Eau My Sin

The history of Lanvin’s early fragrances, particularly My Sin, Arpege and Eau My Sin is so muddied, that it would make a wonderful research topic and book I think. Even Lanvin‘s own published history seems to leave huge gaps, and contradicts information in The Smithsonian, making me want to time travel and meet Jeanne, her daughter Marguerite and the mysterious nose who created those early fragrances. What I have cobbled together here may not be correct, so please do share if you can fill in the gaps or give me information on the various releases of My Sin and Eau My Sin. Here goes.... The official Lanvin website says in 1924, lanvin perfumes set up shop at 4 rond-point des champs-élysées. In 1925 Maria Zède, aka Madame Zed, a Russian Parfumeur, created My Sin. In 1927 Arpege was released. I have the Eau My Sin atomiser, not the splash shown here. I have read that Eau My Sin was produced 1971-8, by Charles of the Ritz, however I think the version in my atomiser is older, from the 60’s. It is in the same bottle as Vetyver (1964) Lanvin for men and I have the original white Lanvin box with cellophane and sticker (I learned not to damage packaging early on to keep the fragrance from breaking down, but also to establish provenance). Eau My Sun is a lovely, powdery and very heavy old school fragrance. It’s the bad girl version of Arpege. The notes are (allegedly) Top Notes - Aldehydes, Bergamot, Clary sage, Neroli, Lemon Heart Notes: Geranium + Iris (Orris) + Jasmine + Lily of the Valley (Muguet) + Rose + Tuberose + Ylang-ylang + Clove + Coriander Base Notes: Patchouli + Sandalwood + Vetiver + Styrax + Vanilla Another reviewer said it also has ambergris and costus root oil. It could definitely have Costus, because it is definitely dirty and animalic, yet it would have initially been lightened by the citrus and then made slightly green with LOTV. Whilst I read somewhere Eau My Sin is the EDT to the round gold bottle of My Sin, my version smells like a full bodied, high oil content Eau de Parfum with natural ingredients, although the citrus top notes have fled. Not surprising given the age and nature of citrus oils. The chemical breakdown discussed in the Raiders of the Lost Scents online article discovered that My Sin had an astonishing amount of natural and rare ingredients, including real civet (poor little Civets) and Rose de Mai. The Eau My Sin fragrance in the atomiser is a very Animalic floral aldehyde and smells to me very much like vintage Arpege, which my mother wore. Ylang Ylang is very noticeable in my version of Eau My Sin, as are cloves, sandalwood, powder and LOTV. I think I might experiment to try to recreate what it must have originally smelled like by layering with Bergamot or Lemon soliflores. This bottle of Eau My Sin has possibly the worst spray mechanism I have ever encountered. You essentially need another person to spray the fragrance onto you unless you have rubber wrists which can rotate 180 degrees.

Holy Toledo, this fume smells good!!! I managed to get my hands on a bottle of Eau My Sin edt., same as was analyzed by raidersofthelostscent. Wow! It smells like the day it was bottled. I received it yesterday in the mail and tried it this morning and the scent is beyond wonderful. I had to control myself from running after the mailman and kissing him just for delivering it to me. It is that good! It is everything everyone praised about it and more. Amazing silage for an edt that works better than many modern perfumes, though the longevity isn't that great. While it lasted I got lovely wafts of powdery incensy florals, and the sandalwood vanilla dry down is to die for. I can't believe I just fell in love with an anamalic scent. The civet is wonderful in giving this scent incredible depth and sensuality. This is how anamalics should be done - highlight the notes, not overpower them. This is definitely a night time fragrance and one I'll be wearing tonight. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!! Jun 22, 2019

Something in this scent bestows a kind of chalky "mineral" note... like the smell of alabaster columns, seashells, or a very clean and cool Art Deco tiled bathroom. I love this quality! It must be the iris/orris ?

I gave it away, it’s too musty and dusty for me and way too strong. Too bad because I love the name. For the brave, mature, or quirky and I would say 2 sprays max an hour before you leave home.

I hoped for Anamandy’s reaction to this fragrance. I grew up sniffing classic vintage frags and never liked one. I am afraid I still don’t, save Shalimar. I wanted to like the vintage Jicky, but its aroma was redolent of the tomcats who would grace our yard in spring. Ahem. I can’t get past the openings sometimes. I will satisfy myself with Shalimar when I want vintage. I wanted to have the ecstasy described here below but instead of feeling like a tigress, I just felt kind of old. :/ P.S. I am retrying this vintage bottle I received in the mail. The inside of the cap had deteriorated and the product had settled at the nasty top. I’m hoping I will discover other parts I love when the aldehydes wane.

This is leather of the old school kind - Chanel Cuir de Russie withou the flowers. I smelt this in other vintage ones, a composition I don't understand, smells of tar and oil. This is beyond my understanding, I can only deduct the blend turned or else it is of a type that has been long forgotten. I can recall Cabochard - it has the same opening but morphs into a floral composition that makes all the difference. Good for layering? I am giving it a try on that direction. PS: Yes, it works layered. I did with with a cheapy, Avon's Black Suede. Good result.

Astonishing. This is Chanel No5 eau de cologne combined with Max Factor Primitif, but with something else in the mix that makes it more of an animalic heady white floral. My bottle is Charles of the Ritz - so 1971-1978 and I would say it's probably the very earliest bottle.

This is just so beautiful and special! Very floral to me, I get no leather like other reviewers have said.