Belle en Rykiel (2006)
by Sonia Rykiel

Consider this: Belle de Rykiel is the contemporary Jicky. It has lavender and vanilla, yes, but so do many other perfumes that seem nothing at all like Guerlain’s Jicky. Jicky backs up its lavender/vanilla food elements with civet and a hint of coumarin, taking it a half step out of the realm of dessert. (I’ve never seen Jicky as a fougère. It feels like an oriental to me.) Belle adds a somewhat disparate combo of heliotrope, amber, incense and anise to side-step the gourmand trap and keep the lavendar/vanilla accord the focus from top to bottom. Although is it crisp where Jicky grows warm, Belle does wind up with a sweetness that makes its drydown come closer to gourmand than Jicky, though not by a lot.

8th July, 2011. (Last Edited: 27th July, 2011.)

Ooooh! This reminds me very much of Angel, even though I do not like Angel, it is too cotton candy/pine needle smelling on me. But something about this reminds me of Angel. Belle en Rykiel is what Angel WANTS to be, but isn't. It is sexy and sweet, with just the right abmount of Oooomph at the end. Fantastick, and truly overlooked. I am in love!

28th June, 2011.

A beautiful sweet mandarin rind and a melon note that I could live without headline Belle en Rykiel’s top notes. This opening especially benefits from an anisic herbal accent so subtly applied that it hovers on the very verge of olfactory perception.

While in its middle phase Belle en Rykiel cleaves fairly closely to the accustomed fruity floral formula, it distinguishes itself by a few clever variations. First is an understated animalic note that peeks out from among the florals to tease the nose from time to time. Also of interest is a carefully integrated peppery incense note that enlivens the floral arrangement beyond the usual standards of the genre. Perhaps most importantly, the scent’s weight and proportions are exceptionally well balanced. The funny little animalic note comes into its own during the drydown, which to my delight offers a warm woody accord in lieu of the expected laundry detergent white musk gambit.

In a fragrance family that too often descends into hair care product triteness, Belle en Rykiel stands out for its pleasant surprises, its subtle poise, and its quietly expressed complexity. It smells as if a great deal of thought went into its composition and offers proof, along with Tommy Girl, Le Parfum de Thérèse, Lovely, Amazone, and Ça Sent Beau, that the fruity floral genre is not degenerate by nature. Very nicely done.

17th April, 2011. (Last Edited: 18th April, 2011.)

I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you. Could you scream, "ORIENTAL" a little louder? The fruits in Belle en Rykiel are swimming about ignorantly in the lighthearted top when the powdery, smoky-sweet mids rise like Jaws from the deep and swallow them whole. This is a powerful beast, but a really attractive powerful beast. Put some vanilla bean powder on your vanilla cappuccino and walk into a head shop and maybe you'll get the idea. Love it.

2nd February, 2011.

Nice fruity scent with excellent longevity; great for chilling in the evenings...

14th January, 2011.

Hmm. Wavering there between a neutral and a thumbs up. I have wanted to try this one for a long time because of the Frankincense note (I love Frankincense; burn it a lot) and descriptions as an unusual oriental. I finally found a bottle cheap so picked it up. It's pleasant, pretty, and I like the lavender it in, quite a bit, but I'm not bowled over by it, and while I can pick out the frankincense mingled with the lavender if I try, it's not the star of the show. My first impression was that it smells Italian, and then specifically it reminded me of Laura Biagiotti's Roma, I think because it's sweet and slightly powdery, but it's a damp sweet powder not the dry sort, if that makes sense. It isn't Guerlain-aldehydic-1960s-powder, it's a recent shimmering liquid to powder body spray - not unlike what you get in L'Instant in the pure perfume. And speaking of Guerlain, if I want lavender I'll reach for this, not Jicky, which is just not so pretty, especially with that monster civet note, and this is much prettier than Vero's Kiki, which was very barber-shop and made me feel physically ill (nice job for a fragrance touting its aromatherapy credentials). So, I guess I'm agreeing with what I originally read about it - pretty oriental with frankincense and nice lavender note. Still meh, although I will wear it on occasion.

6th September, 2009.