Cologne à la Russe

Oh what a fragrance! Russe has similar notes of other fresh colognes, think Cologne Blanche, and Escale à Portofino that in my opinion, is a variation of Cologne Blanche. Some notes - especially the lavender one - make you think to other colognes like 4711 or Eau de Rochas. A' La Russe is most probably the warmer of the 3 colognes of L'Institut Très Bien: after an inital splash of citrus, it gives way to a creamy phase. I can distinctly smell some gardenia, even if it is not mentioned into the notes, that morphs into a reassuring creamy orange blossom, finishing into a vanilla/ amber base... very cozy and comforting. This could easily suit the cold season as well! The lasting power is not the best but out of the three colognes is the one that lasts longer, a couple of hours or so. It's my favourite in any case. Definitely a must try, if you have the opportunity! I hope they bring it back, so sad it was discontinued long ago...

Perhaps the most different of the three. The Russe is more "vanillic" in a soft sweet way, warmer and mellower thus being the most comforting or "sleepy" one. The same citrus-herbs structure again with the same soft ambery drydown with some extra ambrette musk (Abelmoschus) to make things smoother. In all, Bourdon tunes this one to a more aristocratic, conservative direction, giving it a short of Tsarist (Russian in a way) perspective. However it still is a cologne so use accordingly.

Very similar to their Cologne Italienne but not as powdery Same citrus opening & then settles into dry herbs-spice & vanilla like benzoin The herbal-spice aspect comes across like anise or black licorice which could be the mixture of citrus with the vanilla like benzoin I’m not the biggest pure musk fan but it doesn’t stand out as much as it’s just another layer, maybe because it’s musk mallow? I used about two sprays from my sample and it was immediately a skin scent