Customer reviews of CARREMENT BELLE

We're very sorry if our perfumes don't live up to your expectations, Anne-Marie. However, we can't let this kind of unfounded opinion pass without clarifying the way we work. You should know that the formulas of our 3 fragrances built around patchouli (ippi patchouli, ippi patchouli clair and kilim) contain over 40% natural patchouli from Indonesia: it's not fair to say that these fragrances don't smell of patchouli or that they are "chemical". On the other hand, we can hear that they don't match your interpretation of patchouli, which has been influenced by all the patchouli fragrances you've ever loved, themselves containing patchouli, but not only. It's a pity you didn't order our Discovery Pack to avoid this disappointment. We sincerely hope you find what you're looking for with our colleagues, and that your nose crosses paths with our fragrances one day!

Hello Ann, and thank you for your feedback: in case of doubt it is always a good idea to ask and I see 2 explanations to your problem.
First is that we had to slightly modify SO's formula in 2021 to comply with a change of the European cosmetic regulation. We worked with our perfumer for months on the reformulation of SO with the main objective to respect its original scent. We managed to get very close but, despite our best efforts, we also find a discreet difference in the base note. We can join you on this.
Secondly, your feeling could also be explained by a simple fact: before your last order, the previous one dated back from 2020. If you are comparing your bottle from 2020 to your bottle from 2024, it is completely normal to find an olfactory difference between both. Indeed, perfumes naturally evolves over time, and become more intense, often more sweet too. The bottle purchased this year has been freshly produced, so it is normal if its perfume is not the same than the one from 2020. Give your new bottle some time and you will see how it evolves.
I hope this helps you to understand and explain your feeling: since 1988, we always intended to create beautiful fragrances, so be sure we never decreased the quality of our perfumes.
Have a lovely day in the US and let's keep in touch...
Maxime

Thank you for your curiosity, Annick, and for taking the time to write to us after ordering your Discovery Pack. We are the first to apologize when our fragrances don't live up to your expectations. Which patchouli arfum are you referring to exactly? Because the formulas of our 3 fragrances built around patchouli (ippi patchouli, ippi patchouli clair and kilim) contain over 40% natural patchouli from Indonesia: it's the main ingredient and therefore very present. On the other hand, we can hear that these fragrances do not correspond to your interpretation of patchouli, which has been influenced by all the patchouli fragrances you may have liked, themselves containing patchouli, but not only. We combine other ingredients with patchouli to give depth and personality to our fragrances, so be careful not to compare our creations with a patchouli essential oil containing only patchouli. If time allows you to enjoy the eau de parfum samples you've ordered, you should know that some of them are also available as pure perfumes: an even more intense version, if that's what you're looking for! We hope you'll find what you're looking for in our perfumes, or that you'll find what you're looking for in our other products. Have a nice day and see you soon! Maxime

Hello Murielle. We're the first to apologize when the magic between our fragrances and your skin doesn't work, but if our fragrances didn't last, we'd have closed the store a long time ago! While some fragrances in our collection are designed to be discreet and confidential (musk or alõ, for example), others offer a beautiful trail and long-lasting fragrance. However, it's important to remember that a fragrance can react, smell or hold up differently from one person to another, as the way it holds up depends very much on the wearer's skin. Don't hesitate to perfume your clothes, on which the fragrance will last longer, or opt for a pure perfume, which will be even more concentrated and therefore more intense than eau de parfum. Beware, too, of temporary loss of smell caused by allergies or viruses.
Finally, I concede that our samples come with an ear touch, which is less practical than a spray bottle for dosing and distributing the fragrance. This may also explain the impression of lightness, which could disappear with your bottle, which is fitted with a spray bottle.
Thank you for your curiosity in testing our fragrances, and good luck in your olfactory quest!

Thank you François for your message, we hope you find what you're looking for! However, this description corresponds to our ippi patchouli fragrance, and we have 2 other fragrances (kilim and ippi patchouli clair) which contain over 40% natural patchouli from Indonesia. But these fragrances also contain other ingredients to give depth and personality to our creations. So be careful not to compare our fragrances with a patchouli essential oil containing only patchouli. Good luck in your quest, and I hope to see you soon!

We're surprised, Véronique, because you've been ordering our "vanilla" fragrance for several years, but you've never ordered "ippi patchouli" (not from our website, anyway). What's certain is that this fragrance hasn't changed: it's been our iconic fragrance since 1988, and we'd have no interest in changing a formula that's so popular. Be careful not to compare our fragrance to patchouli essential oil or other perfumes containing patchouli: although over 40% of our "ippi patchouli" is natural Indonesian patchouli, it also contains other ingredients to give it personality and depth. The comparison is therefore irrelevant. We're sorry, however, that you don't like it, but there's no accounting for taste! We hope you've appreciated the quality of our service: shipment in less than 2 hours, delivery in 48 hours, little touches... We hope to see you soon. Maxime

Thank you for your kind words about our quality of service and, above all, for your curiosity in testing our Jean-Marc perfume! Although composed of over 40% natural patchouli from Indonesia, the formula of this fragrance also includes other ingredients (details on the product sheet on our website and in the catalog we received). If you were looking for a fragrance composed solely of patchouli, it's probably these ingredients that are bothering you. However, they are important to us in giving character and depth to our creation. We hope you'll find what you're looking for in our range of essential oils, or that you'll come to fully appreciate ippi patchouli over time... See you soon! Maxime

When the chemistry between your skin and our fragrance isn't there, we're disappointed too, Pascale! But be careful to analyze things carefully, because if our fragrances didn't hold up, we wouldn't have been around for a long time... While some of the fragrances in our collection are designed to be discreet and confidential (musk or alõ, for example), our 3 patchouli fragrances offer a beautiful trail and a long afterglow. However, it's important to remember that a fragrance can react, smell or hold up differently from one person to another, as the way it holds up depends very much on the wearer's skin. Don't hesitate to perfume your clothes, on which the fragrance will last longer, or opt for a pure perfume, which will be even more concentrated and therefore more intense than eau de parfum. Beware, too, of temporary loss of smell caused by allergies or viruses.
Finally, I concede that our samples come with an ear touch, which is less practical than a spray bottle for dosing and distributing the fragrance. This may also explain the impression of lightness, which could disappear with your bottle, which is fitted with a spray bottle.
Thank you for your curiosity in testing our fragrances, and good luck in your olfactory quest! Maxime

Many thanks for this lovely message Dominique, it's a pleasure to read that you've found your happiness with our ippi patchouli eau de parfum!

Thank you for having the curiosity to try our Véronique fragrance, and sorry if it's not strong enough for you! The strength of a fragrance can vary from one skin to another, and this appreciation depends very much on individual preferences. I sincerely hope you find what you're looking for from our colleagues, and wish you all the best for the future! Maxime

Thanks for the kind words about our new packaging, Gwenola. We're the first to apologize when the magic between our fragrances and your skin doesn't work, but if our scents didn't hold up, we'd have closed the store long ago! While some fragrances in our collection are designed to be discreet and confidential (musk or alõ, for example), others offer a beautiful trail and long-lasting fragrance. However, it's important to remember that a fragrance can react, smell or hold up differently from one person to another, as the way it holds up depends very much on the wearer's skin. Don't hesitate to perfume your clothes, on which the fragrance will last longer, or opt for a pure perfume, which will be even more concentrated and therefore more intense than eau de parfum. Beware, too, of temporary loss of smell caused by allergies or viruses.
Thank you for your curiosity in testing our fragrances, and good luck in your olfactory quest! Maxime

We'd love you to fall in love with our Andrea fragrance, but unfortunately the chemistry isn't always there. And yet, this fragrance's formula contains over 40% natural patchouli from Indonesia: the main ingredient. While the gourmand note mentioned is not a primary facet of this juice, that's the beauty of perfume: everyone interprets it in their own way, and it's surely this subjectivity that makes the relationship with one's perfume so strong and personal. Good luck in your quest for the perfect perfume, and thank you for giving our fragrances a chance. I hope to see you soon... Maxime

It's always a good idea to share your feelings Valérie, but we're very surprised because we can guarantee that your fragrance hasn't changed! You've known us all these years: we're very transparent about the way we work, and we would have informed you if we'd changed the formula of our fragrance. If you compare the bottle you ordered a few days ago with the last bottle you ordered on our site almost 2 years ago, it's normal to notice a difference, as the fragrance it contained had naturally evolved between the time you started it and the time you finished it. Your new bottle, freshly produced, allows you to rediscover the initial scent of your perfume, which will evolve over the coming months/years and become more intense, often sweeter, with time.
Note that our brains sometimes play tricks on us and can influence the perception we have of a fragrance, even when we think we know it by heart:
- Over time, and the longer we wear a fragrance, our brain tends to "fall asleep": as it becomes accustomed to a scent, we have the impression of no longer (or less) smelling our perfume. We may also have the impression that it has changed, as the brain may also discover other ingredients and new facets of the fragrance, less obvious to perceive at first.
- Some fragrances can also change color: in contact with air, light and temperature variations, the juice naturally oxidizes (more information here). The conditions under which a fragrance is stored in a bottle can therefore accelerate its "aging". Its scent won't change radically, but it will become more intense and mellower. For example, the freshly produced juice of our SO eau de parfum is translucent with a slight green tinge, but it will become darker and darker, until it is dark brown after a few months or years!
- Finally, we need to take into account the context in which we evolve: a change in skincare/beauty products, a hormonal evolution or the contraction of a virus (COVID or other) can explain a new perception of one's perfume for sometimes several months.
I hope you now have a better understanding of this feeling of change, and I'll be happy to answer any further questions you may have! Have a nice day and see you soon...
Maxime

Hello Laurie,
As someone who should know us so well after so many years of wearing our perfumes, I'm amazed that you think we've changed our packaging "for economies of scale". What a pity you didn't call us, we would have explained to you that the new label decorating our bottles is anything but "cheap": we worked for several months with our French printer to create a specially designed shape, embossing and silver hot stamping. They are then delicately applied by hand in our Nîmes workshop by Dominique and Cécile, which requires a great deal of time and attention. The idea was not to save money, but to offer a graphic universe to each fragrance, to complement their olfactory worlds. We're sorry if you don't like the new design, but we'd have appreciated it if these comments had been tempered by the quality of our fragrances that you love so much, or by the quality of our service with the ultra-fast dispatch of your parcel, the thoughtfulness that goes into it... The whole team wishes you all the very best for the holidays, and we hope that our fragrances will continue to stick to your skin for a long time to come: after all, the most important thing is what's IN the bottle... 😊 See you soon, Maxime

When you can't find what you're looking for in one of our fragrances, we're the first to apologize. As we explained in our conversation with Julia, don't hesitate to order our Discovery Pack before buying a new bottle in the future! Happy holidays and good luck in your olfactory quest...

Hello Jean-Paul, and thank you for being curious enough to try our iconic ippi patchouli! Natural patchouli from Indonesia accounts for over 40% of this fragrance's formula. Patchouli is therefore clearly the main ingredient in this fragrance, which also offers woody and earthy notes in particular. Patchouli is also featured in our kilim (a spicy oriental patchouli) and ippi patchouli clair (a sunny patchouli) fragrances, which you were able to test thanks to the samples included in your parcel. If you like these fragrances but are looking for more intensity, consider our pure perfumes, which are more concentrated than eaux de parfum, and therefore more intense. But if that's still not enough for you - and we understand that you're addicted to this addictive ingredient - then we hope you'll find what you're looking for from our colleagues! Good luck in your quest, and we hope to see you soon... Maxime

Hello Orphé Alistaire and thank you for your loyalty to our fragrances. Please let us know how we can further improve the quality of our service and fragrances: we always welcome constructive feedback! Happy fragrance adventures with so and see you soon...