Reviews of En Passant (2000)
by Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle

As far as I'm concerned, this is THE lilac fragrance and Giacobetti's masterpiece. It's more art than perfume, and less something to wear than a journey to somewhere else.

The accord of En Passant is quite linear and simple - dew-covered lilacs. Somehow the effect it achieves with that is far more than that sounds, the hyper-realism of green, floral, and dewy notes all coming together to make something vividly, amazingly real; a garden morning at the brink of sunrise. It's minimalist, yet I find something new in it on each wearing.

The sillage is moderate, but the longevity is quite good. Surprisingly so considering how ethereal it is.

One of my all-time favorite fragrances, despite being a million miles away from the rich, complicated orientals that usually occupy my attention.

For some reason, the combination of wheat and lilac ends up smelling grapefruity on my skin. I like it, but I'm not blown away by this on paper either. It's definitely nice and smells like the name - En passant is the smell of just "passing by" a huge, intense (and perhaps wet) lilac bush, while very distant, wheaty bread cools in the window sill of a very distant house, and for some reason you're holding a cucumber (which doesn't stand out at all either). Although I enjoy En Passant and respect it for its creativity, it's not my style and I see it more as a feminine fragrance. I'll have to "pass" on this one...

Edit: I've since changed my mind, and I'm giving this a thumbs up instead of neutral. This fragrance is meant to be airy and ethereal, and so, when you don't expect too much from it, it's quite enjoyable to smell lilacs all year round.

7.75/10

Frederic Malle En Passant

One of my favorite scent associations is the smell of lilacs and the assurance that that smell lets me know winter is over for another year. Lilac is one of those notes that is notoriously hard to execute well. Most times it is used with a heavy hand and it comes off smelling like a heavy-duty air freshener. Then you have someone like Frederic Malle give Olivia Giacobetti, in 2000, the opportunity to create a scent around lilac and you get En Passant. Ms. Giacobetti has had transparency used to describe many of her scents and in En Passant that quality reaches its apex. From the top the lilac comes across boldly and for a moment I worry that the air-freshener quality is about to take hold. I needn't have worried because the heart is where Giacobetti's trademark transparency takes hold. She tones down the lilac and pairs it with a watery accord. This is how lilac smells to me after a spring rain as the breeze wafts the scent through my window. It is at once heady and close but yet subtle and far away. The brilliance of this scent is that this level of delicacy is maintained for hours on my skin. In other perfumes these kinds of delights are fleeting, in En Passant it is not. As this develops I finally begin to get hints of the wet earth the lilacs are planted in as there is a noticeable greenness that appears. The note list would seem to make cucumber the note responsible for this but it has much more of a wet soil quality to my nose. The one funny note that peeks in and around this scent as it develops is the wheat note which smells like freshly-baked bread, it never lingers for long but it plays peek-a-boo with my nose throughout the heart and base of En Passant. Once again the freedom Frederic Malle has given a perfumer has resulted in one of their best pieces of fragrant work. En Passant translates to "in passing" but it also refers to a chess move which, is not often seen and, is the only occasion in chess where the capturing piece does not move to the square of the captured piece. Olivia Giacobetti has also created a transparent lilac masterpiece that is also a rare piece of artistry.

Cold, lilac. Better as an air freshener for grandma?

En Passant is a soft, powedery floral. It's a tad too feminine for me to comfortably wear, except for in the scorching heat. The lilac is really soft and well done, and the basenotes have a airy dough, light cucuber, powedery floral feel.

This will look gorgeous on any confident, young sexy woman.

innocent, clean, virginal, fresh, a walk in a garden when those night aromatic flowers open.
I can picture a young woman dressed in white, barefooted with crown of lilac on her long hair

Too cold and remote for my liking. Far too melancholic. Would make a better room spray than a fine fragrance.

At first I wasn't too sure about En Passant, and I'm still not in love with it, but I now really appreciate it for what it is. The first time I smelled it the lilac reminded me of air freshener (don't hate me!) and I realized I must have been in a bad mood and decided to test it again another day. I'm glad I did because it doesn't remind me of air freshener so much anymore and now, right from the beginning I get the impression of dewy lilacs nestled on a plate next to a pile of powdery wedding cookies (a.k.a. snowball cookies - the round, buttery, almondy/nutty ones covered in powdered sugar). There really is an innocence, a simplicity, an alabaster-skinned, rosy-cheeked impression about En Passant. And it's no joke: there really is a doughy note in the fragrance, and it combines with the lilac and cucumber to create this ultra gentle, soft, angel's breath sort of feel. I couldn't decide whether it was beautiful or pretty and so I thus dub it: beautifully pretty.

I with mademoiselle nicole's "heartbreakingly beautiful."

The top note of En Passant is gorgeous, perfect lilac, which is a multi-layered scent in itself. It reminds a bit of vintage Diorissmo, perhaps because i tend to perceive lilac and muguet as similar in nature: sweet floral over a polleny, dry, vegetal, gently earthy layer. En Passant is more restrained than Diorissmo, and the notes of cucumber and hay (or rice? bread?) give En Passant a lasting warmth and freshness.

I simply adore this perfume and my only complaint is that I wish it lasted longer, especially since it is so expensive. It dries down quickly and almost disappears from me in about one hour. The fleeting quality of En Passant certainly fits its name, but that is some pricey poetry! It reminds me of Baudelaire's "fugitive beauté" in "A une passante: "Ô toi que j'eusse aimée, ô toi qui le savais!" [O you whom I would have loved, O you who knew it!]

it is the unaware beauty that make en passant so heartbreaking.
it has the innocence of somebody extremely handsome and not knowing it.
this pureness makes it so attractive.a very pure fragrance, calling up my parents garden with its lilac bushes, together with a tender touch of warm bread,- yes i get that. on my skin it is pure, clear like the morning sky- heartbreakingly beautiful

Smells like a confused flower shop. A very cold feeling combination of lilac and heliotrope.

Unfortunately... all I get is a distinct air of wilting flowers and rotting vegetation. The sort of smell you have at the bottom of your flower vase after a week if you forgot to change the water and the flowers are dead.

Well, it's May and lilac's in full bloom and it is now that one can feel how really far En Passant stays from true lilac fragrance. Lilac seems to be "too much" near EP. Sure En Passant has lilac in it (I mean not extraction but olfactory impression of course), but there's more, much much more. There is a feeling of spring humid cool air somewere in the country (or an early chilly morning in the center of rather an old city, somewhere on an embankment of a local river, just an abstract european city). A smell of fresh bread (I don't know what it means to you, but to me this smell has always been a kind of intimate, very personal and self... well not "selfish" but something you do not usually have intention to share). And something more that makes a morning tense with anxiety that something good and important is to happen...
but well, maybe it's just a personal reaction.
One thing is doubtless: it is very impressionistic and there's a lot more in it then just the chemicals it's made of...

En Passant, created by Olivia Giacobetti, is light and clear -- white lilacs smelled outdoors just after a rain, in a small town somewhere in Europe. I adore this fragrance. It's gentle without being weak in any way, and smells like promise and hope.

It is wet and green and floral and very linear (I think). I like it. But I really have to be in the mood for it to wear it. I think a true lilac lover would wear this more often than I do. And I am a lilac lover, but I just need my Sandalwoods often! TWO THUMBS way up for getting me to love something that I ordinary would not love, she is a brilliant nose.

Lilac and cucumber - who would have thought that such a simple accord could be so evocative, even hypnotic?

Olivia Giacobetti, that's who. In her characteristically limpid style, she's managed to bottle the essence of spring. The lilacs are "wet," but there's nothing remotely aquatic about this fragrance. It's fresh, but its freshness is so elegantly rendered that it puts all of the vapid fresh scent clones on the market to shame. Heartbreakingly beautiful.

En Passant is the only fragrance I have ever gotten a compliment on from someone other than my husband.
it is a breezy polleny scent. I love how different it is from anything else. It doesn't smell figgy, but related to fig. It is misty rather than dry.

wow - I only tried this because I tend to love everything Olivia Giacobetti does, but I wasn't really expecting to like it; It's my new favorite scent.

as a marine note hater, don't be put off by others' descriptions of marine notes. There's a bit of cucumber, and a definite litheness (er, a liquidity to its feel, but not its smell), but it doesn't strike me as aquatic at all. I don't get the lilac that others describe (but not sure i've ever smelled real lilac), but i might be mistaking lilac for iris.

sillage was about perfect for my taste and longevity seems pretty good too.

I like this on myself (i think it'll be my new summer scent), but would really love to smell it on a woman.

wet... wet...wet... melancholic rain-drenched verdant leaves amidst straw strewn intermittently across the damp soil... the cusp of a white flower filled with rain, its stamen laden with water and pollen... this is en passant for me. evocative. unforgettable.

En Passant is the first fragrance which I love the top notes of!! Top notes for me in any fragrance are always too sharp, strong or overblown and I much prefer the heart note and drydown stages. However with En Passant the whole composition from top to base is delightful. Obviously due to the use of one main theme - the white lilac. Fresh, subtle, adorable. I love the wheat note, am less aware of the notes of cucumber and orange tree leaves. The watery notes add to the 'outdoorsy' impression I get from En Passant and I am so glad to discover that it is not a powdery fragrance. A scent which has been kissed by the purity of air.

I didn't know what to expect with En Passant, what with a lack of consensus regarding its effect, intent, and notes. I was pleased to discover it 'works' for me. The total impression for me is of lilac and loam, whatever the single notes. It is evocative, and reminiscent of Apres L'Ondee in that it evokes a spring/summer garden, earth and flower quality. Apres L'Ondee also has a crucial lilac note in it, which is probably why it came to mind. The loam quality is in actuality listed as a cucumber/wheat note, and for some apparently translates as a marine air, which I was dreading the thought of. But on me it became a naturalistic loamy earth, which paired nicely and made sense as the earth from which the lilac grew. What adds to the garden sense is a lack of powder, which increases the wet airiness of the cucumber. Powder on me tends to not let a fragrance expand and merge with the air. What a nice evocative fragrance - it's quite appealing and welcome in my wardrobe, as there's plenty of room for ones of this genre.

A warm vivid image of sweet lilac blossoms accompanied by watery cucumber to neutralize the sweetness and toasty bread that adds depth. A very Monet-like impressionistic fragrance, where the perfumer did not strive for micro-details but captured the imagery better than photography could. The longetivity isn't all that great but it was beautiful when it lasted. Shockingly beautiful? I agree.

The burst of fresh lilac in the top note is entirely lovely, but fades much sooner than I would like. The dry down is definitely a water scent -- over enthusiastic application left me with the briny cucumber note others have alluded to, but when I applied less it smelled soft and fresher, like outdoor wetness with a hint of salted melon.

In general, I would say this works better as a warm weather fragrance, meant to be appreciated from close range. It is well named, as the frangrance is both subtle and fleeting.

I'm in love! I expected this to remind me of my beloved Un Lys, because of the lilac note. Un lys was more heady..always found myself longing for the creamy drydown. With En Passant, it was love at first sniff! So etheral on me, and light. Sadly, does not last long and find myself spritzing often. This one is full bottle worthy.

Things you may find while passing might be the least expected. I passed through to smell the lilacs of En Passant, and in a short snatch, a-la the chess maneuver by the same name, I found myself searching for whales on a misty day on the Sait Laurent river… Unsuccessfully, needless to say, but enjoying the fjords and the moist mist…
The heady, innocent and slightly powdery spring-like scent of white lilac quickly leads my nose to the subtly fragrant branches and stems bearing blossom-vines. These transform into an olfactory green fig leaf scent, and than in a split of a second you find out that you just jumped, head first, into a chilly ocean – smelling the fresh air of the ocean breeze, with its slight saltiness, and the clean, fine mist meeting your face as you watch for whales on the fast-loating boat…

With notes of white lilac, cucumber and wheat, Olivia Giacobetti has created an abstract lilac perfume that is more of a subjective interpretation of the flower rather than an effort to re-create the scent of the fresh blossom. Its ozone and marine cucumber notes are not my personal favourite and the wheat adds to a certain flour-y powdery yet green nuance that is nevertheless interesting and original on its own. However, the result of the final drydown is surprisingly disappointing in its ozonic-oceanism and its reference to l’Eau d’Issey of all perfumes.

Top notes: White Lilac
Heart notes: Fig, Cucumber
Base notes: Wheat, Violet Leaf

Sadly, this turned to rotten flowers on my skin. It's starts out interesting, but my chemistry shreads this one and it turns into something that reminds me of a garden after the first frost. In addition, the projection is non existent.

I agree with a previous reviewer who described En Passant as "shockingly beautiful." It smells incredibly real, and perfectly lovely. I've never smelled anything that captures lilac so honestly. I'm enchanted and in love.

En Passant is a lovely fragrance and strangely, even though at first I thought it faded rather quickly, you could occasionally smell it. I rather like the idea that you get a waft of the scent unexpectedly. I think this will be one of my favourites.

An incredible delicate scent. The smell of a lilac is in itself a naturally delicate scent and seems to get lost easily amongst other scents. This scent captures that natural scent and allows you to wear it at will. If you are a guy and find yourself putting a little on your hand when you go to sleep, don't be hard on yourself, because you are not alone. Excellent scent for a woman who does not want to announce herself in an olfactory way, but to be found as if you happened across a hidden lilac tree in the springtime...and it's all for you.

I was so sure I'd like this one.....Lilacs with dew. That's what I expected.
Fade out.... then fade in to the reality of it : a doughy note that in collaboration with the cucumber manage to deduct the sweetness of lilacs and their lush character.
Modern and very innovative , no doubt , but not in a Van der Rohe style. Nothing with the power of Bauhaus or making such a statement. Prettier and more conventional than that in a way. And here lies the problem. Because lilacs , elusive flowers as they are in perfumery, are already beautiful and feminine and capturing that aspect to the perfume would result in a Art Nouveau style. No need to go for the aesthetically minimalist when the material base is not so inclined.

Almost shockingly beautiful, with an unabashed yet disciplined floral character; very pure and light but strong. En Passant's combination of lushness and simplicity feels absolutely right - almost inevitable, in the way of all great craft. The notes include orange leaf, cucumber and wheat absolute. It's not an especially green scent; the lilac note is too clear and definite for that. But the overall effect is gentle and somehow soothing. It's a very discreet but lingering scent

I can't say it better than I did on the board earlier. En Passant didn't sneak up on me, or overwhelm me with its beauty, or anything so radical as that. It simply smelled as it ought to smell; it smelled like something that I had always loved, without knowing it, as if it were impossible to imagine a time when I didn't love it. To create a scent that one immediately falls in love with is the perfumer's art; to create a scent that feels like something one has always loved is that art raised to the level of miracle.

...understated...a whisper, really...
a delicate fragrance of white lilacs that lasts to the night. I treasured getting a "passing" whiff of it every once in a while throughout the day...simplicity can be so awesome.