Rhapsody

1st Impressions from the LV counter: Absolutely gorgeous, sophisticated mossy white floral, with a bit of an animalic bite that sometimes comes from white florals; maybe unisex by today's standards -- floral with no sweetness and very dry. I'm a big-white-florals and old school chypre fan and I adore this perfume. I definitely will get my hands on a reasonably priced sample or decant. ------------------------------------------------------------------- After wearing a sample for 2 days: I love this! At turns, it's a sweet, green, slightly soapy-clean lily of the valley (with just a touch of sweet jasmine) and earthy, minerally, almost salty patchouli and mate. I love perfumes with contrasts, and the mate brings a really nice bitter, smoky, tea-like note to the sweeter florals and totally prevents Rhapsody from becoming a sweet perfume. It does bear a resemblance to classic chypre scents such as Van Cleef and Arpels First (Eddie Bulliqi mentioned First above, in his appreciation of Rhapsody), but First is a classic, thick, denser chypre, while Rhapsody stays light and sheer throughout, like more contemporary chypres (he mentions Coco Mad). Happily, Rhapsody has decent longevity and my six little spritzes on my arms lasted for 5 or so hours. While it's not a BIG perfume in sillage, it does make a satisfying, modest scent bubble. As always, I've been trying to figure out what other scents Rhapsody is related to that I also love, what about them is similar or puts them in the same general scent family. Rhapsody reminds me a bit of the fresh, salty patchouli Armani scent, Air de Gioia, it has some of the same breezy sophistication as Trussardi EDP (that has patchouli, too, but also leather), and also the green mossiness (though not the juiciness -- Rhapsody reads very dry) of Miss Arpels. To my patchouli-loving nose, Rhapsody is perfect and is my favorite of the three LV scents I've tried and love (the other two are Attrape-Reves -- rich, patchouli lichi peony/rose -- and Heures d'Absence -- fresh, powdery, almost violet-smelling mimosa. The only problem with Rhapsody (and the others) is the price. Either I'll have to find someone who's selling smaller amounts of it, like I did with both Attrape-Reves and Heures d'Absence, or see if I can find a satisfying dupe. I'll be ordering an oil from Universal Perfumes & Cosmetics that I'll dilute, and we'll see how accurate of a dupe it is...

Absolutely stunning. A cool mossy forest floor, studded with lily of the valley. After a while a similarly cool jasmine joins in, with tea notes adding extra greenness and a sense of woodiness, but not of a deep dark wood. This is a walk through a moist little forest park after a spring drizzle of rain. There’s a hint of smoke drifting over from somewhere distant. I don’t understand the comments about excessive sweetness or fruitiness, that’s not my experience at all. This is subtle, classy and beautiful. It is a Chypre but it feels stripped down and modern to me. It’s unisex, and creates an excellent scent bubble and at least 8 hour longevity. It’s very expensive and I definitely think that has to join in the conversation. I will say the bottle is wonderful and adds to its aesthetic. This fragrance more than any other I’ve smelled encapsulates the fragile hope of spring with its new green buds shrouded in dew drops.

I own almost everything Jacques Cavallier has made for LV, and this is a very special one that truly stands out. While I reach for Symphony far more often (due to its versatility), Rhapsody almost feels like a work of art. It's incredibly evocative in terms of its creative vision while also being so well blended from a technical perfumery standpoint. I don't even like chypre as a genre to begin with, let alone one with a sweet lactonic undertone. But somehow Rhapsody makes it all work perfectly. I understand why it's not a popular pick and why some people might find it screechy. This isn't one of those fragrances where you bury your nose into your wrist and sniff it every few minutes. It's meant to project and leave a beautiful sillage in the air. Heavy Veramoss in the drydown, with Ambroxan working wonders.

Rhapsody is not the first LV fragrance I purchase but it's the one from this house I enjoy wearing. I grow to love this one after tried several times on my skin and finally decided to purchased the full bottle. This is everything I wish Guerlain Embruns Ylang would be. Whereas Embrun Ylang is way too shape and soapy on me, Rhapsody is perfect. On my skin, Rhapsody is a metallic soapy, salty floral and powdery the same time. This fragrance reminds me of Gris Dior for some reason. They don't smell the same but both give me same vibe. I don't have many Ylang Ylang scents in my collection but Rhapsody and Chanel Bois Des Iles are the only Ylang Ylang dominant fragrances I can wear and enjoy.

Wow this is underrated for me 10/10 so creamy and has a earthy dampness to it almost palpable this is not a coniferous green more like a mate green vibe, mossy, vetiver all wrapped up with floral notes, this is another masterpiece by LV the quality is out of this world. As far as the sweetness I get more like vanilla but I’m not sure that it has it. so to be honest it’s very hard for me to describe this beautiful concoction I would say it’s more appreciated by the mature and I can see how some can get a barnyard scent. I didn’t like it initially, but now I’m addicted. as I get more acquainted to this perfume and gain more knowledge, I will have a better description down to the Tea! 🫖 😃