In late 1999, Lancome launched 2000 et Une Rose to celebrate the turn of the century. The fragrance was developed by perfumer Christine Nagel, and included notes of rose, amber, vanilla and musk. 2000 Et Une Rose was a limited edition, but you could still buy it at the Lancome Institute in Paris even after it was discontinued in its original teardrop-shaped bottle; still, fans in the United States could no longer pop down to their local Lancome counter to replenish their supply. Happily, last year Lancome reissued the fragrance as part of its "La Collection" series under the new name Mille et Une Roses.
Mille et Une Roses is a beautiful fragrance, and one of my favorite roses. It is not the straight up, dewy-fresh rose of Serge Lutens Sa Majesté la Rose, but nor is it a sexy, big-statement rose, as in, say, Annick Goutal Ce Soir ou Jamais or Frederic Malle Une Rose. Mille et Une Roses lies somewhere in between; it is a quiet fragrance, warmed by the amber and musk but not overpowered (it is not a dark scent by any means), and it feels relatively unembellished.
Like Stella McCartney's Stella, Mille et Une Roses has an modern, unfussy quality; it is the sort of fragrance that might convert even a hardened rose-hater. Still, Mille et Une Roses does not have the resolutely casual feel of Stella. It is a deeper scent, with a drier, woodier base, and only a very light touch of vanilla. It is romantic without being old-fashioned, and very much worth trying.
I cannot restrain myself from carping about the presentation. The boxy La Collection bottles are fine, but there is something about the very blue juice in the very squared-off bottle that just reminds me of nail polish remover, and that doesn't fit in with the Mille et Une Roses fragrance at all. End of rant.
Mille et Une Roses is an Eau de Parfum, and the lasting power is perhaps a bit below average. A 50 ml bottle is $125. The gift set (shown above, and according to the Lancome website, nearly out of stock) is $150 and also comes with a candle.
Tomorrow, more roses ~ Bond no. 9 West Side & Bryant Park
The presentation made sense when the bottle was in the tear drop shape. I agree that it looks just odd in the square bottle.
The reissued version is beautiful, but it seems less luxurious to me. I have a feeling that some ingredient substitution took place, afterall.
This is one of those scents that gets woodier and woodier on me until there is no rose whatsoever. The beginning and middel are pretty good, but I'm not a fan of the last half….
This is a lovely rose fragrance. I gave it to my mother-in-law for Christmas, and she loves it. I prefer Rosine Ecume de Rose, but this one is a close second.
Hugs!
I agree that it is very beautiful, but quiet. Maybe just a tad too quiet for me. Still, a lovely, lovely scent.
Sounds lovely; I wonder if it's anywhere in the UK yet? I didn't see it in Harrods or Harvey Nicks last month. I was a bit startled to see the blue juice – somehow this seems perverse for a deep rose fragrance! Some have said it's like West Side, which I liked a lot – looking forward to reading your review, R, and hearing whether you detect a resemblance.
I like the ambery-woods-musk thing in the dry down, but you're right that eventually the rose is much less evident. Perhaps that is why I think of it as having less than perfect lasting power — it isn't gone after a few hours, but it needs to be refreshed.
It is *too* disconcertingly blue for this bottle.
But I have given up…everything is less luxurious than it used to be, no?
R, you know I love Ecume too…although I think of it as yet another kind of rose — much more lighthearted than Mille et Une Roses. Glad your MIL loved her present!
I can see finding it too quiet, M…
Oh, I would have thought you would have had it in the UK ages ago — but just looked on the UK Lancome site, and don't see any of the La Collection scents at all! That is very odd. Do you know if any of them were there last year (Climat, Sagamore, Sikim)?
I adore this one! But that bottle and the presentation, what were they thinking? This needs NOT BLUE juice. Makes you wonder how the design presentation went and if anyone objected?
Yes, Harrods had all of those last year. Perhaps they had the Mille et Une and I just didn't notice it? Well, will just have to make another trip into London, hee hee…
I like the square bottles in general, but you're right — not for this juice. Which BTW reminds me a bit of the Creed one we like.
I wonder — do I need to send you a sample of that MDCI stuff, #2, the rose one? You need new samples like a third eye, but I think you'd love it.
Please don't tell Annie there's been dilution or substitution of ingredients in this. I don't think she could stand it. Me, I love it. LOVE IT. xoxo
I do think this is a beautiful scent, although I don't find myself reaching for it much. Probably, like Marina, I find it a bit too quiet for my usual (boisterous) mood. But lovely.
And with others, I agree about the presentation. I have a teardrop bottle with a tiny bit of juice left; I'm not sure about the difference in the perfume, but the old bottle wins hands down–it's completely beautiful, a classic!! I guess they wanted to make all their Collection reissues look alike–but this shape is much better with some of the other scents.
My nose is nowhere as sophisticated as yours, V, but I tested the old and new versions wrist-to-wrist, and I could not detect any difference.
Thanks for the review, R! I have loved this scent since the day it launched. I bought the original in the lovely teardrop bottle and went back the following day to buy another one. I have since used up 4 of them, gave partial bottles away, and even found some at the Lancome outlet store! I was thrilled when it was re-launched. I love the peppery notes and the woods in the base. Looking forward to your comments on the Bonds tomorrow!
The juice was originally blue, and looked ok blue in the teardrop bottle for some reason. It just doesn't work in this one!
Or maybe it isn't there yet? It was the last of the group to launch.
I need samples like a third eye is exactly right — but if you think I *need* to smell it, then yes!
You know, there is *always* substitution. I'm sort of trying to not care anymore, since nobody asks me first 🙂
But I'd be very surprised if Annie doesn't already own the new bottle, so it must have been ok with her!
I don't reach for any of my roses very much, and I'm still not entirely sure why. I have to be in a very particular mood to want to wear rose. Same is true of carnation, but it isn't true of many other flowers.
I assume it was not just to make them all look alike, but also a much cheaper way to reissue from the back catalog, and since I'm all for reissuing from the back catalog whenever possible, I hate to complain. But even a paler blue would have been more palatable.
Wow, at the outlet store, lucky you!!! I have never used up 4 bottles of *anything*, I am impressed.
Windex. The juice looks like Windex.
I love this fragrance, especially for spring, when I want something FRESH! that isn't CITRUS! or MARINE! That said, there's something about it that reminds me of a really beautifully scented shampoo or lotion. It's got a commercial, almost sanitized quality. This doesn't make me love it any less, but it changes my love such that I don't feel that it'll ever replace my other beloved rose scents. It's like this:
MdUR::SL Rose de Nuit
as
Barbie doll hair::real human hair
Sometimes I want that earthy REALness of a good dirty rose.
Oops, that was MeUR, not MdUR. Darn these fingers.
Interesting, I don't think of it as so clean and sanitized and commercial, but you're right that there is nothing at all “dirty” in there, and certainly nothing at all in the leagues of Rose de Nuit. Hmmm. Maybe it is more sanitized than I thought.
And Windex is perfect — exactly.
I have wanted to try this fragrance for a long time, got a sample and now I really want it. However, I can't find it anywhere, and the Lancome site reports that it has been discontinued. Does anyone know anything about this? Does anyone know if it will come back? Maybe in a new incarnation? I am reallllly disappointed, it smells awesome, and all I have is a teeny vial!
I did not do a full-scale search of the discounters, but beautyencounter still has it.
Thanks very much, I picked up two bottles!
Good for you! If you manage to drain both of them, you might try emailing Lancome directly in Paris — I know when they stopped selling it online last time (it was originally a 1999 limited edition), they were still selling it in one of their flagship stores there.