Jasmins Marzipane
Lancôme (2016)

Starts with jasmine that wavers between being metallic or lightly indolic. Sometimes, it smells like laundry soap. Not awful, just kind of boring so far.

It gets a little better when the other notes begin showing themselves. I like the woodiness even if it seems chemical-smelling. The almond wood makes this scent a bit different. Not enough to save this, from being a neutral for me; a Meh... More generic soap aroma later. Big sigh.

I had a rough start with Jasmins Marzipane as I seem to have some anosmia with the opening notes. However after about 30 minutes I was able to smell a lush, warm, sweet pastry almond note, I keep on thinking of small patisserie shops with the almond and vanilla note with the warmness of the musk and cashmere. Ambiance of afternoon tea with macaroons.

Silage is mediocre, but seems appropriate for the sweet notes, too much might clear a room.

This opens with a jasmine that contains a large dose of inky indole, swiftly joined by a sweet almond note. Over the first fifteen minutes, the jasmine calms down, & the overall effect is woodier & nuttier. At this point it's almost a dupe of Givenchy's Organza. Another reviewer compared this to Tom Ford's Jasmin Rouge, which also reminded me of Organza, so I can see I'm not alone in making this kind of comparison. Three hours in it's creamier & much softer, with a hint of fruit, rather like tinned pears. I don't really get the vanilla, & five hours in it settles very close to the skin.
A pleasant & wearable fragrance, but I'd recommend Organza over this in terms of performance & value for money - "more bang for your buck", as they say.

I'm not a big floral scent lover, mostly because most florals don't smell at all good- but I love a great representation of florals. This has the best jasmine note I've tried so far, and the backing of a almond paste note is genius. There is also a fantastic "fresh" note that comes out over time. I'm a 51 yo guy and I would wear this anytime. Very good.

I got this in the 15 ml on eBay using my ebay bucks; I sprayed it on just my left wrist, and I'm not as excited as I think I should be.

I was seeking out a "creamy jasmine" and for some reason this kept popping up. I'm not sure I'm getting the "creamy" part. It actually has a "dry" aspect to it that I will attribute to the almond.

I had high hopes for this, simply based on the fact that Dominique Ropion was the nose behind it. I'll keep testing; for now, though, this is a "neutral" for me.

I was extremely disappointed in this fragrance. After testing lavandes Trianon I was misled into thinking this was an entire line of gourmand florals, but with the name marzipane in the title alone there were some preset expectations for this to smell sweet. Unfortunately what little there is to this scent is barely sweet and barely anything. Allow me to further elaborate.

When I first applied this to my inner wrist I could barely smell anything, a wisp or a floral perhaps but it was so weak that I applied another swipe in the same spot on my wrist. And then again. Until my wrist was glistening wet from the perfume. I was shocked that even with such a generous application I could still barely smell anything. What I did smell was a medicinal to the point of being sterile “jasmine” with not even an ounce of personality. This jasmine is so weak and watered down, it's been stripped of any character and depth that is so vital to its charm. I stress again that this smells sterile to the extreme that I feel as though this reminds me of a hand soap which may be placed in a hospital bathroom that a nurse might use.

There is the tiniest detection of sweetness. I'd pinpoint it to be the almond wood, as even this sweet note is so diluted and bane that it must be shrouded by some sort of natural barrier like tree bark that's severely masking its true scent profile. Reading the notes list makes me almost want to laugh out loud...

Where does Lancôme get off listing an entire pyramid of notes slapping some hand soap grade level dilution of a fragrance in a bottle and having the nerve to call this “exclusive” and charge the money they do for this scent. It's highway robbery! It's a disgrace and totally out of character considering how many of their nonexclusive fragrances have insanely good projection and complex note compositions that actually deliver.

What shocked me the most is how different this is to Lavandes Trianon in almost every aspect of perfume there could be. That one is sweet aromatic yet complex, this is boring and linear. LT is noticeable and performs well, this is so wimpy and weak I feel sorry for my wrist having to put up with such a mediocre perfume.

And one might hope that a scent with such a horrible start might end on a slightly better note: this one does not. The longer it sat on my skin, the more I got the impression of a lightly soiled baby diaper or fragranced panty liner. I've smelled some horrible and offensive scents but this almost filled me with rage.

Much to my relief this scent easily scrubs away, which is exactly what I did. Longevity must not be too bad, but sillage is ridiculous for how much I had to apply and still barely notice it unless I stuck my nose against my skin. I would never recommend this scent to anyone, and this might even make my top 10 list for the worst fragrances I've ever tested. LOATHE ENTIRELY!!!