Skip to content
Menu
SCENTGOURMAND
  • Blog
  • About
    • Contact
  • Resources
    • Guide to Samples
    • Glossary
    • Houses
    • Clone Houses
    • Online Stores
    • Links
    • Blogroll
  • Archives
  • youtube
  • instagram
  • twitter
  • facebook
SCENTGOURMAND

Samples from Rancé 1795 – Joséphine & Eau de la Couronne

Posted on 2017-03-132018-04-26

Rancé 1795 is an old French perfume house from the Rancé family of the 1600s, famous for producing perfumed gloves for the French Aristocracy in Grasse. At that time Europe was a pretty stinky place to be, and gloves, fans and handkerchiefs were used by upper class ladies to disguise the putrid and pungent stenches around them (mostly of humanity; people rarely bathed).

In creating “Le Vainqueur”, “Triomphe” and “L’Eau de Austerliz” for Napolean, François Rancé was held in high esteem. Rancé also created a perfume for Joséphine Bonaparte called “l’Impératrice” the bottle of which is still a treasure of the house. Since that period, the house of Rancé has dedicated many of its perfumes to the heroes and heroines of the Napoleonic era. Rancé’s philosophy embraces tradition, innovation, and naturalness – an interesting combination that likely has something to do with the brand’s long life. Granddaughter Jeanne Sandra Rancé with her son Jean Maurice Alexandre Rancé today run the company.

Perfume writer Donna Hathaway:

Napoleon approached master perfumer Francois Rancé before his coronation in 1804 to commission him to make two perfumes – one for himself [Le Vanquer Napoleon] and one for his love Joséphine [Joséphine]. Rancé designed the fragrances such that hers would dominate if both she and Napoleon were in the same room, However, should they be in close proximity, the two perfumes would merge to create a new unique fragrance. In 2004 the house of Rancé relaunched these two perfumes. They could not have done so earlier, as Napoleon made the house promise not to release the perfumes until 200 years after the coronation.

Joséphine

Joséphine is part of the Collection Impériale, and it is a joyous perfume – brilliant, sensuous and charming, like Joséphine herself (Napoleon’s most loved). It’s an oriental floral created by Jeanne Sandra Rancé, and the top notes are orris, black currant, galbanum, violet leaf, cloves and white peach; middle notes are jasmine, hiacynth and ylang-ylang; base notes are amber, sandalwood, bourbon vanilla and white musk.

This scent is definitely not dated in any way; it’s to fresh and smooth not to have been created sometime in the past two decades. It’s a fruity and tarte composition with a fair bit of complexity, and did not go sour on me when tested. It lingered close to my skin and stayed demure and elegant throughout it’s life. Beautiful, classy, and feminine – yes, but way too polite for me. Josephine bears semblance to Lancome’s  Miracle, Donna Karan’s Gold, and Lalique’s Flora Bella according to some Fragrantica reviewers, but I cannot speak to this. I cannot recall Lancome’s Miracle (not that miraculous if I can’t remember it!) and have yet to get my nose on the other two.

Eau de la Couronne

Jean Rancé dedicated this one to Napoleon’s sister Paolina, and the fragrance was recreated around 2009. It’s from the Rue Rancé collection. The formulae endeavors to come as close as possible to the originals from centuries past. Although I have read some reviews compare this with Dior’s J’Adore, I did not catch a strong resemblance, although the composition is indeed a fruity, shimmery, golden floral. If you love freesia, you will love this this breezy, perfumey composition. There is a beguiling innocence to the scent – I picture a delicate, quiet girl coming of age. I admit, however, that I was disappointed – the main reason being that it dissipated far too quickly. Sad, as the fragrance is in fact intriguing, fresh, and sensual.

 

Related

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

SEARCH SCENTGOURMAND

RECENT: SCENTGOURMAND

Three wonderful woody scents: Enre Noire (Lalique), Sycamore (Chanel), and Santal 33 (LeLabo)

Giorgio & Red by Giorgio Beverly Hills

Smell Bent – First Impressions on a Fist Full of Samples

How to Know if a Fragrance is FBW (Full-Bottle-Worthy)

Lolita Lempicka (1997) and Lolita Lempicka au Masculin (2000)

300x250 banner
Explore The Possibilities With ThePerfumeSpot.com!
Up to 60%

CATEGORIES

  • Did you know?
  • DIY
  • Editorial
  • Reviews
    • Lists
    • Perfume Reviews (Full)
    • Perfume Reviews (Short)
    • Service Reviews
  • Tips
L'Occitane Canada

TAGS

06 Black Platinum 1000 Flowers Aftelier Alegria Ambre Loup Amouage Andy Tauer Annick Menardo Banana Republic icon collection Bond No. 9 bottling Chanel Christopher Sheldrake cigarettes covid19 Demeter Eau d'Hadrien Estée Lauder fig Guerlain jasmine Jennifer Lopez Le LABO lemon Light Blue Light Blue Eau Intense Lolita Lempicka Loretta Lush Maison Martin Margiela Ninfeo Mio Olivier Cresp Olivier Polge pandemic peach pear perfume subscriptions Petite Chérie Scent Trunk Smell Bent Solid Perfume Tom Ford UAE uses for old perfume using scent to relax and destress

INSTAGRAM

Samples from #fragranceduboisparis
NanoHana
Sakura season!
Sunny day in the countryside of Kyushu
Fun cheapies from the #zaraimprobable collection - I like #zarameandmyselfie
#swissarabianoils Oh yeah! Up for revie on YouTube this weekend!
©2022 SCENTGOURMAND | Powered by WordPress and Superb Themes!