Venice

I created an account because I wanted to write about this perfume. I have owned a tiny bottle since 1995, bought from a perfume shop in Venice as a teenager. I was looking for another one, maybe by Mariella Burani? But the shopkeeper showed me this and I liked it enough. But as I got to know it, it became my glam night out perfume for all the reasons that other comments have described. Despite its richness I think it is sophisticated, complex, subtle and smoky/sexy. Looking at the 'similar' perfumes I realised how it aligned with my other favourites. (for reference these include Chanel's Bois de Iles and Cuir de Russie, YSL M7, the 1990s CK Escape and obsession, Tom Ford Vert d'incense.) I also recently bought a miniature of Must de Cartier. I can see how at first sniff these are very similar and I also thought they were identical at first. But I am currently wearing a drop of each, side by side on my wrist, and I can say this: Venice is just getting settled in where the Cartier mini is starting to fade. The depth and woody spice that I continue to smell in the Venise, is not in the Cartier. What I am picking up in the Cartier is softer and a little more powdery, and there is definitely a crossover with the amber-y elements between them though. I like fragrances that I can wear out to dinner and still smell the base notes when I go to bed. It is possible that the Cartier is an EDT? which would explain it. I can still smell it, just, and I do like it, although it is the Venise that I feel that I am still ~wearing~.

Oh my goodness, I am absolutely in love here at the first sniff!! So beautiful is this creation - so unexplainable is the decision of YR to discontinue it!!! I got a bottle off Ebay out of sheer curiosity, and I cannot stop sniffing myself!! - it is sharp, pungent and cummin-fueled, with a syrop of dark-petalled roses brewed for hours if not days: it really has a mark of time and effort put into it. On the skin it is even 100 times better: the initial hit in the nose effect subsides and sheer beauty emerges: a poised elegant grownup woman in a tight-sitting black dress wearing pearls and laced underwear, simple and stylish hairdo and unbreakable confidence in herself. This is something I want to wear so much when I want to feel that I have made it, nailed it, achieved it, and now it is my time to enjoy my success and make the most of all priviledges of growup life of a successful lady. The effect is similar to what Chanel's COCO has on me, but Coco is more laid back and comforting and "sharing coffee with the girls on a lazy monday", Venice on the other hand is bolder and louder, and stand-offish in a way, so it is a winter office/evening-timed occasions scent when one wants to be noticed, admired, respected and feared a little. An ultimate powerwoman scent. Would buy a truckload of it if I could only find that truck!!

Venice is a warm, cozy, and relaxing scent that wraps around you like a cashmere shawl on a crisp fall evening. I have the vintage version from the early 90s, and I feel incredibly lucky to have kept this bottle all these years. The bottle itself is gorgeous—opulent and rich. The scent opens with an aromatic burst of bergamot paired with sweet, warming spices that immediately draw you in. As it develops, a complex heart emerges featuring carnation, rose, a whisper of ylang-ylang, and just a touch of patchouli. This is an opulent, dark floral composition where vanilla gently weaves through the layers, adding depth without overwhelming the beautiful florals. The dry down is truly divine—a cozy blend of sandalwood and vanilla that stays close to the skin and provides hours of comfort. Despite having a multitude of notes, Venice is remarkably well-balanced. Everything works in harmony, creating a sophisticated yet wearable scent that never feels heavy or overpowering. This is a beautiful fragrance for those who appreciate rich, enveloping florals with a warm, vanillic base. It's perfect for cooler weather and situations where you want something substantial yet intimate.

Venice is a beautiful lady in velvet and lace in a gondola on the Grand Canal. You feel her presence from the first spray. She is deep and dark and spicy and musky. She is not too sweet. In the middle notes Venice even has an almost bitter period as the oakmoss comes in strongly but it is beautiful, making this not just another sweet oriental, but a scent with legs and structure and balance. This is a very longlasting scent. After the final drydown as you go into hours of wear, the bergamot comes out as a balance to the vanilla which finally releases its sweetness after playing with our heads and noses for hours. Venice is lush and beautiful, extravagant smelling and yet comforting at the same time. I imagine our perfumed lady in velvet entering her mansion off the Grand Canal and undressing carefully for her lover, smelling more spicy and musky and like liquid roses as each piece of clothing drops onto the bed laid with spotless linen and lace sheets. Her lover watches her in the darkness, knowing she cannot see him, inhaling her delicious scent and basking in the glory of her lush body.

This is, above all others, my absolute favorite scent. My mother had a bottle from the 90’s, and I have it now. It’s been stored well and still smells amazing. This scent makes my eyes roll. Sure, it’s sexy - but more so it is cozy, warm, and spicy. Moody, but not in a blue way. In all these years, I have never worn it in the summer. For me, this is a chilly rainy day perfume, or a cold snowy day perfume. I have recently tried a fragrance, that for the first time really reminds me of Venice. They are not exact dupes, but scent profile is there in both. It is Julianna’s Perfume’s “Annie Are You Okay” - which is a dupe of Nishane’s “Ani”. If you are a die-hard Venice lover, please try one of these two. To sum up this scent, if you’ve never had the pleasure of experiencing it - have you watched Sense & Sensibility (Emma Thompson version)? The scene where little Margaret hears that Colonel Brandon has been to the East Indies, and she asks him “what was it like?”, he leans in and whispers: “The air is full of spices”

This was a recent blind buy for me, largely due to reviews here, got a mini EDP from ebay for 99p so it wasn't a huge risk...! Anyway, that tiny risk paid off as I love it. It's a warm, subtly sexy, somehow friendly scent. It's not an 'in your face' sex bomb, but it warms up with your body and your night, and I always get compliments when I wear this. And, like all warm and spicy fragrances, men love this. It's not avant-garde or challenging and I love it all the more for that. Can't imagine anyone not liking this, but it's not dumbed down or bland. Just womanly and delicious. OK longevity and silage, but I wish these were a bit better.

I used to own the body lotion of this perfume as well, back in the 90's. I was wanting to have that again, but nobody is selling the lotion. So I read in one of my perfume books that if you mix the perfume with perfume free lotion, you can make that yourself! So yesterday I tried that and it worked GREAT!!! Of course I miss the joy of the original bottle and using the original lotion, but this 'home made' lotion does the trick as an add on to the perfume. So I will be doing this home made lotion maiking with the vintage Orchidee as well. Should you ever ever find that lotion, MY GOD buy it!! It is heaven on earth as well! Action

Oh Venice.. Where should I start to describe HOW beautiful you are?! You are my the most cherished and loved treasure. What am i gonna do when your divine elixir will be finished? No, every drop of your juice is too valuable to me. I enjoy opening your gorgeous bottle and putting you on my skin, no spraying, just applying like in the old days.. taking your royal dark red bottle and looking through it at the light, ruby light. Mysterious, magical, sensual, passional.. It's you and your undescribable fragrance. With you i feel like Venus in Venice. Stay with me forever..

This perfume holds so many good memories - strong, spicy, woody, vanilla - all comforting and yet so ‘grown up” (I was 18 when I bought a bottle of Venice perfume along with the body milk). It was discontinued years ago & my quest to find a perfume of the same ilk went unfulfilled..... until a blind buy of Armaf Club de Nuit Intense Woman -on the first spray my thoughts were that it smelled very familiar. My daughter called round & asked where I’d managed to find a bottle of Venice! So ladies, if you need your Venice fix we’re covered!!!

How I loved this fragrance. It belonged to a friend of mine in college back in the 80's. I put it on at for our night in the town. Next day I had to see my (very cute) dentist, who compemented me on my frangrance. If I could only find a bottle of this precious stuff.... Actually I like a lot of the Yves Rocher fragances, especially if you consider the price. Another one of my favorites is the more recent So elixer, one of my favourites. Great lasting power too, just like Venice.

I love this perfume. Pity you can't get it anymore. I only have a miniature that I dab on sometimes for bedtime. It's very niche and could easily be something from Miller Harris. It has a powdered lipstick/make-up scent that I adore. Very classy. I smell a lot of sweet amber that reminds me a lot of their voile d'ambre fragrance. There is also a subtle powdery rose with a bit of spice. A very comforting perfume for me and not in your face.

Venice is a warm, spicy, smooth hug. I really adore it. I am very pleased as it’s one that I have wanted to try for years! Too bad it is so hard to find and expensive. Hopefully I can find a bigger bottle at a reasonable price. I had must de Cartier and they are similar, but I think I prefer this. A man could definitely pull this off! And I would be all over him! Lol. My first Yves Rocher is a spicy, sexy delight!

Yves Rocher has made some wonderful fragrances, and this is a prime example. It's the most beautiful, romantic perfume I own. Romance in a bottle. I wear it to bed sometimes in the cold months because it's so relaxing and warm, like a fireplace in a snow-covered cabin. I have no idea why Yves Rocher has abandoned so many fantastic, classic fragrances. I used to spend a small fortune, shopping from their catalogs.

I agree with Natural! This perfume in the same line as hypnotic and obsession, in terms of sexy, I find this one even more effective in that department. It is like a perfected Must de Cartier, extremely ladylike and somehow I find it to be an intellectual perfume as well. Because it brings me back to movies like Sutherland in Casanova, Italian masks, Venice, sensuality. Gorgeous!

Hi Jedi! GREAT review!! I was wondering about the staying power you mentioned. One of the main characteristics of this house is the staying power, at least of their vintages (like Venice and Ispahan etc.), the Secret D'essences and the new So Elixir. Did you ever try those perfumes? I would rate them the best out there in terms of sillage and staying power. Good luck! Action

I always wore this perfume back in the 80's & totally adored it. I was a huge fan of Yves Rocher perfumes before anyone else had even heard of YR. This was the fragrance that began my love affair with vanilla based perfumes & heady orientals. Its sensual & warm & probably the only perfume i can still smell in my mind, id love to be able to get hold of this again.

Venice was my Signature Fragrance for over a decade! I found this & fell in love in 1989, I purchased the entire line of perfume as well as the lotion & body wash. I wish they still had this as it was very popular. I have one tasseled bottle left with a few drops in it that I will wear again one day, for now I'll enjoy the scent from the bottle and save it!

My first perfume ever.I was around 7-8 years old and it ́s was a creme-pefume in a beautiful small bottle(I still got it).I will never forget this one.So amazing!Thanks to this one I early discovered oriental,sweet and spicy perfumes.I allways prefer that kind of scents and I ́m sure it`s because of my first perfume-love:Venice=)

very nice. probably bit too heavy for the daywear. but for the evening this is awesome. i was spending years trying to get this edition as the one created later could be similar from the first sign, but later its definitely not the same. I would say Dior Addict would be an option to replace it.

I ordered the re-edition bottle, it was on a special offer, so I bought two. The best part of this scent is its vanillaish drydown...yummie! I am so glad to discover that the scent is still the same! Wish it came as a spray, nevertheless.... I am happy to posess it again!!!

Refined, velvety, the colors of winter berries and dark fire... Not heavy oriental. Quiet, calm, warming, soft... This perfume reminds of Samsara, but it is much more gentle and refined. It has a fruity freshness, as well as a hint of bitterness, dark depths.

Akats , i am very glad you enjoyed the decant of Venice that i sent you...i told you about the similarity of this scent with Must de Cartier and the purpose of sending you the decant without the name writen on it was to prove you my point.Oh,wasn't i right ?

I only had a small miniature bottle of this magic water ... I allways wanted to buy it than, when I was young, but I never could afford it :(( I still remember it's wonderful smell ... pls YR, bring it back!!

Thank you very much The Real Paloma, for adding the complete list of notes! Can you maybe point your list out to Fragrantica, so they can update the perfume notes in the profile? Good work!

I wish I could buy this again, this is a scent I remember my mum having when I was a child and it was just....beautiful. Not everyones cup of tea but definetly mine😅😍

One of my first perfumes. Now I found its brother: Midnight Rain, La Prairie. Incredibly good! Looks elder, deeper, much experienced, rich, expensive.

I would love to know where Fragrantica gets their information from, as they so often have the incorrect notes listed for perfumes. Don't they check?

Last week I decided Venice to be my new signature. Although I ADORE Extreme girl, when I was wearing Venice last week, I Knew, this is me..

I love very much Venice! My childhood favourite perfume (and my first perfume too, in 1988)... So many memories!

My childhood favourite... my mum had this but I always used it, Icouldnt resist it :))

oh, spicy yes! carnation, amber, benzoin, musk, patch, sandalwood

I Finally have the vintage bodylotion..........ahhhh....heaven...

Lovely, gorgeous, heavenly, sultry, rich, wunderbar.

Amazing review Malia! I feel exactly THE same way!

04. march 2012 My review is for EDT. Wearing this one today. This is just as i remember it to be back in the days when my mom had a bottle of EDP in a red box with a tassel around bottle ́s neck. I was still a child at that time but amongst all others YR fragrances she had i think i liked this one the most. Partly because of the bottle, and mainly because of the juice. Rich, dark, seductive. There is a very strong oakmoss note in it, quite sharp in the opening which reminds me a lot of CK "Obsession", but i find "Obsession" is bit better and richer, more complex. Later the rose note appeares though it is not overwhelming and still dominated very much by the oakmoss. To be honest i don ́t get much more notes except oakmoss and rose. Well, a bit of sandal and a hint of vanilla is also here but they are very modest. The drydown tend to be a bit powdery but the good news that it is not too much powdery so it is totally wearable. In general it is a really bold fragrance perfect for autumn-winter time. lasting power is really good for the EDT i have. I have just been out of the shower, where i scrubbed myself and i can still smell the fragrance like i just have applied it recently. AMAZING! Sillage is also really good. I guess i will also go for a EDP as well :)

Venice by Yves Rocher is so precious! As other reviewers said, it's smooth. No other words to describe how mellow and beautiful it is, it feels like it's gliding over the skin without a single screechy note taking over. My bottle is very vintage and the top notes might have suffered a bit, but after the first couple of minutes I'm in heaven already. Vanilla sandalwood and just a hint of green that I presume is the rose. I don't get lots of the rose, hardly any at all, and do not know whether it is because of my vintage bottle or not. From the middle notes down oakmoss is blended in, adding depth and mystery and a tad of smokiness to the perfume. I agree so much with the reviewer who described an image of a Venetian beauty on a gondola dressed in velved and exquisite lace associated with 'Venice'. To me this creation would be the perfect finishing touch to an early November evening in Venice. The air would be damp and chilly, you'd wear a cashmere winter coat and go to Harry's Bar for Bellinis. You would sit at a corner table watching the impeccably dressed patrons dining and chatting, and the waiters wearing white jackets and black bow ties. And Venice's elegance would compliment an otherwise memorable, late autumn evening in La Serenissima...

This was not a love at first sniff for me. Luckily, I've gave it another shot. I got this as a present from my grandmother, who knows I collect perfumes and always collects some for me (for being such a darling, she always gets something she is looking for!). Venice came to me in a 6ml miniature and 100ml bottle. I've tested them both. In the opening there were some sharp scents, I guess this was the bergamot and jasmine. The warm stage really takes it's time to come forward. This might be why this was not an instant love. But, when I forgot about my wrist and came across the scent a while later, I got something completely else! A warm, velvety vanilla. All wrapped up in a blanket of cozy sandalwood, soft musk and a creamy type of oakmoss. I was surprised! This is great to wear on any day. On my skin, it wears up for about 4-5 hours, which is moderate. I wouldn't choose it for special occasions, because it's so soft, almost quiet. On occasions I (personally) like to wear something more vibrant. After giving it a second chance, I'm happy to say that I was wrong on my first impression. This really is a classic. The name itself implies Venice more than some others.

The original Venice is very much an 80s child and a representative of that colorful decade, yet there is something timeless and unarguably ladylike in its recipe. I vividly remember liking the scent even though I was in my teens when Venice was all the rage, and I had it as a creme perfume which was easy to slip in and carry around in my make-up bag. Even though the creme eventually went sour and started smelling somewhat odd I still couldn't throw the cute little package away =) Venice intrigued me also for its capability of whispering about all the good things and experiences that adult life would bring along. This was because of the feminine, elegant and vibrant concoction of flowers and woodsy notes delicately blended with warm vanilla undertones. I still remember how wearing Venice made me wish that I would already be a grown-up woman with confident attitude towards life and love. Not many other perfumes have had this strong effect on me, ever...

I have to agree with allexa 27 on this, this has a very 'old' feel to it, like its a perfume that would have been great in the late 80's for example. Alex I dont think you got a bad bottle i think that's just how it smells. It reminds me a bit of Obsession and a bit of Guerlain's Shalimar which Im also not a fan of. Its rich and heavy, i must say all the notes are really well blended, you don't pick out each note separately but its like a creamy sandal-vanilla-musk with subtle hints of jasmine and rose. It is nice but not really what i want to wear considering there are so many amazing perfumes out there these days.

Since I've dragged out my handy H & R Fragrance Guides today, I thought I'd supply their description of Venice, which was one of the few Orientals I enjoyed wearing. Top Notes: Bergamot, modified with lemon, green note, peach, & rosewood, creating a citrusy fresh green opening. Mid Notes: Jasmine and Orris, modified by ylangx2, carnation, and patchouli, creating a floral sweet heart Base: Vanilla and Amber, supported by benzoin, opopanax, moss, sandal, musk and civet for a sweet powdery ambery note.

Very pretty, very feminine - velvety, romantic, mysterious. Not for the girly-girl, but rather for the "lady" in you. Strong-smelling... unfortunately, too strong for me. The elegant, dark red bottle always made me think of a formal, black tie night at the opera... I'd say this fragrance is better suited for a night out. Too strong for the office or even a day use, unless you proceed with extreme caution. Lasting power better than most YR scents.

I have about an inch of this wonderful perfume left in a 60 ml EdT bottle that I inherited from my grandmother about 10 years ago... I wasn ́t very interested in perfumes then, I did like the scent but I seldom used it... I ́m happy about that now though, there is still an inch left of this wonderful concoction!! It ́s oriental, sweet and strong, just beautiful!

Open the bottle and the first thing I smell is Christmas time.. Years ago I had a lovely fragrance oil for a burner called Christmas Five, and this is what Venice reminds me of.. However, on my skin, it just doesn't work..so sad as it's really gorgeous..but I guess I can just continue to sniff it from the bottle or maybe even use a few drops in a burner.

This is my second review I love Venice so much! It is an improved version of Obsession, feels somehow more European on the antipode of its American counterpart. Or it could be my impressions being guided by its name. It combines green, earthy, dewy notes with deep amber and sandalwood. Beautiful stuff:)

A very intense fragrance, a little heavy so I used to wear it for the night. Reminded me of velvet? You could really pick up the vanilla notes in this which made it very warm smelling. Powdery rose notes too which was nice.

Lovely fragrance that is so much like Obsession. Never my favorite but one I've had in my collection for over 20 years. this was my sister "L's) perfume of choice from Yves Rocher. Sad it was discontinued

got in a flea market yesterday a full 80 mls bottle,sure its a totally 80s smell,a mix of Obession,Tabu and others of this stuff but a little less strong,one more of these days

I was just recently gifted this perfume. It looks exactly like the bottle shown, odd it's so large but still a dabber. I do think this smells interesting, nice and spicy. I have never smelled this perfume prior so I have no idea if any of the notes are off/gone. I think the bottle is lovely and I enjoy smelling it often, sadly everyone else who has smelled it doesn't like it :( I'm going to add this to my trades if anyone would be interested.

So much nicer and smoother than both Obsession and Must de Cartier...

i dont know where is the problem?Maybe my bottle was not right and out dated or maybe this is too oldish kinda smell..I didnt like it at all.I smell lots of aldehydes in it...