Bal à Versailles by Jean Desprez

A beautiful fragrance; on my skin, rosemary comes out first, followed by roses and mandarin, emerging into a leather and musk that’s quite sexy with a powdery touch, finishing with benzoin and vanilla. I imagine my anime character, Rose of Versailles (Lady Oscar), wearing this: elegant for visiting Marie Antoinette’s salon, with that animal touch for jumping into action in a dawn duel, riding her favorite horse. It won’t appeal to gourmand lovers or fans of current fragrances, but it’s a jewel for those who like the different, vintage, and uncommon.

A very rich and dense fragrance with mixed components showing great refinement despite the quantity of notes. A very well-described oriental, woods, leather, musk. Vanilla rounds out the base of resins, benzoin, and amber. Totally unisex. My review is about a bottle of Eau de toilette from the 60s; it works like an Eau de Parfum, lasting about 6 hours with moderate projection. Highly recommended.

This is the fragrance Michael Jackson used for years. I’ve never tried it, but I can perfectly imagine it.

Thanks to Krasnylips, I have a sample. Just seeing the sheer quantity and variety of notes is impressive. I won’t repeat what my predecessors said, just my experience. The opening is imposing and animalic: aldehydes, galbanum, oakmoss, vetiver, and a touch of leather. I was warned, but who said fragrant people are cowards? I wanted to see how far this explosion would take me. Ohhhh! It’s very warm. A sweet blend of mandarin, bergamot, and neroli. I don’t detect more florals. Soon, a deep, rich, and delicious base of muskyl honey, amber, and benzoin, wrapped in animalic resinous notes. It’s very complex; I want to keep deciphering it, but the lion isn’t as fierce as they paint. It melts into the skin and warms it. A mature scent, timeless, for anyone who wants to wear it. An oriental for close quarters, soft silk and velvet. I don’t sense darkness; Tabu seems darker to me, but there’s no innocence here either. I imagine a beautiful woman naked in front of a mirror, with her lover dressed behind her, contrasting the roughness of the fabric with the softness of her skin. He draws her in, caresses her slowly, while she holds her breath, discovers desire in her gaze, blushes, and reacts to the sensual caresses of his hands. This fragrance makes you aware of your own sensuality. For winter nights and very intimate occasions, worn close to the skin. No complaints about longevity; it lasted over 8 hours on me, and the trail is great, filling the whole room. Since it’s a sample, I can’t comment on the bottle, though I remember seeing one at my mother’s friend’s house a long time ago. I’m going to spray some on my pillow, sure to have beautiful dreams.

Beautiful, powerful, and elegant! It brings back childhood memories; my mother wore it to grand events, looking stunning with her smile and red lips. It’s a delicious yet potent perfume that gave my mother a glamorous aura. It makes me think of movie stars and balls from the time of Louis XIV. Not for everyday wear, but something special.

A ball in Versailles. In 1962, Jean Desprez launched this fragrance in Paris in a pretty box painted by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, master of the rococo. It was very popular, with a strong hot musk for winter. Jacqueline Kennedy, Elizabeth Taylor, and Michael Jackson loved it. It evokes a day and a night in Versailles: men with powdered wigs and women in big dresses and towering wigs. It’s for Queen Marie Antoinette before the Revolution. The ball starts with citrus notes of mandarin, bergamot, and lemon, plus night jasmine, roses, and cassia, which are like grapes or wine. It starts very citrusy and aromatic. Patchouli dominates the heart with green and floral notes of lily, but soon it becomes animalic: musk and ambergris, with incense, benzoin, and wood. It’s deep, very musky, like putting on a fur coat. Perfect for winter in cold countries. It’s complex, mature, dark, and sensual. For me, it’s not Marie Antoinette, but King Louis XIV, powerful and masculine, as if he just arrived from the countryside hunting animals. I don’t wear it very often, but it has charm. Many women should use it to leave a mystery or change tastes if they only like soft scents. It’s totally animalic musk, and I like to turn into an animal from time to time.