Eau Belle by Azzaro, 1995

A more charming, almost innocent fragrance you're not likely to find. Eau Belle is a women's scent you virtually never hear about and I know I wouldn't have discovered it had it not been for a European friend who mentioned it to me. It's an eau fraiche type of scent, designed to be refreshing and whisper-light - just like a bazillion other scents out there these days, right? But what sets Eau Belle apart is the relative simplicity of its composition; it's not loaded with aqueous fruits, ozonic notes, watery flowers, clean air accords and etcetera and so on in a striving attempt to mimic the concept of refreshing. And as such it succeeds where so many other "fresh and clean" fragrances fall down. With Eau Belle, you get a simple opening of bergamot and mandarin, a very light heart of honey and jasmine, and a cooling moss base with just a tinge of woods. Ridiculous as it sounds, in my imagination this scent embodies the story of "Beauty and the Beast" and particularly of the heroine Belle wandering through a mossy forest. It has that fairy tale quality to it, gently romantic and airy with a lowlight of hidden, shaded, cool darkness. And the bottle design must be seen to be appreciated; it's made of dove-gray glass blown, in an artisanal manner, to represent the shape of a belle in a ballgown. The best light fragrance you've probably never tried.