Belle Icône Câline 2023

A short BR540 review to start with:
For me, BR540 is one of those fragrances to which my body inevitably reacts with a nose wrinkle. Musty vibes from a splash of barbecue sauce in synthetic cough syrup, somewhere in a hospital operating room where a cotton candy vendor from the fair has strayed. Interesting, but that doesn't make it great. Most dupes are simply poor imitations and only make my dislike of the scent worse. In my opinion, there are people for whom the fragrance really suits and for whom it harmonizes perfectly with the overall image, becoming a blessing. But these are very, very few, and yet half the world sprays itself with it, and not exactly hesitantly, which further leads to any "magic" being lost. (Regardless of my opinion, everyone should of course spray what they like - tastes are different, and that's a good thing).

Now to the fragrance:
There I was a few months ago in my favorite drugstore. A new fragrance from Câline? I could already guess what it was from the label, but I was still curious and sprayed it on my wrist.

Contrary to my expectations - no flight instinct.

Fascinating... it's extremely close to the original, but the little nuances are somehow more beautifully balanced... it almost smells more premium to me. An olfactory aberration?

I have to keep sniffing my wrist. I still wouldn't really wear it, it's too close to the original. And yet it does the little details better for me. The candy floss seller is no longer standing around lost in the operating room. This time he sells his candy floss at the open-air fair, outside an operating room, together with candied strawberries, whose sugar crust looks so beautifully shiny. The medicinal notes are a little less intense and constricting, the woody and spicy notes are no longer so synthetic and no longer reminiscent of barbecue sauce, but ensure that it is not a pure fairground scent. It is softer and rounder, a little sweeter, but with a nicer sweetness than the original. And yet clearly BR540, confusingly similar.

A cloud of the fragrance keeps rising to my nose, even hours later. And somehow I like it. Even the next day, it is still perceptible on my hand. A 6€ fragrance. Simply amazing. I went to the drugstore a few more times in the following weeks, each time I couldn't help but apply another spray and be amazed. I decided to buy it after all, somehow I had taken a liking to it... just to wear a spray at home from time to time, a fragrance for 6€, why not.

Too late, it was already sold out everywhere, the hype had begun.

In the meantime, it was also allowed to move in with me. For the money, it's simply amazing. Although the bottle is pretty to look at, it is cheaply made for the price, and unfortunately the spray heads can often be faulty, as is so often the case with Câline in this price segment. Nevertheless - I give my good rating in spite of my dislike of the original, and although I still think that the fragrance does not suit everyone, not even this dupe, and that "too much of a good thing" can very quickly be achieved here. Simply because it's incredibly well done as a clone, especially at the price. I absolutely cannot confirm the reviews that write about poor longevity and sillage - perhaps there was a faulty batch in between? I have easily sprayed it on 10 times from different testers, and each time it lasted 6-8 hours with good sillage, even until the next day, with only 1-2 sprays. It certainly doesn't suit me, and at most I spray it on my wrist at home - but then I enjoy it.