Climat (Vintage)

My one and only love soulmate of the perfume world is vintage Climat (where they still used chives) by Lancome. I miss it so much, even though I can re-create the exact scent and experience of it if I think of it even just for one moment. It will forever hold a special place in my heart...Although...if I ever could figure out a way to encapsulate the smell of the back of my dogs' paws, that would create a viable competition. I've spent about 20 years and my kids' college funds account purchasing fakes off eBay and Etsy. The most recent experience of buying yet another fake really traumatized me and actually led me to almost completely lose hope of ever inhaling this precious and unique scent of my childhood and adolescence. Broken-hearted, I finally accepted my loss and made a tough decision to venture out into the world of "other" "regular" perfumes in the hopes of maybe finding something that will excite me again. I threw myself fully (or in clinical terms, became hyper-fixated) into the rabbit hole of many lost hours of watching Youtube and Instagram influencers discussing their favorite fragrances and then dutifully took notes and purchased samples of every single one of them (If you think I'm exaggerating, you haven't dealt with clinical level AHDH related hyper fixation). I am happy to say that I actually found several scents that I liked, with "Rain" by Marc Jacobs currently a definite "leader." My extensive decades-spanning search for the "real" one and only Climat actually led me to realize that there is a whole "lost generation" of women, mostly from the Former Soviet Union who are similarly have been experiencing the same longing and emptiness left in us when the original Climat was discontinued. It was both comforting and unsettling to experience this...On the one hand, I feel a sense of affinity and belonging with these women. And on the other hand, there is also a slight sense of betrayal-like finding out that the intimate partner who has lost, had special relationships with others. (Maybe he even has a family on the side somewhere with a couple of kids kind of way). So I still do feel some strange kind of way about it..

[This is for a true vintage EDT, not the dubious version as pictured above] "We'll sing in the sunshine, we'll laugh everyday, we'll sing in the sunshine, and I'll be on my way." - Gale Gordon Climat is singing in the sunshine, "sounds" like a harmonica solo in a 60s folks song, smells like light filtered through waving reeds. It's aldehydic sparkle and crystal breeze, tinted with violet, hyacinth and rose, lathered like a morning dew pure, classy hotel white soap bar, near and distant at the same time. Climat is whipped with cold cream sandalwood and the white flowers and narcissus blur into new mown hay. This is where I experience the similarities with another gem, Santa Maria Novella Melograno. There is some similarity to Madame Rochas as well, yet Climat feels a bit more wistful, so to speak. The problem with Climat is that there are so many suspicious and outright "fake" versions out there, and one of them I purchased some time back, with the deep blue cap, "Climat" in a script modified from the original, and a textured glass. It smelled like a pleasant, if enfeebled, soapy aldehydic floral, with no discernable shape, feeling mostly like Ivory soap as it dries down. The difference between that and this vintage I now own is prominent. I had not tried the legit re-launches from Lancome that presumably predate these "knock-offs" but I've read that they seem to approximate the original to an extent.

Apart from Magie Noire, I would say that Climat is the most beautiful perfume I have ever worn. I discovered it about ten years ago when I found an unboxed miniature bottle in a charity shop. Oh my! What a delight. The little bottle sat on one of my kitchen shelves in my little flat and is long gone and much lamented. I'm not going to try to describe the smell, I couldn't put it into words and it would definitely lose in the translation. It's a floral aldehyde and I think you can tell I like it! (I love Malegria's alien description though! For me, although I know she meant something different, it speaks of Climat's elegance) Climat screams 'class' and 'quality'! Actually, I'm wearing Liz Earle Botanical No 1 at the moment (it's not on the database here yet), and, strangely,citrus aside, it's the only perfume that has ever reminded me slightly of Climat. I bought a new and sealed big bottle of Climat EDT recently on Ebay and was so disappointed. I don't know if it was a fake or a reformulation but it was barely there and had nothing of the contents of that little bottle about it. When I am rich I am going to get the really expensive set of Lancome minis and hope that that Climat is the same as the one I remember.

I got all versions except the new one and Russian addition. When you are talking about this perfume, you should really talk about 4-5 perfumes. 1st version in the white box is soft with low longetivity, the 2nd "winter" is sharp men like perfume with very low longetivity. The 3rd edition is one beautiful narcissus one, which everyone remembers and likes, and which costs $500 for 7 ml on eBay. The La Collection is my favourite - it's modern version of the 3rd edition. I would strongly discourage you to buy 1st, 2nd or any version in the blue box with the gold square. I would not recommend to buy 3rd edition, as it is overpriced. You can buy it if you really feel that nostalgia or as a gift to someone nostalgic. But if you really want to spend $500 on perfume, go and buy one of the modern boutique perfumes, better value for money. If you still insist on Climat, but La Collection. May be Russian issue is good too.

This scent is one from my childhood, I just can't believe I remembered it all this time (15+ years). It was so popular in the 90's that we had plenty of bottles (the original ones with the cap that twists off), but unfortunately my mom gave them all away as gifts. I always recalled the smell when I was feeling nostalgic until I finally went to Paris (a childhood dream coming true) in 2012 and brought several bottles at the Galeries Lafayette for about $55 each. Now it is double that on the Lancome website! I have two unused bottles left and what's the point of saving them?! So I will open a bottle and use it from time to time and treasure the memories from the past and make new ones! Joie de vivre! I am very inexperienced in picking out specific scents and can only say that this perfume is definitely very personal. It is long lasting and even as an EDT, a little goes a long way.