Mon Peche / My Sin
Long Lost Perfume (1924)

First of all the bad news.
With the rose, jasmin, iris, ylang-ylang and muguet heart, and all of the head notes, this is a copy of No5.

And the good news?
With narcissus, violets and a very different base, it goes its own way - with a strange and slightly queasy gourmand of dirty marzipan, which is underscored by chocolate woody vanilla (and if you're thinking Angel (1992) then yes, you're right).
Not only that, there's a fizzy overtone-texture of orange flower and salicylate, which is a bit like that found in L'air du temps (1948).
These futuristic references put Mon Péché (not peche - that's not even French) way ahead of its time; one foot in the style of the day, one foot in the future.
It was composed by the mysterious Madame Z, or Zed, or even Zède; but - for all we know - it could have been the shade of Madame Blavatsky that was behind it...

And what exactly was the nature of her sin?
I'm inclined to believe it wasn't just sexual, even if there's a huge note of ass in the drydown. Her guilty secret is the chocolate gâteau - with a whiff of bitter almonds.
Perhaps the fantasy was poisoning rich suitors. Like a most dangerous demi-mondaine, My Sin - despite being reliant on her lover - was still striving to be free.

But, like the black cats and lacy veils of the adverts, we will never know what was in the mind of this most beguiling of No5's offspring.


[A note on the history of Mon Péché. It was called Eau My Sin by Lanvin; which is the one here, and the one purists should look out for. There was also a Long Lost Perfume edition, and something released by 'Jeanne Lanvin' (who was as defunct as Madame Blavatsky by that time) and which is a pink fruity thing, with, I imagine, no ass at all.]

Received a bottle of vintage MY SIN and ARPÈGE, both in the "Eau de Lanvin" strengths, essentially a strong eau-de-toilette. I can't help comparing them, as they are "siblings" from the same era, and share some DNA.
As another Fragrantica reviewer has correctly observed, they are Yin and Yang to each other, the way Piguet's FRACAS is to BANDIT, Guerlain's L'HEURE BLEUE is to SHALIMAR. ARPÈGE is "solar", or "Appolonian" while MY SIN is "lunar" and "Dionysian". Both are products of the grand era of French perfumery, of the first half of the 20thc.
MY SIN has heavy-lidded, nocturnal flowers as her starring characters, rooted, as we know, in a pronounced musk base of civet, ambergris and costus root. ARPÈGE is brighter, more "golden" to MY SIN's "deep violet-blue". ARPÈGE is definitely more balsamic, and I detect not only benzoin, but tolu balsam and quite possibly myrrh and opoponax; perhaps it is the tolu that imbues ARPÈGE with a certain fleeting spicy nigh-cinnamon quality, certainly given edge by a pleasingly bitter coriander. ARPÈGE is more "cheering" and "society chic" where MY SIN is more seductive, somewhat "glowering", and she has her eyes firmly set on the boudoir, not the ballroom. In fact, ARPÈGE even seems to have a slight "smoking cigarette" hint.
ARPEGE is woodier, and her powderiness is somewhat drier, more stimulating than MY SIN's moonlit floral brew. ARPÈGE definitely possesses more citrus rinds... not only bergamot, but possibly lime and grapefruit, giving her a more tart, "thirst-quenching" cocktail quality. Her stone fruit hint is subtle and fresh, while MY SIN's is ripe to nearly rotting.
Both are undeniably great aldehydics of yore, and it's that sensuous éclat, no doubt softened by the old nitro-musks, that gives them a decided "oldschool" French quality, which, to an untrained nose, may smell "old-ladyish" or even possibly "Hollywood melodramatic", but connoisseurs know this old quality is to be treasured and admired, not dismissed.
Typical of early 20thc perfumery, both perfumes are seamlessly blended... no notes stand out at all, but the whole thing merges into a distinctive whole, greater than the sum of its parts. Where modern perfumes, with their surfeit of synthetic and trendy aromachemicals, are like a sharp (and somewhat unchanging) 1080p digital photograph,
these oldschool perfumes are more like an Impressionistic watercolor, with soft, indistinct edges. That is their beauty, not their liability.
Because these earlier numbers contained a hefty proportion of natural essences, they naturally degrade in different styles and rates than modern perfumes will tend to do, even when kept in the best cool environs. You may buy 3 vintage MY SINs or ARPÈGEs off eBay, and they all will smell quite noticeably different. I have 2 ARPEGEs here, and two MY SINs, all with unknown provenance but purchased from independent sellers on eBay: They are all different: one will have a striking freesia and ylang-ylang takeoff, where, in its homologue, those notes are only hinted at. One MY SIN will contain dramatic-- and undeniably authentic-- animalics starring, with their not-unpleasant purring fetor undergirding the floralcy; another MY SIN will read as a more linear aldehydic, another MY SIN will read as a more linear aldehydic, a brilliant holiday postcard, say, from the darker-smelling juice. But this is all par-for-the-course when buying vintage from eBay... You can never be sure what you're going to get.
In ARPÈGE, the dry sandalwood seems to be a prominent, character-defining middle-note; in MY SIN, the sandalwood smells more incensey, and is proffered as a supporting basenote, married to styrax for a leathery rub.
Some have compared MY SIN and ARPÈGE to Chanel NO. 5, but they are similar only in that they are all oldschool aldehydics... there the similarity ends; of the three, NO.5 is the most unapologetically synthetic and brilliant... shiny and cellophane-like, just as Coco Chanel prescribed. The Lanvins definitely have deeper complexities afoot.

All my Lanvins are glorious, though, and hearken to an era of elegance now long-gone. The time is soon approaching, I suspect, in which there will be no senior citizens around who will be able to identify these grand old numbers on your neck.

Superb ingredients, Superb blending and Superb composition. Love Scandal & My Sin from the house of Lanvin.

Fragrances like My Sin are for people who choose quality over hype and marketing.

A rich deep complex aldehydic fragrance. Lilac, Ylang Ylang, civet, an incredibly perfect fragrance.

Growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, the only perfume company that advertised on commercial television seemed to be Lanvin, with its constant ads for its two big hits, Arpege (Promise her anything, but give her Arpege!), and My Sin. You would also find these advertised heavily in newspapers and magazines of the time.

This is definitely an old school floral chypre, a complex and rich blend of florals and musk notes that define the great perfume world of the 1920s and 1930s. Unlike the sharper and over the top Arpege, My Sin is subtle and rich. Barbara Herman called it "lush, over ripe, decadent," and I'm sure she meant it in a good way.

The scent existed from 1924 to 1988, when it was discontinued after 65 years of success, reflecting the changing times and tastes no doubt, but the vintage is one of the greats. No doubt about that. Luckily, still available on Ebay.

This review is for the original by Lanvin. IMHO it should have it's own listing in the directory.

I wore this in high school back in the sixties. I'm sure I wore it more for the name then the scent.

Recenty bought, at an extremely reasonable price, a gift set with Eau de Lanvin Mist and an unopened bath powder. The mist appeared to be full. I put it on and at once it was like being with an old friend. It just felt so comfortable. It smells like it once did so this bottle was kept in good conditions.

This really does seem to have a bit of mystery about it. I don't know if it is the jasmine and rose blended with the bergomot and aldehyds that make so mysterious but I just know Ingrid Bergman's character wore this to Rick's cafe in Casablanca and Lauren Bacall's character must have had it on in To Have and Have Not.

I love this stuff but I can't tell you why. It has a depth and complexity not enjoyed by fragrances today. So glad I found this again. Maybe at some point I will find a reasonably priced bottle of the Lanvin extract.