Coty L'Aimant Creamy Skin Parfum - 15 ml

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François Coty and Vincent Roubert created L’Aimant over five years, and the fragrance launched in 1927 — for context, the same year that saw the birth of Lanvin Arpège, Caron Bellodgia, and Jean Patou Chaldée. In his book Perfume, Nigel Groom lists L’Aimant’s notes as bergamot, neroli, peach, strawberry, jasmine, rose, ylang ylang, vanilla, vetiver and sandalwood. The fragrance fell out of production, then relaunched in 1995, when Groom claims it became the most popular perfume in Great Britain. L'Interdit is springtime in Paris. The delicate warmth, the affectionate kisses given by the Sun. A huge springtime bouquet in the hands of a fairy godmother, possibly the very one that helped Cinderella get to the ball and did many other lesser known acts of kindness, because she considers helping to be her main goal in life, especially if that means helping disadvantaged children… And when she walks down the streets of Paris - her very own, magical Paris, that Hepburn so adored! - she gifts not only smiles to strangers, but also individual flowers from her bouquet. That is how generous she is! Audrey Hepburn, the muse of L'Interdit, was like a fairy herself. And the true heroine of that perfume is a real fairy from fairy tales, that Audrey really enjoyed. For me, it is an insult, an act of dishonesty and travestism this new fashion that, sadly, it is already a trend, to give the name of beautiful, venerable perfumes of the past, that should be pampered and enshrined by their mother perfume houses which, rather have became the stepmothers, to modern, mediocre fragances, that have nothing to do with their glorious ancestors, that could only appeal the young customers. L'Interdit, the new Joy, the new Miss Dior, and so on and so goes...

Chanel No 5 is a tropical winter garden covered in snow. After all, the perfume was created while inspired by snow. However, under that snow we find gorgeously fragrant ylang-ylang, jasmine, orange blossom and roses. Ok, since I was actually around in 1957 I'll write something. I was 11 years old, but already a perfume collector with at least 20 good bottles of adult women perfume by then. None of them L'Interdit. I considered it then, and now, as a safe perfume. As Audrey Hepburn was a safe actress. No personal dramatics there. If you wanted that, look to Elizabeth Taylor, Rita Hayworth, or Lana Turner. (Now there's a concept; imagine what fragrances Lana Turner would have inspired if there had been celebrity fragrances in the 1950's.) I have to thank you, Elena, for sharing those anecdotes that only enhance my perception of her as the epitome of grace, charm, and generosity of spirit. I often imagine that I am having a dinner party, to which I can invite any person, both past and present. Audrey would definitely have a seat at my table. Speaking of floral notes, the strongest one there is iris, out of the sweet notes sandalwood stands out more than the rest. Their combo makes this aldehyde fragrance so sophisticated and unlike any other. I have always adored Audrey Hepburn. She was a movie star before my time, though I have seen many of her films over the years, but I have to say that the Audrey I fell in love with was the older Audrey, still beautiful on the outside. And how could she possibly be anything less than physically beautiful, when her internal beauty was so radiant and evident through her actions, especially on behalf of UNICEF?According to the other version, Audrey herself decided that such a wonderful fragrance must be released for sale, because one needs to be generous and share the joy given to her by L’Interdit with all the women on the planet. There were many legends around the original release of L’Interdit, the principal one being that the perfume was created especially for Audrey - and that for a certain period of time she was the only one using it. But later, the legend splits into two stories which completely contradict each other. According to the first, Hubert de Givenchy, Audrey's friend, who commissioned and gifted her the perfume, suddenly decided to release it commercially and the actress, having found out about that, was utterly appalled and exclaimed that one can't do things like that and that she forbade it! And yet the perfume came out, and it was named L’Interdit — The Forbidden. Some might say that I have just come up with my very own fairy tale (Audrey would not judge me, you know.) Still, I never bought a bottle of L'Interdit until around 2001 when I bought a bottle of the edt and a bottle of the parfum on line. And reading this article yesterday and reaching for the edt this morning I can say it's still a safe perfume for me. That is to say, boring. Almost everything I have in my now huge collection is more interesting. Henry Rogers was not particularly keen on the situation, but he could not do anything about it. And yet he simply could not understand that Audrey and Hubert were equally generous with each other: Givenchy created Audrey' style and continued to sew perfect gowns for her, while the actress advertised his fashion house.

L'Interdit, 2018 is a vivid fragrance, but rather more generous than loud. Despite some serious sillage, there are no truly shrieking notes that could spoil someone's movie night or make one's subway ride home virtually intolerable. L'Interdit, 2018 generously gifts you all of its seductive notes without ever pushing any particular one on you. I bet lots of you have memories of L’Aimant, either because you wore it yourself, or because it calls to mind beloved grandmothers and aunts. I hope you’ll share some of those stories. The vintage L'Interdit perfume is first and foremost a bouquet of spring flowers: daffodils, irises, lilies-of-the-valley, violets. Plus roses, however the latter are likely white, possessing an ever so delicate fragrance. It has aldehydes that are warm like the springtime sun. It has the soft sweetness of sandalwood, labdanum and tonka bean. It also possesses a delicate cream-powder note. Spring flowers typically have quite a ringing sound to them, but in L'Interdit they seem to be clothed in some gossamer down while the violets and irises are decidedly powdery. However the flowers still retain their freshness. And a sensation of being caressed by warm springtime air never ceases while you wear the perfume.

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Fortunately there is still a lot of the original L'Interdit around online if you want to investigate, and at a variety of prices. Of course you have to be careful that you're getting an original pre-1993 bottle. The parfum has held up the best. My edt faded within 2 hours, so I drenched myself in the parfum. Like the bottle illustrating the article, the juice in my bottle is now dark brown, and it was when I bought it around 2001. But it hasn't gone to alcohol, so I don't think sunlight darkened it; it's just old.

The first version has never seemed believable to me: It is nothing like the relationship between Hepburn and Givenchy, for she was Hubert's muse, his source of inspiration, and he would never breach an openly expressed forbiddance to do something. Plus Audrey herself had never been egotistical - she demanded no special treatment for herself. The woman who could personify L'Interdit 2018 is not some fragile angel nor the pale Goth girl… Our girl is healthy, her cheeks are flushed with color, she is always carrying a basket of fruits, berries and sweets around; she has flowers in her hair and a grape vine for a belt. She reminds you of not so much a fairy but more a deity of fertility that is used to pretending that she is a mere mortal. When she needs to, she can look dazzling: the grape vine, jasmine and orange blossom then turn to a floral-leafy weave of the fine embroidery on her dress, while the wild strawberry turns to the rubies of her jewels. However today we have the great granddaughter of the L'Interdit fairy - the one that entered the perfumery scene in 2018. Look what I found for you,” my coworker said and handed me a Coty L’Aimant perfume ad shrink-wrapped on cardboard. It was all in gold and red, featuring a woman in a 1950s coiffure gazing into a tiny stage peppered with various L’Aimant products, from perfume to compacts to body powder. Each product was adorned with a horseshoe magnet encompassing a heart. “To be a magnet — wear a magnet — always!” the copy said.L’Interdit, which was initially released in 1957 and which later became a ghost appearing as L'Interdit 2 in 1993, and then again as L’Interdit in 2003 and 2007, is inseparably connected with the image of Audrey Hepburn. The only thing that relates this perfume to modern-day designer fragrances is probably the gourmand note. I have tried to determine what it is most like this time - is it praline, cotton candy or hot toffee? No, this time it's creamy fudge. Very fresh creamy fudge that is redolent with vanilla. It is generous, and what relates it to the first (and the only real!) L'Interdit is the image of Audrey Hepburn, Givenchy's muse.

Vintage L'Interdit was just gorgeous. A kind member gave me a small sample as part of a swap and I loved it so much. The description is very accurate - flowers so soft and pretty they're like an impression and creamy sandalwood, warm and slightly sweet, but with the gentlest presence of aldehydes giving it that teeny bit of polish. That’s not to say that L’Aimant is entirely easygoing. Twice when I’ve been wearing it, I’ve caught a whiff of fecal civet. Only a flash, though — it reared its head, then disappeared into the fragrance again. All in all, it’s a beautifully blended, well-behaved fragrance. For this type of fragrance, though, I’m still crazy about vintage Arpège. However, L’Aimant is a lot easier to come by. However the idea to create a perfume in addition to the dresses indeed came to Hubert Givenchy in 1954 when he was working on Audrey's costumes for Sabrina. In his mind, the perfume had to epitomize Audrey, her tenderness and her light... Thus L'Interdit from 1957 was indeed gentle like the heroines Audrey created on the big screen. Or even more delicate, like Audrey herself, like the Audrey loved by friends and relatives - she who had once confessed:Well, I could use some magnetizing. Who couldn’t? I remembered the bottle of vintage L’Aimant Eau de Toilette stashed in my perfume cupboard. It was time to put it to the test. Oh well, do try L'Interdit, 2018 though. It will bestow its flowers and berries on you generously, bringing a shot of liqueur to your mouth and offering you a delicious morsel of creamy fudge. It is also likely to lift your spirits.