Lancôme, Mille et Une Roses: A Review

According to Basenotes, Mille et Une Roses was originally called 2000 et Une Rose and was launched to celebrate the turn of the century. Lancôme re-launched the fragrance in 2006 and named it Mille et Une Roses (MeUR).

First, let’s just get the color of the juice out of the way: it’s blue. Windex glass cleaner blue. I suppose this made sense aesthetically when the fragrance was initially introduced in a tear drop shaped bottle but it looks strange in the square bottle that houses it now. However, once you smell MeUR you’ll forget that the liquid is the shade of a glass cleaner from Walmart because the scent is utterly perfect.

Rose fragrances come so many varieties; there’s the strikingly lush and vivid rose scents (Serge Lutens Sa Majeste La Rose and Frederic Malle Lipstick Rose), and the green country garden rose (Diptyque L’Ombre dans L’Eau), the sexy nighttime roses (Serge Lutens Rose de Nuit, Ungaro’s Diva, Bond No. 9 West Side, Frederic Malle Une Rose, Juliette Has A Gun Citizen Queen & Lady Vengeance, Czech & Speake 88, L’Artisan Voleur de Rose), the “so natural I forget it’s perfume and think I have a bouquet of roses stuffed in my blouse” variety (Annick Goutal Ce Soir ou Jamais, The Perfumer’s Workshop Tea Rose, Dawn Spencer Hurwitz American Beauty, Les Parfums Rosine Ecume de Rose) and so many others.

MeUR falls into a different category from those I’ve listed above. I would describe MeUR as refined, modern, abstract and pretty. Stella is said to be similar to MeUR, and I definitely see the comparison, but Stella pales next to MeUR. I also see a bit of similarity between the style of Dawn Spencer Hurwitz American Beauty and MeUR because both are so round, full, red, gauzy and rosy, rosy, rosy. MeUR, along with Dawn Spencer Hurwitz American Beauty are probably the two most beautiful unabashedly rose, however, refined and conservative rose fragrances I’ve ever smelled. It seems that the addition of amber, musk and vanilla give MeUR a gauzy, billowy, abstract rose quality. Some rose fragrances are so real they prick you with their thorns or so heady and sharp you nearly hold your breath the first 30 minutes but MeUR would never do such a thing because she is so utterly refined and charming. I think of MeUR as the perfect scent to wear when meeting your in-laws for brunch. While MeUR is refined it also smells so breathtakingly good that it will please you as much as it will please them. This is the point I want to highlight about MeUR – that it pleases others as much as it does you. There aren’t very many fragrances I can think of which are crowd pleaser's but also manage to please me every bit as much – MeUR pulls this off effortlessly and with panache. It’s just that perfect.

As of today you can purchase Mille et Une Roses from BeautyEncounter for $59.90 (1.7 oz) which is approximately ½ price.

Longevity: Average 3-4 hours
Sillage: Nice, a bit of sillage but not too loud