Van Cleef by Van Cleef & Arpels

A refined classic from my collection, top quality and true to the brand. It smells extraordinary, with ingredients that recall the 90s – my treasures from back then with great projection. Today’s perfumes smell of alcohol and synthetics that last the blink of an eye. Here, all the notes play in harmony; although I’m not a floral fan, these flowers (calendula, galbanum, geranium) aren’t typical and give it an incredible punch. I highly recommend it. Longevity and sillage are insane: 7 hours floating with those sparkles that ignite, by 8 it sits perfectly on the skin and until 12 it fades a little but remains. Incredible, a treasure in this synthetic era. Pure love, it projects falling in love and I’ve received many compliments from gentlemen, proof that I didn’t make a mistake. A perfume that makes you its own, and as they say, perfumes dress you.

Please bring them back! Please bring back these jewels of the industry! I still have half a 50ml bottle with a cap, super concentrated and still exquisite. They are complex, studied formulas with an unmatched balance and elegance. I don’t know how many perfumes like this remain; very few, perhaps Cartier’s La Panthère and a couple of others. Everything I buy now is more or less the same. What a glorious era those perfumes were!

I gifted myself today. Mmm… excellent, different 💕, surprising, an EDP truly out of the ordinary (thank you, thank you, thank you). I can’t stop smelling myself; it feels sexy 😉.

Van Cleef, unfortunately, is an exquisite jewel that has succumbed, a beautiful and complete girl from the 90s, little known and therefore even more exquisite. Upon applying it to the skin, you automatically sense the galbanum and calendula, precious, genuine, and clear from a more exaggerated and exuberant era. It is a vintage from the first blue box, and the passage of time is noticeable: not because it is spoiled, but because it is soft; the sillage has calmed, but not its soul. On my skin, the sandalwood is very prominent, and this time I don’t dislike it; it is a component I usually notice a lot at the beginning. It is a green, floral, and herbalised sandalwood that delights those who appreciate it. A rough and elegant part of the base, I believe, comes from the geranium; a slightly urbane geranium gives that floral poetry that combines marvelously with the strawberry, which I only sensed slightly and applied via a spray vial, giving seconds of sweet, acidic fruit, because it is strawberry, not syrup-like. The vanilla and potent tonka take their time to emerge, more so at the end when I notice them with difficulty. It is a very elegant, even ethereal, sandalwood floral. A perfume over 20 years old has calmed down (or this one personally decided to quieten), but it is fulfilling, not a drop spoiled. The narcotic touch of the tonka is noticeable with the spray, but overall it is a floral-herbal-sandalwood fragrance. I wonder if I am being objective due to the overdose of sandalwood it shows me; perhaps my skin exaggerates too much. It feels very sexy for that fine, elegant, polished, and majestic vintage vibe. I like smelling this type of perfume so much that I no longer realise they are from another time; I relate very well with them and I think I have found love in perfumery unexpectedly, who would have thought that past floral eras would reach my heart so specially. Selene’s review speaks of this perfume in relation to Samsara and she is right, I totally agree; just as this Van Cleef acts on my skin, it is a direct blood relative. It is a parfum and also acts as a floral concentrate of soapy lineage. Take advantage of any offers, but I don’t say that the 20-year-old ones haven’t lost strength, but if they are well cared for and not spoiled, they hold up, showing they are great perfumes. The Van Cleef house, like others, retired eternal beauties, a sadness not being able to go to a perfumerie and enjoy a unique legacy. I arrived late to this house, what a pity. Its navy blue box with gold dots pretends to be the space, the vast nothingness, the unknown, and its bottle a slanted diamond, all of which evokes purity, the purity of hard components formed by the cosmos; one could think that Van Cleef vintages come from supernovas, having created perfumes of weight that we cannot ignore in that almost empty space of perfumery. I am not one to reject new creations, but I move in nostalgia and cannot forget the great creativity demonstrated by perfumery. Edit: better not to buy it without trying it first, it is extremely different and special compared to many current perfumes.

It is a glorious fragrance. Warm, enveloping, with a characteristic ‘rare’ quality that could be termed green oriental… yes! Because it has an opening smelling of a garden with freshly cut grass, fresh and watered, moving into a sweet, sensual, and spiced aroma of tonka and vanilla, without losing the pleasant garden breeze. I gifted it to my mother for Christmas back in the 90s when it was released, and she found it soft (accustomed to wearing Estée Lauder’s Knowing at that time). All I can say is that it has class, elegance, and possesses a discreet personality, although its performance is far superior to what is done now. It is already a perfume with poor distribution and very hard to find (perhaps it will disappear completely…), what a pity because it has so much category and sensuality. The bottle is beautiful (looks like a diamond split in half) and can still be found on the internet at a good price, possibly until stocks run out. Elegant, sensual, and wearable. For an attractive woman with depth of intention. Marvelous.