*~ NINA RICCI L'AIR DU TEMPS PARIS ~*

This classic perfume is made by the French fashion house of Nina Ricci. It was first released into the public domain in 1948, and such is its staying power. Still going strong in 2008 it is as a well known and highly respected fragrance from this designer. L'Air du Temps meaning 'The Air Of Time' runs on the theme of air. Creators of perfume use a central theme as the 'story' of their perfume, and in L'Air du Temps case the theme is 'Air' denoted by a picture of doves kissing with wings outspread on the product. The world famous doves also represent peace and freedom, freedom of spirit. The creators take the theme as the story and the first main accord of the perfume is created around the central theme. So they will take the fragrance that they see as representing air as the main accord, and in the case of L'Air du Temps the chosen main fragrances are gardenia and carnation. This perfume has been chosen to represent a breath of fresh air, serene, poetical and romantic.

It is softly spoken and understated, and this is just the element that I really like about L'Air du Temps. It puts me in mind of lazy summer afternoons, hazy sunrises, and waking in the morning with a feeling that you are at peace with the world. Sleepy and happy with that comfortable feeling when you are totally at one with yourself. That is what the fragrance of L'Air du Temp represents for me. Though not an aggressive scent it is quite recognizable and unlike many scents of 'Today' it is still very easy to distinguish the scent upon someone. It has its own special fragrance that really is quite unique. I find a lot of today's perfumes to be really quite similar unless it is a stand out perfume like L'eau D'issey which is of course very distinguishable.

The top notes of L'Air du Temps are gardenia and carnation with the lesser note of jasmine, sandlewood and iris, so although at heart a flowery scent, it also has a spicy sandlewood middle note which brings in the spiciness through the flower, resulting in a lovely mixture of and flower and spice. I have a small 90% volume, 6 ml bottle of the perfume of L'Air du Temps which was a gift. It came encased in a yellow hexagonal box with two intertwined doves kissing, above L'Air du Temps, Nina Ricci, Paris written in gold lettering. The box is understated and looks expensive and of a high quality.

The glass moulded bottle inside is ridged, swirling up the bottle which is narrow at the base and shaping fuller to the middle, to taper narrow at the top. Placed upon the top of the glass bottle there are two white frosted doves kissing with wings spread, which is this perfumes trademark of peace. It is a beautiful bottle and tastefully designed. The perfume inside is gorgeous, and of course much stronger than the Eau de Toillette. I can pick out the gardenia, carnation, and jasmine notes immediately, then with a delicate powdery iris scent following though with the sandlewood quite strongly featured also.

This is such a lovely perfume and though expensive I feel it is worth the extra money as it really does have an individual scent all of its own. I also have the Eau de Toilette which I normally use in the daytime, and the stronger smell of the perfume for the evening. L'Air du Temps is a legendary perfume with a highly recognizable fragrance. In 1999 the firm Lalique designed and signed a series of collectors limited edition crystal bottles of the L'Air du Temps, and said bottle was designated 'Bottle of the century'.- If anyone is in possession of one of these I should think it is worth a small fortune as Lalique is one of Frances great glass makers, and their work fetches good money.

L'Air du Temps is suitable for any age of woman and I would say suitable for day or night wear, and any occasion. It is romantic, sensual, delicate and refined. The notes are carnation and gardenia, with spicy accents of rose Centifolia, Grasse Jasmine, Orris, Mysore Sandalwood. Being a subtle scent you may want to reapply it every three hours or so if necessary, just to strengthen the fragrance. When searching on the Internet for the best possible price on this product I came across http://www.fragrancedirect.co.uk which has amazing discounts of up to as much as 75% on some perfumes. On L'Air du Temps with MRP of £42.00 their price was £14.99 for a 100ml atomizer Eau de Toilette, which is a brilliant saving. I shall definitely be checking out this site for future purchases of perfumes.