Cologne à la Russe
by Institut Tres Bien

A very nice, very conventional lemony eau de Cologne. It smells exactly like furniture polish.

They needed Pierre Bourdon to do this?

12nd December, 2009.

This is a nice summery cologne, with an amber base that I find very pleasing. It's best for a hot and humid day outdoors; it's a bit subtle to shine in an air conditioned space. Thumbs up overall for its 'naturalness' and uplifting qualities.

8th July, 2009.

Institut Très Bien's Cologne a la Russe is a lovely powdery fragrance with notes of orange blossom, almond and vanilla which has a clean, high-quality smell. Scent-wise, it is nearly a twin to Dior's Cologne Blanche with Russe having a touch more powder and Cologne Blanche containing a tiny bit more citrus. Both are comforting and beautiful perfumes which would appeal to someone who wants to smell "clean". Personally though, if I could only have one item from the Institut Très Bien line, it would have to be the exquisite Francaise.

Per The Perfumed Court, here are the notes: Sicilian bergamot, Calabrian cedrat, Provence verbain, Moroccan romarin, Florentine iris, Siamese benzoin and ambrette seeds.

8th July, 2008.