L'Air de Rien (2006)
by Miller Harris

Jean Despres Bal a Versailles and Miller Harris L'Air de Rien Comparison

Left arm: Jean Desprez Bal a Versailles EDC
Right arm: Miller Harris L'Air de Rien EDP

An article I read recently compared BaV concentrations in both parfum and EDT with L'AdR. L'AdR comes only in EDP, but I know from past experience that it is short lived, and not entirely incomparable to an EDT or EDC.

BaV starts with a blast of civet and very soapy aldehydes (much like the scent of Ivory soap). It has a slight sourness that I sometimes smell in these types of aldehydes, but it is not unpleasant on my skin. The civet doesn't last long, but the soapyness continues through the mid development. Now (about an hour later), I still smell the soap, but also powder, leather, and a bit of another animalic note which reminds me of the animal-cage smell in Dzing! (the note is castoreum). The article said "bar of soap in a horse stable". I would have to agree with this sentiment!

L'AdR starts much sweeter with a slightly dirty amber accord. No civet, but the "dirty" smell is a similar leather and horse barn smell (castoreum). There is no soapyness or sourness, but there is a bit of powder at this stage. It is also retaining its sweetness pretty well, something that is a challenge with my skin. Incidentally, the BaV is quite dry in comparison, at least for me.

I completely understand how a comparison can be made between these two, but I see it mostly in the middle and early part of the drydown. I have a slight preference for the Miller Harris since it forgoes the "dated" aldehydic notes and stays sweet on my skin. However, the BaV is also a very interesting fragrance, and I can imagine exploring its different concentrations.

This is a fantastic, vanilla sweetened, ambery scent with just the right amount of "dirty" musk. It really evokes the 60s aura that it purports to do. It's completely addicting and hard to stop smelling when you put it on. The initial few minutes take a couple times to get to know, but once you do it's hard not to love it and the dry down is a lovely dusty amber. There are ever so slight touches of potpourri and patchouli hiding in the background that just add to the complexity.
This is a perfect scent for evening moments spent close to someone you love. It evokes sensuality, comfort, and an inviting familiarity. It's really quite nice once you get to know it.

Sweet, vanilla, TENNIS BALLS IMO. Thumbs down, utter failure. Perhaps moss just doesn't work on my skin.

Sweet vanilla and woody amber and a little boozy. Fantastic.

Scrub it off? Blimey!
I really think this is rather lovely and the notes work beautifully together -- its a captivating sweet oriental and perfectly ok for men. It lasts all day and the drydown is to die for. This needs checking out.

After reading a lot of information about L'air de Rien, I couldn't wait to get my hands on a sample. It sounded so mysterious and intriguiging. However, I was a little disappointed once the sample arrived and I tested it for a couple of days. L'air de Rien just didn't live up to the dramatic descriptions. I didn't dislike it because it is a very pleasant scent, full of sweet amber, vanilla, and spices with a hint of musk. On applying it I got a feeling of light airiness, and with the exception of a brief and fleeting skanky note in the vein of MKK, it never really evolved much beyond that on me. I got absolutely nothing like the "old houses, chests of drawers, smoked pipes, soiled underwear and floor polish" that this scent was supposed to evoke. I was expecting this scent to be much darker, brooding and moody like Djedi or vintage L'heure Bleue, but instead it was more like a sunny, spring meadow with an old abandoned house on a hillside off in the distance. Like I said, this is a nice scent, but it's not bottle worthy for me because it comes dangerously close to smelling just like all the other cutesy offerings that can be found at department store scent counters or Sephora.