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After almost a decade of launching rather forgettable fragrances (Attraction, anyone?), Lancôme decided it was time to finally match the previous success of Magie and Trésor. The responsibility of being such a Renaissance perfume fell on Hypnôse, their latest fragrant offering, which also happened to be the 50th fragrance from the House of Lancôme. The twisted bottle is a slender version of the original Magie bottle dating to 1950. The scent, created by Annick Ménardo and Thierry Wasser of Firmenich, is centered around the vanilla and vetiver notes of Magie, and also includes passion flower and white florals (Top note: passion flower; Middle note: Sambac jasmine, solar notes (?); Base note: vetiver, vanilla, as per osmoz). It is not entirely clear to me why Lancôme considered it necessary to launch a perfume “inspired” by Magie, when that same year the company re-introduced Magie itself, as a part of La Collection. I assume the scent is supposed to convey the image of continuity as well as modernity of Lancôme perfumery.
The scent is classified as woody oriental, and on his site, Fragrances of the World, Michael Edwards suggests that if you like Hypnôse, you might also like such woody orientals as Kingdom, Tam Dao and Samsara, and vice versa. As far as I am concerned, Hypnôse is practically nothing like those three woody orientals extraordinaire. Hypnôse is much less woody and oriental than it is floral and fruity. I have not had a chance to smell passion flower* in real life, so I am taking it for granted that the pleasant, soft, fruity, somewhat peach-like, accord in the beginning of Hypnôse is in fact passion flower. In a little while a jasmine note enters the scene, again it is soft, subdued, sweet yet somehow also fresh; to my nose, it smells a little like jasmine tea. The scent gets drier and greener when vetiver joins the composition; when (subtle) vanilla appears, the dryness turns into slight powderiness and the green-ness gets replaced with sweetness.locate Hypnôse at Strawberry.net, where it retails for $59.50 for 1,7oz.
The scent is classified as woody oriental, and on his site, Fragrances of the World, Michael Edwards suggests that if you like Hypnôse, you might also like such woody orientals as Kingdom, Tam Dao and Samsara, and vice versa. As far as I am concerned, Hypnôse is practically nothing like those three woody orientals extraordinaire. Hypnôse is much less woody and oriental than it is floral and fruity. I have not had a chance to smell passion flower* in real life, so I am taking it for granted that the pleasant, soft, fruity, somewhat peach-like, accord in the beginning of Hypnôse is in fact passion flower. In a little while a jasmine note enters the scene, again it is soft, subdued, sweet yet somehow also fresh; to my nose, it smells a little like jasmine tea. The scent gets drier and greener when vetiver joins the composition; when (subtle) vanilla appears, the dryness turns into slight powderiness and the green-ness gets replaced with sweetness.locate Hypnôse at Strawberry.net, where it retails for $59.50 for 1,7oz.
