Je Reviens Eau de Toilette

Used to wear this fragrance back in the 70's, had the ECD, pure perfume and a spray EDP in the Lalique "skyscraper" bottle. Loved this scent, the classic version and frankly have been put off the new version by many of the reviews I've read that are quite disparaging (glad to see below that some have found it pleasing though). But the classic is definitely superior in every way. I was lucky enough to win 2 auctions on ebay for the vintage version, one the 2-piece set of EDC and perfume in the Lalique bottles, but this was unopened and still in the original blue box with white satin lining. Got it for a steal, I might add. Then today I found I'd won a bid out of the UK for the EDP in the blue round skyscraper bottle, also unopened and in its original blue box with satin lining! I thank the perfume goddesses who know how much I love this scent and consider myself hugely lucky to have scored these unopened vintage bottles that have been stored in their boxes all this time. I have one small vintage of the perfume that I bought a few years back and was very surprised to find that it's freshness and lovely characteristics were still intact, despite the age. It's almost gone now, so I am looking forward to receiving my lucky purchases. This scent is a perfect daytime scent, sillage varies from very very soft to sometimes moderate as it goes through the drydown, you'll forget it's on and then get a sudden POOF of another scent to remind you. It's a very clean and outdoor fragrance, reminds you of walking in a meadow full of flowers, yet not sickly sweet or cloying, rather light and delicate. Perfect for work, as it is very subtle. And, oddly, the cologne is very long-lasting which I find quite strange, but there are always surprises with our favourites, aren't there? I actually love the vintage in all its formulations, but am afraid it will be a long while before I try the modern version....

This was the very first perfume I ever had, aged 17. It was given to me by my senior office administrator, (aged around 50), probably because she didn't like it, I suspect. It was in a round, but flattish bottle, in a light blue box. I was a little overwhelmed, being given a genuine French perfume, and didn't know what to make of it. I couldn't have named any notes, and didn't know that perfumes changed over time as they were worn. I do remember it smelled a little like Blue Grass, that my sister had, but I felt that it wasn't strong enough to give itself a character - we are talking late 1969 here. I knew nothing about perfume, but I knew at the time that, even though I felt privileged to own it, it didn't suit me. I was a tall, skinny girl with a pixie cut and very short skirts, and I felt this perfume belonged to a airey, silk-wearing hippie kind of girl. I'd love to try it again to see if I've grown into it. EDIT: July 2020. Just snagged 2 bottles, unused, of this in vintage eau de cologne strength on Ebay. (Hope it hasn't degraded). This is the exact same bottle as I was given all those years ago. Will update when I've given it a whirl. EDIT: 26/7/20 Decanted some of the perfume from the dab bottle to a small mist spray. Both the bottles are the Lalique and they are the Eau de Cologne strength. Verdict - beautiful, full-on floral, more like modern EDP strength. Absolutely lovely, but wouldn't think it has much projection, although I can smell it from myself well enough. So glad I was lucky enough to get these, especially at the ridiculous price I paid. I feel I have at last grown into this perfume - it's only taken 40 years! PS - about an hour in, the flowers get smokey - delish.

Have all classics "stood the test of time?" We look at Shalimar and Chanel No. 5, preserved, restored, exalted, after 100 plus years, but there are some that while comparable in their cultural and social significance, languish in the throes of time. Je Reviens EDT in its most recent iterations has grown reedy, fusty, like a forgotten lilac powder with a vaguely plastic-like simulacrum of a dry down. Additionally, vintages that haven't turned are difficult to find, as Je Reviens seems fragile, losing its lustre more so than other aged perfumes. Lastly, it could be argued that the composition itself hasn't aged well enough for even the most dedicated vintage enthusiasts to grasp its appeal. Poor, dear Je Reviens, so misunderstood. This open heart that can find love for even the most humble classics can lean into Je Reviens and feel comfortable. My vintage parfum and eau de toilette have but a silhouette of the aldehydes (my vintage parfum de toilette is just aldehydes for its first half hour), but there is still a shimmer and a glow just beyond: violets, orris, and lilac. It is a metallic blue tenderness, a haunting strangeness. If it were music, it would be written in Lydian scale. It's a melancholy cleanness, a wispy dry soap and starch, with a dreamy outline. What's most pronounced are the clover-azalea salicylates in its heart: the only other fragrances with such a strong presence of salicylates are the original fougeres (Fougere Royale, Wild Fern, English Fern). The base is a twilight tonka on a couch of musk and moss. Take a tip from me: go for old and hope for the best.

Je reviens is one of the most beautiful perfumes I ever smelled in my life . It's connected with my childhood since my mother ( along with miss Dior ) and my older aunt were wearing it. I remember the bottle round with the little angel and with the gold cup with the edges like a clockwork part and I was thinking is this the smell of angels ? For me that was the smell of angels not heavy not sweet or bitter not oriental and certainly not chypre . But what is it anyway ? It's something in between everything it's so rounded that every compound is in perfect harmony an accord in an accord . Everything blends beautifully seamlessly like a silk scarf like a lightweight cashmere pashmina . Of course it is a perfume that changed ( oh ! What's new ) over the years . Now it is thinned watered but thank God it's still smells like the old one of course it lucks the originality that was once it's signature . Of course now is very reasonable priced if not to say cheap. But I don't say cheap smelling on the contrary but whoever smelled the old stuff would certainly agree with me . It's a perfume that I will never erase from my mind and never forget . It's an unmistakable fragrance an original unlike the scents of our times that everything resembles with something else ( alas there are a lot exemptions serge lutens , hellena's creations, annick goutal to name few ) . Je reviens is a beautiful perfume a blend of innocence with a twist of something mysterious feminine and a small drop of evil . Certainly a must .

As usual, I am reviewing this without any influence of other reviews here, or even looking at the notes. It's a hard to find perfume, and I wanted it because so many had said it smelled like Blue Grass. I was so excited to get it, being that I have "captured my prey", muhahaha. Initial spray on inner wrist, oh,my.... it's pure alcohol and quickly goes into lemony baby powder and alcohol. Waiting one minute,lemon baby powder and cardamom, cardamom , cardamom. Then within 30 minutes, I am smelling camphor and baby powder. I am sorry. One hour, and I cannot smell anything but faded camphor. I will say it's my own chemistry, but my goodness, it definitely does not smell like BG. BG is HEAVEN. I believe strongly that this was definitely redone from the original, even though I've never smelled the original. BUT, I will review this perfume again, during the year, take it out to the streets, spray it when it rains, spray it when it's dry....I will give it a chance. EDITED 1 year later 12/2016: Glad I gave it a chance. I guess it needed to breathe, like a fine wine. Wore it occasionally through the year, but now that Winter's here, it just envelops you in a great scent. It 's what snowflakes would smell like if it had a scent....I know, I'm weird...lol The camphor smell if definitely gone. Cardamom is still there but less sharp. Classic, nonsweet, beautifully blended perfume. But it still doesn't smell like BG to me, which is best in the Summer, because it's soapier.

My review is based on the current Je Reviens Parfum which is “Made In England”. A haunting and beautiful aldehydic sweet fragrance with a whisper of a trail. On my skin this opens with lilac and hyacinth that are dewy with aldehydes. The blue bottle is very fitting for such a peaceful and gentle scent. I often wear a softly scented skin cream and dab this perfume on before work. I work in healthcare and I find it to be beautifully comforting in a way. The current Parfum is very well done and is orchestrated magically to convey the aldehydic opening, followed by the sweetly dry floral arrangement of the lilac, violets, and hyacinth. The dry down is still gently sweet, but the aldehydes dance on the amber and musk. Je Reviens is never loud or sharp, but she’s definitely in the room. Sillage is about three feet on me and longevity is 4 to 6 hours before I have to press my nose against my arm to smell it. The Parfum does radiate with body heat and I often get compliments towards the end of its wear. I do own two vintage EDT formulations and I can attest that the modern Parfum stays pretty close to the vintage. The two bottles I own (one from 1970s and the other from 1980s) are heavier on the orris and incense. The vintage formulations tend to have the top notes evaporated, so they get straight to the floral heart.

This fragrance "calls" me when it wants to be worn. I cannot explain it in any other way. I used Je Reviens over 25 years ago, and even then, one bottle would last for years; because I would suddenly feel like wearing it to work "out of the blue" and do so. At any other time, it was not my particular fave, but when I felt the need for it, nothing else would do ..... strange. Fast forward 25 years, and suddenly one day, I felt the "call" except I could not remember the name of the perfume. I only remembered a girl who cashed me out at the register commented about the fragrance "that perfume must be expensive" to which I nodded because I did not want to spoil the illusion. I went to a perfume store that sells lots of discontinued fragrances and told the lady, if I saw it, I would know it....BINGO. Here was the blue box. I bought it promptly, and the smell was exactly as I remembered it. I have worn it twice since then. Today being a day when I felt the "call." I am enjoying it, but I know that it is unlikely I will be wearing it tomorrow; and this box might last me another year or two. However, I am ecstatic that it found me once more, and I always plan having a bottle, just for those moments when it decides that it wants to blend with my chemistry.

I came to own this perfume way back in the late 1960's. I was junior secretary in an office, and the office manager, a spinster lady in her late 50's, came in one day and gave it to me - she said it was a gift to her, but she couldn't 'get on' with it. It was the flat, round bottle, but it was clear, not blue. I didn't know anything about perfume back then, but everytime I put this on for a night out, I felt sophisticated and so grown up for my 17 years! I always remember it as a 'green' perfume, that was my impression of it, sort of fresh and airy, but with a later warmth. I loved the feel of the bottle. I hadn't thought of this perfume for years, but as a reviewer has previously mentioned, it does have some resemblance to Blue Grass, which I owned in my mid-twenties, another fresh, green perfume (I didn't discover the Orientals until a couple of years later). I loved Je Reviens and, looking back, it was probably a good early introduction to perfumes, as it was light enough not to drown my youth, but seductive enough to lure me in to the magic of fragrances. I cannot give it a score, because my love for it was probably coloured by my lack of experience, and also lack of alternatives, but I loved it nontheless.

An aldehydic floral that I LOVE?!? Yes, it's TRUE! Je Reviens is amazing. Normally I would not even consider such a scent, but it was 50 cents at a tag sale, so why not? Initially it is a huge blast of rather sharp aldehydes, but then the lovely mix of florals takes over. They are all flowers I enjoy smelling in the garden, especially the lilac and narcissus. The middle notes and drydown are delightfully spicy and mossy, with a hint of musk. This is not a super-sweet scent, but there is a whisper of sweetness which cuts the sharpness of the aldehydes. The longevity is incredible----after 24 hours I still smelled great. The sillage is moderate and did get complements. Some folks were surprised that I was wearing such a traditionally "feminine" scent. I think of Je Reviens as more "womanly"----it smells like something a slightly exotic and neurotic, but sophisticated, old-time movie star---Gene Tierney comes to mind---would wear. Update: My friend Mel smelled the drydown and thought I was wearing a man's scent. This indicates to me that men could wear Je Reviens!

Some of you know that I have had some issues with perfume sales women that cannot stand a question out of their regular range of questions. But I found a big perfumery here in the city centre that is now ordering my transparant atomizers on demand. I had to arrange a lot of effort for this service, but I was glad they took me seriously. This weekend I went to pick up my second order and the people in the store were wondering why I needed all these atomizers and what I am using them for. So I explained that I am part of an expert group collectors (with that I mean you guys..) and that we exchange hard to get items through atomizers, when we have no backups available for swap. Then the women behind the counter starting dreaming about her long lost love Je Reviens. I said: 'Oh I have it! You can have it'. I think she had trouble understanding what I was saying. So yesterday I brought it to the lady and she couldnt believe it! Well, i am pretty sure I will have no trouble getting more atomizers from now on! ;-)

I blind bought this because it was my grandmother's perfume. I don't remember her wearing it but I remember the stately blue green box with the gold cherub at the top gracing her dusty dressing table and the fascination I had when first seeing it there. Maybe even seeing this boxed bottle was the first perfume I ever saw as a child before I was exposed to the pre-teen excitement of the Avon catalogue. Does it live up to my expectations? Indeed it does. It is a cool, crisp elegant perfume with a glamour from a time long since passed. At first it seems almost medicinal if not clinical in its coldness but then it warms up into an exquisite dry white wine of a fragrance something along the lines of Guerlain's legendary Mitsouko. Nice to think of my grandmother enjoying the assuredly sophisticated luxury of this fragrance when I was growing up which I can share now in the present whilst nostalgically looking back to her and her much loved dressing table.

I have not smelled this in many years but I wore in in high school and took a stroll down memory lane by accident. I received a sample of Nez a Nez Bal Musque and after the pretty loud opening it settled into something nice that I remembered from my past but just couldn't place. I tried to figure it out all day long then it finally dawned on me last night that it was Je Reviens. Oh how I LOVED this fragrance! I have not smelled it in many years and have no idea if it even smells the same now. But the Nez a Nez perfume sample that I received (at about $200 a bottle) smells just like Je Reviens (after about a 1-2 hour dry down, but smells nothing like it when you first spray it). I think I may order some of this on Ebay or Amazon to revisit it. It is amazing what memories a fragrance can recover. Again, I haven't smelled this in years but I remember that it was just a beautiful powdery and feminine fragrance that I loved and wore for years.

Some have called this grannyish but,its anything but.It smells like a fresh,woody floral scent.I love jasmine.it is rare that it is one of the top notes.But,it combined with oranges id wonderful! then another favorite orris root,is in the mid notes instead of making u wait for it in the end.THe beautiful,dripping with dew lilacs enhance the orris roots sweetness.ITS lasting fume.BUt,the tonka bean,oaknmoss ending is worth waiting for.I just love it.It seems to b a very modern scent,not old.My grand daughter in law,is very young and she begged for my bottle.CAnt do without it tho.Ill get her one.It fits the bill when u want a dew kissed flower garden on the edge of a forrest.Fresh,but,deeply sexy.Its inexpensive too.IT has a lot of other notes u might like but the ones ive mentioned r sum of my favs.TRY it ,it might just b ur fav too!

Je Reviens is a fragrance my mother used to wear. I recall it being quite sweet and intense, and the vintage bottle that arrived today confirmed my memories. The Wedgwood perfume! The description of this classic scent mentions aldehydes. Although I'm not usually fond of this type of perfumes, JR really delights my senses. Other reviewers have compared JR to Blue Grass, and I see what they mean. BG is also in my repertoire, as it was in my mother's. But Blue Grass is far sharper, with deeper notes than Je Reviens. Of the two, I prefer JR. The dry down of JR is a powdery sweetness. I find nothing dated or old fashioned about this perfume, cheery and bright seems more fitting. A young woman could wear this as easily as an older one, the sweet notes are appropriate for any age. JR is a wonderful scent, I'm glad to have it again.

I first came across this when it was being heavily promoted in the Lalique bottle one Christmas in the early 1980's. I thought it was something new and didn't realize it was a classic until I heard it mentioned in an old b&w movie. This is a scent that became a memory. I wore it exclusively for about a year. Now when I open the bottle I'm 22, unmarried, and having the one hell of a good time! It's a glorious scent and has a little of everything but not too much of one component or another. A nice balance. It has very good staying power but isn't obnoxious. I have found that it ages quickly and the scent changes radically so I buy the small bottles and don't save it for best. I've kept the empty original bottle for close to 30 years. This perfume invites sentiment and good memories.

I wore this in the 80s and early 90s, all through my twenties and early thirties - my aunt, who worked in a drugstore, used to get me the gift sets for Christmas. I always got lots of compliments when wearing it, mainly from female friends and colleagues, so I treated myself to the couture version when it came out. Cool Lalique-style bottle, but it is missing a little something when compared to the cheapie version. I have just got a new bottle of the Eau de Toilette, having been reminded by Jernê's Hidden Gems article, and definitely still prefer it. My husband is not thrilled as he does not like aldehydic or powdery scents (all together now, 'it smells like old lady's handbag') but this is one of those situations where I will wear a scent just for my own pleasure

Je Reviens is consistently available for so little money that I think some might think it just can't be good but nothing could be farther from the truth. This classic has such staying power at the dry down and such a lovely sillage that I think it has to be one of the greatest frangrance bargains around. I tend to wear it more in winter because it seems more oriental on me than floral. A real "must have". update: It wasn't until I read Doctormod's Sept. '09 review that I realized I've been in love with a pre-reformulation Je Reviens. A recent sniff of what's currently available revealed "nail polish remover" as she said. I ordered the edp in the crenelated bottle she describes and can happily report that it's the "heaven in a bottle" I remembered. Truly sublime.

Oh, wow. The 100 ml bottle I just acquired (newer edition, black cap) is such a thin, weak fascimile of what I was expecting. It's like a grainy photocopy of a formerly beautiful belle. This is nothing like the ylang-rich juice found in the star-spangled boules from the 80's and before. While it smells nice, and DOES resemble the composition that I know to be Je Reviens, it's so faint that it's barely perceptible. It was cheap, so I guess you get what you pay for! Update: maybe my nose was broken when I tested this the first time. The edt performs like an eau de cologne, but overall, it's there, and it's good! No regrets on my big cheap bottle, I'll be spraying oodles of it at bedtime and will have no problem using it up. A perfect sweet powdery Chypre!

I love, love, LOVE this!!! It's absolutely gorgeous! It starts clean and soapy, which I love, then it settles into a powdery, narcissus scent. I have no words to describe how much I love it! I've just sprayed a tiny bit 10 min ago and I had to reapply, as I wanted more. I can't get enough of this! Yes, it might be old fashioned for some, but I'm in love. It can easily compete with much more expensive scents. It's very clean, but to me it feels hypnotic, I can't stop smelling my arm. For someone with a more refined nose, check Etrium's review, they explained the notes perfectly. I got this for £7 for 30ml at the local pharmacy, I might get another bottle in one hour or so as they only had 3 left.

BUMP.. written as Guest before I joined.. bumping so it goes in my reviews... I hope that is ok :) I really wish perfume houses would leave things alone and not change the way perfumes smell. When you buy a perfume because you love it and then try to buy it again and it smells different it is very disappointing... Je Reviens by Worth... it used to be unusual and wonderful, now it just smells like cheap granny perfume. I have had to search Ebay for old bottles to get the original fragrance. One should not have to do that.. when you fall in love with a perfume you should be able to love it forever and it should not change.