Van Cleef

I recently found a bottle of this at my Dad's place, and when I asked whose it was, my step-mom told me it was her late moms bottle. I later got real close and took a few sniffs and I got teleported back (even thought I sniffed with the cap still on) a decade back during my childhood. My dad, step-mom, step-sister and me would go to her place from time to time in the summer. Think bougie Cannes, in a small appartment inside a beautiful residence with a splendid pool. Now add this perfume, she had been wearing it for as long as I remember and it suited her so well. She was always so joyful, driving around in her Nissan Convertible to her job at Cannes' Galleries Lafayette. A strong smell, but not cloying or agressive, it feels like a statement and it does lean kinda feminine, I probably wouldn't wear this myself but I would love to have a friend who'd smell like this. I'm probably biased by nostalgia but I just love this perfume, and I love to think that she elected it as her signature scent, I really wish I could ask her why, and what this perfume meant to her.

I have a sealed bottle 50ml from 2000 to sell if anyone is interested. I’m in Portugal

For some reason everybody in my country (Israel) wants this and there’s a lot of bottles. I don’t care for it at all but everybody talks about it which I find really odd, it’s not even nostalgic to me. If you’re desperate for one I can buy, you transfer me the price and I’ll and send it to you, message me on IG @reves_de_bleu They are obviously used and not full but for good prices compared to eBay? I feel bad for everyone trying to find it and it’s super ubiquitous here. For now I saw 2 bottles 50ml selling for 150€.

Finally got a bottle after many many many many years thanks to the review stating that it can be found in paris boutique ! Same sensation as i remember it from late 90s when my mom used it back then. Thus i like now the aromatic bitter opening more then before. Then musky flowery heart is turning into creamy woodsy vanilla. It is luxurious but its very 90s luxury. Not modern herbal luxury of niche perfumes nowadays. I like luxury old school i guess, ambery, flowery, sexy feminine, honey colored and sparkly. Just beautiful.

https://ebay.us/m/udkwpc , I have a 100ml bottle I'm selling on eBay .

Wow I can’t believe I finally found it. My mom had this gem in the early 2000’s I was only 4 or 5 years back then when she had it, now that I’m an adult I asked her about this perfume but she didn’t remember but some how I remember the smell and the unique bottle and every time I going to buy a new fragrance I was hoping to smell something similar but I have never found one. now that I know I can finally found one like this.

This cozy, velvety scent is truly a flawless 10/10, creating an enchanting aura with its impressive sillage that envelops the entire space. I was introduced to this fragrance years ago by the HR Manager, an older woman whose body chemistry harmonized perfectly with this enchanting scent. On her, the Van Cleef revealed a sweeter, more amber-infused, and creamier essence no matter the season. However, on my skin, it takes on a slightly greener and more aromatic character especially on warmer days, so I usually save this fragrance for cooler weather when I can truly enjoy it. On cool days the floral notes shine and have a sense of warmth, reminiscent of gathering flowers on a bright, crisp day—where the sun provides comforting heat while the cool breeze brings a refreshing chill.

I have a 90s (Sanofi) bottle of EdP. It’s beautiful, and so well blended. I get a lot of honey, which obviously isn’t listed here. To me, there is something melancholy and relentless about this scent on me, like a minor chord that sustains for a loooonnng time.

This is currently available in a newer style bottle about €160 under Les Classiques Line. Problem is it's only sold at the Paris Train Station Boutique for VC&A. It's only to be bought in person. Edit: it looks like this line is no longer just an Exclusive it should be soon relatively soon.

it's a scent of warm sand on the beach :) quite long lasting and...reminds me of Dune probably Dune is just more floral and this one is more amberry

This is like a Bal a Versailles or Ciara for the 90's. Fruity, herbal, floral, woodsy, resins, vanilla musk and amber.

Wowsers! The longevity and projection are excellent on this one. I sprayed 3 sprays in the morning before I started my day. 7 hours later my son comes back from school and says he could smell my perfume all the way down the hallway of our building (I had popped outside and back just before that). Van Cleef has enveloped me in its glow all day...I can't get enough of this golden herbal honey of a perfume.

I have a full bottle of 50ml of this, boxed, just tested. If you are interested in buying or trading, hit me with a message. This is not my cup of tea - it reminds me of D&G red but upon testing it doesn’t agree with my skin.

This perfume smells like laundry detergent to me. That’s not a bad smell, but it’s just ok. Not really what I expected from the notes listed.

Oh my, what a lovely vintage. Galbanum is a hard note for me to tolerate. In this creation, the green bitterness is smoothed by the marigold and rose. The sandalwood and vanilla are beautiful and soothing. Reminds me of vintage Annick Goutal Heure Exquise. Very natural and well blended.

This is a really pretty bittersweet perfume. I struggle w/ galbanum as a note but here it is done w/ a deft hand. I love marigolds and tagetes in perfume and here marigolds give that unique creamy yellow/green smell that I love. I find this leaning feminine, but I would actually like to smell a man wear this. I think the geranium gives a bit of a masculine touch to this fragrance. Softly green, softly aromatic, creamy, softly spicy, slightly bitter, slightly fruity, slightly sweet, yellow, white and pink floral perfume. I wish this had been out back in the 70's when I was in grade school. It would have been a welcome change to the sharply green aldehydes I had to smell on teachers back then. I think the added fruity notes soften green and aromatic fragrances like this and make them more pleasant to be around and to wear. This is going on my want shelf, just went to a love. This is good juice. Edit: 7/25/22 how sad that this has been discontinued. I really want a bottle of this but I probably won't get it. Van Cleef is really beautiful and very different than what I usually go for or own. So damn disappointing!

We've been having unseasonable cool weather in the north-east US, so I've been wearing a lot of perfumes I normally reserve for cooler weather. Wearing this all day today and I still love this bittersweet fragrance just as much as the first time I wore it. I had to go to the library after work, and the machine screwed up as I was trying to take out a book, so the librarian had to come over to clear it out. Standing next to me she turned and said, "My, you smell beautiful! What perfume are you wearing?" By this time, it was after 5pm and I had it on from 7:30 in the morning, after only using my usual number of sprays. Yet despite that little amount, and how long it was on, I could still smell it clearly around me and so could she. (I can still smell it right now btw.) That great performance was for the later edp version made by Parfums International, which did a terrific job as it smells and performs no differently to me from the vintage. Even though I already left a review for this, I have to sing its praises once more and also express how sad I am that this has been discontinued. That is such a great loss for the perfume world because this is such an unusually, beautiful perfume. Other perfumes may have similar notes, but this is head and shoulders above the rest. There's only one Van Cleef and I am devastated that it will no longer be easily available. Fortunately, I have a backup bottle because I knew from the first time I smelled it that this was one fragrance I never want to be without. Now I am going to be extra careful and treasure every drop.

I recently got my hands on vintage mini perfume. I fell into trance. Suddenly It's 1994 and I am drinking champagne out of thin glasses in sparkly dress, somewhere between tacky and beautiful..but I dont care. Background is filled with Henry Mancini music and tall dark stranger is on the balcony..waiting for me. This is some other time and place, this literally takes you back and encourage the thought that things were different back then. They were.. So were the fragrances. No doubt about it. This is poetry, these are memories , like collective memories...

I just recently discovered this and now I'm so sad that I'm late to the party and it's discontinued. This is a gorgeous, refined, rich, opulent and vintage inspired floriental. As a lover of another classic, Ralph Lauren's Safari, this is very much in the same genre. It's like a sweeter, fruitier, creamier and slightly more powdery version of Safari. It's very well blended in the classic "perfume" style, in that no one note overpowers the others, but if you pay attention, you can definitely pick out some of its individual notes. I detect the marigold and galbanum in the opening, the sweetness from the raspberry comes through and the tonka lends a slight powderiness to the composition. Everything is beautifully rounded and velvety, with no harsh edges. A very sophisticated scent, that would leave a memorable, elegant trail for anyone who wears it.

As one of my all time favourites , I’m so sad it’s discontinued. However the good news is I have found something strikingly similar ( as others have as it’s been ticked in the reminds me of section) Please try M. Micallef floral 11 . Before you notice it’s more expensive, you can buy it much cheaper by buying the 100 ml bottle of it being labelled as “ recharge/ refill 11” for very little money on eBay, £15-£30 ( brown box with red writing ) Not sure why it’s called refill as it has an atomiser on its on bottle so you don’t need to have purchased anything else prior ! But it’s soooo good and it has monster silage and longevity, I can smell it on my coat one week later and to me is almost identical to VC. Hope this helps someone!

Smells like old money...opulent and luxurious. A masterpiece.

This perfume is amazing, but it seems as though it has been discontinued. Any suggestions where I can find it will be much appreciated. Alternatively, which other perfumes are similar?

very aromatic i find it kind of green quite woody and spicy i really like this scent. One of the only ones i found so woody warm and perfect for winter that still smells feminine

This is delight.... Very velvety, yummy, heart touching hug from a closely beloved person, who you cant see everyday feels like this.... You have to say mmmmmmmm, when you smell and feel this. I cant describe the scent with words... I dont get the ingredients standing out, they are really well blended but it is a scent that you will feel - I mean with your senses and feelings, not nose.

I like this because it's well blended. I am reviewing the vintage version of this and on my clothes it is an obvious floriental and I am enjoying the spices and the hint of vanilla mixed w the flowers I can't really tell what flowers are here. On my skin this turns powdery - soft and s bit spicy with just a hint of floral and vanilla. It's interesting how different it smells on my skin and I prefer it on my clothes because it develops more and projects more. This is an easy to wear warm vintage scent that develops quite well as the time goes by.

This puts me in the mind of Dolce Gabbana red cap..not as fluffy warm towel-ish but in the same vein I feel. This has become my signature! The aromatics mixed with the florals then the super warm but fresh dry down is so captivating to me! There’s nothing els like it. Safari does smell very similar but it’s not at all sweet and has a cigarette smoke tinge. This is so special to me.

In the 1990s I got Van Cleef from my father - who travelled a lot and was an avid perfume purchaser. I did not like it at first, I was into breezy male scents instead. After a few years I gave it a second chance, and what do you know: Daddy is always right. About perfume. Ha ha. Van Cleef became my on-and-off signature for quite a few years. (Those were the days when I still had 2-3 perfumes instead of an army.) How to describe it? It is like a thermonuclear bomb. You spray it and it is EVERYWHERE. Van Cleef is sweet from the tonka beans and the vanilla and bitter from the galbanum. I still love it for its quality and complexity. Seriously, this is superior to many niche scents. However I do not use it often anymore, because it does not smell (yes, I dare to say it) modern. Galbanum is not much used in newer perfumes, and I guess I got out of habit of smelling it and have starting to be slightly shocked by it. It is a pity somehow.

A hidden gem from my collection. I have the pure perfume of Van Cleef and it's so plush with fragrant notes. I have only worn the perfume version and I love the way it warms and rounds out on my skin. Although the ingredients are not the same as D&G pour femme of 1992, it shares a few similar notes and for me it gives me the same *feel* or impression as that original D&G does. Again, that is my experience of how I feel when I wear this. It is almost a "balm" effect more than a perfume. This perfume could easily fit into an old Hollywood glam setting but I'm wearing it for my work at home yoga pants and tee and pretending I'm in satin charmeuse. LOL! I agree that if you like perfumes like Rumba (I do) and rich full bodied perfumes with a classic attitude, you may like this one.

I tried this for the first time today, courtesy of a decant from a friend and fellow Fragrantician. One spray to my left wrist - "What IS this?", I thought. I am not familiar with marigold as a note. Reading some of the reviews, I found out it is actually calendula, which I am familiar with, and yes, that is what I smelled for sure. I sense a slight bitter green note - far from over powering, but present up front for a moment, which I now attribute to the galbanum. This settled quite quickly on my skin, and from that point on, it settled into a velvety, intoxicating raspberry vanilla. There is something balsamic lurking at the base, and I am sort of surprised not to see anything in the note pyramid suggestive of any resins, not even amber or benzoin, which is so frequently used in these types of fragrances. I suppose I can attribute that to the sandalwood. Other than the calendula, the only flower I could detect was orange flower, and even that was barely discernable. Now that I see that rose is a note, it makes sense to me. I can't detect it, but it just seems to go with the composition. I immediately began searching for it on Ebay, and I now own an 80% full bottle of EDT. I am not certain if my decant was EDT or EDP, but the reviews seem to indicate that there is little difference. The price was very good, and if I feel the need to own the EDP at a later date, I have no need to feel any guilt over doing so. This is really a Magnificent scent, one that was never on my radar, but captured my heart immediately!

In the first few minutes I find the bergamot almost green and loud, and the geranium almost screechy, but it somehow doesn’t quite teeter off the edge into overbearing. Rich calendula (the loveliest sort of marigold, in my view) is present from the get-go, and my nose has to do a double-take (sometimes a triple-take) while it all settles. The first time I sprayed it I thought, what the hell? But that seems like a very long time ago. Soon a buttery golden burnished scent comes through like a glow. The scent then gets softer, warmer, spicier over hours, and it’s all the more delightful for being solid and consistent. I get the earlier reviewer’s reference to a bonfire … but this would be the glowing embers of fragranced woods sprinkled with spices – embers which happen to warm and illuminate the magic of the darkness, without the real-world sequelae of burnt things, ash and smoke. If this is a statement perfume, then it’s a lovely statement to oneself, that it’s a glorious thing to be a human being and to have the opportunity to surround yourself with this very splendid scent. I can understand how it gives some wearers confidence. I don’t believe you need to be properly groomed to wear it though. This could transform your comfy old dressing gown into a regal robe of plush gold velvet, so you can be right royal there on the couch if you want to. Star Wars PJs, velour track suit, motorbike leathers, birthday suit – no outer wear could be unsuitable for a beautiful fragrance that you are really wearing in your heart.