Les Infortunes de la Vertu

[ipb]

A pain-tinged, pleasure-soaked blend of leather, oakmoss, orange blossom, amber, and rose with a breath of virginal French florals and a hint of austere monastic penitential incense.

at first sniff, it's all about the leather and orange blossom. wait a bit, and the other flowers come out to play. it smells surprisingly masculine in the bottle.

on my skin, wet, it's all orange and amber and leather. as it dries, the flowers blossom and push back the leather into the background, and then BAM the incense and leather get into a screaming match.

after awhile, they eventually get bored and tone down and it's gorgeous - the orange blossom is barely a whisper, and leather and incense back down (though still definitely there).

i think it'd be drop dead sexy on a guy.

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Hot leather.

 

Second Impression: Leather fights with vetiver to be my number one arch nemesis. This scent isn't overpoweringly leathery but it's there taking over all the other goodness. I'm getting flashes of florals and incense, but the leather just ruins it for me.

 

Final Analysis: Les Unfortunes.

[Scylla]

A disclaimer: Amber + Rose + Scylla =

 

At first sniff in the vial: Smells familiar. And then I realized--at first whiff, it smelled similar to Avon's Sweet Honesty!

 

Wet, on my skin: OK, once it hit my skin it didn't smell like Sweet Honesty any more! I wonder what the common note is. Probably orange blossom. As usual, my skin chemistry amped up the amber and the rose, to the detriment of every other note. I didn't get very much leather (which I usually really like), but I smell the resiny incense in the background. The incense adds depth and "grounding" to Les Infortunes de la Vertu.

 

It's an interesting scent and I'll bet it will be popular, but, alas, it's not my thing. And I agree with others who said this would probably smell great on a man.

[UltraViolet]

2.5

 

 

In the bottle

Floral and bright.

 

On

Boy this is piercing. Yeah piercing is the word I'd use to describe this floral scent. It makes one whince, kinda like the tip of De Sade's blade. Yikes.

 

30 minutes

It dries down to a bright, subtley sweet but sharp floral.

 

Throw:

average

 

Scent category:

Animalistic/Floral/Green/Incense

 

Summary

It does indeed have a "Sweet Honesty" smell to it as described above.

It's not the least tolerable of all blends but it's not something I would wear unless I'd planned on using a "safe word" in the near future. If your safe word is "Ow" than this just might be the blend for you.

 

Purchase again?

No.

 

1-5 rating (5 being best)

2.5

Edited November 28, 2005 by UltraViolet

[Lorencita]

I really like this alot. It smells like Ultima 2 from JC Penny. I love that perfume, so it's not an insult. It is a unisex scent for me, but I like it enough to wear it often. I smell the crisp leather, oakmoss, incense & herbs. I think it smells very fresh & I will get good use out of this bottle

[Little Bird]

This is a nightmare pairing of leather and orange blossom

 

I'm not sure why the smell of leather in perfumes seems to turn my stomach. I like that new car leather smell (in the car) and I like cuddling up to a boy wearing a leather jacket. I just cannot stand that strong 'I'm wearing a leather perfume' smell. It's cold and bothers me.

 

That said, Les Infortunes de la Vertu reminds me of De Sade when it is first on. Sharp, pure leather. Then the orange blossom comes out and it smells like leather and burnt orange peel. This has a lot of throw too.

 

After about a half hour the amber comes out and goes to baby powder on me. Then the rose is bitter and sharp. Everything that could go bad here with my skin chemistry does. I love the leather and rose combo in Whip, but here it just smells funky... mixed with burnt orange and baby powder.

 

I'll be passing along my imp of this one.

[tesao]

disclaimer: oakmoss + tes = awful

 

in the imp: yum. leather leather leather

 

on my wrist, wet: very masculine. much more so than the gender neutral blends usually smell on me. but it smells great! leather and hints of rose. no amber that i can tell , but no oakmoss, either . other florals start to come up after a bit......

 

on my wrist, dry: ooops. THERE'S the oakmoss. too bad. so sad. buh bye.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: i can definitely smell the oakmoss and florals. nice, but i don't think this is really me

on: very, very woody. i don't thin i'll like this.

half an hour later: softer, but all i can smell is the oakmoss and a little leather.

2 hours later: just generally woody.

overall: definitely not a scent for me.

[clover]

I adore Les Infortunes de la Vertu.

 

Sniffing from the bottle: Predominantly leather, with the sparkle of orange blossom sweetening it up. The Lovers meets De Sade (how appropriate!).

 

Upon application: A sweet white bouquet with a backdrop of naughty leather. Not something I would ever expect to work, but it's a delightful combo.

 

After a few minutes: Gah! Amber! Go away, amber! Don't mess with the leathery goodness.

 

A few minutes later: Thankfully, it does go away. It's just a brief, ambery interlude, I'm happy to report.

 

A few minutes after that: Back to the begining. I love this scent!

 

It lasts for-freaking-ever, too! Whee!

[LiberAmoris]

Les Infortunes de la Vertu, when first applied, is screaming orange blossom. When it dries a bit, it's like a sexy wrestling match between orange blossom and leather. Leather wins. I can detect the oakmoss, but I get hardly any rose, amber, or incense.

 

I agree with QS, this would be devastating on a guy.

[bloodlotus1]

Wet: smells like a citrus musk. What? Checks description. Um, okay.

 

Drying: Leather. Oh boy. I likes me some leather but come on now. Am I going to have to add this to the 'psychotic scents list'? I like Wanda & Perversion but my list of nothing-but-leather is growing.

 

Dry-down: Alright, much better. The leather has toned down immeasurably & has blended almost seamlessly with the other notes. But.

 

But I can't differentiate the other notes. I know I like &/or love the other notes, especially amber & oakmoss. Extremely well-blended, slightly sweet & a little musky. I know what the notes listed are but this is what I wanted Villain to smell like. Whatever, I'm not complaining.

 

A bit masculine so I'll be trying this on the BF but I am liking this very much for myself.

 

Another winner bought unsniffed.

Edited October 16, 2005 by bloodlotus1

[wickedgoddess]

Wet - orange blossom. If you asked me before BPAL what my favorite scent was, I would have told you orange blossom. Unfortunately what works well in a candle does not necessarily work well on my skin. Orange blossom just doesn't work on me, and it breaks my heart.

 

Dry - After about 20 minutes the orange blossom settles down, and I can smell leather and incense, and possibly just a smidge of oakmoss. No florals, no rose, no amber. Still it's very nice now, but not quite nice enough to make up for the initial orange blossom assault. I'll pass on this one.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 2.

[Lucretia]

First I get soapy florals, then that sort of naturey smell I know from scents relating to fields and meadows.

After a while I get a tiny bit of leather, but overall, a sharp herbal floral. Not really for me this one.

[Heavenlyrabbit]

Les Infortunes de la Vertu is one of BPAL's most outstanding perfumes yet. It is in the world class category of historic Floral Chypres occupied by such luminaries as Bandit and Habanita.

 

Of the two stellar examples of perfumes from the 20's-40's just mentioned, I'd say Les Infortunes de la Vertu suggests Bandit in EDP strength rather than the Parfum since the leather is more predominant.

 

This is the perfume that the female James Dean would wear.

 

Whenever Hollywood decides to give us a female anti-hero, she'd be wearing this. And while anti-hero usually means challenging the status quo and a willingness to take risks it doesn't preclude a certain vulnerability.

 

Idea: Try layering with peach or maybe vetiver.

 

Even the Perfume Snobs at Makeupalley ( "I don't DO Eve Arden") would consider this a fine example of Perfumery.

Edited October 17, 2005 by Heavenlyrabbit

[aidenraine]

A spicy, floral scent- with somewhat of a fruity undertone. I smell bright oranges and incense. There's definitely an undertone that's a bit cool, and the amber is sneaking around the edges.

 

I love the way the orange and the spiciness mingle. It could be the amber that reminds me slightly of men's cologne, but not overwhelmingly so. This is like an incensey-er (that's so not a word) version of Kuntzkammer.

 

It's kind of like Lush's Olive Branch shower gel- that same spicy herby aroma. On me it's really well balanced between the two.

 

Just lovely.

[coulrophobe]

In the imp: Soapy - ah, that's the orange blossom, which often smells sharply soapy on me. With something slightly perfumey lurking underneath. Very strong.

 

On: Now the leather makes itself known, so I smell like... soapy leather. It's kind of a bizarre mix, though not necessarily unpleasant - it's strong, assertive, unique. I'm picturing a freshly-showered guy in a biker jacket. And suddenly, I like this blend quite a bit.

 

Yep, definitely one to try on a man-creature.

[shelldoo]

in the imp:

leather, incense

 

wet: leather, orange blossom, lavander maybe? and a hint of resinous incense smell

 

as it dries: this is a spicey manly scent. leathery resinous, hint of rose but it is so light it is fleeting and pops in to say hello occassionally. deep down there is a hint of something i know that i know but it is confounding me at the moment. this is deep, complex and very sexy. i want to try it on my man and see what happens.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - what I would call an aftershave smell. I think that it's the combination of the oakmoss and the incense.

Wet on me - Sweeter, the orange blossom is dominant, with the rose in the background.

Dry on me - It goes through a stage of dirty leather, which fades to sweet, floaty florals, presumably the virginal french ones. An unusual blend going as it does from very masculine to very feminine, but not for me.

[Sheila]

This is very posh and masculine.

It's dry and woodsy, with a drydown of incense and leather.

I like this on me, but it would be very sexy on a man.

[Diana]

Another 5mL bought unsniffed. You had me at amber. And leather. And incense.

 

Wet on the skin, I get the really sharp scent of orange blossom. I don't like the wet orange blossom smell very much, mostly because of a scent aversion due to having worn a scent with a lot of it when I had a migraine... ugh.

 

The orange blossom starts to fade a tiny bit and soften to the point where I can tolerate it, but then it starts to mingle with the leather note to produce a new, curious odor. It reminds me of the smell of my uncle's basement. That weird faux-leather in the home of someone who smoked for 40+ years. It's not bad per se, just a weird associative thing going on for me.

 

That starts to change after maybe an hour. It becomes kind of a fresh, clean scent. It smells a little like detergent (?!). I'm not minding this at all, it's just odd. It's not really what I'd call floral. Or incense. Or leathery. It's quite nice and surprisingly yummy and clean.

 

I like this a lot! Yay. Yet another win for me. My poor overgrowing collection.

[amrita]

In the imp, I smell a "men's product" smell. After application, the scent disappears and I can't smell much of anything, even when I stick my nose right up to my wrist. After a few minutes, I smell leather, and maybe cedar or other woods. This dries down to leather and a faint cedar smell...it's pretty straightforward on me. I don't ever smell amber, orange blossom, or any florals-- it's pretty one-dimensional on me.

[Macha]

Oh.

 

This is one of those fragrances.

 

I ordered it because if I have a fascination/revulsion to the works of the Marquis deSade, and because I was curious (which was of course why I read deSade in the first place.) Sometimes leather works on me (Casanova) and sometimes it does not (Dead Man's Hand.) This had enough interesting other notes to make me hope it would be the former, and not the later.

 

At first, it is a soft leather, balanced but not particularly overwhelmed by the floral notes, and as it dries, more of the rose and amber comes up — but never easily or predominantly (let's hear it for my chemistry not blowing out the rose, eh?) It's all very smooth and well balanced, easy to wear. This might smell of leather and traditionally masculine notes (and might smell fantastic on a man) but I'll agree with Heavenlyrabbit: this makes me think of a female anti-hero --- a Juliette rather than a Justine. It's also one of those perfumes that makes me itch to layer it with others. Les Infortunes de la Vertu with Katharina, perhaps.

 

But what do I mean when I say those fragrances? Ah, well, it's those perfumes that I keep for special occassions, the ones that can be guaranteed to produce a particular mood. And this mood is not "nice." It's obsessive, decadent, dominant and very, very sexual.

 

Oh yes. Absolutely a perfume for communing with your inner bad girl.

[ayelienne]

In the vial, this slightly sharp and crisp - leather dominates - there's a lot happening behind the leather, however, i can't call out specific notes.

 

This starts off as "HI MY NAME IS LEATHER" - almost to the point of being too much, but again, underneath leather's big mouth, there are some other scents milling about - some citrus and some amber, I think.

 

After about an hour, the leather finally quiets down a little bit, at which point the citrus-y floral and amber or incense step up and mingle about with the leather nicely. After a bit longer, the amber/incense (still need to figure out the difference between these two notes) moves to the fore, the leather steps back (but remains resolutely in the background, refusing to be ignored) and the citrus/sweet sort of lightly flits about.

 

I like this blend better after an hour or so. I also think this would be a marvelous scent for a man. For some reason, this reminds me a little bit of being in Florida when I was younger. I'll have to add this imp to the husband's stack to see if he likes it. I'll definitely keep the imp - this isn't a blend I'd wear daily, but there's something interesting that makes me want to hang onto it.

[Shollin]

First sniff: Definite orange blossom, definite oakmoss. The rest is a bit sketchy. It’s a very complicated scent.

 

Wearing: Sort of a guy’s aftershave scent. Dang. It smelled so promising. It’s not unpleasant by any means, just rather… ordinary. It faded through a nice green oakmoss phase, but by the end of the evening was back to aftershave. I don’t love it enough.

[slave1]

In Bottle: Leather and amber

 

On Skin: Wow! This one is in your face. The leather is top note… very masculine and regal. The rose and florals give a nice sharp tone, very elegant. The amber darkens yet sweetens the scent at the same time. The incense provides a slight smoky note and I don’t really smell the orange blossom. This is a very manly scent. It does have a slight soapy/aftershave tone in it as well that enforce how masculine it is. I love this and am going to make my husband try it on for sure. The drydown continues to have leather as the dominant note with a soapy background.