Lancome • La Vie Est Belle • Fragrances

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*TOP REVIEWER* danai on 11/3/2012 9:21:00 AM more reviews by danai

Age: 25-29   Skin: Oily, Fair-Medium   Hair: Blond, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Hazel    

I'm quite surprised that Julia Roberts is the face of this fragrance, as I find her maybe the last celebrity on earth it would remind me of. I would expect a bubblier and younger celebrity to advertise this. I don't mean to offend at all by saying younger, I'm no teenager myself, it's just that this fragrance is so sugary, overwhelmingly girly and sweet. Nothing elegant or sophisticated about it whatsoever, it's not very far from Pink Sugar.
It starts off with an aggressive, in your face, syrupy sugar note, but once it settles there's a somewhat bitter, burnt note underneath. Maybe it's about my skin chemistry? Anyway, I would have given it a lower rating, but if I'm being honest I have an unbecoming weakness for sweet, tacky scents (yes, Pink Sugar too) so this is not entirely awful to me.
However: if you want a sweet scent that is sophisticated and elegant at the same time, go for Prada Candy instead. Then if, like me, you are willing to give up sophistication for sex appeal, go for Flowerbomb. Both are favorites of mine and sweet, candy gourmands done much better than this fragrance here.

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ShellyMum on 11/2/2012 11:02:00 PM more reviews by ShellyMum

Age: 36-43   Skin: Sensitive, Fair, Warm   Hair: Blond, Kinky, Fine   Eyes: Green    

I was quite disappointed in this, not because it's a bad fragrance, but because it was so similar to Flowerbomb on me. The opening notes were like Coco Mademoiselle for a while, then almost identical to Flowerbomb through to the dry down. Do try it on yourself, as scents often smell different on different people. It has good sillage and good lasting power. There is no way I'd buy this personally, as I already own Flowerbomb and it's pretty much a dupe on me.

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ilovestuff on 11/2/2012 3:05:00 PM more reviews by ilovestuff

Age: 36-43   Skin: Dry, Fair-Medium, Cool   Hair: Blond, Straight, Medium   Eyes: Blue    

I love this fragrance! Normally I am not a big fan of Lancome fragrances, but they hit the mark on this one! Saw the whole "spiel" on HSN not long ago about it and they described it as a gourmand + fruity smell and it really is very YUMMY!

I agree with others that it's got a "sugary" scent, but it's not sickeningly sweet and it definitely is a more sophisticated fragrance than Pink Sugar, which I loved for a while and even bought more and realized I didn't love it anymore!

I bought La Vie Est Belle at Ulta. The 1 oz was $55 and the packaging is adorable with a little gray ribbon around the neck of the bottle and the pretty pink-ish color of the juice. On HSN, the Lancome rep said that the bottle design was created back in the 1949 and has been re-designed from the classic Lancome fragrances. I found that intriguing as well.

As for whether or not it's similar to Flowerbomb...I guess I can *see* that, but it's not so similar that I feel like I have duplicate fragrances. This is more "sugary" than Flowerbomb and Flowerbomb seems to have more vanilla in it than La Vie Est Belle.

Overall, I love this fragrance and I can imagine running out quite quickly and will re-purchase the largest size when I do.

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REDK1967 on 10/21/2012 9:55:00 PM more reviews by REDK1967

Age: 44-55   Skin: Dry, Fair, Cool   Hair: Blond, Curly, Coarse   Eyes: Blue    

This is the longest lasting perfume I have found in ages. The only thing comparable is Must by Cartier. This seems like more of a perfume for women not girls. Does not remind me of Flowerbomb at all. The notes are lovely and it is ultimately a creamy soft oriental on me.

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moomooknickers on 10/15/2012 6:23:00 AM more reviews by moomooknickers

Age: 30-35   Skin: Other   Hair: Other   Eyes: Hazel    

Vile.

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*TOP REVIEWER* MalibuMands on 10/13/2012 1:09:00 PM more reviews by MalibuMands

Age: 25-29   Skin: Very Dry, Fair, Cool   Hair: Blond, Straight, Coarse   Eyes: Blue    

The pear is the strongest fruit note on me - well, I say strongest, but it is still pretty soft and doesn't leave me with a lasting impression. There is soft vanilla present through all of the fragrance too, with adds a creamy sweetness and warmth to the fragrance. The patchouli is also quick to develop, so whilst everything is sweet, it's not cloyingly so.


The floral notes used are powdery and just provide a background for the iris. It's quite startling how, after around two hours, the fragrance suddenly changes from a soft gourmand to present the wearer with a rich iris note. I don't have much experience with iris in perfumes, so LA VIE EST BELLE is unique to me.


After another few hours the fragrance turns slightly nutty and even creamier as the rest of the base notes develop. Whilst the iris note dies down, the combined powderiness of the floral notes remain and softly fade away with the base notes after around nine hours on my skin.




Official scent notes: Iris, orange blossoms, jasmine, black currant, pear, tonka bean, praline, patchouli and vanilla

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bloublou065 on 10/2/2012 6:01:00 PM more reviews by bloublou065

Age: 19-24   Skin: Normal, Medium   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Brown    

Why i like it. it's light, it's sweet, it's caramel-y, it's really girly, but not too much. Boyfriend loves it. The price is like any other high end perfume, and well yeah. I love lancome for their frangrances..

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oopppp on 9/30/2012 11:59:00 AM more reviews by oopppp

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination, Olive   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

This smells great, very close to Flowerbomb. I used to wear Flowerbomb a lot and this scent is very similar, I tend to like more vanilla based purfumes, but this is still good value for money overall. :)

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taylor123 on 9/28/2012 7:17:00 PM more reviews by taylor123

Age: 19-24   Skin: Acne-prone, Tan   Hair: Black   Eyes: Brown    

This perfume is nice but it's one of those perfumes that can give you a headache which is always annoying. To me it's a sweet, caramel scent. It's not sickening sweet like Aquolina Pink Sugar (which I hate). It's sweet but it's more sophisticated than that. When I first sprayed it and let it hang out for a bit on my wrist I thought it smelled like peach. I'm not sure why cause there's no peach note in it to my knowledge. Maybe I was getting that from the pear and the praline or something but it smelled peachy to me and I liked it. The die down was still sweet but more vanilla sweet with the jasmine floral notes in there. This did end up giving me a headache which wasn't nice. Not sure why that happened because I'm a huge fan of sweet scents. I only sprayed it on my wrist and that's it. Something about it just made my head hurt. You definitely don't wanna over spray this stuff cause it is quite strong. I know in the beginning I said it's not sickening sweet but there's still something about it that's very BAM in your face. Just in a different way. It is expensive being that it's Lancome so I would spray it and walk around for a bit just to make sure you like it before you spend your money on it. The bottle is absolutely stunning, the perfume itself is like a pinky peach color and the bottle has a grey ribbon around the neck. It's very classy looking. I would say this is a fall/winter scent. For me, I live in Florida where it's very hot so I cannot imagine wearing this during the summer when it's hot out, it would just be too much. But for the colder months it would be great. It's very cozy and sweet. All in all I do like this perfume but you have to be careful with it. It's definitely a very feminine, girly perfume.

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*TOP REVIEWER* CoonieR on 9/28/2012 8:47:00 AM more reviews by CoonieR

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination, Fair, Cool   Hair: Blond, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Blue    

Fragrance is so personal and some scents just smell really different on different people, so I'll base my review not just on the fragrance notes themselves, but the overall product.


I love sweet, vanilla-y scents, and my DH loves them on me. I'm a Comptoir Sud Pacifique Vanille Abricot girl, and I like scents like Pink Sugar. Since Vanille Abricot isn't as easy to find these days and I wanted something slightly more sophisticated, I gave this a try. I had smelled it in a department store and actually asked the SA for the name of the perfume (which is unusual for me), as it has that sort of sugary scent that I like. It sort of smells like Vanille Abricot mixed with Vera Wang. I could see a teenage girl or a 40 year old woman liking this. That said, on me, it's quite nice and as it wears, there's less of the sugary smell and more of the floral notes.


What impresses me is the lasting power. I could apply this in the morning and it lasts all day into the night. Even if I shower the following morning (24 hours later), I can still detect a hint of this on my skin. I've never had a perfume last that long on me.


The bottle is nice and straightforward. It's not flashy--just a glass bottle with no ornamentation, save a top and gray ribbon, but that's not important to me. If you're looking for something stand out on your vanity, this probably isn't it.


I like this. If you like sweet fragrances like Pink Sugar, this is worth a look. Just be forewarned, though: if you try it on and don't like it, it will linger for a while. :)

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sexyredhead on 9/25/2012 9:36:00 PM more reviews by sexyredhead

Age: 36-43   Skin: Normal   Hair: Red   Eyes: Blue    

I smelled this on a sample card at the perfume counter this afternoon and thought it was soft and pretty, so I sprayed a bit on my wrist to see how it blends with my skin. Oy. There's something strong and almost sour that's giving me a headache and making my nose and TEETH hurt. I'm giving it 2 lippies because it's been over four hours and it's still going strong. Nothing will wash this off. For those of you who can wear this, I can see how it would be a pretty scent. I, unfortunately, am not one of them.

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*TOP REVIEWER* Gother on 9/23/2012 6:22:00 AM more reviews by Gother

Age: 30-35   Skin: Sensitive, Medium   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Violet    

"La vie est belle"=Life is beautiful. OK, the name is amazing. The bottle, too, is just perfect for my tastes: linear, sober, yet bearing just a tad of frilly that makes it so... French (the grey organza ribbon).

But then, the fragrance in itself... While we all agree that life is beautiful, this is not the best fragrance to celebrate it. Because life, to me, is not about red fruits drown in patchouly syntheticity (I think Cartier should suit Lancome for stealing a lot of Delices tackiness), nor about the so-called "absolutes" and "concretes" of Iris and Jasmin and Orange blossom which turn out to be wasted when all I get is coumarin. I hope it's my nose alone that gets al the wrong notes from this, because I can't understand all the hype around it, really.

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paneradfisk on 9/19/2012 5:45:00 PM more reviews by paneradfisk

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Fair, Warm   Hair: Red, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Blue    

First of all, I want to make clear that this is my second perfume review. There are only a few notes I can actually recognize, and I really wish I could describe a perfume as detailed as many as you can... on the other hand, maybe it's a good thing that I'm no expert - because most women who buy perfumes are no experts, but they know what they like and don't like. And maybe it's a good thing that I'm not one that "can't see the woods for the trees", if you know what I mean? Anyway, here is my review.


I have never bought any Lancome perfume. They're not appealing in any way, they have always been so mediocre I never even gave them a second thought. I was surprised, because La vie est belle is very different from their other scents.


I am surprised many people here call this too sweet, that wasn't really my first thought... I tried this on, and my first thought was that it was very powdery, like Chanel's new perfume Coco Noir, that I'm not very fond of either. The notes they have in common are jasmine and patchouli... I don't like powdery scents, but I realize maybe other older women will like it - I don't mean that in a bad way, it's no secret that young women don't always like the same perfumes as more mature women.


For the rest of the day, all I could smell was this overpowering powdery vanilla scent... I didn't want to wash it off because I always wait to see if it gets better. It lingered all day, and in the evening I actually could accept it - it was still powdery and vanilla, but not at all as powdery as in the beginning. I smell vanilla and maybe a little patchouli... but that's all, as I said, I'm no expert.


What's interesting is that when it had been on my skin for a couple of hours, it really reminded me of Gucci Rush, which I love but won't wear. The notes they have in common are patchouli, vanilla and jasmin. Gucci Rush is much more patchouli and gardenia, La vie est belle is much more vanilla - and the most important detail - I love Rush, I really don't like La vie est belle.


I can see more mature women liking this - I don't even know what you all get "teenage girl, cotton candy sweet" from, actually.

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*TOP REVIEWER* stls on 9/16/2012 10:27:00 PM more reviews by stls

Age: 19-24   Skin: Acne-prone, Fair, Neutral   Hair: Blond, Curly, Medium   Eyes: Green    

What's wrong with perfumery these days? Why so many new creations have to smell like candy to appeal to the customers? It might be considered fashionable/trendy I guess.
I have fallen for that too, I don't pretend to be the wise one here. I have bought princess and taj sunset and candy. All sugary sweet and so little more. But you know what? It's so monotonous and NOT feminine to smell syrupy sweet.
La vie est belle is all about sweet praline and sweet vanilla. That's it. The sweetness leaves so little space for the other notes to develop. Good silage and longevity but I've nothing more to add. I start facing it as a bad joke.

4 out of 7 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

Maite5468 on 9/12/2012 3:35:00 PM more reviews by Maite5468

Age: 25-29   Skin: Acne-prone, Olive, Warm   Hair: Brunette, Curly, Medium   Eyes: Brown    

One word......DELICIOUS!!! I love sweet smells (my absolute fav is Flowerbomb) I'm so glad I got this, it lasts a really long time (almost a whole work day) and fades nicely. It's sweet but not too sweet, like a grown up sexy sweet. It's similar to Flowerbomb because they both have notes of Patchouli, but that's the only hint of similarity, I wouldn't consider this a dupe for it in any way because they smell completely different on me, to me this one is a little sweeter, Flowerbomb is a little spicier :) I would def repurchase, but next time I'll get the bigger bottle!! Only thing I don't like is the little piece of ribbon wrapped around the neck of the bottle, I just don't get it :/ o well doesn't affect my rating, I'm just saying! :)

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No

EllieAndrews on 9/12/2012 3:06:00 PM more reviews by EllieAndrews

Age: 30-35   Skin: Oily, Fair   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Grey    

When I first walked up to the Lancome counter last week, this perfume was everywhere and I thought it was extremely unpleasant. When I saw the salesperson drop a sample into my bag as I made my purchases I thought, "never gonna wear it." I did give it a try it when I got home and I am so glad I did. This must be a perfume that really reacts differently to each person's chemistry. It isn't overly sweet on me, and is just a really lovely scent. It also lasts for ages. I haven't purchased a traditional perfume in years, but I think I'll head back and buy a bottle.

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perfumegirl on 9/8/2012 11:22:00 PM more reviews by perfumegirl

Age: 44-55   Skin: Other   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

LOVEW this fragrance, already finished one botle and on the second, I think I like most lancome fragrances wore Miracle for years, get so many compliments on this fragrance it is wonderful, sure others have told the notes, dh got it for me at Macys and it is helping my new knee heal, I have two new knees and a lot of perfume.

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Dancingfool09 on 9/3/2012 12:11:00 AM more reviews by Dancingfool09

Age: 44-55   Skin: Acne-prone, Tan   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

I really like this fragrance. Probably because it reminds me of flower bomb and not so expensive. It is slightly sweet, vanilla and chocolate seem to be present with a hint of patchouli and of course iris.

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tdhx0 on 9/2/2012 12:42:00 AM more reviews by tdhx0

Age: 19-24   Skin: Normal, Medium   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Hazel    

I've already finished my big bottle of this. I absolutely love it! I get compliments on it EVERY time I wear it. Definitely not a long wearing perfume, but it stays on me for quite some time during my day. I highly recommend!

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rena10 on 8/28/2012 10:23:00 PM more reviews by rena10

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination, Tan, Warm   Hair: Brown, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Brown    

love this....great warm sweet sexy scent! if you love flowerbomb, this is for u! love!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.     Was this review helpful to you? Yes   No