Joop! Le Bain (1988)
by Joop!

This has been my niece's signature scent for years and years. I don't know if I'd wear it myself, but I think it has a lovely distinctive aroma. I get caramel and smokiness, booze and fresh winter air. Love it. Maybe I'll treat myself.

19th January, 2012.

My darling husband found this at a discount counter in a tax free shop in Poland, smelled it and bought it straight away for me since "it smells like something you would love". I confess to never giving it a thought before, but I was really pleasantly surprised.

I haven't got a clue to what the notes are, but straight away I get sugared almonds, and loads of them. There's fresh tobacco in there as well. The almonds, though sugared, are not overly sweet at all, I think there is a bitterness there too.

It keeps evolving throughout the day, and at one point I got the same vibe as I remember getting from Rochas Byzance (although I haven't worn Byzance since the 90's, so don't take my word for it). There's vanilla there, and I get tonka too, and the overall impression is a comforting yet saucy gourmandeish scent that doesn't come close to smelling like any of the other scents I own. I really love it!

18th June, 2011.

A sweet friend send me some misterious samples, where she put only numbers on each one, so i should try them without knowing what i was wearing. This one was the first one i picked to wear. Altought it was launched in 1989, it's modern until today.Without knowing the notes or the family, my impression was of a scent that starts subtle citrusy. The citrus light phase only last for five minutes, when the scent moves to a almond-flower like heart to me. I got very impressed that this one doesn't have almond flowers, because it's what i get - a flower bitter aroma of almond, that transform into something sugared, where you have a grassy lily to cut the swetness. After some hours, the scent dives into a cozy tonka-vanilla base, sweet and pleasant like an embrace. Shame that this one was discontinued, it's a great fragrance, with some distant similarties to Champs Elysees

10th February, 2011.

This is one of those blended fragrances that you either like or don't. You don't really detect individual notes. There are hints of a gourmand as well as a subdued tobacco presence. I don't really find it "boozy." It's not too sweet or too anything, just a unique blend that it seems they tried to get just right (and succeeded, IMO). So if you like these kinds of fragrances there is an excellent chance this is for you. Sillage and longevity are very good to excellent. Too bad it was discontinued.

23rd May, 2009.

Altough the rose note is slightly overdione, the mix is stylish and discreet. Smells not necessarily like a female version, but a more smooth, less synthetic and more filigrane version of the ( rightfully) hated Joop Homme. The both have the same " pink" feeling, the same gourmand caramel touch, but while Joop Homme degrades and dcays into notes of suger, burned incese and even burned paper, some even worse version of Kouros plus some synthetic illusion of plastic, Le Bain has a comforting moderately soapy, refined creamy note creating the sensation of familiar yet distinguished suede association and even high quality, slightly yet costly aromatic relaxing oils used by and and associated with high-end apothecary, batrbershops or bath-houses ( latter thing suggested even by the name).
I guess it makes way from another stylish creation yet to come ages after this one from Joop: the exquisite female Roccoco. And tough the latter is even more subtle, complex and much more groundbreaking, they both have several features in common: a frail, lightful, vibrant uplifting yet discreet quality.

23rd April, 2007.

Wonderful in the winter with many warm notes -- amber, vanilla, booze. Great sillage but not cloying and lasts a good eight hours. Full bottle worthy and one that I will repurchase.

26th January, 2007.