L'Instant de Guerlain Eau de Parfum

I’m glad I got this when I did—despite the ylang ylang and white florals, something about this speaks to transitional weather more than summer or winter, though I can see its understated resplendence working well in milder summers. To describe this “moment”: liquid sunshine, butter-smooth, honey-sweet, pollen-dusted. The orange nuances last longer through the honeyed sweetness. Ylang ylang dominates the heart elegantly—neither it nor the jasmine feel heavily indolic in this composition. Magnolia peeks through more in the drydown for me—I feel like it and the jasmine play support in boosting the experience of the sunny ylang ylang. Amber and sandalwood sink into the skin, and they can be sensed lightly even after a shower and a full night’s rest. This feels like the sunny antipode to L’Heure Bleue in that there’s something wistful and reflective here, but it’s based on mid-afternoon sunshine streaming through a window looking out into a garden in late summer. It’s not nearly as complex, but there’s a joy in the elegance of the simplicity here. I can’t imagine this perfume offending anyone. Easy daily driver for warm, mild weather. I can even see it working well as a pick-me-up for those with seasonal affective disorder in the winter. Another reviewer mentioned the “orange dreamsicle” vibe this gives (I sense it most in the opening) and that reminded me of Olympéa Solar, a huge summer favorite of mine. I’d argue Olympéa Solar is denser and gives that real orange dreamsicle feel in a beautifully almost edible floral way. It also works in intense heat and has a more tropical summer bent, while L’Instant is beautiful in a temperate summer sort of way but can be worn year-round (I feel like it just doesn’t make sense to wear Olympéa Solar in the dead of winter, as much as I love it!). I only just got this, so I’m excited to see how it changes and plays out into the autumn. I’ll definitely be reaching for this in the coming months!

Orange creamsicle ylang-ylang intoxication. Update: I'm picking up on the magnolia, too--a scent I know well because numerous species of the tree grow in my neighborhood park--and it's making me worry that the magnolia buds might get zapped by the freaky four-seasons-in-one-day weather that St. Louis has been experiencing. I think the people who complain about the faint pissy note might be registering the magnolia note, which is realistic in my estimation, even though it's beautifully blended with the ylang-ylang and honeyed orange. Sometimes it reminds me ever so slightly of the taste of the orange-flavored baby aspirins that I used to enjoy taking as a child, before I graduated to adult-size doses. But it's not that it smells like those so much as it reminds me of being a little kid who found them unexpectedly delicious. This was in the 1970s, before the drug companies started making everything pediatric taste like a Jolly Rancher. The fake-orange flavoring was about as good as it got. Update: Wearing again, a couple of days later, and I love it more all the time. It puts me in a good mood--it's not what I would call super strong, even with several sprays on well-prepped skin, but it creates a gorgeous little scent bubble and throws out intriguing little wisps of mandarin orange and vanilla when you're not expecting it. I love a honeyed fragrance that's not a strict gourmand. The sandalwood base is beautiful, too; I think it must contain some of the same superior synthetic sandalwood accord that's in my beloved Samsara.

This is like one of those very soothing honey and orange drinks that you get mixed in with water and a natural floral scent when you are sick, but in a really good way. It is very comforting and the magnolia, jasmine and ylang ylang are just stunning in this, the ylang ylang and the magnolia being most prominent to my nose. None of the floral notes are indolic, being stripped of most of the indoles found in these flowers and it is more sort of pretty and feminine without the funk of nature. I wouldn't say that it smells synthetic at all, though. I can imagine this being worn year round really and I think that it is a very versatile fragrance that isn't too loud and can be worn both at lunch and in the office just as easily. You can just spritz it on and you are ready to go! I can smell some of the sandalwood and amber in the drydown too, but it isn't strong and overbearing and I wouldn't call this a woody or an ambery fragrance. It is very classy and I could see it working for women of all ages, being a true classic. This wore for about 6 hours on me and it has arm's length projection, so it doesn't have monstrous performance, but it isn't weak either. It is about a happy medium, which will probably suit most people. You honestly can't go wrong with this fragrance. It has a warmth and a tenderness to it, not being at all stuffy, pretentious or standoffish as a fragrance to wear. It gets a solid 8/10 from me!

I had to upgrade my longevity score from "moderate" to "long-lasting," and I might switch to "eternal." It's a good thing I like this fragrance, because it projects like mad for the first couple of hours and lasts and lasts and lasts, for about 13 hours and still counting. It's unusual for a citrus scent to linger like this, but I guess the orange is so smoothly and cohesively blended with the honey, vanilla, sandalwood, and yellow florals that it serves as a main ingredient and not just a top note. It's pretty amazing, really. I still get the orange baby-aspirin and Dreamsicle feeling from it, and that makes this fragrance feel less mature to me than most Guerlains do, but I think this association is highly specific to me. My husband thought this was way too strong when I put it on--he said he could smell it all over the house, in fact, and our house has three floors--but after it settled down, he said he liked it. He said he didn't really smell the baby aspirin in the orange, but he mostly gets vanilla from any perfume that contains vanilla. At least it had enough not-vanilla in it that he didn't invoke the Pillsbury Doughboy again!

I don’t have previous experience with L’Instant as it never really caught my attention. Just like Idylle. But after trying today the edp I think it’s a very nice perfume. Heady, sensual, honeyed. I’d buy it if it didn’t remind me of 3 perfumes I already own; Elie Saab Le Parfum with its honeyed orange blossom (noticeable in the heart mostly) and vintage Dior Dune and Addict. It’s most similar to a more floral Addict with the ambery sweetness of Dune. I find facets of all three in L’Instant, and even though I find it very enjoyable, it’s redundant in my collection. Although, you never know...the rich vanilla, paired with the heady honeyness of the floral accord is really beautiful and rich... If you enjoy the above 3, or are looking for something similar, I’d definitely go for L’Instant. Elie Saab is still nice but the current iterations of the Diors are best left on the perfume counter.