Ines de la Fressange 2004 Ines de la Fressange

The pretty box is adorned with the same gold leaves you see on the beautiful bottle, Inès’ emblem. You spray by pressing the acorn that’s on top. The whole thing is quite adorable, and so is the scent, in a generic, predictable fruit-floral-with-musk-in-the-base way. I’m not a big fan of Alberto Morillas creations, but one thing you can’t take away from him: He knows how to do commercial fragrances. Which doesn’t explain why this juice wasn’t a success and was pulled from shelves within two years of its launch. Maybe it was lack of marketing, or maybe it was just too similar to dozens of other perfumes on the market.
While I’m not sure I could pick this scent in a blind test of other fruity-florals of it kind, it’s not as bad a juice as one would imagine. Maybe that’s another reason it was discontinued: there’s no reek of vile cheap materials, and, dare I say it? It actually smells nice, even if only as a fruity musk little thing.
The official notes are:
top: mandarin, blackcurrant, bergamot, neroli
heart: lily, white rose, orris, peony
base: patchouli, white musk, benzoin, vetiver
Any orris and vetiver that might be in there are hiding their face in shame for sharing bottle space with all that fruit (there’s no mistaking the abundance of mandarin and berries), and even the flowers are staying well in the shadow, but the drydown is quite fun. It’s mostly musk and benzoin with a faint hint of patchouli. The result is pretty and wearable, and while it doesn’t rock my world in any way, I don’t hate it. The “yesterday’s perfume” residue it leaves on my clothes is borderline gorgeous. That alone was worth the hassle of trying to find this perfume.

Inès Marie Laetitia Eglantine Isabelle de Seignard de la Fressange – that is her full name – daughter of a French marquis and an Argentine model, born in August 1957, was one of the most famous and sought-after models of the 80s. From 1983, she was the muse of Lagerfeld for Chanel, but the two parted ways in 1989 in a dispute.
Inès de la Fressange is not only a successful model but also a successful businesswoman with her own boutique chain, and she advises Gaultier, for whom she returned to the runway in 2008. In the late 80s, she was – like Catherine Deneuve before her – the representative of Marianne.
Like Inès herself, her fragrance is a very individual creation that cannot be compared to any other scent I know. The opening is strongly aldehyde-focused, yet the peach plays a significant role here. It is juicy and ripe, and incredibly fruity.
It also does not like to give up quickly and flows into the floral notes. However, against this floral dominance, it stands no chance and loses sooner or later. The flowers shine bright and clear, yet at no time are they piercing, but rather powdery soft, though not too dry.
This is the scent of a confident, chic Parisian woman who emphasizes her individuality and personality with it. The longevity is exceptionally good, and the sillage allows for a good but fine projection, making the fragrance a pleasure for those around her as well. One hardly needs to fear over-application here; however, a few spritzes are enough to stay pleasantly scented all day long.
The fragrance is rounded off by fine, woody tones, with benzoin providing a certain balsamic note and tonka – not distinctly perceivable – contributing to the soft, creamy note.
Considering that I only bought this perfum because there were no comments yet and I was curious, I am glad that there is only one fragrance from Inès de la Fressange. Otherwise, I would risk wanting to try them all. :-)))
My bottle looks different from the one above (see photo below), and I have not found any information on whether the fragrance has been reformulated since then. However, since I was able to trace the pyramid described here very well in the scent, I think it still smells the same as it did in 1999.