L'Air du Temps Nina Ricci 1948 Eau de Parfum

L'Air du Temps (Eau de Parfum) by Nina Ricci

Bottle Design:
Marc Lalique

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8.4 / 10 97 Ratings

A popular perfume by Nina Ricci for women, released in 1948. The scent is floral-spicy. The longevity is above-average. It is still in production.
Pronunciation

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Main accords

Floral

Spicy

Powdery

Woody

Fresh

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Bergamot

Neroli

Peach

Rosewood

Spices

Heart Notes

Carnation

Lily

Iris

May rose

Orchid

Ylang-ylang

Base Notes

Sandalwood

Ambergris

Benzoin

Moss

Musk

Cedar

Vetiver

Perfumer

Francis Fabron

Ratings

Scent

8.497 Ratings

Longevity

8.189 Ratings

Sillage

7.487 Ratings

Bottle

9.0102 Ratings

Value for money

7.835 Ratings

Submitted by WiB, last update on 06/29/2025.

Variant of the fragrance concentration

This is a variant of the perfume L'Air du Temps (Eau de Toilette) by Nina Ricci, which differs in concentration.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

L'Air du Temps Eau de Toilette

L'Air du Temps Parfum

Paris Fleur de Parfum

Fiori di Capri Profumo

Jacques Saint Pres - Indra

Maracaibo

Reviews

10 in-depth fragrance descriptions

06/20/2023

8
Pricing 10
Bottle 8
Sillage 8
Longevity 10
Scent

Ringtale
129 Reviews

Ringtale

Helpful Review 4

My Signature

Believe it or not, but my first encounter with L'Air du Temps, was not when seeing it on my mother's dressing table, but when smelling it on a guy I was madly in love with :-)! It was late seventies, I met him in the disco where we danced on 'You can ring my bell" by Anita Ward. He was always dressed like Fred Astaire (hat, trenchcoat); 'vintage' was very in fashion those days. And he smelled so good! When I asked him what he was wearing, he told me it was L'Air du Temps. Now at that time, it was not as usual as it is now for a man to wear a 'woman's' perfume and I liked him even more for that :-).
The relationship didn't last, but I always kept thinking about that wonderful scent.
Later on I wore the EDT from time to time and loved it, but it never was the same scent as I had smelled then.
Recently I ordered the EDP and...Yes: I was taken back to that moment when I had smelled the most wonderful perfume ever!

L'Air du Temps EDP is my signature because, though I wear and love many scents, I CRAVE L'Air du Temps the most.
The carnation is to die for and I love how I catch whiffs of it when wearing it and how it is wafted into the air like beautyful spring- and summer breezes!
This is made after WO II to illustrate feelings of hope and healing, and it is so well done. Happiness and relief for being finally free, the sadness of having lost loved ones...it's all in this bottle, telling you how sadness and happiness are close related. So beautyful.
Ofcourse this is reformulated, but it is still gorgeous.
I prefer the EDP because it has more depth, has more longevity and stronger sillage.
Call me 'old lady', call me old fashioned, I don't care...I just can't do without my L'Air du Temps!

06/16/2023

Stacia
134 Reviews

Stacia

5

My initiation

I spent the first 12 years of my life living in a Victorian mansion. There were 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a formal dining room, 2 living rooms (or parlors, as the original owners would have referred to them), a dark scary basement, a real attic with high ceilings and a variety of other rooms.

In a house that big, it was easy to forget a child or two for hours. I would hide out on the landing of the attic stairs, or in the basement area my dad called his office (really just a private place to read nudie magazines and smoke). Sometimes I would climb the backyard fence and make my way onto the roof of the shed. It was hard to feel lonely in the private worlds I created. I could also turn closets into blanket filled caves. Who could be possibly sad in a cozy little cave?

One of my favorite hideaways was the world inside my infinity mirror. In one of the bedrooms sat an antique dressing table, dark wood with three mirrored panels that could fold in on each other. My game was to sit on top of the table and fold the mirrors around myself. Reflections of mirrors on mirrors created the effect of a corridor full of identical versions of me that just went on and on forever. I used to imagine that if I just believed hard enough, the solid glass would dissolve and I could slip into this magic world forever. It would be a world without loneliness, a heavenly prism of light complete with the most perfect playmates I could ask for.

One day, while I was curled up inside this alternate universe I'd created on the dresser, I accidentally knocked over two perfume bottles, hard enough to disturb their caps. I know now that it was a bottle of 4711 and a bottle of L'Air du Temps. The scents of carnation, lemon and neroli filled the room as the liquid seeped into the wooden dressing table. I was young enough that I wasn't worried about getting in trouble so I began to smear it with my fingers, inhaling the uplifting essences. Suddenly I was filled with a strange knowledge, much like Eve may have felt after eating the fruit. It was the best moment of my four year old life.

To this day I have a visceral reaction to neroli. A whiff of this oil and I can see infinite tiny versions of myself, full of joy and curiosity. To me, neroli (orange blossom absolute) is the fragrance of innocence and imagination. I wear it when I need to transcend the mundane and be self-possessed. It makes time stand still for me.

01/09/2025

10
Bottle 8
Sillage 10
Longevity 7
Scent

Xavica
286 Reviews

Xavica

2

Nostalgic perfume

A sweet aldehyde scent; not aggressive, not "cat pee" style, not soapy. “Aerial” aldehydes as I call them.

L'Air du Temps smells of jasmine, ylang-ylang and is subtly spicy (carnation). Very powdery, it has an undeniable vintage vibe but which, even today, remains completely wearable.

Even for me who doesn't like aldehydes, it's a happy, sparkling and nostalgic scent at the same time. It's also very elegant.

A nice perfume.

01/26/2018

10
Bottle 7
Sillage 8
Longevity 7
Scent

StellaDiverF
213 Reviews

StellaDiverF

2

Bipolar carnation

The opening is very strong with carnation and cloves and it smells very synthetic to me. I was amost scared off and wondered how this can be named 'l'Air du Temps'.

All I had to do is wait. The strong irritating scents mellow in to a warm powdery, yet oddly, fresh scent. I can feel some sweet flowers and some soft spices. The whole mixture is in fact cozy, but unusual. It lives up to its name, l'Air du Temps.

I still don't like the opening. However, the drydown is lovely enough to encouraging me to wear it again and again. Who knows? I might actually love it after going through my mini.

Originally written in 2013

07/31/2017

Germanblonde
85 Reviews

Germanblonde

3

She bores me to tears

I own it, I like it, but I don't love it. So I do not quite get what all the rave is about. However, I catch myself wearing her quite a bit, because she is so uncomplicated. Fits to almost any surrounding and occasion, which is why she is my "I am too lazy to put any thought into what to wear, so let's grab for this" kind of frag. Maybe she doesn't quite get the respect from me that she deserves, because not every fragrance has to make a big statement or be as flamboyant as I perceive myself. So she has her place in my drawer, and that I use her so much must be a positive indicator after all. I like her way better than White Shoulders, which is my other fragrance that I wear when I do not want to think about what to wear, right after a shower, basically just to prolong the feeling of freshness and cleanness, when I have no intention to go anywhere. At least L'air du Temps is an upgrade in so far as I enjoy wearing her in public, but usually when I do not want to be noticed, but rather want to blend right in with no fuzz. Sorry if I offend so many lovers of this scent, but she really bores me to tears.

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