La Belle et l'Ocelot

I’m going to try to leave a short review as I don’t have much time. This fragrance is beautiful! This is probably the most stunning bottle I have in my collection, besides my antique perfume bottles (my small antique bottle collection includes two stunning malachite glass Kurt Schlevoght bottles, so that’s really tough competition). The comparisons to coco mademoiselle and coco noir are true, but not for the top. The top bears similarities to Mauboussin Histoire d’Eau. They share a similar syrupy boozy mandarin orange note. It’s very sticky note (no pun intended), like dried up orange juice or actually in this case dried up orange liquor. It’s sweet, but not like hard candy as it’s more boozy than that. The top is not as spicy as Histoire though, although it is spicy. It’s bit more sweet and fruity in the top, which reminds me of Fruit de La creativité by Grès and there’s a freshness that’s reminiscent of Maja. The top really smells exactly as if someone layered Histoire d’Eau with Fruit de La Creativité and Maja. I imagine that would smell pretty much exactly the same. In the heart the similarities to both Chanel fragrances become apparent. It’s also very similar to Madame Grès, but the top is very different. I prefer the top notes, as I feel the heart is a bit more sweet and feminine than my general preference. It is very classy and beautiful though. The perfect fragrance to feel beautiful and elegant. Inoffensive enough for the office. I do really enjoy this. It’s described as a chypre, but imo only the top displays chypre qualities. The heart and base lean much more towards floral fruitchoulies. I really wish the top notes would last longer to have that somewhat masculine, oriental chypre vibe Larry all the way to the dry down. The heart and base could just use a tad more spiciness. Silage and longevity aren’t amazing on me, but maybe the performance will improve in warmer weather, so I’ll update if I find that to be true later. Update: upon reapplication the top is quite different and more similar to Mauboussin Elixir pour Elle. Probably because the heart and base notes mix more with the top this way. What an interesting and versatile fragrance!

Well hello Lover! This perfume, (thank you tireless Fragrantica reviewers) has come into my possession - and delightfully summons an ovation in my heart: Spectacular! One of my first 'Wow' moments in perfumery, was attending supper in a posh enough establishment, that there was perfume in the public bathroom. This amazed me; such a creature as I, living for a moment above my means. There was an assortment sparkling, clad on mirror and crystal, but only one called to me. It was a tall, rectangular bottle housing Chanel Coco EDT. I remember thinking that only something exception would choose to remain so plain, and I was right. Elegance misted over me and sunk into my heart. A few years ago, I had a house fire, and lost almost everything - including my precious collection of perfume. It has taken a lot of hard work, but I'm rebuilding. I jumped on a sale and bought Coco EDP. Although divine in its own right, is different enough to leave me feeling a little deflated, both in bank and in ego. Concurrently promoting a Salvador Dali obsession, I purchased La Belle EDP. It is so close to the nature of Coco EDT, you'd think them clones. La Belle is a bit sharper herbaceously, and the notes of benzoin slightly more pronounced, but still, wonder and refinement all the way through the dry down. Mandarin sweetens in just the proper portions, added gently with Osmanthus, whose scent smells ancient and magical - smoothly lactonic with a subtle honeyed-fruit underbelly. Artemisia's bitter chords holding toes with baratone bravados of jasmine and rose. Tonka and incense create this depth to it all, with shiny reflections of benzoin and patchouli - as if one were staring into a well, and barely catching refracted light on the surface below. It is bewitching, summoning ancient pleasures, and lucky are we to hold such power!

I’ve been wearing this perfume today and I came to the conclusion that something quite silly really bothers me. The fact that it smells entirely different than what the bottle suggests (at least what I think it suggests). I pick my perfume of the day based on my mood and what I’m wearing, and this bottle always attracts me when I feel like I want to smell like.. well.. a wild cat.. Ocelots live in tropical rain forests and prairie like environments, so with the shape of the bottle and the colour of the fluid, my brain just tells me that *that* is what this fragrance will smell like, even though I consciously know It’s a very rose heavy, perfume-y and sophisticated scent. Don’t get me wrong it’s a lovely scent. I adore the opening, I just wish they put this in a different bottle, and used this bottle for a fragrance that smelled more wild and natural. I don’t understand the choice, it makes zero sense. A bottle in the shape of a wild cat makes you long to smell like jungle or prairie. It could’ve been carnal, or mossy.. orchid heavy could work well or jasmine.. animalic musk or civet.. woody.. spicy.. herbal.. so many options.. just anything but rose.. I don’t know if this is something that would bother anyone else. It’s obviously a bit of a non-issue as in the end the fragrance matters, but I tend to reach for this when I want to feel wild, exotic and sensual and end up smelling sophisticated and pretty instead, whilst on days I do want to smell pretty and classy, I reach for other fragrances, because my subconscious tells me this is a fragrance for tiger days. Anyway I hope this is useful for someone somewhere

Hey-ho! I've been waiting for the whole YEAR to get hold of this beauty from ebay and to wear it! As a huge fan of Salvador Dali's surrealism and been in love with his black and white photo, where he is portrayed together with his dwarf leopard (ocelot) Babou, I wanted THAT BOTTLE, as many others and I Am very pleasantly surprised by richness, intensity and glamour of the scent. Will describe the bottle at first. Mine is 100 ml one - from frosted glass, like from the fog, emerging the figure of the ocelot. The juice is golden, so the ocelot. The lid is made looking like a hat. I suppose it meant to show us that in every woman there is a wild cat hidden somewhere) The fragrance starts as a heady and intoxicating one - it is an Eastern sweet floral, smells like honeyed peachy osmanthus from the start, also you can smell soft rose petals with herbal touch of artemisia. The heart is definitely patchouli, very tasteful mix with incense and tonka, the base is benzoin and jasmine. Very feminine juice, triumphant. I would say its perfectly made and suits to the bottle very much. To me its somewhat similar by vibe with Coco Chanel, Organza Indecence Givenchy, I agree with passionata here regarding Dolce Vita as well, reminds all great feminine classics, yet its different from them of course. Love from me. Right type of fragrance to wear in golden sunny autumn days.

Oh my, how deliciously decadent this fragrance is! I found it reasonably cheap on an online store and I am very glad I bought it as it exceeds my expectations abundantly. It is identified as a floral chypre, but l'Ocelot is so much more than that. The amber drips itself over the entire pyramid like a chocolate fountain and sets l'Ocelot apart from all other chypres; especially those of the earlier 20th century like Mitsouko. In many ways this perfume is classic, but still very modern in that it so closely resembles current popular high end fragrances like La Nuit Tresor by Lancome or even Si by Armani; though I could not tell you if it does indeed mimic Coco by Coco Chanel as it is not a fragrance I am familiar with, but I can assure that the quality is there. A big thumbs up from me, or at least I would but up my thumbs if I weren't so busy sniffing my wrists.