Reviews of Joséphine by Rancé 1795
For decades at the end of the last century and slowly creeping into the current one (before they disappeared), Rance soaps were the most elegant and pricey one could ever hope to come across. They were extremely rich and luxurious, strongly scented (all soliflores) and shaped in ancient soap molds with all the feminine gee gaws and doo dads of the late nineteenth century. I'd treat myself to a box every birthday.
Then the company seemed to disappear entirely, or at least USA distribution ended.
Now out of the blue we get a slew of new formulations and new names, all released in this century. Josephine is the first I have tried.
It certainly has many notes, 19 of them, which read as if it should be a fruity floral. What it is is a "plastic" fruity floral created out of chemicals, not essential oils, the very antithesis of what the company of the past stood for.
You can hardly make out a single note (and who's to say whether the companies just write anything that comes to mind to intrigue the buyer, true or not?)
Josephine smells cheap and department store grade. Not offensive, but not good either.
Then the company seemed to disappear entirely, or at least USA distribution ended.
Now out of the blue we get a slew of new formulations and new names, all released in this century. Josephine is the first I have tried.
It certainly has many notes, 19 of them, which read as if it should be a fruity floral. What it is is a "plastic" fruity floral created out of chemicals, not essential oils, the very antithesis of what the company of the past stood for.
You can hardly make out a single note (and who's to say whether the companies just write anything that comes to mind to intrigue the buyer, true or not?)
Josephine smells cheap and department store grade. Not offensive, but not good either.
Genre: Floral
Bonaparte's first empress was a renowned lover of roses, and her collection at Malmaison was of historical significance in the field of horticulture. Little wonder that her namesake fragrance from Rancé is to all intents and purposes a rose soliflore, gussied up with a dab of green jasmine and a generous dose of aldehydes.
The world doesn't exactly cry out in need of another rose soliflore, so any niche entry needs to offer either extraordinary quality or an original take on the flower (or ideally, both,) if it's to have any point. Joséphine does neither. Its straightforward rose is hobbled by a harsh, chemical property that leaves it smelling more like hand soap or even air freshener than a fine perfume. If you're in the market for a realistic rose soliflore, go try Sa Majesté la Rose. If you want a more elaborate rose-based composition, Knowing, Paestum Rose, Lyric Woman, Une Rose Chyprée, Lady Vengeance, Une Rose, and the bargain-priced Cabaret will all do you much better than Joséphine.
Bonaparte's first empress was a renowned lover of roses, and her collection at Malmaison was of historical significance in the field of horticulture. Little wonder that her namesake fragrance from Rancé is to all intents and purposes a rose soliflore, gussied up with a dab of green jasmine and a generous dose of aldehydes.
The world doesn't exactly cry out in need of another rose soliflore, so any niche entry needs to offer either extraordinary quality or an original take on the flower (or ideally, both,) if it's to have any point. Joséphine does neither. Its straightforward rose is hobbled by a harsh, chemical property that leaves it smelling more like hand soap or even air freshener than a fine perfume. If you're in the market for a realistic rose soliflore, go try Sa Majesté la Rose. If you want a more elaborate rose-based composition, Knowing, Paestum Rose, Lyric Woman, Une Rose Chyprée, Lady Vengeance, Une Rose, and the bargain-priced Cabaret will all do you much better than Joséphine.
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I don't know the name of the chemical, but there's that ingredient in older perfumes that smells like gross 80's pump hairspray - that sickly liquid plastic smell. Josephine features this pretty heavily, which mostly serves to take a mediocre honeyed rose floral and make it smell terribly cheap. There's other stuff going on, like a touch of peach and some of that fake strawberry that shows up in cheaper rose perfumes. There's a clever pinch of woody hawthorn which temporarily gives all that plasticky cheap fruity rose a subtle undertone of warm cherry blossom, which is enough to raise this review from a thumbs-down to a neutral, but really, that plastic mixing with the weird honey note under all that cheap-smelling fake rose and fruit is just a hot mess.
At least older perfumes that use that hairspray note usually fade down to a passable chypre, but Josephine ends up with a pink pepper/patchouli drydown that's decidedly "mall". If you like the type of older perfumes that this is supposed to be a tribute to, I'd suggest hunting them down as opposed to wasting energy on Josephine, which is actually fairly expensive.
At least older perfumes that use that hairspray note usually fade down to a passable chypre, but Josephine ends up with a pink pepper/patchouli drydown that's decidedly "mall". If you like the type of older perfumes that this is supposed to be a tribute to, I'd suggest hunting them down as opposed to wasting energy on Josephine, which is actually fairly expensive.
There are two entries for Josephine by Rance, in the Basenotes directory. I'm guessing one is for the original Josephine that was made for Napoleon's lover. Heavens if anyone is still alive to review the original fragrance! My review is for the latest one that was put out 200 years later.
It's a floral perfume, with a nice sandalwood base. My intitial impression on first spray is that it's fruity, though. Not sure why. But maybe it's the violet leaf, which similar to Penhaligon's Violetta, reminds me of Thompson green seedless grapes. That is short-lived though. It does settle down into a kind of floral scent, and I guess that's the rose that I am smelling there. It does have a note that I don't care for, and it's probably the hyacinth. Hyacinth and ylang smell really oily and heavy to me, and I tend to avoid scents with those notes.
After about an hour or so, the base really does come out -- a sandalwood and maybe amber? Maybe a touch of vanilla?
Sillage is so-so. It's not like Angel, that's for sure. Longevity is good. It's been over 12 hours since I spritzed (one spritz, even) and I still smell the sandalwood base and some amber-like smell.
It's a floral perfume, with a nice sandalwood base. My intitial impression on first spray is that it's fruity, though. Not sure why. But maybe it's the violet leaf, which similar to Penhaligon's Violetta, reminds me of Thompson green seedless grapes. That is short-lived though. It does settle down into a kind of floral scent, and I guess that's the rose that I am smelling there. It does have a note that I don't care for, and it's probably the hyacinth. Hyacinth and ylang smell really oily and heavy to me, and I tend to avoid scents with those notes.
After about an hour or so, the base really does come out -- a sandalwood and maybe amber? Maybe a touch of vanilla?
Sillage is so-so. It's not like Angel, that's for sure. Longevity is good. It's been over 12 hours since I spritzed (one spritz, even) and I still smell the sandalwood base and some amber-like smell.
Rance 1795 continues its nod to history with this lovely scent. Josephine is a green / fruity-floral that opens with a powdery iris, a firm may rose, and a streak of green galbanum / violet leaf. The accord is quite delicate with the may rose and violet leaf taking prominence and the fruit being represented by a soft and underplayed white peach note delicacy in its purest form. The heart of the fragrance is a charming, old-fashioned jasmine, ylang, and hyacinth… certainly not loud… it's a demure bouquet presentation. The discreetness is continued in the base with a classic sandalwood, white musk, and vanilla. Everything is in its proper place in this fragrance it is well balanced and nicely structured.
I guess charm, femininity, and delicacy would be the bywords for Josephine. I don't know if it is actually a representation of an original fragrance worn by Josephine, but its delicately fresh florals with their powdery, soapy feel surely fit the image. For a soft, lower sillage fragrance it has very good longevity.
Rance 1795 continues its nod to history with this lovely scent. Josephine is a green / fruity-floral that opens with a powdery iris, a firm may rose, and a streak of green galbanum / violet leaf. The accord is quite delicate with the may rose and violet leaf taking prominence and the fruit being represented by a soft and underplayed white peach note delicacy in its purest form. The heart of the fragrance is a charming, old-fashioned jasmine, ylang, and hyacinth… certainly not loud… it's a demure bouquet presentation. The discreetness is continued in the base with a classic sandalwood, white musk, and vanilla. Everything is in its proper place in this fragrance it is well balanced and nicely structured.
I guess charm, femininity, and delicacy would be the bywords for Josephine. I don't know if it is actually a representation of an original fragrance worn by Josephine, but its delicately fresh florals with their powdery, soapy feel surely fit the image. For a soft, lower sillage fragrance it has very good longevity.
I absolutely adore this. It is in my top 2 or three ever in my lifetime. Do you need the notes? and the details?
Admittedly, I was first attracted to this perfume because of the bottle and name, but this is very pretty and feminine. Apparently it's supposed to delicately evoke Spring flowers with may rose, jasmine and hawthorn - I can imagine happily wearing this during Spring and Summer. It kind of reminds me of Guerlain's Champs Elysees, without the sickly, slightly tacky frutiness that I think lets Champs down. Whilst Josephine is sweet, feminine and straightforward, there is a definite elegance to it. If you usually find pretty florals a bit sickly then I recommend trying this.