Lucienne

no offence to any fans of this fragrance but personally i think that it has a urine smell after ....

This sublimely romantic perfume feels like an 'old master' painting in a new frame - strong echos of that class which only comes from a brilliant, glittering history - but never dry and dusty - imbued with a completely wearable nod to modernity. Although the Countess was inspired by finding a perfume bottle of her mother's in an old trunk; I don't think *this* bottle does justice to the intoxicating juice inside. From the first spray it was true love for me - an instant hit of "oooooh yes, THIS is a full-bottle keeper". An all-day wrist-sniffer for sure. It didn't surprise me, exactly - it almost smelled familiar, as though I'd know someone who wore this. Those long-reaching echoes again, that hazy moment of waking from a dream when you're not quite sure... *have* I smelled this before? A memory not fully triggered, still faded around the edges, but as warmly familiar as a kiss from your lifelong lover. On my skin this goes on fairly spicy with lashings of gingery jasmine, then becomes a truly beautiful rose which seamlessly fades into a heady garden-after-the-rain with a stunning yet gentle Lily of the Valley. All day I kept getting wafts of a gorgeous scent and a number of times actually caught myself thinking "What's that wonderful smell? OH, it's ME!" and hugging the scent close to me, so pleased, slightly smug with myself. I would say this is one of the most classy fragrances I have ever encountered - it deserves to be far more widely known, and yet I suppose it would be a shame if it was, in some ways. For now it's a delicious secret. Well, almost, since I requested it to be added to Fragrantica's database - and thank you SO much for doing so! I really hope a lot more of you will discover this one, it's brilliantly composed. A modern classic. Timeless, expensive smelling and never has to try too hard: it has nothing to prove, after all. This is old money. Class in a bottle, darlings.