L'Ecole des Filles

[Frills]

This is a libertine's celebration of decadence, debauchery, and sexual freedom: orange blossom, ambergris, orris root, white rose, lemon balm, jonquil, carrot seed, and benzoin.

I love this wet. It's light, complex, girly, something I could see myself wearing regularly.

I forgot it has rose in it, and once it's dried on my skin that's all I smell. Augh skin chemistry, whyyy?

[Venneh]

Orange blossom and rose and a bunch of other stuff in the imp that kind of muddles together, orange blossom and rose on my skin. Whee.

[ResinManiac]

Upon application I get the strong sense of...the only phrase I can come up with is Egyptian carrots. But this is a good thing, a very good thing! After a while it settles into a delicate, pleasant bright aura, french in the best way. Commercially. Overall, a stellar blend and quite bottle worthy.

[Altaira]

A very bright somewhat masculine floral. Don't think I can do jonquil.

[countessmouse]

Not real thrilled when I first put it on, but I'm happier with it about 2 hours after application. Orange blossom, jonquil, and something else - maybe the carrot seed? I agree with Altaira that it's a masculine floral.

 

Nice, but I don't think I need a bottle of it.

[brittanywut]

I love the concept for this one.

 

In the imp: Orange blossom and faintly white rose.

 

Wet: Loses the citrus feel, soft white rose left but I literally can barely smell it.

 

Dry: Carrot seed & slightly stronger rose (I can actually smell it.) It's a nice light floral with a subtle twist, and I'll probably use up the imp I have. Not sure if I'd buy a bottle, though.

[rivercitylizzy]

The notes in this blend remind me of a hair rinse I make for myself, with raw apple cider vinegar, rose & orange flower water, and rose, neroli, carrot seed, frankincense, & sandalwood EOs. Every time I use it, I get compliments on how amazing my hair smells--and this from folks standing a good 3-4 feet away from me and on the next day (of course, the sandalwood may have something to do with that, as it lasts for. ev. er. on me )

 

So when I saw the description for L'Ecole des Filles, I just had to hunt down an imp of it (THANK YOU, Angelamaria!!).

 

In the Vial: Oh, this is a perfect orange blossom scent! It smells almost exactly like the fragrance that permeates my backyard every spring when my orange tree is dripping with succulent white blooms. I love the feeling that comes along with that scent--like everything is fresh and new and artlessly sensual. This IS Spring.

 

Wet on Skin: There is a spot in said backyard that is equidistant between the orange tree and a very large, very fragrant rose bush. It's not a red rose (or white for that matter), more of peach/apricot colored rose, but the fragrance is beautiful. When the orange is blooming and the rose is blooming and the sun is shining, the warmth and spring breeze mingles the scents of these two flowers together and I've often wished I could bottle that and wear it all the time. This is that scent. Even without the woody/incensey/earthy/spicy notes I so adore, this blend is fantastic and unique in my collection. I could bathe in this!

 

Dry: As it dries down, the carrot seed emerges and oh! It is the carrot seed from my hair rinse, mingling just as harmoniously with the orange blossom and rose and made more complex and enticing by the ambergris, orris, jonquil, lemon balm, and creamy sweet benzoin. Others have mentioned that this blend smells more innocent than debauched, and I partially agree--I feel it has a sort of innocent sexuality, a quality of generosity of heart & body and joyful exploration of the ingenue that is in sharp contrast to the coy, practiced, and artful seduction of the courtesan. I'm quite glad it has not gone to powder at all.

 

L'Ecole des Filles is for me what I wished Jezebel could have been, and it's definitely going on the Bottle Wish List

[RedRoseMaze]

In the bottle: It’s hard to identify exactly what it is... It’s lemony and floral, bitter and sweet.

Wet: I smell orange blossom, lemon, benzoin, and florals (jonquil?). It’s relatively strong and masculine-neutral.

Dry: It gets softer after a while. It becomes floral, sweet and feminine.

Verdict: Honnestly, I wasn’t sure I would like this one at first, but I do! It turns into something so soft and delicate. I still hesitate to buy a bottle, I think it might make an ideal scent for my soap making hobby.

[Quanta]

This is green and floral and bit powdery, a very springtime scent. It smells like walking by blossoming trees. I can't say I get much of a sexy vibe; it's very innocent. It's a nice "recovering from a horrible cold" scent, though.

Edited May 19, 2012 by Quanta

[sunlitgarden]

In the imp, this is flowery and a bit salty (probably from the ambergris). There's an almost vegetable note, or a savory spice - maybe the carrot seed? The overall scent is a bit astringent.

 

On my skin, this reminds me of a garden grown a bit wild, with many kinds of flowers and some overgrown vegetables as well. It brought to mind a book I haven't thought of in many years, that involved a girl who often escaped to this hidden garden (It was not the Secret Garden, though.) I don't remember the details of the plot, but I do remember the cover, which showed a colorful garden. This scent is reminding me of that cover.

 

(Aha! I found it! My google-fu knows no bounds! It was called Mandy. I have really not thought of this book in *years*. Go BPAL, for digging up random things in the crevices of my memory. I think this was the cover, although it doesn't quite match my mental image of the garden.)

 

As it dries more, the rose comes to dominate the scent on my skin. This is a pretty and soft scent. I think I prefer the floral blends that have some vanilla or musk in them to add a bit of sweetness, though. I'm not really getting the benzoin here.

[yakiguri]

This starts off as a promising bright, clean floral. Wet, I could clearly pick out the notes, especially the orange blossom, lemon, orris, and rose. Unfortunately it quickly fades into carrot-rose soap. Yup, this now smells like Burt's Bees carrot face cream.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: A light and creamy floral

 

Drydown: Light rose and something powdery. A touch of lemon balm comes through and the rose begins to blend into the other florals as they begin to bloom

 

Dry: A fresh, complex floral with powdery rose at the top. Classically feminine and well-suited for summer.

 

 

 

 

3 out of 10 bones

Edited June 21, 2013 by BoneBone24

[sisi33]

In the Bottle: Orange and lemon. With something else that I cannot pinpoint.

Wet: Orange and rose, as well as an earthy note.

Drydown: Now, I was expecting this to go soapy on me- and thankfully it doens't. He's turning into dirt that I want to eat. Low throw, a true skin scent on me. He's very pretty, but not something that I would wear. I might see if my cousin likes it though!

 

3.5/5

[hexnut]

L'ECOLE DES FILLES

 

Technically a blind test, but there were only two imps remaining in the box so I knew it was either this or a frimp.

 

 

In Vitro Sweet; floral?

 

Wet A sweet bright floral, possibly orange blossom, rather nice.

 

Drying Only ten minutes on this had mellowed, and faded to skin-close. A half hour on it was still sweet but "flat" somehow, and I wondered if there might be musk present. Two and a half hours after application the scent was extremely faint.

 

I actually liked this more than the terse description implies. L'Ecole des Filles has none of the properties (e.g., cloying, powdery) that turn me off most floral perfumes and I wonder if that's due to the vegetal musks or is a quality of orange blossom. I will certainly use up the imp and might get a bottle some day.

 

 

66

[mymymai]

ITI: It's oddly papery on first sniff, which I think is the carrot seed, but then I can get the rose along with something that reads as slightly green. Interesting.

 

Wet: Okay, that is certainly a change. It's a slightly powdery scent that evokes images of the Victorian era or a French bed and breakfast in the countryside. The lemon balm in combination with the white floral and light rose set against the powdery orris root is feminine, relaxing, but slightly provocative at the same time.

 

Dry: It's lemon balm, orris root, jonquil; it's soft and powdery while being a little tart.

[tziporra]

Wet and for the first twenty minutes this is a lovely bright orange blossom with a light throw and a fresh feel. I really like it in this stage.

 

Dry it is largely cleaning products

 

I would buy this for my daughter, despite the scent description it would really be perfect on her, except she already has more perfume than is proper for any ten year old.

 

Tzi

[radiantfracture]

Came as a frimp -- not sure how old it is.

 

In the imp: Lovely tea rose.

 

Wet: Tea rose and greenery and something heady, floating on a heavy, waxy, almost greasy smell (the ambergris?). Then this becomes a strong, piercing floral, dominated by the rose but rounded out by another, very familiar floral -- the jonquil?

 

Drydown: Rose bath oil. I may have gotten a little orange blossom in with the other florals, but I prefer Bess for that.

 

This is too heady and overwhelming a floral for my taste, at least on my skin.

[Jangzonrice]

Got this as an imp to try. Wet: carrot, earthy...musky?? Not a fan at this point. Dry:light rose, orange blossom, a bit powdery. This is nice, but not a fav so I will keep the imp.

[LizziesLuck]

Wet: Very light floral, with the faint bitterness I associate with orange blossom. It's going powdery as well, creating a bathroom cleaner type effect. Orange blossom almost never works on me, so this is not surprising. I think I can actually pick out the carrot seed though! It's a note I have been curious about, as I have never been able to really pick it out before. But I am getting something earthy and almost spicy, and I think that might be it! Interesting.

 

 

Dry: This gets so unbelievably soapy on me! Screeching perfumey soap, very strong and with crazy throw. It did go through quite a nice phase where I thought it might recover, but alas this is just not meant for my skin chemistry.

Edited May 29, 2016 by LizziesLuck

[Lucchesa]

I was super excited to try this for the name/concept alone. I was surprised to find it such an innocent-seeming scent, though! I didn't really get any lemon balm at all, and I *still* can't tell you what carrot seed smells like. I was hoping they and the benzoin and ambergris would dirty things up a bit. On me, I get mainly sweet white florals with a little ambergris, but the ambergris that smells like perfume, not the ambergris that smells like kinky sex on the beach. It definitely gets more interesting and complex on drydown, but it's still too floral to win my heart.

[RoseThornAndOak]

An aged frimp. This is light, understated floral, kind of like the top floral notes you catch a whiff of when you open your sample box, mostly orange blossom and white rose. I don't get lemon balm either. Final drydown is nice and light floral, not screachy, just unassuming. I like it enough to use it up. 

[ShadowEtienne]

Creamy ambergris supported by orris blending into it is beautifully balanced with fresh almost dewy orange blossom as the leading notes of this on my skin. There are other florals lurking in the background, and the herbal-citrusy lemon balm is a quiet but present backing note that brightens the scent.

 

This is a garden I want to spend time in.