After years of wearing spicy ambers and the occasional gourmand perfume, I decided that I needed a change. I had dismissed floral perfumes for no good reason (well, looking back I blame Bath & Body Works). I went on a floral journey that left me justifying my dismissal of floral perfumes. I thought I needed spice, vanilla, moss or whatever to feel like a “Victoria” perfume. Years later, it hit me that there is power in wearing a perfume that isn’t “you”. I needed what I called a “blonde wig” for my perfume collection. I want an out of character perfume, a perfume that was like a subtle disguise. I ended up with a full-bottle of Serge Lutens Un Lys.
Un Lys opens with lemons, green leaves and black licorice. Here come the florals – a mix of powdery hyacinth, sharp lily of the valley and an indolic lilac verging on jasmine. It reads as one big ‘ole lily with a hint of green. And there’s lots of vanilla there to sweeten it up in the heart. The deal is that sometimes to my nose it smells like vanilla and lilies. Other times I get vanilla, lily and plastic. But, that’s why I like Un Lys. It reminds me of a Barbie doll. The dry-down is a lily with tons of sweetened white musk. Yep, this is my blonde wig of perfumes. And not just blonde, it’s platinum blonde.
Notes listed include lily, musk and vanilla. Launch date 2007. PERFUMER — Christopher Sheldrake
You’ve got to want a straightforward floral to want to wear Un Lys. Give it a try if you like Tom Ford Private Blend Lys Fume, Annick Goutal Grand Amour, YOSH Stargazer, Donna Karan Gold EDT and/or Parfums de Nicolai Kiss Me Tender. Being a big ‘ole floral many people are going to associate this with the feminine. And associate it with the beautiful.
Projection is above average (it’s also possible I spray too much) and longevity is average.
The 1.7 oz bottle of Un Lys retails for $140 at Beautyhabit. Samples are also available for purchase.
Victoria’s Final EauPINION – Vanilla lily. I know it’s supposed to be a vanilla lily but I often think of it as a lilac vanilla disguised as a lily vanilla. But, this is coming from someone that uses Un Lys as her perfume disguise.
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Ahhh, I love this one. For me, it dries down to a grainy candylike vibe, like a praline or brown sugar fudge that’s juuuust crystallizing. I don’t mean that it actually smells like those, though there is all that vanilla, but that that’s the texture that I get from the smell.
Martha recently posted..Rambling: Grown up, not so much
I love when a perfume has a “texture”.
I’m really happy I ended up buying this one…I wish I could say that about the rest of my perfume purchases 😉
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