LANCOME
LA VIE EST BELLE IRIS ABSOLU

2023

PERFUMER
Anne Flipo
Dominique Ropion

blackcurrant
Orange Blossom
Fig

Jasmine
Orange Blossom

Iris
Gourmand Accord
Patchouli

La Vie Est Belle is not a line I’m overly familiar with, as far as properly testing it. I’ve smelled it on other people and usually found it cloyingly sweet, however, an iris flanker always has my attention.

Iris Absolu is the 2023 flanker with iris as one of the main selling points, but it is still a very sweet fragrance overall. You get hit with a blast of iris straight away, but within 2-3 minutes, it almost disappears in the sweetness. It rears its head throughout, but it’s fighting an uphill battle against the sweeter notes.

The fig is an interesting note here, adding a green, oily fruity vibe that I feel is perhaps even more prominent than the namesake iris. For me, the fig adds the levity that this fragrance desperately needs, so I appreciate it.

The base is full-on gourmand, with a slightly fruity and slightly more floral tinge that I found rather generic. It actually reminded me a little bit of Kayali Yum Patchouli Gelato 33.

A big, synthetic smelling, sweet cloud. It has the type of sweetness that I can only describe as a typical designer release styling, but tempered due to the iris. The tempering is making Iris Absolu pretty nice and wearable for me, but still not what I would prefer to wear ideally.

I had high hopes when I smelled La Vie Est Belle Iris Absolu briefly in store and I do like the fig note in this, but I wish this wasn’t nearly as sweet as it is. As for the iris, it is there, but I wouldn’t label it an iris fragrance. If you’re looking for a nice designer iris flanker, I’d suggest Armani My Way Parfum, which was released around the same time and is a lot nicer in my opinion.