Happy birthday to me - a mini La Vie Est Belle Lancome review...

I've noticed that I would smell the same mystery fragrance whenever I'd go past the makeup counters in my local Boots,and after a month or so I'd pinpointed the aroma to Lancome's latest perfume release; La Vie Est Belle.

La Vie Est Belle is a new Lancome fragrance, available on the market from fall 2012. The concept of this fragrance is centered on the idea of natural and simple beauty, freedom from conventions and the choice of once own vision of happiness. The fragrance is a kind of outlook on life, inspired by joy and pleasure in small things.

This gourmand yet elegant composition is developed by perfumers Olivier Polge, Dominique Ropion and Anne Flipo. The final formula is the result achieved after three years of probation and 5000 versions. Iris is the key ingredient of the perfume, surrounded by orange blossoms and jasmine in the heart. The composition’s opening provides fruity flavors of black currant and pear, while the base is warm, gourmand and powdery due to almond-like accords of tonka bean, praline, patchouli and vanilla.


To cut a boring, rambling story short; it was my birthday earlier in the week and I mainly received money, so today I decided to buy the La Vie Est Belle Christmas gift set. The exclusive-to-Boots set includes a 30ml bottle of EDP, 50ml tube of body lotion, 50ml of shower gel, a 7ml Juicy Tube lipgloss [no colour name or number on it] and a 2ml tube of Hypnose mascara.  Anyhow, I'm going to stop going on with myself and present you with my mini review now. Drumroll please...

The pear is the strongest fruit note on me - well, I say strongest, but it is still pretty soft and doesn't leave me with a lasting impression. There is soft vanilla present through all of the fragrance too, with adds a creamy sweetness and warmth to the fragrance. The patchouli is also quick to develop, so whilst everything is sweet, it's not cloyingly so.

The floral notes used are powdery and just provide a background for the iris. It's quite startling how, after around two hours, the fragrance suddenly changes from a soft gourmand to present the wearer with a rich iris note. I don't have much experience with iris in perfumes, so LA VIE EST BELLE is unique to me.

After another few hours the fragrance turns slightly nutty and even creamier as the rest of the base notes develop. Whilst the iris note dies down, the combined powderiness of the floral notes remain and softly fade away with the base notes after around nine hours on my skin.