La Vie est Belle
Lancôme (2012)

LVEB is really a beautiful fragrance to me, and it's popularity might have admittedly caused a temporary lapse of interest in me, but it's since returning. I don't believe it's nearly as ubiquitous as it once was in almost 2026.

It's such a smooth, plushy blanket of a fragrance...I personally find it to be a rare perfume that I truly don't pull for in summer weather, because it it's so very warming.

The iris. The tonka. The heavy gourmondishness (sometimes it's cookie-ish, sometimes though it smells of champagne cake). The VANILLA. It's so congruent, so...well-blended. Olivier Polge is recognizable in this piece of olfactive art, this is rounded off. If it were a shape, it would be a sphere of shimmering pastel colors. I would've put it in a round bottle (the ascot on it is fine). Without the blackcurrant (I don't know if it truly smells like blackcurrant to me, but there's something tart about it) provides a little lift, and helps prevent it from smothering the senses entirely (again, not enough that I'd wear it in summer).

This dries down gorgeously, and personally on my skin, it truly sings (I really do tend to do well on gourmonds though).

I do think it's suffered from it's success in some respects, but I absolutely cannot deny that it's lovely. It's somewhat of a relief when things begin to fade out of vogue, as is the case with LVEB currently. In another year, it might be considered a cool move to rock this (in future times) "classic 2000-teens vintage". 💝

Spray sparingly and you might understand why I really like this fragrance. Black currant, iris, praline. Very nice if used wisely. One spray is plenty. When venturing out amongst the every day population, it is well received.

Generic mainstream sugar floral. I'm awed reviewers can differentiate between these. They all smell the same to me. That said, the body cream does smell nice on other people, with some distance.

I tested from a 4ml mini. I never check reviews before testing because I don't want to be biased. I used a very small amount--much less than a typical single spray from a full bottle.

Overwhelmingly sweet, synthetic, piercing, cloying. There is a certain synthetic thickness that is very common that I've always found headache inducing. I've always assumed it to be a synthetic amber accord but I don't know. Whatever it is, LVEB has used a lot of it.

I was absolutely choked by the incredible potency. I clenched my teeth and my neck and shoulder muscles tightened. I'm not exaggerating my own reaction for laughs. It was hard to force myself to take even breath shallow breaths.

I found that it was impossible to fully scrub off--I tried soap, cleansing oil, hot water and Dawn with a nail brush, several alcohol swabs, and a facial scrub Vitamin C powder wash. I tried mayonnaise and bit of ham fat rubbed in. More soap.

I opened the back door in near freezing weather to clear out the fumes.

I've tested fragrance that I hated immediately, but never one that I thought might actually kill me.

Woody, Saccherin, Faux Vanilla Caramel Muck with an inadequate Patch counter, overpowers the Feathers of Jasmine, Austere of Waxy Iris and Delicate sweetness of Blossom.

Insipid Top notes fail to cut through
this Depressive Anaerobic Soup.

A Fine and Vulgar example of NAFF.

This fragrance gets a lot of hate mail. I don’t think it’s warranted in this case. It’s a sweet, and very addictive patchouli, praline and Tonka, and it’s made even more alluring with the use of sweet juicy pear and orange blossom. You do have to enjoy sweet fragrances to like this, but if you do, it’s hard not to like. The other thing that’s amazing here, is the performance. It doesn’t seem like most modern perfumes have much longevity these days, but this is not lacking here. In fact, this one is incredibly strong and projects very well, so go easy on the atomizer. But it will last all day!