Hello Fellow Fumies,
Some of you may know that way back in the dimness of time I was a Squirt Bitch for a department store in Sydney’s suburbs, my fragrance section was Guerlain, Oscar de la Renta, Worth and Nina Ricci. At the time I was so dazzled by the Guerlains and Oscars that poor old Nina Ricci got left behind, it was the 1980s and very few people were after such subtlety, especially once I started on my “Make a statement” spiel. I recently purchased some L’Air du Temps parfum just for old times sake. Then I found on Fragrantica Miguel Matos did a sensational 2013 L’Air du Temps 65th Birthday piece and judging by the packaging on my acquisition it’s 1986-2008 juice, except the parfum has gold doves on the box. Which is a SCORE. Today was always going to be about L’Air du Temps but now it has an extra special reason, Happy 75th Birthday L’Air du Temps.
L’Air du Temps parfum by Nina Ricci 1948
Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Neroli, Rosewood, Spices, Bergamot, Peach
Heart: Carnation, Lily, Ylang, Iris, May rose, Orchid
Base: Sandalwood, Ambergris, Benzoin, Moss, Musk, Cedar, Vetiver
I love a floral, fruity, aldehydic opening of yesteryear, there is so much depth and glamour. It’s spicy and sugared, crisp and warm and fizzy, L’Air du Temps is fun! The parfum version is so much fuller and more powerful in the opening than my memories of the EdT back in the 1980s but the scent is still the same, no not the same but same enough to feel the memories flood back. Both cozy and starched elegance at the same time. Luminous! I am back in time over 20 years and just getting my first perfumista stars.
After the first ten minutes L’Air du Temps takes a definite step towards soft, there becomes space between the various notes and the wall of scent becomes a lovely warm floral aura that is still spicy and punchy but more restrained. There is so much going on in L’Air du Temps that I find it hard to pick individual notes. The cloves are most discernible and I can smell flowers but it’s a dream of flowers nothing specific. While half the time feeling totally old fashioned and dated it also is still spare and pretty enough through the heart to be at ease in today’s fragrant climate. An hour in and I am softly fragrant, maybe if I was sitting in a small room for a while you’d smell a change in the air but otherwise you’d have to hug me to know I’m perfumed.
Amber and sandalwood/cedar are what I smell most of in the dry down, there are other things but I can’t decipher them as notes it’s more of a harmonious background hum. After around 4 hours L’Air du Temps goes so soft I can barely register it but I know that I’m not smelling me, it is definitely other, an amorphous wash that I lose at around 5-6 hours.
How does L’Air du Temps make me feel? Pretty, I feel pretty, no bold statement, very laid back and comfortable. Wearable on any occasion, even close working quarters would not be offended by L’Air du Temps parfum. It is subtle and glamorous without the hard work of appearing to be.
Do you have any L’Air du Temps memories you’d like to share?
Portia xx
Undina's Looking Glass 
Ah, Portia, my mind is now full of memories of a long ago hot summer in the garden with the beat of In the Summertime by Mungo Jerry floating out through the open windows, me lying on the grass sipping a Fresca, L’Air du Temps blending gently with the scent of the roses and honeysuckle, and I didn’t have a care in the world.
What did you think of Farouche? A much later release that seemed so sophisticated to me. Wish it was still around!
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What a beautiful memory Jillie. Thank you for sharing it.
LOVE Farouche and have a small splash bottle of EdT and a micro Parfum here. You’re right, it is high, fine perfumery.
Portia xx
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L’Air du Temps is synonymous with memories of my MiL. She wore it or L’Aimant every day. When she developed dementia she still applied her perfume & make up. They were so much part of who she was.
When she moved into care my mum gifted her a coffret of EdP, she EdT & Parfum. I asked the staff to remind her where it was kept & she wore it until she became bedbound. Even then the staff put a drop on her pillow until it all ran out.
So to me it smells of hugs & soft skin, a voice from the Welsh valleys & watching her play the piano despite dementia.
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What a beautiful, sad story Alityke.
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The staff at the home were amazing! They kept the residents as themselves & had little handwritten note books of residents likes, dislikes & habits. Such small things but so important to both residents & their relatives
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WOW! All aged care should be so responsible.
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The home was purpose built as a dementia nursing home, single storey round an enclosed court yard garden. The staff were a mixture of qualified nurses both RN & RMH, care staff & an Occupational Therapist & Activity team. DH & the Manager had worked together in the past, hence my MiL queue jumped a bit.
Eye wateringly expensive but she had the funds & the home made her final five years a pleasure for her.
If only all elder care was like that, indeed!
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She is definitely one of the lucky ones
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My mom wore L’air du Temps, among other things. I miss her so much.
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All the hugs Julie.
Losing Mum is totally crap. I still miss mine too 20+ years on.
Portia x
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My memories of L’Air du Temps are also of my mother in law. I adored her. She was very elegant and also very strong. If she had been born a generation later she would have been CEO of IBM or something. She was so smart and capable and also very warm. She always wore L’Air du Temps in the pure parfum version and it suited her perfectly.
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How lucky you were in your MIL RR.
Portia x
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L’Air du Temps was my mother’s daytime perfume. Bal à Versailles was for evenings out. It smelled so lovely on her. She had the parfum and eau de toilette.
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OMG! So posh.
Did I ever tell you about wasting a 2ml Bal perfume on the Barbies because we thought it was for them with the cute little bottle.
Portia x
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I was hesitant to share my L’Air du Temps memories after all the beautiful stories, but since most of those who wanted to read/comment have done it already, I’ll do it.
I’ve never smelled it, but many years ago, when we were going back to visit our families in Ukraine, a friend of ours asked us to buy him this perfume in a Duty Free store. Two bottles. And then he made sure to get it from us without his wife knowing about it. I remember that we were joking that it was a present – one for his wife and one for someone else special. Not to explain to either one an unknown scent. He and his wife are still together, so we could have been wrong – but this is how I remember that perfume :)
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HA! Undina, clever but unscrupulous men used to buy two or three of the same perfume gift sets every year when I was working as a squirt bitch. One for the wife and sundry others. If they all wore the same perfume they wouldn’t notice it on the philanderer.
Portia x
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That is hilarious! The cad’s delight gift set….
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One very good reason not to wear a signature scent.
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L’Air du Temps was the first bottle of perfume a boyfriend gave me, in 1982. I didn’t much care for it then, or now to be honest, but I can admire its carnation backbone, and I do wear my sample occasionally just to remind myself what it is like.
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Hey Vanessa,
That you don’t love LdT and continue to wear it irregularly speaks volumes to its moreish nature. Sometimes it’s the only thing that fits a mood.
Portia xx
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