2022: One decade of La Vie Est Belle

I was planning on writing this before 2022 was over. It's 2023 and I don't want to ignore the fact that this fragrance has been around for over 10 years. Meet La Vie Est Belle by Lâncome.

I'm kidding. At this point, everyone who has the mildest interest in perfume already smelled it. It is one of the most popular and best-selling perfumes worldwide while at the same time one of the world's most hated perfumes.

If you haven't smelled it before, I assure you that once you do, you will immediately think "I've smelled this before". You might have smelled this on other people, you might have smelled perfumes with a similar scent profile before. Whatever it is, you will find this familiar.

At this moment in time, La Vie Est Belle is the answer to the question "What does perfume smell like?". And although you might be tired of it right now, at the time it was launched, this type of gourmand composition was new. And a crowd-pleaser.

This made me wonder about what makes a perfume a so-called crowd-pleaser. People are different. Scent is a personal thing. Tied to both our biology and our memories. How can there be some perfumes that are an instant hit around the world?

Are there any smells universally loved?

The answer, according to a collaborative study from 2022 involving researchers from Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, and the University of Oxford, UK, is yes. The researchers found that certain smells were liked more than others regardless of the cultural affiliation of participants.

“Cultures around the world rank different odors in a similar way no matter where they come from, but odor preferences have a personal – although not cultural – component,” says Dr Arshamian. (source)

Most of us can easily guess which scent ranked the highest among participants: vanilla. And in second place: ethyl butyrate, a fruity and juicy aromachemical that can come across as pineapple or peach.

Of course, the individual experiences and perceptions may change this. Maybe you once worked in a job you hated where the air was scented by apple candles. This could make you hate some apple smells.

But I think no matter how complex our favorite perfumes might be, the sweet warmth of vanilla and mouthwatering juicy fruits appeal to something deeply rooted within our brains.


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