Boréale Vallée d’Etoiles

Boréale was unveiled in December 2017 and is part of The Mémoire Collection, which brings together fragrances that portray the olfactory journeys and their unlimited sensations. The product's full name is Boréale Vallée d’Étoiles, whose name means, in English, Boreal Valley of Stars. The creative concept speaks of a stellar valley colored by the Northern Lights, as infinite as Maître de Claude's feelings when contemplating such a vision. Now, in October 2021, the company has announced a new perfume with the same name, that is, a reformulation. But there was also a visual repackaging. The bottle, previously in powdery pink, is now in the white pattern, but the gold finishings remain. The fragrance was created by perfumer Christian Carbonnel, who has already given life to successful fragrances for brands such as Kajal, Nobile 1942, Xerjoff, Renier, Masque Milano, etc. It brings notes of iris, Bulgarian rose, and heliotrope, followed by notes of amber, lily of the valley, and violets, over a base of musk and vanilla. When applied to the skin, the fragrance is floral and very powdery. I can perfectly understand the powdery pink color from before. However, here the violet stands out and is beautiful! Instead of white, maybe a painting in shades of purple would make more sense in this new version. We then have a strong smell of earthy violets – thanks to the iris root – which receive a lemony freshness from the Bulgarian rose. Throughout evolution, there is a lot of presence of violets and, this time, it is not the greenest facet, normally explored in fragrances aimed at the male audience. In Boréale, violets are romantic, purple, and have velvety petals, with a sweet and powdery smell. Time passes and the fragrance gains sweeter nuances. Vanilla and amber come together to reproduce an effect of timeless innocence, bringing a more oriental signature (although this term is no longer used by the industry). Here, this amber-floral accord reminds me of Guerlain's Shalimar. Boréale lasts more than 10 hours on my skin, and although many might think it's just another iris fragrance, it's actually a violets composition. And I go further: I believe it should work very well for layering with other, more masculine creations, those that explore violet leaves. Anyway, even though it leans to the feminine, it's perfectly shareable and comfortable, easily becoming a signature scent. Boréale entered my collection to fill a blank spot and a special space in my memory since my maternal grandfather only used a Portuguese fragrance made of violets. And that’s good because that way I can unite love and art in the form of sprays.

Based on the notes and given that I really enjoy Paris by YSL . I thought I was gonna love it but for my nose it’s way too much vanilla and a strong powdering scent. May be the violet along with the musk. I really didn’t catch any rose in there which I was looking forward to it. I had to return it. It is strong so if you don’t like the notes I mention and your into more Rose in your fragrance don’t bother with it. To me it’s more of a cold weather scent if that makes any sense, si ce it’s a very floral.

kind of like a cross between paris and volpute but more modern, none of Paris's smoky note and less obnoxious than either of those and smoother. It has an opening blast of ambroxan and musk but these immediately settle down and the violet takes over. If you like the violet note from bagheera you will like this too....its a little softer. This was a blind buy for me and I'm really pleased with it. Easy wear for day and evening and its projecting from my arm through my jacket :).....ok update the ambroxan did not go away and days later that was what the arms of my jacket smelled of so much I'm definitely going to have to wash it before I can wear it again. It does have the violet note from bagheera but if you are brave enough to do the animalic / leather of bagheera that would be my pick of the two ..maybe this one is more feminine and pretty up until all that's left is the ambroxan... happy that calda (which i still want to buy) doesn't do that.... someone asked about Iris... can't say I notice any....this smells like a mimosa violet not an iris violet to me and not a parma violets violet either.