelled both elegant and casual. My mom's attitude towards this perfume never made me think of anything so precious to keep for ages to come as vintage. Instead this is a good example of old school perfumery with the woody notes that actually smell wood and not bitter plastic like many drydown in modern perfumes. If you still have a bottle of Votre, keep it. I mixed it with other perfumes directly into the bottle and the result was not Votre anymore.

This is a beautiful floral aldehyde, with a strong, soapy floral opening. If you can tolerate that first hour, the dry-down is much gentler. Try it if you can. A rich blend of notes but I choose Jardins de Bagatelle in this style.