Trésor Lancôme
Trésor by Lancôme is a Oriental Floral fragrance for women. Trésor was launched in 1990. The nose behind this fragrance is Sophia Grojsman. Top notes are Peach, Rose, Apricot Blossom, Lilac, Pineapple, Lily-of-the-Valley and Bergamot; middle notes are Rose, Iris, Heliotrope and Jasmine; base notes are Peach, Apricot, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Amber and Musk
The name “Trésor” was first used by Lancôme for a fragrance in 1952, but it was this second Trésor that became a real success for Lancôme and its parent company, L’Oréal, which has been around since 1964.
And Bella Rossellini spoke candidly about Lancôme Trésor – her most famous fragrance of all time – to makeup artist Lisa Eldridge, and we were completely captivated!
Read on to find out more and watch the wonderful interview, as well as discover why Isabella was much, much more than just the “face” of this fragrance…
In an idyllic farmhouse “in the wine region” of France, iconic actress, model and Lancôme ambassador, Isabella Rossellini, spoke so movingly about her fragrant memories of the launch of yet another iconic fragrance: the enchanting Trésor. Showing us around the stunning building and grounds, she holds her newly hatched chicks (yes, really), while waxing lyrical about her incredible career and personal memories. Originally launched in 1952, Trésor (which means “Treasure” in French) was completely reimagined by the brilliant perfumer Sophia Groszman (known as the “Picasso of perfumery” for her brilliant techniques).
Unusually for the 1990s, Lancôme wanted their “face” of fragrance to have a practical role. “We were no longer ‘silent beauties,’” Isabelle recalls. “I had a voice, an opinion. And if I was going to talk about this perfume, I wanted to know everything, from the ingredients to how the bottle was made.”
Talking about how she was involved in the process of choosing the final version of the fragrance, Isabella admits that she had a clear favorite when she was blindly sniffing the lab samples.
“She looked like a witch, sitting there with that black hair…” laughs Isabella, “and she said with this strong Russian accent, ‘You know, Bella, a few years ago I saw this movie Casablanca, and I was inspired by the romance, the adventure, the mystery, and that night I worked on the fragrance that became Trésor.’” And the star of that movie? Isabella’s mother, actress Ingrid Bergman! Even more unusual when you know that this was two years before Isabella even started collaborating with Lancôme.
Was fate calling Isabella to this fragrance, perhaps…? Well, it certainly became her calling card. “I spray it everywhere, at home, in hotel rooms… my kids always say they know where I am because they can follow my scent trail…”
The fragrance has been a huge success since its launch, truly becoming a modern classic in the hallowed halls of perfume legend. So much so that when Chandler Burr curated his perfume exhibition at the Museum of Art and Design in New York, a central installation allowed visitors to smell Trésor at various stages of its olfactory development.
The fragrance itself has top notes of rose, lilac and lily of the valley, a heart of iris and heliotrope, and then a base of sandalwood, musk and ambergris – modified with peach and apricot.
The inverted pyramidal bottle was designed by Style Marque.
From a perfumer’s perspective, Trésor is important for its structure. In fact, the classic description of Trésor as top note, heart note, base note ignores the fact that Trésor was created using a unitary method, in which the top note largely retains its potency throughout the entire evaporation process.
Grosjman is credited with pioneering this marketing-driven structure, in which the scent a consumer receives after the first application (or test blotter) mostly remains on their body. There is no traditional layering—and the disappointment of a change in scent the moment it leaves the bottle.
Eighty percent of Trésor’s formula is said to be made up of methylionone (iris), Iso E super (woody), Hedione (jasmine), and Galaxolide (musky)—all potent synthetic fragrance materials.
In 2021, the fragrance was honored with the Fragrance Foundation’s Hall of Fame Award. It is said that in the Trésor formula, perfumer Sofia Groisman used a large amount of 21.4% galaxolide, a synthetic musk note.
