• About
  • Login to comment
    • Bluesky
    • RSS
    • Twitter

Now Smell This

a blog about perfume

Menu ▼
  • Perfume Reviews
  • New Perfumes
  • Archives

Divine L’Inspiratrice ~ perfume review

Posted by Angela on 26 December 2007 9 Comments

Divine L'Inspiratrice

Sometimes a scent translates as visual to me. I see a landscape, or even a particular room or person. Sometimes, though, a fragrance feels like music. Its notes are high-pitched or deep and sonorous. To me, L’Inspiratrice by Divine smells like Debussy’s Clair de Lune heard from outside the concert hall on a warm evening. It is elegant, entrancing, and bohemian, but always civilized.

Perfumer Richard Ibanez created L’Inspiratrice, which was released in late 2006. The Divine website lists L’Inspiratrice’s notes as patchouli, rose, ylang ylang, bergamot, peony, white musk, vetiver, vanilla, and tonka bean. It also purrs with rounded aldehydes that give the scent a decidedly French feel.

L’Inspiratrice contains rose, but it isn’t big and fruity. Vanilla and tonka add a smell almost like honey, but strangely not all that sweet. L’Inspiratrice’s patchouli is soigné but definitely present, and it is the patchouli that sets L’Inspiratrice apart as the rebel sister of Divine and L’Ame Soeur. Sure, she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but she’s seen the inside of an artist’s studio or two and she can live comfortably in a fifth-floor walk-up with the bathtub in the kitchen. Just don’t ask her to do her own laundry.

All of Divine’s feminine fragrances feel ladylike to me, and L’Inspiratrice is no exception. The Divine feminine fragrances reject the “jolie-laide” elements that leather, dirty musk, some spices, or indolic flowers can add and instead embrace beauty purely and simply. Like the other Divine scents for women I’ve smelled, L’Inspiratrice floats without a strong bottom end and leaves me sniffing my arm trying to get at a ground that isn’t there. But if L’Inspiratrice did complete itself with a base of something firm and deep it might not be as intriguing.

If I could have only one bottle of a Divine fragrance, I’d choose L’Homme Sage. But next on the list is L’Inspiratrice, and I cherish the decant I have. After all, who wants to listen to the Clash everyday? Sometimes an aria from La Bohème is perfect, especially when it drifts from the balcony next door as you push open the bedroom window catch the summer night’s breeze.

Divine L'Inspiratrice is an Eau de Parfum. For buying information, see the listing for Divine under Perfume Houses.

Possibly of interest

5 perfumes: iris fragrances for fall
Divine Spirituelle ~ fragrance review
Top 10 Winter Fragrances 2013

Filed Under: perfume talk
Tagged With: divine, richard ibanez

Advertisement


9 Comments

Leave a comment, or read more about commenting at Now Smell This. Here's our privacy policy, and a handy emoticon chart.

  1. Anonymous says:
    27 December 2007 at 5:00 am

    Divine is a house I love, and you've captured its spirit perfectly: it's classical French perfumery, not the “jolie-laide” school. I love both and can alternate between the dirty, intimate musk of Miller Harris L'Air de Rien and the gentle aldehydic rose shimmer of Divine L'Ame Soeur, also sensuous in her own way with her vanilla-ambergris base. You're right, they don't do heavy bases, but they have a drydown that's sufficiently complex to keep me interesting.

    For anyone coming to Paris, Divine now has a stand-alone shop near Opera where you can refill your flacon once it's empty. It's managed by the wife of the founder, Mme Mouchel, a charming lady!

    Log in to Reply
  2. Anonymous says:
    27 December 2007 at 5:02 am

    That's “keep me interested” , of course… Tough actually, I guess it also keeps me “interesting” for anyone who comes close enough to smell my sillage!

    Log in to Reply
  3. Anonymous says:
    27 December 2007 at 11:55 am

    Divine really does stand alone among the niche houses for its classical focus. I wonder what the boutique looks like? I'm imagining whitewashed boiserie and a big crystal vase of flowers.

    It's hard to imagine there are people out there who actually finish a whole bottle of perfume–any perfume! But I love the idea of being able to refill your flask.

    Log in to Reply
  4. Anonymous says:
    27 December 2007 at 12:22 pm

    The boutique is white and usually filled with the scent of Divine. I don't remember flowers (but then I was deep in conversation with Mme Mouchel, a fount of perfume wisdom, as Divine used to be a perfume shop in the town of Dinard). There are a few Lalique (or Baccarat?) geegaws on sale too. It's a charming stop, really: tourists wander in on their way to the Galeries Lafayette or coming out of the Grand Hôtel, attracted by the Divine smell…

    Log in to Reply
  5. Anonymous says:
    27 December 2007 at 3:09 pm

    Angela, what a lovely review. You make me want to try this, despite it not sounding like “my kind of thing”. Who knows?

    Log in to Reply
  6. Anonymous says:
    27 December 2007 at 3:30 pm

    It sounds like this is one perfume house that lives up to its name!

    Log in to Reply
  7. Anonymous says:
    27 December 2007 at 3:32 pm

    Thank you! I'd love to know what you think of it if you do try it.

    Log in to Reply
  8. Anonymous says:
    20 January 2008 at 12:20 pm

    Oh…you've described this one perfectly Angela! I tried L'ame Soeur first and it is very beautiful. L’Inspiratrice is the sister of L'ame Soeur with a bohemian edge…perfect! This one I think is a little more interesting, a little more diverse, but I can see a time and a place where both would shine perfectly. This is a really interesting line of perfumes!

    Log in to Reply
  9. Anonymous says:
    20 January 2008 at 2:03 pm

    I'm glad you liked the review! Both L'Ame Soeur and L'Inspiratrice are lovely. Make sure you try the men's scents, too–they're pretty great.

    Log in to Reply

Leave a reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Advertisement

Search

Recent reviews

Atelier Cologne Love Osmanthus
Moschino Toy Boy
Arquiste Misfit
Diptyque Eau Capitale
Zoologist Bee
Parfum d’Empire Immortelle Corse
Comme des Garcons Series 10 Clash
Frédéric Malle Rose & Cuir
L’Artisan Parfumeur Le Chant de Camargue
Yves Saint Laurent Grain de Poudre
Régime des Fleurs Chloë Sevigny Little Flower
Chanel 1957
Gallivant Los Angeles
Amouage Portrayal Woman

Blogroll

Bois de Jasmin
Grain de Musc
Perfume Posse
The Non-Blonde
More blogs...

Perfumista lists

100 fragrances every perfumista should try
And 25 more fragrances every perfumista should smell
50 masculine fragrances every perfumista should try
26 vintage fragrances every perfumista should try
25 rose fragrances every perfumista should try
11 Cheap Perfumes Beauty Outsiders Love

Favorite posts

The Great Perfume Reduction Plan
Why I Love Old School Chypres
New to perfume and want to learn more?
How to make fragrance last through the day
Fragrance concentrations: sorting it all out
On reformulations, or why your favorite perfume doesn’t smell like it used to
How to get fragrance samples
Perfume for Life: How Long Will Your Fragrance Collection Last?

Upcoming

List of upcoming Friday projects

15 March ~ swapmeet

3 April ~ damage poll
26 April ~ splitmeet

3 May ~ spring reading poll
17 May ~ Haiku challenge!

 

Back to Top

Home
Archives
About Now Smell This :: Privacy Policy
Perfume Reviews
New Perfumes
General Perfume Articles
The Monday Mail

Glossary of Perfume Terms
Perfume FAQ
Perfume Books

Noses ~ Perfumers A-E :: F-K :: L-S :: T-Z

Perfume Houses A-B :: C :: D-E :: F-G
H-J :: K-L :: M :: N-O :: P :: Q-R :: S
T :: U-Z

Copyright © 2005-2025 Now Smell This. All rights reserved.