Clair de Jour

BaylnTN: I just blind bought this based on your review alone ( "Here is your sister, wearing your sweater, your earrings, and your perfume, standing in front of your house, holding your cat." Your mum is priceless and your writing so evocative ) and....I'm SO glad I did. I hope you pass this way again and will accept my thanks. It's green chypre the like of which were the epitome of the late 70's. Think of the likes of Eau de Givenchy or Bernard Chant greats such as Private Collection and Alliage but with added florals which soften the bitter notes and sparkle on application. Then as it wears still enough oakmoss and civet to be earthy and magnificent ! Is very easy for vintage fans like me to only consider classic Lanvin 's like Arpege and My Sin and this does set in a very strange position between the old company as it was and the very recent offerings which really aren't my cup of tea. So it's very easy to overlook it but it's definitely a perfume from a better days, before it's time. It shouldn't be ignored and should still considered part of the classic offerings before they became, well, whatever they are today.

My aunt had left 1/3 of the perfume in the bottle because she was bored of it. She gave it to me. My first perfume. It was Clair de Jour. I was 15. It was love at first smell! I can't remember the smell anymore but I'm almost sure that this juice had a serious impact on my personal style on perfumes. I wish I could smell it again.

It's a beautiful green white floral. Distinctive, elegant, feminine... there's not prominent hyacinth in case you are looking for it. Florals are nicely interwoven, no discernible civet either. Soft sillage make it perfect for day use.

One of my first perfume. I loved it. Got it from the love of my life back then. I wish to sample so I can remember what I loved.

My sister went to college in England in 1983, and spent a few weeks in Paris as a result. When she came home, she brought a beautiful light blue Scottish wool sweater, a pair of pearl earrings the likes of which I've never seen anywhere else, and a metal bottle of Lanvin Clair De Jour with a light metallic blue thick eyeliner pencil as a bonus purchase. She promptly went to Japan for a year there as a student, leaving behind a treasure trove of goodies for me to appropriate. At one point, my mother took a picture of me and sent it to my sister with the caption, "Here is your sister, wearing your sweater, your earrings, and your perfume, standing in front of your house, holding your cat." When she came home from Japan, she admitted that she bought the Clair de Jour for me. And I was glad. I am not a savvy, sophisticated afficianado of fragrances. I just like what I like. And I liked Clair de Jour. About 6 years later, after I was married, my husband asked a dear friend who was going to go to France a huge favor: Could she please bring a bottle of Clair de Jour? She could. And she did. By that time, the fragrance was no longer being sold in metal bottles, and it didn't come with a premium like a sparkly light blue super-thick eyeliner pencil. It cost way more than my sister paid for it. And I still have about a quarter of a bottle of it. I read reviews of people who talk about loving it, and how they wish they could smell it again. I feel guilty and wonder if I should sell my fraction of an ounce of it on eBay. I can't do it, though. Back before the internet, before the world was so small and easy, back when Clair de Jour was being made and bottled so nicely, we had to go to a ton of trouble to get a little of it. How do I just sell that? Lanvin's Clair de Jour is a nice, light fragrance. I find that it lasts more than a few hours. It goes very well with light blue Scottish wool sweaters, pearl earrings, generous sisters, and loving husbands. Cats still pounce on your newspaper crossword puzzles if you wear it, and your best friend still moves to Florida if that's where her husband works. But Clair de Jour still is lovely.

Based upon the recommendations here and my love for all things Lanvin, I bought a partial bottle of this on Ebay. Right at the opening the Lanvin touch is instantly recognizable. This is such a pretty fragrance without being prim or stuffy. It reminded me a bit of Arpege, but it seemed to be a much more updated composition. My bottle is EDT, age unknown. The sillage was nice, not overdone and not as much as Arpege. Alas the longevity was not good, no more than two hours. I'm not used to wearing EDT's so I am unfamiliar with their longevity. Also the short life could be due to the age and handling of my particular bottle. All in all this was a positive fragrance adventure, enough to make me want to try this in a higher concentration!!

Green (but not too green) aldehydes and black locust....did I mention black locust???? Oh yes indeed, one of my favourite flowers of spring!!! It reminds me of the most wonderful spring day with the scent of newly opened magnolia and black locust blossoms heavy in the breeze of the fresh spring air. In other words, HEAVEN for this guy!! The mids continue this, but it grows even more floral, but not overly done, just a little sweeter - which is PERFECT. Then the drydown...very nice use of an understated, but certainly discernible civet (another one of my favourites)!!!! Longevity is excellent, especially when sprayed on fabric along with the pulse points. Bliss, I tell you. I can not recommend this beauty highly enough.

Magnolia, lily of he valley, oakmoss, and aldehydes domination. those 4 notes is what i detect all the time. I also detect civet, musk, and jasmines for that animalic taste. The magnolia, aldehydes with that lily of the valley gives the impression that hyacinth is visible while it's not. It's a slightly animalic white floral, and most likely the magnolia, and lily of the valley. Sometimes i feel i am sniffing a nylon within the blend and it just whiffs around the white floral, animalic, and the oakmoss. It's very interesting for those who loves lily of the valley, and magnolia combination. Edit (18th July 2026) The drydown is very mossy, intense moss and oakmoss.

I bought this on my spring holiday with my dad in Greece in 89, in Athens airport duty free shop. It was an impulse buy. It was lovely sunny spring morning and I thought the scent encapsulated the mood. The scent is light, feminine, very soapy, flowery, elegant. Scent DNA is very luxurious and expensive soap. The younger, less beautiful and less sophisticated sister of Rive Gauche by YSL, (both scent and bottle wise), which I also had at the time. I ended up almost never using it. It was just not "me". I did enjoy sniffing it occasionally and the blue metal bottle looked pretty in my teenage room. I was 17 and a half. 🙃

I just have to think about Clair de Jour and I feel cooler. According to Michael Edwards, the "Head Notes" are hyacinth and soft aldehydes, the "Heart Notes" are jasmine and lily of the valley, and the "Soul Notes" are sandalwood and oakmoss. It is very light and fresh, like dew. It is great for spring or summer, especially during the day, but also for humid evenings.