Belle en Rykiel Sonia Rykiel 2006 Eau de Parfum

Consider this: Belle de Rykiel is the contemporary Jicky. Granted, many perfumes contain lavender and vanilla but bear no resemblance to Guerlain’s Jicky. Jicky backs up its lavender/vanilla food elements with civet and a hint of coumarin, taking it a half step out of the realm of dessert. (I’ve never seen Jicky as a fougère. It feels like an oriental to me.) Belle adds a somewhat disparate combo of heliotrope, amber, incense and anise to side-step the gourmand trap and keep the lavendar/vanilla accord the focus from top to bottom. Although is it crisp where Jicky grows warm, Belle does wind up with a sweetness that makes its drydown come closer to gourmand than Jicky, though not by a lot.

BELLE EN RYKIEL is a remarkably nice fragrance, given its apparent cacophony of notes. After the sledgehammer disaster of Comptoir Pacifique VANILLA MOKHA (the barista tripped, dousing my paper white blouse with cappuccino), BELLE EN RYKIEL is a welcome surprise, a fragrance which also features coffee but in an artful, thoughtful way.

It's somewhat difficult to believe that notes as seemingly discordant as lavender and coffee could manage to blend together so as to form an appealing perfume. But the lavender is light, and although the coffee is strong, it serves more as a spice than as the focus and is complemented by both incense and vanilla. The dominant note to my nose through the mid stage and the drydown is definitely patchouli. This composition seems entirely unisex to me, and even leans toward the masculine side because of the detectable lavender note.

I realize that all of this sounds like a mess, but somehow it's a wrist sniffer with good sillage and staying power. I wouldn't want to wear BELLE EN RYKIEL every day, but it's nice on occasion. Probably too heavy for hot weather, but good for winter, to lift the spirits. Could be the caffeine...

I also love the bottle.

I own a flacon of this fragrance and am compelled to wear it once in a rare while. It's a bit like feeling obliged to go and meet with that not entirely pleasant half-friend who somehow needs it more than I do. Once I get there, it's not as bad as I dreaded it would be, but still nowhere nearly as good as to make me want to meet again any time soon.

So, what exactly is wrong with Belle en Rykiel, I ask myself time and time again. Upon the first glance - nothing. There's the cuddly coffee, vanilla and amber accord which stays true and prominent throughout the wearing. There are patchouli and woods humming in the background. There's a pinch of soft, feminine heliotrope powder and a smidgen of tart berries. It is in fact rather a lovely aroma.
And then there's that frigid lavender-frankincense thing going on, turning what would have been an amiable fruitchouli with a coffee twist into a strange dissonant medley. And what's more, I can't help but notice one of the woody amber molecules (ambroxan or some such) being used in abundance here, which combined with the frankincense note gives this fragrance too much lift.
It's almost as if the idea of "unisex" was taken too literally, resulting in a confusing mix that is inherently cold and sharp-angled yet masquerades as warm and soft. It's thin where it promised to be rich and arid where it promised to be comfortingly hefty, too sweet for summer and not comfortable enough for colder weather.
So the question remains. When and where can someone who thinks of perfumes as companions, conversation pieces or statements, like I do, wear this peculiar sent-bon?

I am not a fan of knitwear, which is probably why I didn’t know Sonia Rykiel until yesterday. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a gap in my education, does it?

But I really can’t understand how this scent was foreign to me until this year, as it fits my preferences perfectly!!

I can’t relate to some of the descriptions here; it’s always a matter of scent perception and skin chemistry. Without having tested Belle, I would have had a completely wrong idea of it. A comparison with Angel, for example, seems absurd to me personally; the lightness that Belle radiates on me completely contradicts that!

If I had to draw parallels to other fragrances, I would say Belle en Rykiel is a mix of L’Instant de Guerlain, Jicky, and Roma by Biagiotti with a significant touch of freshness and a medium sillage.

A first-class surprise fragrance, multifaceted and beautiful, none of the scent components that I won’t mention again here (see pyramid) dominate.

Belle en Rykiel is a very fine, extravagant scent that exudes understated elegance and has enormous longevity.

Overall, it feels like a luxury powder with gold particles; light smoky aromas blend in the base with creamy vanilla. Added to that is an extraordinary woody freshness that envelops you and creates a breathtakingly soft aura.

I don’t have to think long about whether it can find a place in my collection. Simply enchanting!

I only knew Sonia Rykiel from two long-ago fragrances (7th sense and Le Parfum) and the amusingly colorful sweaters she produced; in short, I couldn't quite place her and had no idea what to expect from Belle en Rykiel. So, another surprise egg.
After I sprayed the fragrance, I smelled a distinct, fruity mandarin and thought: "Delicious, and what else is coming?", then I read the pyramid and started to feel a bit anxious. Coffee? Incense? Patchouli? I want fruity! This could be interesting.
It remained fruity for a while, and not even sweet! The coffee and incense made the fruity note only more intriguing, smokier, earthier, spicier. In that order.
I waited for the fragrance to start displeasing me; the mentioned notes surely can't harmonize with each other.
Not at all. They can.
I was simply proven wrong.
The fruity note does weaken, but it can be perceived for a long time; the fragrance becomes woodier, smokier, but not heavier, any church nave or A*men fears are not confirmed.
I don't even notice vanilla in the base.
Very unusual.
A slight resemblance to Jailia from Pantelleria fades quickly after the top note; this is a completely independent fragrance.
The sillage is not very strong, but it is fresh-fruity-woody.
Up close, it is even woodier and warmer.
When I read next door that people who like Jil Sander SUN might also like Belle, I strongly doubt that, as it is far from being mass-appealing; it is too interesting, special, if not even a bit challenging.
The drydown is banana blossom.