The Philosophy

Happiness is a choice

As it touches on some of the most intimate aspects of life, fragrance is more than a scent, a bottle or even a dream. It is above all a conviction. “La vie est belle” is the mantra of a new era. A new era characterized by a rejection of a world that is gold-plated, and defined by the dictates of fashion, of money over matter, of being sexy no matter what. Far from all forms of excess and the conventions created by mainstream over the past three decades, “La vie est belle” represents a choice. Universal yet personal, Lancome’s femininity is a choice embraced by women, not an imposed standard. The choice to live one’s life and fill it with beauty. Your own way. Lancome has long fostered this conviction, and shares it today with all women in the form of an exceptional creation. The fragrance of joy and of freedom. The fragrance that makes life more beautiful.

The Fragrance

A scent infused with soul and light

For the first time, three French masters of perfumery have combined their talents to compose an exceptional fragrance: Olivier Polge, Dominique Ropion and Anne Flipo. Their olfactory manifesto: to create the first ever feminine Iris Garmound. A new olfactory language, somewhere between shadow and light. A bright- obscure fragrance composed of nothing but pure ingredients. A narrative distilled from just 63 ingredients, allowing each to be fully expressed. An undertaking so complex that it called for no fewer than 5521 versions and three years’ work. A richly simple balance blending the rare nobility of Iris, the stirring depth of Indonesian Patchouli and the child- like delights of a Gourmand Accord.

Jasmin

To illuminate and lift this floral heart, Sambac Jasmine and Tunisian orange blossom flowers were added, in the form of sublime absolutes.

Gourmand Accord Orange Blossom Flowers Indonesian Patchouli Iris Pallida

Gourmand Accord

The fragrance’s smile, its delectable sweet facet – a burst of unexpected radiance. Like spun sugar infused with notes of vanilla, tonka bean, praline, blackcurrant and pear, it swathes the composition’s refined notes in childlike innocence.

Jasmin Orange Blossom Flowers Indonesian Patchouli Iris Pallida

Orange Blossom Flowers

To illuminate and lift this floral heart, Sambac Jasmine and Tunisian orange blossom flowers were added, in the form of sublime absolutes.

Jasmin Gourmand Accord Indonesian Patchouli Iris Pallida

Indonesian Indonesian Patchouli

The exceptional Indonesian Indonesian Patchouli essence has been fractionated to leave only its quintessence, the purest fraction, a “heart of Indonesian Patchouli,” as perfumers call it, amplifying all its strength, potency and depth.

Jasmin Gourmand Accord Orange Blossom Flowers Iris Pallida

Iris Pallida

Serving as the fragrance’s backbone, iris has been reinvented, taking on new-found magnitude. Generally expressed as a middle note, within this fragrance it blossoms from the first to the last note like never before. A precise blend of the richness of Florence Iris Pallida concrete, one of perfumery’s rarest and most expensive ingredients, adding a note of irone, enveloped in the sensuality of Iris aldehyde.

Jasmin Gourmand Accord Orange Blossom Flowers Indonesian Patchouli

The Crystal Smile

Squaring the Circle

What if happiness could be captured in a bottle? In 1949, Lancome founder Armand Petitjean asked his artistic director George Delhomme to create a bottle to symbolize the aura of women. Entitled The Crystal Smile, this bottle captures the quintessence of happiness: the grace of a smile cut into glass. 63 years later, and over one year of production, this design finally assumes its full significance with “La vie est belle”. Reinterpreted in resolutely contemporary aesthetics, it has been created in the image of a free and happy woman.