Gris Clair

Roughly a year and a half ago I bought a dozen factory samples of this perfume. I wasn't impressed. Too light, too boring for my nose at the time. I used a handful of samples, and gave the others away to friends and family. About a month ago, I found a random sample under my bed (my pets like to play with things and hide from me) and I smelled it again. BEAUTIFUL. What was I thinking? This is one of the most relaxing fragrances I've tried. Is it powerful, daring, etc? No. It is a smooth, elegant cloud of lavender and light incense. A soft breeze on a quiet, cool night, coming through your bedroom window after you blow out a candle 🕯🪟 Lavender, incense, iris and light amber. It's got tonka and starts sweet but settles quickly. Expertly crafted with a delicate hand - nothing is overdone here. I'm so glad my nose matured and I gave it a second chance. It feels like you're wearing God's Grace. I love it. Scent 9.5/10 Performance 4/10

You are ironing a cotton shirt and get the warm steam right in your face. This is EXACTLY what this fragrance smells like and it is done amazingly. I feel like there is usually two types of fragrances : - warm fragrances ( ambers, vanillas, riped fruits, yellow flowers) - cool fragrances ( aromatics, powders, white flowers..) And the perfumer Ô Grand Christopher Sheldrake has succeeded in making this fragrance cool AND warm at the same time and it’s the first time I really feel this in a fragrance, ever. It is refreshingly warming. Just beautiful.

For me, this is what Prada L'Homme aspires to be. This very clean, a touch sweet, and classically masculine. That being said, it could be worn by a woman if she's into traditional lavender fragrances. This isn't the kind of fragrance you want to scream. The problem I found with Prada L'Homme is that it didn't know when to shut up and became a chemical smelling mess in the last hours. This doesn't do that for me. It is understated in all the right ways. If you like clean lavender scents you should give this a try.

It smells just nice and sweet kind. I thought I have something like this but I couldn't find it exactly. Maybe this scent is between Amouage scents Opus II and Reflection Man. It has a specific and very good "lavender" sweetness in it, that's why.

smooth smoky ashy lavender, takes me to a peaceful, tranquil place, my bedtime scent, cant live without it. Elegant

Hmmm... maybe my palate isn’t sophisticated enough, but I just get a straight up lighter version of Mon Guerlain here. Or maybe MG is just GC with vanilla. Mon Guerlain is a lot denser and longer lasting with a dry down of vanilla vs musk. But I just wouldn’t see needing both in my collection,

I like this one. I occasionally gets wiffs of the hot laundry smell that people talk about on the old one but for the most part I get creamy Tonka and some Lavender. It's unisex leaning masculine, similar vibe to Sel Santal by Clean. Lasts at least 10 hours on my skin.

I was a bit disappointed in this formulation of Gris Clair. Perhaps the original was more impressive. For a legendary brand like Serge Lutens, I expected some degree of uniqueness. On first spray and maybe 90s or so to allow the alcohol to evaporate, there is some interplay of the notes that smells genuinely fantastic. Slightly frankincense which contrasts with smooth tonka; amber pushing a moderately intense lavender. But even on well hydrated skin, this pleasant opening lasted less than 10 minutes before giving way to the most generic "mens blue" fragrance. It lost any character after the short lived opening, and it settled into a dry down that we've all experienced a hundred times. I'm glad I got a sample and not a blind buy bottle, because I have no reason to reach for this over any other generic men's fragrance. It still smells good, just not great, memorable, or particularly unique. Very safe mass appealing bland. From people's descriptions online, I wonder if older formulations were more characterful. 5/10 average

I adore this perfume so much. I’ve had it for a couple years but frankly just ignored it most of the time until very recently. At first I thought it was kind of a boring lavender scent, but during the colder months this is gorgeous. The slightly sweet, smoky lavender balances so well with the crisp, cold air of winter. This is a very gentle scent, but can be way too strong if oversprayed, so enjoy in moderation if you’re going to be out and about with others. I personally think this is very unisex - doesn't lean more feminine or masculine to my nose. If you’re looking for a gentle, relaxing lavender with a teeny bit of smokiness, this is the one. Edit: The reviewer below me said this smells like wearing God's Grace and that is such a spot-on way of describing how this makes me feel.

A dry, cool lavender‐incense scent that leans unmistakably masculine. The opening is sharp, herbal lavender with a metallic edge, giving a barbershop clean but slightly harsh first impression. As it develops, a dry, smoky incense note rises, adding a dusty, ashy quality that pushes the fragrance firmly into masculine territory. The structure stays cool and controlled, but the lavender and ash combination never softens.

@Perfumer9274i You're right on the money. I've smelled 3 formulations of Gris Clair. The first being the palais royale bottle 2004 batch (palais royale logo), the 2nd being the white square 100ml bottle above, and the 3rd being the current formulation only available in the bell jar on their website. (There is a 4th one I have not smelt, which is one in the palais royale bottle, but has the "SL" as the logo instead of the palais royale building itself. ALL 3 i've smelt are different, and different in ACTUAL FORMULATION WAYS, not just by oxidation and aging of the fragrance. Look, I'm the type of person that HATES and I mean HATES when people talk of reformulations, because 99.9% of them have no idea what they're talking about, and are most likely just regurgitating information online and/or looking back through rose tinted lenses. The first formulation of Gris Clair (palais royale logo), is my favorite. To put it simply, it is the perfect melancholic blend of lavender/vanilla, and a burning, steaming iron note permeating throughout the whole composition. There's a sweetness in this one that makes it feel "concentrated" and full. Almost like an infinitely better, less animalic, more thought-provoking, more niche modern version of Caron Pour un Homme. 10/10 The 100ml formulation in the bottle above is still good, but lacks the deep vanillla sweetness that darkens the original and completely swaps out the lavender in the original for a rather, like you put it, "generic mens blue" sephora cologne style lavender, along the likes of mont blanc legend blue or boss bottled striking lavender. Yes, the connection you made from the bottle above to mens blue fragrances is very real and very... NOT apparent in the older style bottle. The hot iron steam note is also not as apparent here. Although they are like two different fragrances, I still really like the bottle above a LOT as I don't think of "generic" fragrances as a bad thing. This bottle is still very very good. Just different to the OG but still carrying some of that DNA. 8/10 The third formulation in the bell jar that is currently available as of today is more along the lines of the OG, but with a tad bit more synthetic airy plasticky-ness in the opening. After the opening, it moves closer and closer to the OG until it is about 95% of the way there in the end, the only differences being a tad bit less vanilla and hot iron. A little lighter and airier than the OG but still very similar. Once past the opening, this one is a 9 or 9.5/10 for me.

Reminds me of early school-day mornings. Walking into my parents’ room and feeling the warm steam from the shower, mixing with the smell of my father’s cologne as he ironed his work clothes. It’s a very steamy, soft lavender with a gently smoky, warm underbelly. Wistful and contemplative, but cozy, like watching a grey day outside and inching closer to a heater by the window. My favorite on overcast days. Perfect for anyone else who is nostalgic for the smell of a hot iron or masculine fougères and wants to reconnect in soft focus.

Gris Clair is reminiscent of men's aftershave....in such a great way. Lavender is prominent. Incense and wood provide depth.The amber and tonka give it a touch of sweetness. Gris Clair is like an upscale Brut. It's a gorgeous fragrance that can be worn by men and women that are not shrinking violets.

It seems that the entire freaking world is devoid of this. Anyone has a bottle to sell - old, new, any design - let me know please!

Thinking of selling my bottle if anyone is interested, PM me! Edit: SOLD