Jeanne Lanvin My Sin

Elegance in a bottle. Powdery, gentle floral with civet notes was my first impression, but there is really so much more going on. My Sin begins with soapy overtones that burst with little floral explosions. But not in a huge way that are overpowering. It's as if you're walking in an English Garden and you stop to smell flowers along the way. You pick up different scents. The Ylang-Ylang, the Bergamot, Rose, Musk and Vanilla are all delightfully delicious. Civet comes into play amongst the flowers. I adore civet in my perfumes. Civet is a note that seems to border on a love/hate relationship with people from their description. We've all seen the wording that describes cats at their most horrible and I'm guessing that's not a civet lover. Some of the descriptions are quite funny to me. I've owned cats all my life and I can honestly say they've never smelled like any of the descriptions I've read that are so blatantly descriptive in a negative way. It's strong and delicious in My Sin. So are the aldehydes, which are quite prevalent. There are so many wonderful notes that pop up in this gloriously creamy perfume at times, it's difficult to pinpoint each one. Oh, but it's fun to try! This is a sophisticated perfume for a sophisticated woman. The type of woman who has chutzpah. That's the woman that can wear My Sin every day and every night if she wants. With so much talk about perfumes for the young, for the old ladies, perfumes only a mature woman can handle, in all honesty those are only semantics, mere words that people use to try and describe what they are feeling about a fragrance. People attempt to describe what they feel. Perfuministas give their best to describe perfumes to the discerning public. But a perfume that has stood the test of time and is still wanted by so many, is still used and revered...now that's something incredulous. Something to be in awe of the maker. Just imagine the generations that have delicately traced their earlobes with this glorious scent, dotted between their breasts with a scant few petals of this perfume, annointed their wrists and inner elbows? Yes, perfume is My Sin, indeed. And thus, I sin every day of my life. And I'm happy to do so. Be it with My Sin or some other fabulous juice that I've found to complete me, what truly matters is that perfume and fragrance is a very beautiful part of my life that I shall always nourish. And you should too.Lasts about four hours for me and sillage is noticeable with the right amount. They just don't make them like this anymore. Such a pity. This one is delicious and if you're able to score one, you'll know the delights of My Sin.

This reminds me of the movie Practical Magic. Of Sandra Bullock's character Sally in particular. Of the two bewitching (both in magical and personality) Owens Sisters, Sally is the more quiet of the two. Hiding beneath a curtain of shyness that blinds her to her own charms.She is naturally wise, sultry, and very elegant and her humility despite it making her more irresistible to men. A fact that the more gorgeous of the sisters, Gilly, envies in disbelief. This smells very old, yes, but a beautiful old. Like a woman who perhaps didn't have it all, but knew how to appreciate every moment in life. Her place to relax would be a wooden vanity, with her face powder, rose water, and a gas lamp. It smells just like those things too. It does have a teeny tiny turpentine scent, but that's mostly because at this point, most bottles are terribly aged. That's the aldehyde I believe. My great grandmother, Lydia, was an anglo-italian who emigrated to the Caribbean in the late 1920s with her brother. This was her signature perfume. She had strawberry blonde hair, a curvy body, dark green eyes and a personality that couldn't be contained. She lived a long, colorful life filled with ups and downs, and many, many lovers. My great grandmother's fame wasn't from any of this, it was for her generosity. Everyday until she died, she would make a big pot of whatever she planned on eating that day and bring a bowl or plate to anyone that needed it. It broke my heart and everyone around her to learn that she herself died of starvation, because she felt she could no longer eat. She left her house as beautiful as it always was. In her room, where they found her in her bed, was this perfume, a bejewelled hair comb, and a picture of her parents, who she was forced to leave behind when she moved. She lived to 93. I barely knew her, I don't think I ever got to meet her, as I was a child when she passed and she lived in the other side of the country. But I feel through this perfume, her journals and her legacy, I have come to make a picture of her that I feel is true: She was a woman, loved like one, and lived like one too.

Thanks to a Fragrantican Friend I had the possibility to wear My Sin in the vintage extrait formulation a few times now, and I think it's time to review it. As others described, it starts off with very pleasant, correctly dosed aldehydes underpinned by wonderful quality florals. To my nose extremely indolic jasmine and rose are the most prominent of these. In the first half hour My Sin is outrageous: it is dark, sexy, almost menacing yet irresistibly alluring to me. The amount of indole and civet balances on the verge of offputting, but never quite gets there (as it did for me in vintage Joy extrait and Narcise Noire that I had to scrub). In this early stage My Sin gives an impression of fur and cigarette smoke mingled with great quality perfume, immediately bringing a femme fatale from the first part of the 20th century in mind, holding a foot long cigarette holder, clad in mink and nothing else. In a while though, the fragrance pulls its claws back and starts purring: it develops into an absolutely lovely, soft, comforting soapy floral fragrance with - I must agree with lovingthealien - notes reminding me of cat fur. In this stage the fragrance is not sexy or sultry to me any more. In the later drydown the musks take leading role, making it even more pleasantly comforting in a way the scent of your lover's skin is comforting when you bury your nose in his neck at night. On the whole a lovely, interesing fragrance, maybe somewhat an acquired taste, from a time long, long gone, when perfume was a companion and not a commodity. On my skin both sillage and longevity are good.

I acquired an unopened, still wrapped in cellophane, bottle of this in the Eau de Lanvin concentration. My best guess places this in the 60s-70s. It was a steal! This is a gorgeous, sexy perfum. In my imagination, it calls to mind Ava Gardner or some other "movie star" that possessed old Hollywood glamour! Something a real maneater, a siren, would wear. First of all, the civet. I get nothing of the urine notes often detected in perfumes with civet. For something so musky, so animalic, this doesn't smell the least bit dirty on me. Everything is so well blended and truly difficult for me to breakdown, but if I had to classify it, I would have to say that on my skin, this comes across as a real floriental. I don't know if that is a function of it's age, though the bottle was pristine and completely sealed, but what I have is intoxicating. I decanted some into a spray bottle to get a full effect, and have to say, I prefer spraying to dabbing in this instance. As for the inevitable comparison with Arpege, I must say I prefer My Sin, though my main basis of comparison is the newer formulation. I have a few vintage bottles of Arpege, but it's unfair to compare them, as they were used bottles and have lost much of their former glory. I feel very fortunate to have stumbled across this and actually win the auction, and though I tend to wear whatever I want whenever I want, I think I will reserve this for those times I want to attempt to channel smoldering sex appeal. A true love!

My Sin. Review of vintage bottle 4oz eau De Lanvin. Good girl gone naughty. Its aldehyde civet opening is lighter than No.5 and much more enjoyable. The florals spring forth from the opening in classy ladylike fashion. Yhe drydown grounds you with its musk , woods and gentle civet. Not a harsh note to be found but rich smoothness through this journey. Soft, plush, and elegant. Real rose de Mai and jasmine, four authentic musks to attain its powderyness. The same template as joy but better arranged. Natural perfume at its best. The minute I smelled this I knew I was a goner and in love with it. Its softly sexy, not the roaring femme fatale, at least in the eau concentration. To me its a warm elegant purring sex kitten Extrait: Aldehyde naroli, clary sage, bergamot opening, then the lilac..my god the lilac!, jasmine, Lilly of the valley, rose, and ylang heart is just gorgeous. A faint hint of spice (clove?) peeks in through the flowers. The orris root, musks, vetiver, civet, vanilla, base gently seeps up through the floral heart. Gorgeous. Parfum Spray: Aldehydes, leather, black cat fur smell, floral notes seep up, then drydown..beautiful vairation. If you aren't into civet, get the Extrait. Its better blended into it than the Eau. But if you like animalics the Eau is just as beautiful with its florals, just a little different. Both together is magnificent..