Parfum Sacré (1990)
by Caron

WOW. Perfection is what i smelled the first time and everytime. this is a vintage scent for sure...i think of molasses, warm honey, sweet tobacco, jordan almonds, cream and musk. When i breathe it in all the way i can smell the lemon and peppercorn at the very end. i think of 1930's paris at evening, soem sexy young girl dressed in black at the corner of the bar drinking port and smoking a skinny cigarette. Romantic, sensual yet also mysterious...like Mona Lisa's Smile. LOVE--LOVE---LOVE this perfume.

I like this very much. It feels warm and comforting. I do have the sense of smelling some kind of holy incense. It seems pretty strong, a few spritzs go a long way! Love it! This is another fragrance that is great for bedtime.

I wasn't too sure about this one when I tested a spray of the EDT on my wrist at the store. I liked it, but wasn't sure. But the EDP was not very expensive, so I thought "why not?" and splurged. About 3 sprays to my chest and I was wondering what I had done! It was rather feminine. But the top notes burned off and left a gorgeous dry floral with warm, slightly sweet incense notes. I realized I really quite loved Parfum Sacre. Gentlemen, it actually works well as a unisex perfume. Just wait about 20 minutes for the somewhat feminine opening to burn off and you're good to go. The EDP lasts a good long time. It's not too sweet and very unique.

Top notes: lemon, pepper, mace, cardomon and aldehydes;
middle notes:orange blossom, Rose, Jasmin, Rosewood, Ylang-Ylang, Orris and Carnation
Base notes: Vanilla, Mhyrrh, Olibanum, Amber, Musk, Civet and Cedar.

I shouldn't like Parfum Sacre, but I do. I like it very much. In fact, it may be one of the most beautiful scents I've yet encountered.

One of the things that has always hindered my appreciation of women's perfume is that so many carry a hint of that generic chemical "perfumy" stench that always hits you when you walk through the fragrance section of a department store. That smell is present in Sacre, but somehow Bethouart transforms it into the scent of opulent luxury.

My grandma's messy closet was full of dried, dusty roses. Yet what seemed stale in the closet evokes feminine royalty in the purfume. There is incense in Sacre as well, which typically recalls me of stuffy churches and cheesy dorm rooms. Yet the incense in Sacre seems to belong in a sunlit cathedral with impossibly high ceilings, a space so vast that the smoke merely curls, rises, and disappears.

Sacre is perfectly named. If I ever marry, I hope my bride wears this fragrance to the alter. If she doesn't, I may have to.

I have a small partial bottle of the EDT and I agree totally with Purplebird7. This is so beautiful when it first goes on, but I can't really enjoy it as much when that black pepper note kicks in. At first I was thinking that the problem may have been something in the make up of the EDT and was about to purchase a a bottle of the EDP, however, after I read Purplebird7's review it made sense that it was a pepper note that I was having a problem with. I keep wanting to push it out of the way so I can enjoy the other notes. I can respect that the perfume's creator made a creative choice to add this note, and judging from all of the positive reviews, it works for a lot of people. It just doesn't work for me.

I had to edit this review becaue I am having bad experiences with the black pepper note in perfume. It seems to me that this particular ingredient "blooms" over time, and often overtakes other notes. When I first bought my Parfum Sacre, the lemon, mace, and vanilla were dominant. It was spicy-sweet, lemony, and delicious with vanilla. Several years later, hot, woody black pepper permeates this perfume into its heart, preventing me from enjoying it until the drydown, when it finally becomes sweeter. I had a similar experience with Bulgari Omnia: my first bottle was from Sephora and was beautiful, but my second bottle was an old one from a small store, and it was unwearable. I will avoid this note in the future, as it has ruined two of my favorite perfumes. I still want to give this one a positive rating based on how it used to smell, but I can't anymore.