L'Interdit

this is my first review here. L'interdit was my signature scent for years until it ran out of stock here in Finland. It is my all time favorite ever to exist. The original eau de parfum has not been available since the 80's. I have only had eau de toilettes since then. My last bottle of the original ran out before the year 2000. I have now gotten bottles of the Les Mythiques 2007 version on Ebay. The price and availability of that is also not good any more. So I am on a long and hard quest for something like this as a signature scent in the future. The best part of this for me is the wonderful old fashioned powderiness of the drydown. L'interdit is a subtle soft sensual scent on me. It never gives me a migraine. I love it at all times of the day and year. It is great for work, play and everything. The eau de toilette does not have a lot of staying power. That is its major con. If anyone suggest a new signature scent for a L'interdit lover I am open to suggestions. I also like the original Ferre by ferre but that feels a bit overpowering sometimes. And also a discontinued hard to find scent.

Enchanting. I sought out a sample of L'Interdit because of Audrey Hepburn, and I've been in love with it ever since. I am now fortunate enough to own a bottle and I consider this the gem of my tiny collection. Givenchy really has captured the essence of a stylish Hepburn, as this is elegant, graceful and feminine. I understand why she loved it so much. The opening is characterised by soft, soapy aldehydes, followed by the sweetest, most beautiful strawberry you can imagine. The strawberry in this perfume is my absolute favourite. The warmth of my skin then brings out a softly sweet peach, before the heart of a feather-weight floral powder, which is so incredibly delicate, and a beautiful, creamy sandalwood-amber dry-down to finish. I consider this the most perfect "posh hand cream scent" I've ever encountered. It settles very well on my skin, and is never too overwhelming, impeccably well-blended and quintessentially French. Soft to moderate sillage, longevity is for about 6 hours. Love.

French feminine wiles in iconic Givenchy style. Beautiful for spring with her powdery iris rose. Thus has a gentle soul. Not many perfumes can capture this delicacy. The parfum is a little tricky, too much you get nail polish. The lightest hand you get all her fabulous notes. Again back to her theme of gentleness and delicacy. The parfum has an oily quality about it for adherence. The edt is slightly lighter but the fragrance is similar to one another. The drydown with the powdery sandalwood is wonderful in the EDP. Not to be missed. L'interdit focuses around the fruity aldehyde opening, then revolves around a powdery violet/starchy orris and ylang ylang to give it body. Its probably the first :Lipstick: type of scent. The drydown is beautiful with the real mysore sandalwood. If you can find a bottle in relatively decent shape, go for it but my buying history with it is half of the aldyhydes have turned by now giving it that hairspray effect. Make sure to try to go after a sealed box.

An incredibly beautiful fragrance. I'm fortunate I guess, as I've never gotten any sort of nail polish scent from it, and the opening aldehydes that seem harsh to many younger reviewers make my heart beat faster. I have the parfum in the bright red presentation boxes and pre-barcode edts in the gold boxes with the flower stems on them. Very, very softly aldehydic - much, much less than Arpege, Chanel, Caleche. Well blended florals - I can think hard and pick things out but overall it's just the impression of lovely soft flowers to me. I don't get any dominant rose, iris or violet. The strawberry notes are lovely and strong, and there's some peach that dances through at times. Gorgeous creamy sandalwood, amber and orris make a powdery drydown to die for. While I believe that perfume has no gender L'Interdit feels so very feminine to me. This is one of the greats that I've replaced every time I've used up a bottle.

I purchased this about a week ago. The store had no cards to spray so I tried it on my wrist. Out of all the fragrances I tried on different areas of my arms, this was the one I kept going back to. I didn't read up on it before trying it because seeing woods puts me straight off. The sandalwood in this is just about bearable. It reminds me of Balenciaga Rumba which gives me a sick migraine every time I sniff it - although all I have to do these days is think of it and I feel queasy. Having said that, this works well with the florals. Along with strong sandalwood I get strong nose tickling aldehydes which I have to be in the mood for. On paper, I'd have walked straight past it but the pretty fruity florals persevere and are well worth the small negatives I've mentioned. On my wrist, the sandalwood and aldehydes are even more tolerable. This has challenged me and I love it for that.

Exquisite! I adore L'Interdit. I am the proud owner of a vintage bottle, like the one above in the picture. It's a gorgeous bottle. It's a gorgeous perfume. It's the most beautiful florals, and delectable fruits, and lovely gentle aldehydes. It's similar to Arpège, which I adore, but it's sweeter, bubblier and more powdery. It's totally divine. The beginning aldehydes, spices and fruit are completely captivating, and then the beautiful flowers - rose, lily-of-the-valley, iris, jasmine, violet, jonquil, yang-ylang (very Arpège-ish) and the most gorgeous dry-down with creamy sandalwood, vetiver, and wonderful vanillary benzoin, a little soft musk and tonka. It's such a lovely lovely beautiful sweet ladylike perfume - just exactly as beautiful, elegant, sweet, bubbly, adorable, innocent, ladylike, classy and fun as the exquisite woman it was made for. Audrey. Sublime.

I have a tiny vintage bottle of the edt from before the reformulations in the 2000s. I don't get much strawberry etc, so I think the top notes have faded over time, but it's still so soft and velvety from the iris and violet and the blend of other flowers, with the ambery sweetness of the benzion and tonka. This has the sweetness of flowers and amber, without any of the spun sugar of so many modern perfumes (because ethyl maltol is a cheap way to improve sillage and sweetness) I've now tried the modern version which is sugary sweet ethyl maltol or similar, with something vaguely citrus, and artificial smelling flowers. Rather cheap smelling. Not impressed with the modern one! I've now also tried the vintage eau de parfum, which is like a cross between the edt, and Chanel no 5, and is also lovely.

As close the Audrey Hepburn version as you are going to get today! I have a 7ml bottle as pictured above, in a little red water taffeta covered box. It's just divine and I am searching for a reasonably priced full sized bottle. This fragrance is something else! At first it resembles my vintage Shalimar, but after the initial blast of beautifully balanced spice, there are clear and strong facets which skewer the whole genre of early to mid century Diva scents into a more sophisticated and frankly beauteous entendre. I honestly don't even know how to describe the notes, L'Interdit is such a complex animal. If you can get your hands on l'original, only then will you know what I mean.

Today is Audrey Hepburn's birthday so I've put this on in her honour. I have a vintage parfum version like she wore. It starts out very powdery but as it dries down I get whiffs of the various flowers and fruits with each coming to the fore at different points in the dry down. That's quality. As it dries down further, the iris takes the lead. It's a polite, uplifting scent with no mystery but if you want a happy mood pickup, this does nicely. Sillage is moderate. Recommended for spring.

Au revoir Monsieur De Givenchy... Vous venez de rejoindre l'Olympe des grands créateurs(trices) français(es) des nectars parfumés du XXème siècle. Vous avez été très jeune, dès 17 ans, un visionnaire de la mode. Aujourd'hui 12 mars 2018 à 91 ans, vous êtes parti rejoindre Audrey pour la parer d'un Interdit encore plus glamour, encore plus poudré tel un nuage blanc dans un ciel bleu. Ici bas vous nous manquez déjà... Je vous aime Maître. Iris

I bought it a long time ago when I read that it was Audrey's favorite perfume. I really really liked it. To me it was very flowery but not in a bad way! It reminded me of spring and Easter time, of breezy sping evenings. I have a little bit left, but the bottle is at my parents house, so I can't sniff it...:-(

Smokey and deep. One feels a million dollars wearing this scent. Best for a gala, intimate, evening event, where you will be sitting close. Apply sparingly and let the perfume do the rest. It wafts and does not nag incessently like some modern perfumes.

L'Interdit (the original, conceived for Audrey Hepburn)is indefineable - like the woman who wears it. You only need a dab here and there - don't spray it on lavishly!

Aaaah, so beautiful, dont buy the version of this age, it is nothing like the original, sadly not available anymore

Has nothing in common with the current version! Except the name 📛 the original version was a true masterpiece 🏆❤️

I just found this and love it. The original is delightful, the new version is disgusting.

Let me start by addressing the elephant in the room - aldehydes. A make or breaker if ever I've known one. I am currently attempting to come to terms with this note, and the closest thing that I can compare this challenge to, is coaching some one who drinks sweet wine, to appreciate dry reds. Ultimately, you end up liking what you like, regardless of repetition or exposure. But every once in a while, there will be a light bulb moment, and then that will be the new preference, and the previous won't make sense any longer. I made that transition with the latter, and am still waiting for the former to illuminate something inside me. I only bring this up, because L'Interdit is so drenched in this chemical, that I stammer to find a way past it. I also believe this composition, like many others that boast heavy handedness with aldehydes, are also anointed with such sophistication and grace, that it would be negligence not to consider them for a moment, if nothing else, in an attempt at understanding. The method, so often associated with "vintage" scents requires a different tempo of application. They insist upon early decanting, and are really designed for the dry drown to be the apex of the show. When this achieves that state, something very special happens. Screaming synthetics begin to whisper and softer florals emerge. Powdery Iris and violet find their voice, and sing in harmony with the inherent soapiness of jasmine and lily of the valley. Brighter notes of benzoin and bergamot irradiate sweet fruity chords and creamy sandalwood. Cleansing and luminescent sums the total, and this state will last a bit of forever. If, like me, you are sensitive to the squeaking aldehydic nuances perfumes of yesteryear so boldly pronounce, L'Interdit provides an approachable introduction to vintage chic. On a personal note: This literally smells like my grandmother, and when I think about how much of a badass she was, in a time where women were expected to be silent and demure, I feel honored to smell like her! She was breaking glass ceilings in male dominant roles long before I began cutting my hands. So, when people say that this makes me smell like a grandma, I emphatically say "Thank You! I should be so lucky!".

I got my hands on a vintage edp that I bought blindly only on basis of notes and reviews. First I found the top a bit strange and almost unbalanced, so I had to give it a few tries before I begun to understand it. It is usually a good sign when I have to give a fragrance several tries. My crush for them seems to be both harder and deeper if I overcome the first hesitation. l'Interdit starts off a bit sour from the bergamot that mixes with a cold aldehydic wind. Then it suddenly gets warm from the spices and some sweetness from the peach and strawberrys joins in. Alltogether a quite interesting concoction that may be puzzling at first. But then the flowery heart reveals it's beauty and fulfils all hopes that I had from reading about its notes. Violet, powdery iris, sensual rose and jasmine plays along in such small doses each that the result is a warm, powdery, slightly sweet and innocently sexy air that rests on my wrist for hours and hours. I find the main theme both creamy and a little powdery but not in a milky baby powder way. The initial basenotes provides the flowery heart with character. Also, handful strawberries from the top dances around the heart in order to keep it young and happy. I find l'Interdit utterly feminine with an ooze of innocent sensuality in an almost teengirlish kind of way. Beeing one of the classics It also surprises me in two major ways. First: It is so soft... and second: the strawberry note so recognizable. Usually fruits and berries in classics are so much blended in to the scent that you only get fragments from it. But not here. The strawberry is natural and clear on top of all the other goodies. If you love classics you should really give original l'Interdit a try. It's such a lovley gem, yet with a modern twist eventhough it was created already in the 50's.

Cleaning and re-organizing my perfume cupboard today I found my little bottle of the parfum from the mid-80s. There was still a bit left of it. I put it on and the entire time I kept thinking "this reminds me of another fragrance, but which one? L'Aimant? And then it happened. I came across a vintage bottle of Avon Topaze. Avon was known in the day for duping or imitating French perfume. It's not a dupe of L'Interdit but more like it reminds me of L'Interdit. I did a little side by side comparison of all three and they are sisters. Vintage Avon Topaze fits somewhere between vintage L'Interdit and vintage L'Aimant. If you miss vintage L'Interdit, it may be worth your while to hunt down some vintage Topaze.

I think I might have the new version of this, after reading reviews. Mine is a 10ml bottle from a Christmas beauty advent calendar, so not something I would normally have purchased. This seems to have a lot going on in it and it’s hard to detect the top notes immediately, but after a while, iris is the leader on this one for me along with a spicy musk. It seems pretty generic on my skin and I’m sure I’ve smelled this a hundred times on me and others in different perfumes. It lasts pretty well, probably 6 hours on my skin. Nothing groundbreaking for me, so I won’t be reaching for it sadly.