Blanc by Paul & Joe, 2005

I've got the more pretty white porcelain+silver bottle! Blanc is a fresh floral created by Jean Claude Ellena. Blanc, which features notes of hawthorn, angelica, almond, sweet pea, freesia, lily, rose, musk, heliotrope and cloud of milk. Blanc shares several notes (hawthorn, angelica, heliotrope, maybe iris) with another Jean Claude Ellena fragrance, LEau dHiver from Frederic Malle, and in fact, while they are not identical twins, they might fairly be called relatives. What differences they have are more obvious in the first 20 minutes, when Hiver has considerably more presence, and Blanc feels rather like Hivers younger, fresher, calmer cousin. Very pretty bottle! Not for me ... too bad..

Very friendly pastel fragrance. I agree with Myspunge that it's "cuddly," but don't mistake it for smothering. It's very faint and becomes increasingly soapy over time. It's alright.

silvery almonds, quinine and briar, chamfered musks and other touches of sweetness. Does not smell like a glass of milk, smells like a more fey LEau dHiver carrying lilies, or a glass of horchata de chufa. When the sparkly top dies back, it is, you know, a shade bland and BCBG [bon chic bon genre or preppy as they say in the USA]. Also has a doughy finger pointing in the direction of Bois Farine. Faintly cuddly, like the ghost of a hamster.