I get compliments on this whenever I wear it. It is so feminine and lasts all day. I can spray it in the morning, and still catch whiffs in the evening. I love it.

Ah, L'Instant, you must be adopted because you have none of the flair of your grandmothers. Maybe you'll become more individual when you grow up. For now you're a perfectly pretty, probably well-manicured (and fake-tanned, but only subtly) young lady with a good job (in PR), a sporty boyfriend (who likes shopping) and a car that smells brand new. You have lots of shoes - especially ones with heels that make your long lithe legs look great. I like you. You’re very different from me (even though we’re the same age) but we get on just fine. You know I like more oddball things than you do (like I’d never buy a Christian Dior bag – you really don’t understand that – and it slightly irks you when I wear scruffy clothes) but most of the time we can natter away about lads, fashion, tittle-tattle at (your) work You’re a fine friend to have around because of your congenial good looks and everyone likes you. You always offer to lend me your lipgloss when we go to the toilet together.

I sprayed a sample of this to try out. As I was contemplating washing this off due to the honey note and general 'blah' impression that I got, my husband came home. Out of the blue, he exclaimed that my new perfume smells fantastic. So this is distinct, I guess. When I told him it was only a sample, he said that I must purchase a bottle immediately. Oddly, my husband does not like sweet scents, so I have no idea why L'Instant struck him. I have tons of perfume and am not in need of a new fragrance. But I am going to try it out on another day and see if Dh is as wild about it as he was today. The only thing I can't understand is if he likes L'Instant so much, how come he condemned my Musc Ravageur?

This will be my next fragrance purchase. This stuff is a gorgeous soft floral-oriental which smells distinctly like honey on the drydown. I find this scent comforting, but still sexy and feminine. A huge winner in my book.

Think enough's been raved (and not) about the type of scent from this star buy from Guerlain...what I want to say is that it causes yellowing on my white knits/tees etc....I love to spray fragrances on my shoulders because they last longer, but the L'Instant EDP reacts with my white tops and stains them! Not good, especially in comparison with my L'Occitane Four Roses. Lasting power is great, and I will always love this fragrance, but I don't see the point in buying something I can't use under all conditions.

*UPDATE* This IS my Holy Grail, my fave of all time. That is all.* WOW! I feel like a broken record - I'm exclaiming over so many of the wonderful scents I've sampled the last two weeks, and finding favorites left and right. L'Instant takes the cake, and has summertime Holy Grail potential.

My chemistry makes the most of honey, vanilla, and amber notes; this scent could have been custom made for me. It's so pretty, sweet, lasting, and just my thing. I'm hoarding my sample, and L'Instant has been put at the top of the bottle list. I'm considering exchanging another recent fragrance purchase, in order to get it sooner.

This review is for the EdT.



I am on a quest to find floral scents that will work for me.

L'instant EdT is a nice sweet floral, but you have to be patient in order to appreciate it.

It starts off very loud, awfully sweet and sparkling. Kind of in-you-face sharp citrus fruit and flowers (Blech-award winner).

One squirt was enough to make me cough.



BUT... It took 25 minutes (I timed!) for the fragrance to lose the initial bite and mellow down.

After that initial scare, L'instant becomes more delicate. It changes into a soft and creamy, beautiful floriental, following its big brother's (the EdP) footsteps.

To my delight, the dreaded bitter note that I could not tolerate in the EdP is not present in the EdT version.

Also, I don't think there is any vanilla in the EdT, or if there is, it is well hidden in the background. My nose could to pick it.



I'd like to give this more but I'll settle with 3 stars (2.5 actually) due to the aggressive opening.

(My bottle is a cheap tester bottle I found online, I won't be purchasing again)


EDIT Autumn of 2006:
Cooler weather came and the EdP is suddenly working so well for me now!
I ended up giving away my EdT bottle, and getting myself the EdP instead. Sweet, deep, and sooo pretty! The bitter note is not that sharp after all. Go figure.
My rate for the EdP is 4.5 lippies.
continued >>

Beautiful bottle. I give this frag a 5 now; a 1 one other days. It is a sweet floral vanilla and there are times when it smells so clean and great, and other times, the notes are jarring. I think using a very small amount is the key here. I have a mini and it'll last me a looooong time. I also own HM Butterfly and really don't see much of a resemblance at all. UPDATE June 2006: Loving this again. Bought a full size. It is just so clean smelling and wonderful for summer parties.

This is for the edt. L'Instant is a very sweet floral that is similar to several other scents on the market...Chantecaille Frangipane, HM Butterfly and the new Hypnose all have the same 'feel' to me. That said, this is the best of the bunch IMHO. It's richer than the CF, is missing the dreaded 'praline' note of HM and is more floral than Hypnose. Sweet to be sure, and not something I would want to wear everyday. But sweet seems to be popular these days, and when the mood strikes this is the one I will be reaching for since the 'cotton candy' scents really don't work on me. I indicated that I would buy this product again but I just got a MINI and it should last a good long time.

Warm, vanilla-ish, candy-like, cremesicle are words I would use to describe L'Instant. I would also call it sickening, nauseating, choking, nose-bleed inducing. I can stand it. It's a sickening mess and being that I am the queen of candy-like scents I can think of 10 other candy-like fragrances I prefer from far less elegant perfume houses. If it weren't for the gorgeous bottle I wouldn't go anywhere near this one. That bottle is HAAAAAAWT.