Smells Like a Monday #7 - Lancome Peut-Etre

When most people think of Lancome, they tend to think of Tresor (I swear I smelled that one everywhere from high school through law school), or possibly of the more recent Hypnose or Miracle. However, Lancome has in recent years reintroduced some of their vintage scents or, in the case of Peut-Etre, retooled versions of vintage scents.

The original Peut-Etre was released in 1937 and has been described as featuring rose, lily and linden - sounds like a very feminine floral to me. For the 2008 re-release, perfumer Nathalie Lorson has, according to Now Smell This, added lilac as well as an amber and musk base. I expect that this base would add strength as well as warmth to the original.

I've only ever worn the modern version of this scent (would that I could try the original!), but it's still a beautiful one. On my skin, I got a soft, warm floral. It definitely smelled rosy, but I could tell other flowers were in there, too. Some reviewers have complained that the amber/musk base dominated things for them, but I did not find this to be the case at all. Perfumes can smell very different on different people due to skin chemistry, and Peut-Etre is one that works well on me. It's a sweet rose-jasmine floral on me, and actually rather subtle.

This lovely scent can be difficult to find, but the La Collection scents from Lancome are generally available at both Saks and Nordstrom. They also show up periodically on EBay and decants are available at The Perfumed Court. It's definitely worth trying if you get a chance. On me, Peut-Etre is both a subtle scent and a meltingly feminine one.