Fame in Love Parfum Elixir Eau de Parfum 30ml

Three materials are the whole note row for Rabanne Fame in Love Parfum Elixir Eau de Parfum 30ml, and a composition this short deserves to be described as one rather than dressed up as something with hidden depths.

What we hold is strawberry extract, iris concrete and vanilla. The strawberry is the lead and it is the tart, slightly green version of the fruit rather than the sugared one, with that faintly sharp smell the hull has. Iris concrete is the expensive part: a thick, cool, powdery material drawn from the root, closer to cold soil and talc than to any flower, and it is what gives the scent its grown up texture. Vanilla sits at the end, smooth and mild, sweet enough to soften the iris without turning the whole thing into pudding. Three materials, each of them used at some strength, and the result is dense rather than complicated.

Short compositions behave predictably, and that is the point here. There is no development to wait for: what you smell at ten minutes is what you will be wearing four hours later, closer to the skin and a little sweeter as the vanilla takes over. At this concentration the length is good and the projection is moderate, which suits the powdery character; it sits near you rather than filling a room. Thirty millilitres is the right size for something this rich, and it is feminine in character, works best in cool weather, and is better suited to evenings and to the office than to a hot afternoon. The year recorded is 2025.

Rabanne began life in the mid sixties as the Paris fashion house of the designer Paco Rabanne. Its scent business, created and still run by the Spanish group Puig, has grown far beyond the clothes, and the Fame family is one of the reasons why.