Perfume Review: L'Inspiratrice by Divine

L’Inspiratrice is the new fragrance to join Yvon Mouchel's collection of Divine perfumes. If I were to describe the Divine line in general and L’Inspiratrice in particular in one word, the word would have been Elegant. The smooth, graceful blends produced by Divine are incredibly refined. L’Inspiratrice is described as “a lofty meeting between patchouli and the rose” and is said to also contain the notes of ylang-ylang, bergamot, peony, white musk, vetiver, vanilla and tonka bean. “Beware!’ warn us the creators of the scent. “Sensuality is in the air.” The blend of rose and patchouli seemed to have been destined to go in either of the two directions: it could have veered towards the gothic, brooding and earthy a la L’Artisan’s Voleur de Rose or could have turned out to be sultry, come-hither-erotic and luscious, something along the lines of L’Arte di Gucci. In reality, L’Inspiratrice effortlessly and elegantly walks the line between the two extremes and offers a wearer the best of the two worlds. The dark-red, honeyed warmth of the roses, enhanced by the sweet creaminess of ylang-ylang, vanilla and tonka bean, is paired with the dry and at the same time vaguely edible, almost chocolate-like earthiness of patchouli and the arid greenness of vetiver. A delicate sparkle, added to the composition by the mix of bergamot and peony, is incredibly charming. L’Inspiratrice is indeed sensual, but its sensuality is sophisticatedly understated. This is the scent for a refined, well-mannered, ladylike seductress. L’Inspiratrice is available at divine.fr, €45.00-€138.00 depending on the size. The photo of the bottle is from divine.fr. The image is Tendresse by Rene Gruau.