Anais Anais Cacharel for women

What can one even say about this? It's an instantly recognizable cult-classic. I fell in love with this at 14 years old and it became my signature fragrance for nearly a decade. There's something a little bit odd about this. I remember once being told I smell like old wallpaper. The heavy tuberose definitely gives this somewhat of a grandmotherly feel. It is however, a truly unique and well made scent, both extremely romantic and edgy at the same time. Give it a go! It's a ride.

smells like home.

okay so to preface the review, somehow my dna seems to be wired to go feral for every white floral perfume this side of the planet. whether jasmine, tuberose, lily, or any other white floral, somehow I tend to go for these scents. elegantly tokyo, lush’s lust, juicy couture og, alien, charlie red, death and decay, the list goes on. maybe it’s my Filipina roots but somehow a white floral hits every button in my body.

I’ve never really gravitated towards the cacharel aisles in my local müller/douglas/rossmann/etc; I always see nöa or amor amor, and trying them hasn’t been much of an experience for me, as I find them lacking for my tastes (big girl, bigger voice, biggest personality), and the designs never really spoke to me much.

to connect this, recently, a lot of major upheavals and changes are happening in my life, and I wanted something to comfort me. my usual perfumes weren’t hitting the same, and I just wanted something that reminded me of my grandma, so I asked my mom what perfume she wore. she said anais anais, and immediately I ran to my local drugstore to grab a bottle and spray it on myself.

oh boy, was I comforted.

it smells just like hugging my grandma, who passed in 2019; this powdery, green, peachy floral fragrance just smelled exactly like her on my skin, but with an added hint of sweetness and spiciness from my skin chemistry. it’s so classically old school and feminine, but on me smells more modern and edgy. smelling the hyacinth/lily/tuberose and the slight fruitiness of this perfume made me realize why I love juicy couture og so much; it reminded me of all the women in my family but with my own twist. anais anais however is more put together and both somberly elegant yet bursting with life, if that makes sense. the wisecracking grandmother, old school pageant girls, your old coworker who comes in and gives you the best advice at just the right time.

I’m overjoyed and comforted by having this perfume in my collection now, especially for upcoming performances where I want to have the feeling of my grandma protecting me through it all.

Lilies, lilies, some jasmin and more lilies, which are accompanied by hyacinth, so flawless that it steals my attention at times from this white floral abundance. And then the galbanum pins those flowers to oakmoss and incense base - not too green, not too bitter, not too cold, and, I guess what is the most important for this holy trinity in such a subtle composition, not overly present.

It is a pleasure to inhale this beautiful bouquet with undoubtably perfume character and some discussable soapiness. White, yet vivid, vintage, yet bright.

I remember smelling this as a teen, when it hadn't been out many years. My friend was wearing it. 'Peach and grass' was the immediate impression.
Since then, it has also shown its lily/creamy-galbanum character.
I have an older formulation and it smells so fresh. Once again, I miss the times when there wasn't a harsh division between 'young and old' and we wanted to emulate older women, admiring their mysterious sophistication. Complexity wasn't an issue, it was a plus. It's not a medicinal perfume. The friend who happily wore this was outgoing, funny, liked by boys. She was intensely feminine. Like this complex perfume.

girlier more old fashioned sister of Eden. very distinctly Cacharel. potent 80s sweet floral with medicinal notes.

do not blind buy unless you know and adore these scents. super niche and retro. grandmas old toiletry cabinet vibes

In spite of its image of flower-patterned pinafore naïveté, Anaïs Anaïs, underneath its Victorian sharp green and powdered ruffles, isn't really a petticoat prissiness after all. Those of a masculine persuasion may initially scoff at its prim opening, all tra-la-la and tiptoes through the tulips, all rosy-cheeked, but once we reach the corner of the cottage garden where the heaving madonna lilies and sultry trumpet lilies bloom, all sweaty and exposed, we realize, "hmm...we smells hyacinths here, but this is no Hyacinth Bucket."

While the flowers are the centerpiece here, there is something to be said for the later stages of development, all woody, mossy, and even musky, seeming to include some Tonkin musk style bases, rendering the innocent knickers not so immaculate after all. I appreciate another reviewer's comparison to Kouros in some aspects. It also dares to straddle two styles: while Kouros pairs fougere with sensuous amber and dirty musks, Anaïs Anaïs juxtaposes the genteel floral with its own lustful understory. Enough with the ukelele strumming, cue Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff." 

I reckon people naturally try to look for good where it hardly exists and tend to over-scrutinise / criticize that which is near-perfect. Seems like a balancing act if you understand what I mean. As for me, all versions of Anais Anais are my favourite from vintage till the new generation scents. I have still preserved the first empty opal bottle, and the bottle too smells like a fairytale garden. It is a perfectly blended white and green floral scent with undertones of oakmoss giving it a soapy clean vibe. The floral notes of iris and hyacinth render it a sky blue - lilac - light pink themed fairytale dreaminess that I love. Romance in a bottle for me.

Burst of hyacinth. I can’t tell the difference between this and L’Original to my nose. The 2 seem the same even though this one has more accords.

I went through a few bottles of Anais Anais over the years and I miss it. It was the antithesis of my spicy signature scents and I loved wearing it occasionally.
I recently purchased a bottle of Le Original thinking that it was the original and alas it is not. Not even close.
The real original was complex and beautiful and unlike anything I had every experienced. The current version is heavy hyacinth to me-so floral with no longevity (thankfully) drying down to a baby wipe smell. So sad.

Creamy, powdery and romantic. My dad got this for my mom a couple months ago as a birthday gift because she used to wear this all the time when they first met. Apparently it's kind of hard to find now. It smells kind of like baby powder and sunscreen, but in the best way possible. I can picture a young lady with a big curly perm dousing herself in this. It reminds me of Susan Sarandon's character in Bull Durham.
I agree with another commenter about how it doesn't smell juvenile or mature. It smells romantic and timeless. I think it's also really beautiful how this was once a perfume young ladies would wear and now it's an "old lady smell" to some.. How time passes and things evolve. When I started my perfume journey I would also say some perfumes are "old lady smelling" but having this hobby for some months now.. I don't really see it like that anymore. I hope that more people can also let go of the "young vs. old" thing so they can truly start experiencing perfumes in a more beautiful way.

I remember this from my childhood and oh god it's so headachey!

I remember my mom wore this one back in the 80s and 90s. It smelled so good on her so I decided to try it. Not my cup of tea. I really like these floral scents but this one is just too strong and it smell too heavy. Not for me but I have to respect it as it is one of the oldies goldies.

I sprayed a bit of this on in Boots today coz it was among a load of testers and I'm not keen on it. I smelled it years ago but had forgotten what it was like. I thought I'd really like it now that I love a good floral but it's too flowery. It smells like real flowers to me, like the inside of a florist's shop. That's probably a good thing for some people but it gave me a bit of a headache. It's too dated in my opinion.

After receiving a disaster of a vintage mini last year, this week I scored a 1 oz vintage bottle to add to my quickly growing revisitation of past favorites collection and ahhhh…and oh yeah, this is a true blast from the ‘80’s past! My sophomore year of HS in ‘85-‘86 I alternated between Anais and Ralph Lauren Lauren (of which I’ve managed to stockpile quite a few vintage bottles and oils of because my 4oz bottle that I’ve had for a couple dozen years only has a few drops left and this made me quite nervous!).

Now, back in the 80’s, I went through several bottles of Anais, and all were the EDT spray form. The 1oz full vintage bottle I have acquired is a splash. Before I hit that BUY button, I was very nervous because of this and my previous experience with the mini splash that had gone horribly bad. I’ve learned to ask questions (after getting a few vintage duds) BEFOREHAND and with this being a splash and due to the very low price for this bottle (and being a 14 Rue Royal I was like WTF? LOL), I had to do my due diligence. The seller reassured me that the bottle didn’t appear to ever have been used and if it didn’t meet my expectations I could return it. That sealed the deal.

And YES! My expectations have been met! I hadn’t smelled Anais for prob 30 years but she is like welcoming back an old friend. A bit soapier than I remember, but perhaps this is the difference between the splash and what my prior experience was with just the spray.

Very SHARP and STRONG powdery floral here, but at the same time, so comforting. Just lovely. Though, she is not something I’d wear on a regular basis again I don’t think, probably just on occasion. And bonus! She is not giving me even an iota of a headache that most sharp florals give me. I’m very pleased to add her back to my expanding collection.

Edit: I’m now a couple of hours into wear, and the soapiness that I detected initially is gone and the sharpness has settled into such softness that I’m in heaven. I just may reach for this regularly again.

The first fragance by a fashion s designer that I tested on my life. I was 12 years old ... I am 51. The softest, kindest, most delicate fragance... for me "sounds" to orchidies, sunny sky, white cotton... When I was a teenager, the tweenties wore it. Really masterpiece!

Blindingly white, very clean, with that strangely wonderful Nivea hand cream note. Fresh lilies and a little green but not at all youthful, instead Anais is so cold as to be almost lifeless. I hate to say that as it's pretty and so well-loved, but it's very ghostly and melancholic, like a young girl forever out of time. I can't shake the chilly feeling and wearing it makes me anxious and sad.

Fresh,soft floral,beautiful & very feminine! Surprised by the reviewer who wrote that this is a dupe of a Crabtree perfume?? Cacharel is a french luxury clothing & accessories brand that has existed since 1958! Anais Anais was their first perfume created by a team of parfumeurs: Roger Pellegrino, Robert Gonnon, Paul Leger and Raymond Chaillan. It is certainly Not a dupe of anything,an original,one of a kind when it was released for sale in 1978!
This was the scent of my youth in the 80s! I still reach for it now & again,reminds me of summers past & falling in love!

I bought this little bottle of Anais Anais when I saw it at TJ Maxx. I had read that it is a dupe of Spring Rain by Crabtree & Evelyn. It is so close! I am not disappointed at all! I didn’t want to use up the last of my Spring Rain so now I can wear this and be happy!

I used anaïs the whole summer, it’s a cool classy clean perfume. It smells really fresh and clean, it’s great for get together look.

I’ve got many compliments over this perfume from many persons even stranger in the street.

The best thing about this perfume is that it’s really rare to find someone wearing it as it’s an old perfume, so it’s a great option if you want to smell unique.

Worn by my beautiful Mum for so many years and obviously copied by me when I was young. Such a beautiful and innocent scent. If I breathe deeply enough now I am sure I can still smell it. Fabulous intro to classy little scents.

An everlasting, innocent, so-feminine favourite of mine since my teen years. Unfortunately, no one else I have known, male or female, has shared my strong fondness for it, so I just wear it to please myself.

When I started to re-ignite my interest into perfumery a few years ago, I wrote a lengthy review on the reformulated version L‘Originale, which I felt was super prim-and-proper, very white and very beautiful. Over the time, however, I fell a little bit out of love with it because, while I continuously liked the heavy white florals and the powdery, almost talcum notes, some of them felt screechy. Not overall bad, but I just did not like it not well enough anymore to want a full bottle.

However, when recently I had the opportunity to obtain an unopened bottle of the vintage version for a good price, I went for it on a whim and I do not regret it.

While today I will not be getting into the deep details, two differences struck me as significant.

1.) The reformulation certainly made me feel super innocent and pretty, but the vintage version transported me right back to my childhood. To the locker room at the local- at the time very new and nice - public swimming pool, where this fragrance was omnipresent. It smells lotion-ey, white, a bit like then equally ubiquitous jojoba-oil hair treatments. Not as almost-fundamentalist-pure as the reformulation, but more like the innocence of young mums accompanying their small children to a fun activity. While the reformulation reminds me of a somewhat expensive, clean, freshly-washed very frilly, very white blouse, the vintage version smells like well-groomed nudity. Not mainly sexual, but not asexual as well.

2.) The drydowns are fairly different. While the reformulation in its final stage transitions into clean talcum notes, the vintage one has more of a softcore animalistic smell that very strongly reminded me of the final stage of Malle‘s Lipstick Rose. Now I am not the biggest fan of animal smells and the drydown is by far the least favorite stage of Lipstick Rose for me. Just from the notes alone, the reformulation would be a clear winner for me. I like powdery and cool scents. However, with the vintage drydown, the transition feels incredibly much smoother. It carries a bit of an association with the end of a hot summer day: ergo, it has it becomes a bit sweaty, a bit dirty, which I also do not need per se, however, as it makes sense in the whole composition and is not too obnoxious, I can appreciate it.

There are other points of comparison that merit a mention: for instance, the longevity and the sillage, which are equally strong with both versions, or the target group, which makes me think that the vintage version leans even a bit more towards the unisex direction than the L’ Originale.

To sum things up, Anaïs Anaïs deserves to be enjoyed in both versions, the vintage and the new. If you want that prim-middle-class-young-girl-of-the-1980s-vibe, go for the reformulation, if you need to evoke specific memories, the vintage version will be for you. Overall, I think that the vintage version is better crafted in the drydown, although the reformulation caters more to my taste strictly fragrance-wise. I can certainly recommend both variations of this scent and probably now will have to get a bottle of the reformulation as well.

It's a familiar, pleasant aroma that brings comfort to your life, it's vintage powdery, white flowers and musk, it's very strong, projection is maybe 1.5mt before it becomes a skin scent, longevity is probably 3hrs before reapplication. I feel that this is more suitable for ladies 65 years old and older, of course, people can wear whatever they want, this is just my opinion. I would not wear it myself, but I would not mind at all if I catch a whiff from someone else.

Anais Anais is a very dreamy fragrance, it paints the image in my mind of a 1920's Parisian garden (I know, it was a 70s release but still) and actually reminds me a little bit of The Royal Victoria Park in Bath and Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh.

I've grown up around this gorgeous bouquet, my beautiful, late grandmother wore it in tandem with Eden and my gorgeous mother also occasionally wears it as well, while the version I have is the 2014 L'Original, I have inherited a vintage bottle from my grandmother and to me both L'Original and the vintage bottle (white cap) smell pretty much identical. The opening is a very realistic, pollen-filled bouquet of hyacinths, lilies and honeysuckle, dressed with bunches of galbanum and oakmoss. It (on me) is quite linear, it opens up quite loudly but settles down beautifully to a creamy, dreamy white-green floral arrangement.

Anais Anais is like a loving, comforting hug from my grandmother in a bottle, I have many fond memories of smelling this on long car rides mixed with airways chewing gum and Bon Jovi's Bed of Roses playing in the background. I will always have bottles of this in my wardrobe, its comforting, it reminds me of two very important women but at the same time I can still make it feel like "me" as well. Its also worth noting that I had read Sophie Dahl is also apparently a fan of Anais Anais as well.

Forever a repurchase <3

Blind buy, as I needed something nice for work. I enjoyed it gratley as went through 2 bottles. Despite very rich scent profile, it did not last very long (at least on me). I could smell lily of the valley and jasmin the strongest, and cedar as the bottom note.

What a gracious, feminine, sexy, sassy perfume! A well blended beauty. She wears white dresses, pink lipstick and rides a motorbike. She's so aesthetic.

This perfume will always hold a special place in my heart. It was the first real perfume that I fell in love with at first sniff.

Let's go back to the late 70s early 80s when fragrance houses would send tester strips in the mail. It was a summer afternoon and I was about 11 yrs old walking out to the mailbox and smelled the tester strip on the way into the house. I knew that I had to have it.

Anais Anais became my signature scent all through HS and early 20s. Of course we are talking about the 80s but I loved this fragrance

I would not consider it sexy or youthful or mature or refreshing. I would call it romantic in the way a classic novel describes a romance. Yes its dry and rather potpourri-like but the oakmoss and incense turn it into something more.
I picked up the L'original and the lasting power was superb.
A romantic feminine classic

Flowery, fresh, yet sweet (honey?), with depth and complexity due to its base notes. Both charming and generic at the same time.
The lemming effect scent among the girls in my high school.
I went through several bottles of this from 87 to 93.
I loved the bottle, I thought it looked cute and fresh.
I wouldn't wear it again, yet it evokes an era in my life, and good memories.🌺

I'm beyond happy! I was boredom browsing ebay and I found a listing for an old 1oz of Chantilly, which was $10 BIN + $4 Shipping- and in the description it was stated that a full 1oz of Anais Anais Eau de Parfum will be included. WHAT?!!!! OMG OMG, Buy it now.

Well, the bottle is like 80-90% full, but I am so happy to have this treasure! It's a 14 Rue Royale/Cosmair splash.

Incredible. Just so strong. I can still smell it one day later... even thru clothing changes and a shower. Somehow this is still with me. I decanted a bit into a spray, but I'm going to treat this lil treasure as a Parfum. Truthfully, I never quite get a drydown to AA, prob because at some point 12+ hours later I have to change clothes and/or bathe. :P I would love the skank/leather/incense.

And a note to wearing the vintage bath oil... Step out of shower and put a drop in your hand, rub hands a little together (super sticky), and smear over wet skin (goes on super easy). Then you have to run around naked and let air dry (lol) but so worth it! The overall smell of the bath oil is more generic and doesn't have layers, but LASTS. Maybe I could possibly mix a bit of oil with water and decant? Worth trying since I have 6.8 oz of bath oil.

Anaïs Anaïs was worn by my mom in her youth - her first gift from my dad apparently, so it is close to my heart. I have a bottle of the current version, marked "L'Original", but recently acquired a vintage miniature of this, the true original. I've compared the two versions, and while the new one isn't a bad recreation of the beloved original Anaïs Anaïs, it is a simpler, sweeter, less nuanced version that runs out of steam at the drydown. I still like it, it does the job and evokes memories, but this 1970s original is superior.

AA opens with bold, waxy hyacinth - a note that evokes childhood memories, as we had hyacinths in the garden at home. A bold, funereal lily note rounds it out, alongside soapy, green lily-of-the-valley. Hazy green galbanum adds a beautiful vintage-style greenness to the background - notably absent in the reformulation - while honeysuckle adds a sweet, polleny edge. It is more complex and less soapy up top than the new version.

As it develops, a powdery bouquet emerges, mostly made up of white florals. Bold and lush, it sweetly innocent rather than carnal. Muted tuberose, clean jasmine and the muguet of the opening are most evident. Rose and iris follow, enhancing the powder while adding interest to the white florals.

The drydown is much better here than in the reformulation. A soft but nicely-formed chypre base emerges, led by a hint of delicious vintage-style oakmoss. Woody notes are also evident, alongside a musky, slightly animalic amber accord. A pinch of patchouli adds earthiness. The powdery florals remain centre-stage, enhanced beautifully by the chypre base. This stands in stark contrast to the thin, aquatic, soapy drydown of L'Original that just tapers off. Here, it fades to a musky, earthy skin scent with a hint of powdery florals. Sillage and longevity are moderate.

A true classic, AA is a beauty that evokes memories for many, myself included. The reformulation is passable, but it fades in comparison to the true 1970s original. A classic feminine springtime scent, I'm glad I got a chance to smell the original again. A personal favourite, I will always have a soft spot for AA thanks to my mom. 5/5.

I have L'Original, and it's fun. Retro soapy Ivory. My lil clean time machine.

For whatever reason, I starting LOVING 70s/80s/90s vintages and started searching for a vintage AA with the (Cacharel) circle. I got a tester bottle that prob dates late 90s/early 2000s before the logo change. So, not the best vintage AA experience, but the bottle was affordable.

And I love it. As with most, if not all, reformulations, the natural quality ingredients are replaced by synthetic chemicals that are much cheaper. And it shows/smells. Current L'Original just chemically sits on the skin and radiates rather cloying. Vintage potions MELT into the skin with better oils/ingredients and react to your body heat and chemistry. And that was apparent with AA. This has a more natural smell, a smoother smell. Pure ivory soap, with a fantastic mossy drydown.

So in the rabbit hole I go! Got myself the best vintages I could find, a 5oz EDT Splash with all 70s/80s details and a huge 7oz bath oil that is also very old. The bath oil must be massaged into the skin, or the smell won't release. To sniff the bottle you don't get anything. It's not super potent, so unless it's a killer deal, I can't rec the vintage bath oil. (Other bath oils such as Joop or Youth Dew are super concentrated oils that double as parfums, a killer way to get bang for your buck!)

Last night I used the bath oil, and decanted the vintage splash into a spray and I was a walking talking bar of 70s Ivory soap. Love it. I set up a search for cheap old vintages on ebay because I need this stuff. It's amazing.

I'm glad L'Original exists, but I'm stocking up on all the cheap oldies I can find. For whatever reason vintage bottles have an "old" smell (maybe the moss that banned from modern products? musks?) and that is what I crave.

It smells like a fresh tin of Nivea, and that’s not a bad thing but it is very generic. Great if you want everyone to assume you just moisturised.

NIVEA! If you like Nivea you will like this.

I bought this 10 years ago, at the beginning of my fragrance journey. On a whim today, I layered it with So De la Renta, which is really soft (I love it, but it’s pretty subtle.) The more powerful notes of Anais Anais blended well with it and gave it some staying power, and the So De la Renta toned down the sharper lilac scent. I found I enjoyed it in that combination.

I adore this perfume. It reminds me of going through a vintage makeup tin on a beautiful spring day. 💖

In the airport I saw this old perfume love and decided to try a spritz. Oh lord, how did I ever wear this papery, funereal floral? And when I was in my 20s! It reminds me of a very specific type of snobbish old society woman from the city of my childhood, very polite but icy, a woman who wears ferragamo pumps, belongs to a luncheon club, and will never let you (or me, anyway) in. Then later you realize she's got nothing to offer even if you ever did pass muster. Fascinating to see how many people associate this warmly with their moms. It's all so personal. I think MH (a long-deceased woman who meets the description of the society lady I described) must have kept fresh lilies in her ostentatiously decorated home. I did not realize until now how much I dislike my memories of her and her home and that whole milieu. It's visceral. Maybe I bought this because I liked Anais Nin at the time? Maybe in my 20s I thought lilies in a baccarat vase was what I should aspire to? Glad to be in my 50s and wised up. (Just gave my wrist another sniff and the anais anais has settled into soapiness which, frankly, is an improvement.

Oh man, I love this fragrance. Just absolutely gorgeous, feminine and romantic.

For me, I get lilac, a freshly cut stem, and a soft sweetness which, I'm guessing is the honeysuckle.

It reminds me of the beginning of Summer when the sun is warm, yet the breeze is still cool. The lilacs are blooming and the buzzing of newly awoken bees is all around.

I don't detect the powder or the soap scent that others do, thankfully. I do love a powdery perfume but that would totally take away from the beautiful, delicate lilac.

A blast from the past!
I bought my first bottle on a duty-free sales lady’s recommendation in the late 80s, when I was looking for a scent for myself as a college student, and it became my signature for a couple of years. I’d spritz it on stationery when I wrote letters, too! At the time I felt pretty sophisticated bc most of my peers were not wearing (french) fragrances.
I visited my mom in Asia for the first time in nearly 3 years since the pandemic, and in her bathroom I found a bottle. It’s not from when I was a youngster and I have no clue why it was there bc mom doesn’t wear fragrance, but I had to spray it in air just for the nostalgia. I don’t think I’ll ever wear it again. It’s just a thing of the past but it surely brings back memories from the 1989!

If you ever read The Divine Comedy (section about Paradise) the first sphere of heaven is the moon. Dante describes going there as “penetrating into a Daisy”.

Leaving aside any sexual imagery, this is that sensation in a bottle. Not because it smells of daisies, but because it smells ethereal, feminine and rather heavenly/otherworldly.

Having said, this is really heavy on the white florals. Have you ever been inside Zara Home? this is super similar to the ambience smell in that store.

I don’t think this is for everyday, but would be nice for once in a while. I will think about a purchase, since it smells very “homely” . Makes me think of comforting female figure. Probably somebody I know owned it, this is not my mom, but one of her friends, and that’s why it makes me think of childhood. Like when you are young and you plunge your face into the neck of a trusted female figure (mom, grandma, aunt) and it’s comforting and almost nurturing.

Typical perfume that will never go out of fashion, unlike many from the same era and period, with those very detailed olfactory pyramids and with plenty of notes to give and sell to whoever wants! Anais Anais has perpetuated itself!

Its output is an aromatic explosion of flowers of all kinds that enter the nostrils, evoking the most tender and cozy memories that one can have in the subconscious. I love the bright citric issue it reveals associated with a shot of Lavender and Hyacinth stalks, it reminds me of childhood moments when I had some very stylish and smelling teachers for miles!

When drying, the bottle it flaunts has nothing to do with what it actually becomes, that is, a long-range bomb between powdery iris, dried roses set in the sun, dirty and dark jasmine, to the tone of oily aromas , herbal, intense and soapy. The middle of this fragrance is really crazy, besides personality it is necessary to have faith to wear Anais Anais!

After millions of hours, it becomes a powerful Incense of Vetiver roots, with silky luxury car seat leather, added to a very firm and spicy woody footprint; I also feel an earthy Patchouli here, which maintains the greenish herbal aspect of the heart, the Musk finishes the fragrance giving it sensuality, refinement and glory!

I hate this perfume! My ex husband bought it for me on the advice of his sister for our first Christmas together as bf & gf in 1989. It wasn't me at all but I wore it to please him. Absolute yuck! Fast forward to 2013 & I was being bullied at work & the instigator started wearing this. Not only did I hate the smell all over again but it also brought me out in a rash sitting several feet away from her. I will always associate this fragrance with awful times of my life!

Lost my virginity to a girl wearing this. I will never get this scent out of my head. It will always bring me back to January of 1984.

Questo ricco ed elaborato profumo, nelle sue edizioni anni 78, 80,90 fino al 2000,era una fragranza amata e frequente.
Non ci ho mai sentito niente di ingenuo,di candido e di delicato ma uno splendido calore, profondo,intenso, che ricorda un enorme mazzo di fiori bianchi e foglie verdi che ornano un altare magico,stregonesco,circondati da nuvole di incenso,dal buio della notte e dalla timida luce lunare.
Se non fosse per la pubblicità indirizzata ad un pubblico femminile, Anai anais sarebbe un profumo stupendo su un uomo,fine, elegante e anche molto sensuale,decisamente diverso e lontano dall'idea di profumo da uomo sexy di oggi.
Dopo gli anni 2000 è stato decisamente rovinato,non vale la pena comprarlo.

@harrisnoel

You've got it; the word is "papery." :P

Carnation can smell papery to me - kind of waxy and plasticky - like when you tear open a ream of copy paper and hold it up to your nose. I don't know Anais Anais though, so can't say that's what's happening here.

Can someone help me out here? I have always thought this fragrance smelled like a freshly opened stack of stationery. What would that be called? What is the note when something smells papery?

definitely a "good girl" scent! My best friend in junior high loved this scent.. got her a bottle for her birthday and she was over the moon happy! This scent brings back sooo many memories- it was very popular in my group. I sniff a bottle now and again just for the memories. I do love this scent but it is not "me" and does not smell good on me at all. It is a total classic and very beautiful.

This should be called "If heaven had a smell"

It is my mom in a bottle and my first ever memory of fragrance. It reminds me of baby dolls, Sunday brunches , lush lilies, pink powder blush & more than anything nuzzling my mom's neck. <3

Anaïs Anaïs is the greatest tragedy of my perfume-wearing life. It was my favourite scent for years in my late teens/early 20s, and I wore it constantly. It was light, floral, and romantic. Truly the most colourful bouquet with the soft, cloudy quality of a watercolour, not unlike the artwork on the bottle’s packaging. Then, one day, out of absolutely nowhere, it started to smell horrible on me — like decomposition and rot. My father was the first one to notice. He complained about a foul stench lingering in his car. I realized quickly that the stench was me. I tried to wear it at various points over the next six months, but it was always the same horrible disappointment.

I wish I could understand why this happened! My bottle didn’t go bad — I bought another, and the same thing happened. I miss this perfume very much. It’s such a nostalgic scent for me. I disagree with the idea that it is an “old lady” smell. It is definitely an older perfume, and you can smell that right away, but I think it’s beautiful on young people.

This was released when I was young. I could never wear really floral perfumes then, but my tastes have changed over the years. However, this one is still way to flowery for my likings. It was a cheap fragrance when it came out but the prices have gotten a lot higher over the years. It’s a mish mash of flowers, way too busy for me.

My mother used to wear it when I was a toddler, it was a hit at the time, and I loved it.
It was so fresh, airy, flowery, perfect for the delicate beauty my mom was in her early 30s.
Too bad now it's cheaply reformulated, impossible for me to wear.
Narciso Rodriguez Poudree is very similar, but heavier, less ironic.

A few years ago I was smelling perfumes in a store. One random fragrance transformed my entire day because it reminded me of my mother for some reason. I had never seen it before, but I couldn't stop smelling it: floral, powdery, a bit herbal and some sort of spiciness that I couldn't quite pinpoint at the time. It turned out that my mum used to have the fragrance the year I was born. The fragrance was Anais Anais by Cacharel. I bought a bottle just for the memories.

This review is based on the EDT from the 80s. I loved this so much and went through several bottles in my 20s and 30s! White florals are good on me.

However, the EDT didn't last very long on my dry, perfume eating skin. But while it lasted, maybe a couple of hours, it was pretty strong!

But I don't think I'll ever buy it again. It reminds me too much of a certain time in my life. A time that had its good points, and its bad points, but it's over and will never come again. And that's OK; I've moved on.

Would I recommend it? Yes, for daytime or nighttime wear in the spring and summer. But if you sit close to other people in an office, or you carpool or ride mass transit, I'd use it in moderation. It's a strong, heady floral, and not everybody likes florals.

The scent instantly brings back the memories. And to this day I think most of us who adore this remember this scent somehow from the past and have a connection with it. I doubt that smelling this without any bond makes much impression to the masses. It smells very cozy to me, very warming and caring, a bit maternal, but not as much as it couldn't be worn by a girl. I couldn't not like this scent. I get a deep, but clean lilies, the bouquet of all the other florals like jasmine, carnation, honeysuckle, I get a lot of incense, galbanum and oakmoss. But incense is very prominent, I am surprised how it is not listed high enough. It's a beautiful, complex perfume, like a warm, kind and affectionate letter from the past. +

If this smells like an "old lady".....then, HOORAY FOR OLD LADIES! I just got a vintage miniature and I think it smells terrific! I will enjoy wearing it.

I was gifted a bottle of this in my mid-20s, now in my mid 40s with the same bottle (which is perfectly fine given the age) and I still don't like this one. I'm going to be the unpopular opinion here and say this smells like something my grandmother would wear (she didn't wear this one), an instant "old lady" smell to me. My 22 year old son thought the same thing. Yes, I know, people hate that term but I just don't know how else to describe it, no particular time period or memory comes to mind and "Mature" or "Outdated" doesn't fit it for me.

Individually, I like a lot of the notes in it but maybe it's just too busy, too many notes in one fragrance for my nose to enjoy it. I really have tried to give it a chance- knowing preferences change as we age, I tried it again recently since I'm older, thought I might have a greater appreciation of what it smells like and it's still a no. Something old, dusty and powdery. To it's credit, Anais Anais sticks around forever in the air and on fabric- most of my perfumes can't linger for a week.

I was intrigued by the notes and performance so I got it at Ross when I saw it. It definitely feels like a very mature floral scent / dated upon first spray. Then, it dries down to a soap like scent. I would not suggest to blind buy it. I do not see myself reaching for it much.

I was baptized into the Catholic Church the night before Easter Sunday at a small parish on the campus of my alma mater. That tiny sanctuary was so full of big, white, trumpeting lilies you could smell them from the front door. That's what Anais Anais sprayed into the air, or a sniff from the cap reminds me of: the immense fragrant cloud of those lilies. Unfortunately, on me that lily morphs into something like a sour Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors, and I don't have enough skin in the world to feed it.

Especially to WoolyWorm, but also to everyone else who try the current version of the former beautiful Anais Anais: I just want to tell you, that you are absolutely right. It is cold, sharp, strong and screechy.
Once I was a young girl of 18 years old. And this was the most beautiful fragrance I had ever smelled, or felt. It suited my young personality perfectly. It had a sweetness of wild strawberries, that isn't there now at all. It was delightful.
And I am devistated that it is now gone.

This isn't a review as much as a trip down memory lane. This scent will always remind me of my childhood...sneaking sprays from my mom's bottle. Not really my style, but definitely has a nostalgic vibe for me. It's one of those scents that's definitely tied to memory...really good ones!

People, if you smelt Anais Anais only from the bottle or on a sheet of paper, please, don't write a review of It. You would risk to offend and unnecessarily outrage this creation without having understood its greatness, unjustly ruin the reputation. This fragrance has many levels of complexity, wear It on your skin and smell It from the beginning to the end, and then you can write of It honestly, whether you like it or not.

Anais Anais shares similar DNA with other musky white floral classics deemed as old fashioned such as Nina Ricci’s L’Aire du Temps, which came more than a whole generation ahead, and was at the time considered a fresh and contemporary scent marking the beginning of a whole new era and symbolized freedom in a post-war world (WWII) with endless optimism and opportunity.
I think Anais Anais is too clever and important of a scent in modern perfume history and relevancy to disregard. Even in all its dry, screechiness, its powdery lily-of-the-valley soaked bouquet, it very successfully embodies and (if I may) critiques historical French perfumery; paying homage of a bygone era of luxury and perceived innocence. Not only has it stood the test of time concerning the criteria for what makes a perfume a classic (a feat when you consider it always was and never has tried to be anything more than an inexpensive drugstore perfume), but performs like a beast-much more than todays weak spectrum of ‘high-end’ over-marketed nonsense that so often fails in sillage and longevity.
It is a love/hate fragrance and personally, I believe any perfume with so many reviews, emotions and memories it evokes speaks for itself. It’s when I read the polarized reactions that I know it must be something special. :)

People. In this context, "on paper" means based on the description. I was called out above by someone who did not understand the phrase/idiom. I tested this on skin.

On paper, this looks like it would be a favorite. All the pretty floral notes! And I'm generally very easily pleased when it comes to fragrances, it's a rare perfume that I dont enjoy.

Meet Anais Anais. All I get are dry, ancient dusty flowers with a bitter undercurrent. I'm actually reminded of old corsages/bouquets kept in a box in an attic for decades. The absolute opposite of any scent i would like associated with me. I'm 50, and this seems far too fusty and old fashioned even for me! I cannot imagine this worn unironically on a modern young woman.

When I was 16, my girlfriend wore this scent. She was very special. Eventually, we would decide to date other people. We were young. We kept in touch for several years, but after college, I never saw her, or heard from her again.

Thirty years later, as I walked up to stand in line in a book store, a fragrance that I had not smelled in as many years, struck me, and as it did, I immediately said aloud, “Anais Anais”. A pretty young lady in her mid-teens standing in front of me turned, looked at me for a moment, and smiled. I smiled back, silently, only barely resisting the urge to tell her of the rush of emotion, and stirring memories that flooded my mind before I uttered those two words.

It’s amazing how that works; how a fragrance can instantly transport one back to a foregone place, and time, and leave you felling like you had just been with someone you had not seen in many years.

I love this fragrance, and I suppose I always will.

I can review this from 30 years ago. There is a screeching overbearing note in this perfume that gives me dead flowers vibe, astringent, a very high octane fragrance with no grounding, nothing pulling the high notes back and giving warmth and comfort.
I could smell this today and still dislike it.
A dont understand how a young lady would want to smell like bug spray or a funeral homes bin full of wilting loud white lilies.

Somehow it reminds me Pierre Cardin "Paradox". Dusty white flowers together with the leather scent, which is quite present in both scents. I loved original Anais Anais, but after reformulation it has become Mehhh..they did spoil it.

I've always been the fragrance oddball in my family. While the other ladies gravitate toward light florals and "fresh" scents, I've always been drawn to warm, vanilla-dominated perfumes. I found pretty-on-others scents like Jessica McClintock and Laura Ashley No. 1 irredeemably sour on my skin, lacking the sweet, "rounded" quality I enjoy. For years I thought I just didn't like florals, and made a point to avoid flower-forward perfumes. In my mind Anais Anais was the queen bee of these flowery scents, best left to women--like my mother--who could pull it off better. But then I smelled Lou Lou, and memories of my mom's Anais Anais days flashed in the opening notes. Turns out I'm still not big on hyacinths or lilies (and I love orange blossom, jasmine, and iris) but after the initial screech-bouquet quiets down, this is a delight. Dry and tart enough for a departure from my staples, but with some powdery, woody, and fruity facets and an addictive incense-y drydown that give it complexity. This is such a cheapie--and the '70s watercolor bottle so pretty--that I'll be making this the "reference floral" of my collection.

Lo usava mia mamma alla fine degli anni 70, io lo annusavo dalla bottiglia e mi affascinava gia allora che ero un bambino.
Non lo ho mai sentito come un profumino ingenuo e candido per vergini candide, ma come un profumo ricco, terroso in certi momenti,molto pieno di fiori, con un sottofondo caldo e incensato.
Lo ho usato che io e ho riscosso riscontri piacevoli,ne ho ancora alcune bottiglie vintage degli anni 70 e 80, ovviamente molto diverso da quello che si trova oggi nei negozi, come per tutti ha subìto varie riformulazioni e deformazioni sintetiche che lo hanno abbastanza distrutto,ma il vecchio è sempre un piacere da indossare.

With the loud white lilies and astringency.. this makes me think of funeral homes. The flowers also smell as if they had been precariously dried and used as potpourri in a 1930's art deco boudoir that is laden with powder. Given those two things, I really like it! Believe it or not, I used to wear this in high school when sporting a vintage dress. It is both alive and screaming, yet dead and dusty. Anais Anais is an undead bride! What a paradox!

I love this perfume. I still have it with me, treasuring every drop. Very feminine and floral.

Not my favourite scent, for some reason I can smell strawberries

A bottle of this was regifted to me in high school. I don't know how many hands it passed through before mine. The first impression I got was white flowers with licorice root tea and some sort of astringent scent fighting for top spot. It really didn't suit me, but I gave it a chance. I sort of felt like I was wearing my grandmother's hand lotion as perfume all day, and the only comment anyone else made suggested the same. I haven't smelled it since. I'd give it a try; I always like to see how time changes my experience of fragrance, but I won't go out of my way to get a sample.

This scent evokes so many good memories about my childhood. My mom loved this perfume, so every time she would go out she would spray it on her neck and wrists, then put her favourite scarf and leave the house. I remember stealing the scarf coated in that beautiful smell when she wasn't home, hug it in bed and fall asleep to "the smell of mom". Now our relationship has gotten cold and we grew distant, but when I come across someone wearing this I can't help but think of her and those memories. (Sorry, I'm way too sentimental and had the urge to share this with you all).
I bought it for the first time and it smells exactly the same as 15 years ago. If you like white flower scents but struggle with the "headache" factor, this is for you; a subtle white flower perfume with very good projection. I'd say it performs best in colder weather, but I have worn it in summer too and it worked okay as well.

This has to be up there with the most recognizable scents of all time. My mother bought a bottle out of nostalgia - she likes the scent, yes, but it reminded her of 1987 when she was freshly 18. I remember smelling this for the first time and recognizing it right away, but I couldn't place where. It's just one of those scents you're bound to have smelled someplace at some time. It is so iconic. And it's gorgeous! It transports me right to a world of sheer lipstick, glossy mall floors, painted nails, girls gossiping and dancing and flirting, etc. It's happy and carefree but not effortless. Powdery with strong, strong florals. I think people associate this with older ladies because of the demographic of the wearers, but if you put that out of mind and smell it, you can see how this was aimed at 18 year old girls. It's not something I would wear because of my personal preference for other notes, but it's a scent that makes me happy whenever I smell it.

I forgot that I had this scent at one time, many years ago, I’m guessing early 80s. I have a Fragrantica traveling sample box, I saw the sample and all it took was one short spray and memories came flooding back. I’m assuming what I had decades ago has been reformulated, but it’s close enough that it jogged my scent memory.

Anais Anais is a scent a high school cheerleader would wear. Very pretty in a predictable way. I moved onto Opium and Lauren in my teens, but I can imagine being friends with girls that did wear this scent. Lastly, it’s a vintage floral powder makeup kind of perfume. And I’m surprised that aldehydes are not listed because that’s what hit me first.

Anyone who was around in the 80s either had this at one point, or probably knew someone who did. This was one of the first perfumes that I had (besides Love’s Baby Soft & Sweet Honesty), around age 13, in 1985. A blend of florals, distinctly Anais Anais. It seems like a heavier white floral by today’s standards, but back then it seemed appropriate and “light” for a Middle School aged person.

A few years later, when we were in High School and old enough to drive, I believe a friend of mine wore this, because it makes me think of her. She had big, blonde hair and wore pastel colors; flowered print dresses with panty hose and flats. She was the first in our friend group to turn 16, and I remember in the summer, a bunch of us would pile into her beige Subaru and go dancing at a club by the beach. If you were underage you could do that kind of thing back then, you just couldn’t go to the area where they served alcohol. Songs like Debbie Deb “When I Hear Music” and Nice & Wild’s “Diamond Girl” would be playing. Fun times. This perfume makes me think of those years.

NO No no... This was just way too screechy and harsh for my nose. Literally brings this white hot searing pain to the back of my sinuses triggering an instant burning headache...

Just a word about the beautiful Anais Anais. The one from 1978 is a masterpiece. They went on to create a flanker of this called L'Original. I don't like that one at all. Cannot even compare to the real "original" amazing scent.

This is a perfume that I dislike from childhood. I never got into Cacharel Lou Lou either. Leaving the 80's and becoming a teenager in the early 90's my Mums nose has been what I have followed on from, she was a YSL Paris lady, still is her SS. Mums everday back then was NR L'air Du Temps or the Coty one in a black bottle not much bigger than a hippie, with a wee white plastic spatula when times were harder. My first perfumes were O'scar De La Renta (may have been bought to me in 1996 or 1997, RL Safari and Chanel Allure. I guess I dont like flowery white bouquets, again one stand out type note in Anais Anais I really dont like, geranium? Carnation and honeysuckle I believe its these yet maybe the combination of these. It's nothing in the base notes. I'm not a fan of anything Magnolia either. I can still remember this original scent 30 years later and it's a no from me. Too top register heavy and cloying.

Smells good when mixed with NOA.

Comforting baby powder, lipstick vibes

Beautiful scent that I wore for a bit in my 20s. It does smell super classic, but I have a thing for those timeless scents. And I think 'old distinguished lady scents' manifest a bit differently on younger people. Love most of the notes in this one, except the Lily of the Valley, not because I dislike it, but because it's my mothers signature flower scent. Just like how that one dress or one hat looks great on your mom, but doesn't match you. All in all the scent is too soapy for me right now and misses something a bit more daring or adventurous. Maybe because it contains so many different notes they all blend in together so much, into a very distinct fragrance true, but maybe not all of them go well together.

People please,just appreciate classic ,true perfume. All these names you give while describing masterpieces may indirectly cause them to disappear ,slowly but surely. This floral fragrance exists for decades for a reason and it's beautiful to many people,including me. Just try to move and comment more on fragrances you do like ,and just don't paint a wrong picture on another one just because you are still not able to appreciate it.

6.5/10. Starts generically sweet. Becomes a little spicy and then soapy white floral. A little fruity, green apple. Department store pleasant scent. Very familiar. Nice but a little artificial.

This was the first perfume i ever got. It was a gift from my mother for my tenth birthday because this is also the perfume she wore when she was younger. I absolutely love this sent altho i dont wear it anymore. Whenever i smell it i am reminded of simpler times so i cant help but love it.

😐 i owned this years ago. a gift from a friend which included the fragrance, body cream, and shower gel. i guess it has it's place among vintage, classic scents, but i never could quite get into it. "flowery" instead of "floral" (if you get my meaning). a bit prim and prudish. sillage and longevity are very good. i will say this, though. the packaging is lovely. the body cream came in a pretty, flower printed, gold trimmed jar i have to this day.
odd, yet classy...
but just not my style.

I passed this over in the 80's and 90's, dazzled by the glam haze of Opium, Balahe, Paris and L'Air du Temps. I must've tried it but never bought it. I was under the impression Anais Anais was for girls; pretty, but forgettable. What I loved at the time were complex, opulent, sexy perfumes.
Anais Anais was not sexy then and it isn't sexy now.
Nothing much has changed but, still, I couldn't resist a bargain 2002 bottle recently and I spritzed it on like morning mist in a tropical cloud forest as soon as it arrived.
It's pretty and inoffensive. I get a blast of galbanum - guaranteed to please me - but the galbanum fades quickly and leaves a cacophony of florals bleating in its wake, before an irritating sappy note emerges which lingers and dominates.
I get no whiff of leather, incense, oakmoss, woody notes or patchouli.
This is pleasant but can't hold my attention; an hour of fun before I move on to something more interesting.

Distillation
fun and flighty scent
cacophony of florals
quite forgettable

I've gone back and forth on this perfume. I bought this twice over the course of 10 years and gave the bottle away both times because I just couldn't bring myself to like it. It's much too strong for a shy perfume enthusiast like me. I couldn't wear this in public.

One spray on my stomach and I could smell it through my shirt all day. This will give you SO much more performance than what you pay for.
Also, I don't know why the accord graph doesn't mention this, but I think it's very powdery. Might fly under the radar for powdery floral seekers.

I eventually bought a third; a vintage mini bottle. I only dab a drop once in a while before bed. I have finally found a respectful boundary with Anais Anais and I believe we will have a lasting relationship.

Saw a bottle of this at Marshall being sold for a dirtcheap price. It was not a brand that I usually see there so I purchased it without really knowing what to expect. On my skin this smells soo, soo much like significantly more expensive Houbigant Quelque Fleurs l'Original, minus the prominent indolic notes (for some reason, my skin chemistry really brings out the indoles in Houbigant Quelque Fleurs). Anais Anais, surprisingly, also has better staying power and sillage. I would say it is pretty good quality for the kind of price you pay.

I really like this one, but I wouldn't buy it? Have found myself smelling it at stores and being thrilled, but when walking to the counter, always regretting myself. I guess it's too soapy for me? Too much of a clean baby. But yet, it is very nice and the bottle is lovely with the 70's flowers.

I really like this one, but I wouldn't buy it? Have found myself smelling it at stores and being thrilled, but when walking to the counter, always regretting myself. I guess it's too soapy for me? Too much of a clean baby. But yet, it is very nice and the bottle is lovely with the 80's flowers.

When I was a teen, 40 years or so ago, we had a yearly one day 'poster' day in school. It was an all girl convent school, and we were allowed to buy post cards, posters and such things with motivational sentences set upon a David Hamilton or sunset backdrop.
We would run around, giggling, in pastels, a living Picnic at Hanging Rock tableau.
And most of us wore Anais Anais.
White flowers galore. Lilies, hyacinths, jasmine. Intoxicating and lasting. Actually way too heavy for presumed innocent girls.

If you get to buy a bottle with a cylindrical cap the same girth as the bottle: do!
The reformulated ones, even called L'Original' are ok for 1/2hr, but all in all a far cry from the end of 70s original.

A lovely classic, though. Especially the original original.

I like this, and it's time for me to stop avoiding it just because it's old! I'm in my twenties, and it's the closest thing I've found to the powdery rose scented products my mom always had around (and never used) in the late 90s. I'm a fan of spicy florals, and although I hate to admit it, this hits the nail on the head! some of my favorites are Dior Pure Poison, Gucci Bloom, YSL black opium. The powdery woodsy floral scent of this is perfect, and I'm quite into "older" styles of dress anyhow! I guess I'm going to smell like an old lady now, too! :)

My twin sister received this perfume when we were both about 13. I had asked for a bottle of Coriandre, and my sister received Anais Anais. I loved it right away. At the time, i wasn't big into florals, so I was surprised how much I adored the richness of the floral blend in Anais. I remember being gutted when I learned that it'd been reformulated; and I agree with earlier posters that L'Original isn't quite the same as the original Anais Anais. Still, I love the perfume, and will continue to purchase it as long as it's available.

This was my mum's perfume for years so every time I smell it it reminds me of being a kid, watching her get ready for a family dinner party, and buzzing with excitement at the thought of seeing my cousins. Basically, I'm incapable of being even remotely unbiased about this fragrance as it evokes so many good memories for me, but I'll still try! It's a comforting, feminine blast of powdery florals with a little musk. Very flattering and nowhere near as dated as I thought it would be, it's a nice departure from the ultra-sweet gourmands that are everywhere nowadays. Plus, it's so cheap it doesn't matter if you rarely use it.

Oh WOW!!! What a blast from the past!
In every good possible way.
This takes me right back to being a very young teenager. Maybe between 15/16?
I discovered this in the 80s. I’m now 49.
I haven’t sniffed this or worn this since that time. Anyway, I saw a vintage bottle, EDT, 50ml going for £6.00 no one placed a bid. So I did.
Needless to say, I won 😊
Firstly, this is exactly how I remember it, all those years ago. I get lily of the valley,
I get the rose, and in the dry down, I get the best bits of all, sandalwood, dreamy lingering incense, I get musk.
It’s just the right amount of everything to my nose. I really adore this perfume. Funny because my sister had this one in her bedroom, dressing table, around 7 years ago. I dismissed it. Because at that time, I was moving into “ newer” scents.
Well I’ve returned to my first love. And it’s so beautiful, and is giving me exactly what I need in this time of my life.
I find this comforting. I’m sure many nowadays wouldn’t, because sickly vanilla, is the master right now.
Well not for me. This truly is a masterpiece, and stands in her own right.
Beautiful, timeless, comforting, the age of innocence.
Very magickal.

This was my mother’s favorite perfume when she was in her mid-20s. The combined scents of this perfume and Secret Powder Fresh Deodorant take me back to my early childhood. A simpler time, before endless adult problems...anyway, this is my second favorite perfume after Cool Water. When I was in my early 20s, I found it a discount perfume kiosk in the mall and the rest is history. I can see why a lot of parents picked this as their daughters’ first perfume; it’s feminine without being too vampy or “grown”. It’s a very mild, pleasant scent to me- powdery and floral without being too overwhelming. As versatile as it is, I pretty much only wear it for special occasions or if I need a lift in spirits because it’s so hard to find.

I am on the last drops of my vintage bottle. The new version "L'Original" is quite not the original... I didn't like it at all. I will write a separate review for it. For now however, what else could I say about Anais Anais which hasn't already been said?

In my opinion, Anais Anais is the best classic floral ever made, which can be worn by all age groups actually fitting any of them...

The scent is quite versatile. Depending on your perception, it could be a quirky goth, a new bride, an elegant lady, your grandma and so on...

It is possible to smell in Anais Anais a funeral home which you would be interested to explore... (I'm sure I said goth.)
It could be your relaxing at home scent...
It could be your signature and equally mean business for you.

Combinations are endless...

A tender, old-school, squeaky clean white floral. Timeless. So pretty. One of my favorite perfumes!

I have the Cosmair version from the early ‘00s (with a translucent white plastic cap) and cannot speak to the quality of the “L’Original” reformulation that is widely sold.

In contrast to sweet and tropical white florals such as White Shoulders, Fracas, or Carolina Herrera, this one is green, dry, and crisp. Hyacinth and lily are prominent, but the galbanum & leather notes give this a refreshing feel, like slicing into a green apple. It’s just so fresh and soothing.

But don’t mistake this for a cologne to be splashed liberally! Even the eau de toilette is a marvel of sillage and tenacity.

Powdery white floral scent, with a strong lily note. It is a clean scent, which would be good for daytime. Personally, I do not like white florals, so this was not a perfume for me.

This is a very hyacinth-forward fragrance, which I think is great because I love the smell of that flower so much. Anais Anais is a heady floral delight, quite powdery, somewhere between "feminine" and "womanly", with a surprisingly earthy, sensual drydown.

Longevity is excellent, sillage is good, although I feel one could wear this perfume to work with a very light application.

Anais Anais...even the name sounds like a caress. It is a layered floral intoxication like none other that I've experienced. Soft and gentle, a hand grazing a cheek, and assertively strong, like a brazen woman kissing first. For me, it is the scent equivalent to Vivaldi or Mozart. And for that reason, it becomes a virtual guessing game as to what is that note? Waves of floral euphony playfully linger, while deeper, spicy and woodsy threads resonate. This perfume had four noses behind its development in the 70s, and when you allow a moment to exhale with this perfume's complexity, you'll understand why there had to be so many. Defining its intricate nature, would be to pull strands out of an orchestra and then expect the experience to remain. I've read a lot of other reviews, and they discussed about the same things. Where they first smelled or wore this perfume. The events of their awakening, possibly emotions attached to the encounter. It is that memorable, and I personally can't blame them. It is a sweet and spicy, utterly iconic transformation. For me, it has been a love affair from the start, and remains one today.

I love this and always get compliments on it! It smells like flowers, upon flowers mixed with powder and a musky but not too strong dry down. This is one that will stay in my collection forever.

He has always been with me since his first release, a perfume that at the time conquered a large slice of the public. For me the classic scent of spring. Flowery, fresh, cheerful, sparkling. Very good. Two notes that I feel on my skin: jasmine and musk. There are few scents that I consider seasonal but this for its typical floral composition is fully part of the change of season, when from the cold winter it passes to the warm spring. I like to associate this fragrance with the warm air, the first flowers, the buds that bloom on the branches. Perfect in its simplicity

Anaïs Anaïs was my first perfume, a small bottle I stole from my mother's Giftset Premiere Collection in the early 90s. My six-year-old self fell in love with that delicate white-and-pink bottle. I liked the scent so much my mum bought me a large bottle, and I used to bathe in it every time there was a special occasion.
Fast-forward 30 years: I bought the same little bottle, to remember what was that I loved so much about it. Anaïs is a complex, well-executed soapy white floral, but it doesn't enthrall me anymore. It's too heavy on the lilies, which are not my favorite note. The dry-down, though, is more likable to me, switching the most prominent notes to honeysuckle, galbanum and carnations. Aside from that, it's a solid floral perfume with good sillage and longevity. I can see why my girl self fell for it, but I doubt I'll ever wear it again.

5/10

Ooooooooh carnations of love and peace is what this scent is .. so many memories of this one. My ex best friend Trish wore this in the 90's she was very promiscuous but acted like she was an angel and I think she used this scent to cover up the real her. Haha she had a different boyfriend every month. It's a lovely scent. At first it's heavy with floral but it calms down into the most 🌸🏵🌸soft lovely calm white lily , hyacinth and sandalwood angelic scent on the market other than NOA and WINDSONG. This scent lingers all day. It's a tad creamy and soapy but there is nothing strong or offensive about it. It's so enchanting! I can't stop smelling my wrist. This is a very pure innocent even playful fragrance. I wore it to work a few days ago and the maintenance man said I smelled " darn good" . I highly recommend this to girls celebrating their sweet sixteen 🍾 birthday. Its a nice 1st fragrance. NOTHING offensive or indolic like some flowery perfumes. It is airy and lofty. I love it. I have a tiny cute bottle of it. I'll mist definitely try to buy the VINTAGE on eBay. I read the reformulated version is just as nice. Thank you for reading dear one BLESSED be..PS. FRAGRANTICA PLEASE REVAMP THIS WEBSITE IT GLITCHES AND TAKES VERY LONG TO LOAD.

Fresh, citrus, feminine scent, a bit old timey. Commands attention, evokes the feeling of frail and elegant feminity. The bottle is beautiful. Weak sillage and projection. Passed this one onto my grandma, not that it is a 'grandma-scent', but she fell in love with it instantly.

1978. I'm 21 years old, dressed in silk and attending a Tom Jones concert in Las Vegas with a man I adored. I'm also wearing my new $50 perfume (a fair chunk of change for the time) Anais, and feeling young and beautiful. My beau loved the fragrance on me, and both the show and post-show 'activity' were magical. Yes, this stuff will always create nostalgia for me.
I can understand how the younger generation, used to 'fruity', 'gourmand', and 'unisex' will not appreciate it - the nose gravitates toward what it is accustomed to.
But, for many of the floral generation, this will be remembered as a lovely composition.

One of the first fragrances I owned as a child. It was a set consisting of an Eau de Toilette and a soap. I would often open it, spray the perfume or simply smell the soap. (Whatever happened to that soap? Did I ever use it? Did it become part of my ill-fated soap-foam-in-closed-containers-experiment? Questions.)
I found Anais Anais enchanting and romantic. It was one of my favourites for several years.

Whenever I tried newer versions as an adult though, I was disappointed by how deeply the formula had changed.
A few months ago I came across a vintage version. It is well conserved and smells a lot like my own bottle of Anais Anais did. Very well done, with dominant lily-of-the-valley. Alas, I do not love it anymore. Cannot turn back time. Or rather, sometimes I can a little, with perfume. It just did not work with Anais Anais.

When I was in high school there was a girl in my dramatic arts class who wore this. It smelled completely intoxicating on her. When she mentioned the name of it one day, I never forgot and that was over 25 years ago! That's got to say something about this fragrance. Easily one of my favorite perfumes on a lady!

Nice scent, better-suited for a young girl/child (at least in this age). It smells a bit like baby powder, and it is a little bit dated but like others have said I can totally imagine women having enjoyed it decades ago. For me, it is one of those that if I ever do wear it is only to smell fresh and powdery after a shower and before bed. Pleasures from Estee Lauder is another one of those. I don't think I would wear this outside of my house though, but if I had a small child in my life I would spray this on her (I have heard that Cacharel is often marketed towards younger people/children anyway).

The version I have is a 1989 edition. Not the original of the originals but probably the best I could personally find. The scent is still in a really good shape, and time doesn't seem to have changed the bottle's content in any bad way.

Much more complex and three-dimensional than the new Anais Anais L'Original EDT which I also own and can compare the two side by side. The 80s juice is richer in the abundance of various flowers that don't seem to be present in the L'Original EDT. Mossier and damper as if you found yourself sitting by a big flowerbed on a rather humid post-rain day. Here I can also track some incense, very delicate and almost translucent, and it feels like it lowers down the "humidity" just a little bit. The 80s justice is certainly pretty soft and delicate but in a different way than the new versions are in the sense of being less tamed, somewhat rougher and teased up in its bitterness and quite a firm and assertive presence.

My 80s version is certainly strong and leaves quite a trail. The scent lasts all day which is expected due to the juice's age.

Certainly worth having a look at if you're a fan of the modern Anais Anais and would like to have a glimpse in its former glory.

I associate wedding dresses
Stereotypical feminine
Romantic and conservative

I like the scent.
But I love the ad posters.

Oh, beautiful hyacinth. One of the most dynamic woman I have ever known wore this through out the ‘80s. She was a hard core business woman, her daughter my life long dearest friend. I loved the juxtaposition of a fierce woman wearing such a lovely, lady like scent. I adore this pure delight of a fragrance.

Powdery flowers, I love it and it smells similar to the way I remember it all those years ago when it first came out. However it doesn't seem to have the same staying power it used to. I would be able to smell this all day long and catch a waft of it as I moved around. Now it sits on me quite closely and I have to smell myself to get the waft that used to float around the room. A good cheapy to wear everyday though. Maybe the in summer months when my skin is warmer it will lift a bit higher.

Peppery lilies, a twist of lemony French cologne, green flower stems in an English floral marquee, a soft worn leather jacket , a promise of spring but it's still snowing, a faint trail of smokey incense and sadness. I love this and am baffled at the "old lady" comments. Some of the most interesting ladies are old.

My mother has been wearing this since the 70s off-and-on. I used to give it a sniff in her perfume collection and recoil a little. I am not sure why I don't like this one since I am one of those weirdos that sniffs rose bushes, lilac bushes, lavender etc.

Spring comes early this year - since it has not really been any winter at all. So when the sun is shining today, I put Anais Anais on my wrists. These lovely memories... I can never be without this one. It was my very first real perfume, back in 1979, when it was almost new. I guess now that some would call me ”old lady”, but I assure you, that I am young at heart. And so is this lovely perfume. So romantic, so soft but strong - like beeing in the woods with all the pine trees and ”christmas trees” ( don’t know the correct name in english of those?? 🧐😏) , fire burning in the stove in grandma’s kitchen with smoke from the chimney, daddy picking wild strawberries for me to eat, all of them - I was not even two years old. This is what this smells like, and that is why I could not believe my senses when I got to try this at the perfume desk, when I was 18, going on 19. I bought it right away, so happy that I had earned my own money lately.
And it has been with me ever since, through it all.

Floral and straight up baby powder! Like you bathed in baby powder. I got the bottle for free and think I donated it. No way was I wearing that daily. I agree in the 70s or 80s I could totally believe it smelling soooo good and ladies wearing it all around.

Today I think you would stand out, because who is wearing this. Not in a bad way, but a weird way.. and I am already strange, I don’t need to smell strange too, haha!

I had a bottle of this about 1985 as a young girl. Wasn't my jam but finished the bottle and never thought of it again.
Until 6 years ago and my best friend and co-worker came to work wearing it. Stunning hyacinth & white floral. It took a couple of years before I could satisfy my craving for it (too many other perfumes sitting on the list) but I finally purchased a full bottle last year and I do love it.
Others have noted its 'dry'. I completely agree.
To me it smells both vintage and fresh but less like a bouquet of flowers and more like a beautiful expensive bar of hand soap.
A lovely uncomplicated summer scent for me and Im really happy to have it but I can understand people trying it for the first time and walking away without it.

Long, long time ago, when I was just a kid, I found this in my sister's junk drawer.

- What's this? Smells nice.
- I know...
Now imagine a pouty, spoiled rotten young blonde eye roll. You can add the '80 crep hair and chewing gum for the effect if you want.
- X gave it to me. For birthday or something.
X was, and after decades still is, her arch nemesis. And don't forget the eye roll.
- Then, I smelled her in church. And her mother. It seems that everybody and their mother is wearing it.
Eye roll.
So, back in the junk drawer it went.

In certain social circles, "milieu" in french, this, Cristalle de Chanel or Ô de Lancôme was given to young girls as a first perfume all trough '80 and '90. It was all over the place. Then the girls rebelled and bought Lou Lou or Poison for themselves.
Scandalous, I know.

On paper I should've liked this. I like florals in many forms, it has many notes I appreciate and I'm a fan of vintage Cacharel. Alas, it becomes like cheap, sharply dry floral public restroom soap on my skin and sadly does not improve on dry down. I feel like I'm missing something!! Sorry Anais Anais "It's not you, it's me".

I have smelt this all my life and only recently realised that it's this smell that I hate. Quite metallic and aldehydic to me at first, then soapy, vintage, powdery sweet. Not immediately recognisable as a white floral. Like synthetic bubble bath and dry pot pourri, it annoys the nose. I get some of the rose and possibly hyacinth but not in the way that I would like. Overall it's quite stale smelling, like an old dried up bouquet in a metal vase.

I'm a bit frustrated reading through, not that I read every single review, but there aren't many or any mentions of how dry this is.. lots ofcomment about being fresh, and lillies, innocent, garden fresh after rain.. bouquet of Rose's and otherflowers..
I believe this scent is opposite.

I think althoug probably not intentionally its very problematic for a blind buyer, anais is no freshie, or garden scent, not by today's standard.
The closest might be that its garden reference would be a dry bouquet, dry as smelling pot pourri, its light woody bark, a smidge peppery in beginning, a bit sharp, 90's vibe (that's not being critical). Its a bit nicer on fabric. It lasts well and the sillage is better then when smelled up close.

Summer test.
Ok beginning, I can tell it's not really my jam.
Its dry,driedfloral, woody but lightwoods, a bit sharp, could have slight cat wee just on the edge, it's the dryness I think.. i dont mind it then i think no, this isnt what i want to smell like.

Its a bit sharp, the aromatics are the dry sort, its not at all like the modern sort we find in mens scents, it's not a blend we see much of today... maybe in some dry woods + aldehyde mixes..?..

Yeah.. I dont mind, then I do mind. Not sure

I used to love how this perfume smelled, but I purchase one at an airport last year and really stinks bad, another perfume that successfully has been reformulated and now stinks really bad.

I never comment on fragrances nor do I really dislike any THAT much but this one is awful, imo. I love the comment below "what aliens would think flowers smell like" that is the best description ever for this one! If you can wear and rock this scent you are rare and definitely amazing!!

Ah, the scent of my schoolmates and I in the 90s. Such a strange clinical floral - I imagine this is what would happen if you asked an alien from outer space to imagine what flowers would smell like having never seen them.

It seems so watery and light, yet the scent was so persistent and pervasive. Whenever I catch a whiff of it on someone I am momentarily thrown into a remembered panic of not having my French homework done or not having tidied my bedroom. A strange creature of a scent.

My aunt used to wear this one and I loved the smell on her. I bought it some years ago and I didn't like it on my skin, besides it gave me headaches, I don't know why.

I love this perfume, i wore it in high school, and the original Gucci Bloom seems to remind me of it.

Anaïs Anaïs is a unique set of juxtapositions, and I love it. It’s cool, green, and leathery whole at the same time being VERY! floral (mostly lily and jasmine). It has always smelled a lot like green apples to me— but the skin, not the juice. It still feels clean and innocent to me— as well as timeless— but I can see the “old lady” connotations when I compare this to a modern fruity floral! Anaïs Anaïs is a shockingly dry and even bitter fragrance if you’re not used to vintage chypres.

I strongly remember the gift sets of this that came out in the ‘80s, which included diaphanous scarves and delicate little jewelry boxes done in the same pastel greens and pinks as the perfume label itself. The original ads were considered fairly scandalous, with topless young women cavorting around in what looked like a Victorian lesbian love garden.

Overall, I just love this stuff. It’s relaxing, transporting, and romantic. However, for something that was marketed as young and fresh 40 years ago, it’s got potent sillage that can easily tip the scales into lily-headache land. I have vintage splash bottle of EDT and I use it judiciously. So pretty!

A vintagy powdery florals scent. The flowers are well blended, but the white florals dominate. The projection is strong, people in the same room can smell it easily, then it's moderate after 2-3 hours. It has a very long longevity on me, I smell it the day after.

This perfume is in my mom's collection since FOREVER, I think I might have wear it more than her. I would never buy this perfume, but from time to time I test it for unknown reasons, sometimes it makes me feel good, nostalgic and sometimes I don't like it, floral floral more that I can take and I might be a bit allergic to it too. I don't know, I have to wear it in a specific mood, but mostly if I have too often allergic reactions, I'll just stop trying it, the perfume might be too old or my body doesn't accept something well.

First sniff
-Reminds me of graded reader book in primary highschool time named "When Grandma And Grandpa Were Still Young", and this is the first time I think of it again after 17 years

Scene
-Grandma sitting on wood chair doing crosstiches in her hands, suddenly she turns her face and see picture frame of her passaway husband with her when they were young, then she reminds of those times when he rode a bicycle to her home with a lot of white flowers in front basket, in their first flirting time. She smile with tears, missing of old good times.

Packaging
-What you feel when you see the bottle will be the same feeling when you smell the perfume inside, classic and delicate
-Bottle looks old even it's new, screen fade very easily

Notes
-Like a classic arrange flower gardens in some rich family's castle, with flower arches
-White lily note acts like a queen with another notes act like a follower maids, they go everywhere together, maids are only there to make a queen looks more prominent, more pride and more beautiful

Suitable
-Rich pride woman age 40+, classic style proper dress up, never speak any rude words, speak more like formal to another person, but in nicely way
-Any age woman, when wanna remind of good old times, including past romantic moments
-Any age woman when you wanna look older and formal, when you want surrounding people to act like giving more pride, and be formal more to you, telling them like "don't be rude to me, talk good, no joking, no kidding playing zone here".

Power
-Arm reach sillage or a little bit more, good longevity
-Friendly when doing mist spray in arm distance, nauseated and can be died if over clumping spray in very near distance, it still haunting linger stay on your wrist even after you wash off, be careful!

Conclusion
-Beautiful scent, unique, classic, collector should have
-I got it full size by swop with another perfumer many years ago, I decided easily that it suitable more for my mom but I can't help myself whiffed it on her dressing table everytime I went back home, it really gives unique special feeling that can't be found with another perfumes
-Suitable for giving as a gift to your older woman relatives in any occasion

I have the latest formulation, L'Original, and think it is better than the first version. I liked the original and wore it frequently as a teen but it was always a little too screechy and took a long time to calm down. The latest formulation, L'Original, took care of that problem by adding what I think is a little vanilla, which calmed the scent down. It also made it more wearable for anyone of any age. Even though Cacharel claims it is the same as the original formulation, to my nose it clearly is not. L'Original is much better. Don't even bother seeking out a vintage. Just get L'Original so you won't be disappointed.

Used to like it long time ago. Seams dated and annoys me now. Believe I will be having headaches after each use.

Much as my mom and lovely neighbor used to like this( I have memories of her sitting on her porch, smelling like pretty old fashioned scented drawer paper, while painting her toe nails orange) the modern version one is not for me. It's vintage type floral- powdery like original Chloe but instead of powder I get chalky and I can't detect any specific notes. I would even say papery. I'm sad this one was good in the original formula but messed up through being reformulated. My memories of it in thrhe 980s are different. I wish they would stop ruining perfumes!

Currently cleaning out my perfume closet à la Marie Kondo. It's always hard throwing out fragrances because they bring you right back to a certain time in your life, which is why I'm writing this review. I want to remember how this scent made me feel (Part 1).

I received this bottle from my godmother, who lives in another country and doesn't really know me well, when I was about fifteen or sixteen. I wore it for a few summers while working as a Coca-Cola girl at a carnival. Then and even now, I never felt that it really suited my personality: every time I wore it, the heady floral bouquet of lily, tuberose, and carnation overpowered me.

I do adore the '80s-style flaçon, but the scent really belongs to that era. When I smell this, I don't think of a young French demoiselle in a sundress, I think of an American businesswoman in her 30s with big hair and a shoulder-padded blazer.

Thank you, Anaïs Anaïs, for your service, and farewell!

I first wore it in my late teens/early 20s... I think it was a gift.

Unfortunately, on me, it was VERY strong, long-lasting, and an instant migraine in a bottle.

I HATE this perfume! As it is a migraine-trigger for me, I can't even stand to be anywhere near anyone wearing it. Sorry!

This was the very first perfume I ever got and it was a present from my mother. I think I was 18 at the time. Brings back wonderful memories from my teenage years!

Came on strong green and sharp. Quickly faded to floral and a pretty one. Then faded away to nothing. Kinda disappointed that this is supposedly such an iconic fragrance.

Anais is an oldie perfume from the eighties that had crossed the time beautifully. Yes it's a beautiful floral with lilly, carnation, honey suckle, rose, jasmine, heliothrope, but the base of leather and moss bring a more subtle fragrance that is well balanced between the flowers and sandal wood and ylang ylang. The honey suckle is brought two times in the fragrance wich add that sweetness in the fragrance. Verry feminine, floral, delicate, and stylish too.those who love paris, amarige, lauren will love anais too.

Far too powdery and rose for me, makes me cough

Sorry, boutlagh, but at least in its vintage form, Anais Anais reminds me EXACTLY of Nivea cream. Nivea fans, you must try this!

Both clean and warm, very present and comforting, if this is a smell you grew up with.

Ahhh.. This was my favorite teen years perfume. I loved the jasmine and the bottle. I will always love Cacharel because of this. Now I have Eden, which is very different.
Anais Anais is very youthful and it has a great sillage. Love it! Always will!
I might buy this again as it makes me feel nostalgic but I am into more mature and unique scents now that are intense and long lasting. If you love Jasmine and sandal you should definitely try this once.

hmm..this is a hard perfume to review because I do like it, but there is also something that bugs me about it a little. It is this kind of herbal note that is there amidst the other floral scents. It just gets in the way a bit, and interrupts what is otherwise a beautiful perfume. As someone who likes floral perfumes, I don't understand why this spice note was felt to be necessary (not a fan of spicy perfumes).

I'd call this an extreme spicy-green-floral, it's loud and can be temperamental, but I enjoy wearing it now and then as it brings back some fun memories. I imagine this as sort of like a bright pretty child that sullies her prettiness just a bit when she throws a tantrum, but is still fun and cute enough that I want her around. I do see some resemblance to Yves Rocher's Pivoine, but that one's softer and has less going on with the spice.

Funny how the perfume which is supposed to be soft and girlish can be heavy and imposing. I don't know whether it was reformulated, could be perhaps because of it that all soft, sfumato, soapy notes that brought this perfume accolades and status of the legend suddenly became rigid and static. It is very strong and won't go away discreetly, or refuses to blend with you. And it is rare quality, at least for me. Because I have very dry skin and perfumes on me tend to perish pretty fast, so I am always in search of uncharacteristically long lasting perfumes. Oh, well, I think I will use it to spray my drawers in small amounts. Actually, it smells good, but not on a person.

Today a micro mini of AA arrived, and the scent brought me back to the late 70's, maybe very early 80's. My mother and sister are in the kitchen, discussing this new perfume, and the fragrance of Anais Anais fills the air.

The scent hasn't changed much, at least to my nose. It's very floral, but not sweet. It reminds me of cyclamen flowers, maybe a tiny bit of lily of the valley. I don't get powder or the spicy fragrance of carnations. It's a cool scent, not at all opulent, thankfully not sweet. It's well blended and carefully crafted. Nothing about AA shouts or overwhelms. Compared with modern perfumes this vintage seems demure.

Some call AA dated, but I don't agree. It is an older scent and thus very unlike the perfumes marketed to younger consumers. None of this makes Anais Anais bad. It's just very different from run-of-the-mill celeb frags and sticky gourmands.

I'm glad to have it again.

Anais Anais is perfect for times when you're in the mood for a floral scent. It has a beautifully dominant fragrance of orange blossoms and jasmine, which both happen to be my favorites. Although I usually prefer attention-grabbing scents; however, Anais Anais is one of the subtle scents I personally am fond of. Its soft, feminine, relaxing and fresh. Anais Anais may be considered as a fragrance for young women but, in my opinion, slightly older women may also wear it too as its pleasantly elegant and is best suited for outdoor events etc

Anais Anais is an old fashioned powdery floral. It smells somewhere between L'air du Temps and a generic body lotion. It smells like a middle aged woman to me, elegant but not youthful.

I don't like it at all, and it won't go away! I washed my wrist and nothing. I put Angel lotion on... it's overpowered Angel! What is in this thing?

After reading all the reviews, i really wanted to try this fragance. I had a small sample of Anais anais Premier delice and i liked it, so i thought that i would also like this one!
Well, i was wrong...i won't say this smells bad, because i still have to smell this perfume on someone with the right chemistry.
On me, this fragance consist of floral baby powder, an acid, vintage patchouli and a strong mix of white flowers.

I hoped the dry down would be nicer on me, at least it lasted for some hours which is good. But it still smells like patchouli and talc powder.

I try to be open minded, but this fragance definitely didn't work well with my skin. It doesn't help much the fact that patchouli gives me headaches. For the people who doesn't understand why others dislike this fragance, please remember that it may smell wonderful on you, but not in other people...being blunt, on me this smells like cat "musk" (the one which they use to mark territory, patchouli on me turns really animalic), a dried bouquet of flowers and talcum on top.

This truly is my favourite perfume in the history of perfumes. I am obsessed with many, but none will ever come close in any universe to touching this fragrance for me. It is astral, ethereal, reaches something in the spiritual subconscious, mystic, yet disguised as something earthly and earthy. There is nothing I'd rather smell more than this scent, despite having fun experimenting and playing around with others. The complexity is iridescent. I was devastated when it was discontinued and L'Original took its place. I cannot understand for the life of me why on EARTH they would substitute one for the other. I've spoken to ladies at the beauty counter, they're saying, 'Oh, it's the same scent, just a different bottle.' Um, NO! L'Original is dressed up as this Anais Anais for Halloween in a cheap costume bought at the variety store. For the love of God, PLEASE bring Anais Anais back. And I totally agree with another reviewer, if it were rebranded with a commercial and new models, etc., y'all would be goin' nuts for it. Dated, my arse. Y'all are on crack.

The only verified perfume that gives me a guaranteed headache every time. Too bad because it does smell great.

I have a vintage miniature, which is sitting proudly on my fragrance tray. she knows she’s a baby among the queens and I truly adore her and treasure her existence. I recently went to a perfume counter to test the current version. Beautiful and enjoyable without a doubt but lack of depth than it used to.

Just a suggestion to those who are prepared to get up and call Anais Anais (or any other fragrance) "dated" - perhaps it's not that the fragrance is "dated" so much as it's a case of your inability to appreciate anything outside of your very limited olfactory range.

My dad gifted my mom this back in 2007 or was it the 08'.I was young back then(I was 8 or 9 yrs old)and the fragrance I had was either the Pucelle Colognes and some fragrances from Avon like Sweet Honesty and I think Jet Femme and Eternal magic was out during that time.I saw this tiny white bottle in my mom's cabinet and I immediately grab the ethereal and angelic white bottle,sprayed and sniffed and it made be retract back because it smells like shit.I knew it's the jasmine I knew right away it is the damn jasmine.It's a heavy-thick and fleshy white floral yet there's some lightness feeling "as if you're floating on air" vibe.

Tranporting to last month when I did a testing and sniffing spree at the airport in Istanbul.I tested this once again and i'm kindaaa disappointed yet I got it again at another place because it was fucking expensive at the airport.

Did they change the formulation for this fragrance?I don't get the indolic note that I now crave for anything that is jasmine.It's not the Anais anais that I remember but still the Anais anais DNA is there.

But still,I like this scent so much for I have a huge heart towards heavy white florals or florals that's got jasmine (Alien being my no.1 fave when it comes to jasmine).It's still ethereal and innocent and classy and timeless for me.

The 2 Cacharel scents I am familiar with (Anais and LouLou) really don't sit well with me. I am far from a fragrance expert but, there is, perhaps, a shared note or two in these scents that I find to be sharp and loud.

I’m working my way through a bunch of blind buys, and I’m really not sure if I like this or not! At first I thought this one doesn’t work with my body chemistry. This morning it was a powerful soapy Madonna lily scent that faded into lily of the valley with undertones of soap, and this afternoon it was a safe but unpleasant soapy cat wee and hyacinth blend. However tonight it has matured into a warm blend of white flowers and I don’t mind it at all.

My very first perfume... I think I was 11 or 12 when my sister gifted me with this. I loved it at first and then I couldn't bear its scent anymore. Felt way too heavy and floral to me, to the point that I would feel sick from smelling my own perfume! Anaïs Anaïs feels very nostalgic but now I'm an adult, I don't think I would crave wearing it anymore haha.

My all time favourite. Launched as a "teenager perfume" 40 years ago, but it's hard to imagine the teenagers of today wearing this. More of a sweet, kind woman of any age.

This is so dam beautiful

I don't understand the hate. It's a clear, crisp and at the same time, quite loud and cloying floral bomb. It's quite relevant to its times, and people who complain it smells "old"...go smell L'heure bleue (which I love btw) To me Anais is a nice, straightforward, optimistic scent. And I'd rather have this than modern Lady millions or La vie est belles anytime.

For me it smells like a grandma, it's not a modern perfume at all

This was recommended to me in 1999 as the only "young person's scent" on the market. My times have changed! (Either that or the department-store assistants didn't know their stuff.) The tidal-wave of sweet floral fruities only started in the early 2000's, to my knowledge. This is an altogether different, earlier understanding of youth. It is about femininity, beauty and clean freshness. Today, we think youth perfumes have to be fun, frivolous and gourmand. But they are two ways of looking at the same thing. Because young people are all of this!

UPDATE: there were things like CK One and Cool Water around... Why didn't they recommend those? Too mature for a 13 year-old?

I actually ended up choosing Mugler's Angel. There was nothing like it back then.

To me this is a strange scent but I got it for nostalgic purposes. I always smelled this from relatives especially during the 80s at first spritz it smells very strong and masculine pomade but the dry down transforms it into a more gentle powdery scent. The smells kind of makes you think chilling at the backyard of your country farm house or just simply a laid back scent. I like the dry down.

I wore Anais Anais in H.S. in the 80s and remember it fondly.
The juxtaposition of ethereal white flowers over a base of incense and leather is genius; much like vintage Chanel No. 22 eau de cologne or Shiseido's Murasaki (burgundy bottle). Perfectly balanced and timeless.

Eh.
Nice. A little dated. In the line of Laura Ashley, A few Nina Ricci types. Not bad by any means. But, it doesn't leave me swooning. But, I will say this product does last. Well made. Definitely worth the few bucks it costs. Personally,, I don't find the bottle itself all that outdated though. The perfume is very floral.. The first few minutes of the perfume is wierd. But, the rest is fine. But, overall a basic mutifloral composition that's long lasting.

This is beautiful in old shool style.
First 5 - 6 seconds after applying on skin it smells horrible. Stinks. Then fast as drydowning changes to its real colours. Wow. Full range as you can see notes some many.
It was created in 1978 so basically in the 80ties and it shows. Full garden. And more.........
Can not describe the perfume one by one, its so complex. And lasts and lasts. Now in 2018 is old school but not just old.
To wear in office no forbidden. To wear in a ballroom yes.
Sparingly then all over your body.
For me its too much. But this is how perfume should be today as well. Longlasting. Sad it cant be this way anymore.

In my opinion, if someone in a parallel universe would launch this exact perfume in a better looking bottle and payed for an expensive commercial where Kendall Jenner/Cara Delevigne would dance half-naked in a blooming field of lilies of the valley, it would be a great commercial success.

I can´t understand why this perfume has so many dislikes. This fragrance has lovely, well balanced notes and a strong sillage. Perfect for everyday use.

A very nice flower scent. I smell mainly lavender, and a teensy bit of a fruity scent in the background. It makes me think of spring or summer.

I had this as a young woman and I could take or leave it. I preferred more heady scents back then. Now as I turn 50, I find myself attracted to the lighter fragrances and less of the dark oriental undertones. Anais Anais to me is easy day wear. It's not overbearing or head achey. I am finding myself reaching it for it more and more when I don't feel like wearing a "signature" scent. It's a carefree and easy woman who wears this.

Love it or hate it, we should admit that it is queen of the noslagic perfumes. Mother's scent, chilhood memoires, old stuff. Love it!

I can see how back in the day Anais Anais must have been a bit of a revolution.
It's not unpleasant by any means and smells very clean... but also very old fashioned to my nose. This is an old wooden drawer filled with classic white bars of soap, a lace slip, faded photographs and a couple of mothballs.

I loved this nice perfume when I was a young girl, and, it still bring back good memories, I proably will buy another bottle ...

SEALED BNIB VINTAGE (90s)
Anais Anais 100ml (3.4oz)
Parfums Cacharel Paris (14 Rue Royale)
Available for swap or dollars. PM me

When I was a kid of 15 (1990) I can remember the glossy Cacharel ads for scents like Anais Anais, Lou Lou and Eden. They were exotic, magical and even a little dark. Who knows....maybe drooling over those ads and others like them might have planted the seed that has blossomed into the lovely obsession I have today.
Anyway, I got a sample of this gal today and couldn't wait to shower and wear it. Can a scent be heavy and light all at once? First sniff is bold floral, tuberose maybe. It was bright and made me so happy! Smells so cheery. But soon it becomes something deeper, more spicy, smoky and herbal. I still smell the flowers, but they have become more subdued. I knew that with all the notes listed that this one would smell completely different from anything I currently own. But I had no real idea what to expect from it.
I can see why this scent has been around for so long and has such a following. It is definitely interesting and unique. I like it, but I would like to try it again in the spring to see if that would make this one go from a like to a love.

I do not feel nostalgia because I am young, but the perfume was given to me by a friend and I can safely say that it is nice to me. it is not a masterpiece, but it is not annoying. colorful, quite durable fragrance.

I bought this perfume in 1980, it's a wonderful perfume, and I will probably buy it again.

I forgot that I had bought a mini of Anaïs Anaïs almost a decade ago. When I cleared out my cartons from my many moves I was pleasantly surprised to find this in one! To me this brings back it's own nostalgia, coz it's from a time when I was young and pretty and the whole world and my whole life lay before me. I have to say I just bought the perfume coz I used to see the print ads and when I smelled it then, I had no appreciation of it whatsoever. I'm glad it finally has seen the light of the day when I'm in a better position to understand it's nuances than how it would have been 10 years ago.
It's not very long lasting on my skin, nor does it have a great sillage. On me it has a slightly boozy quality, possibly from the leather? Though this comes out with the top notes and not the base notes. The flowers are INTENSE! On me there is a very sweet top note along with the booze, but not a gourmand one...more like an intensely sweet flower. The middle note on me is dominated by tuberose, and since it's my favourite flower, I'm not complaining! In fact this is way better than all the other tuberose perfumes that I have tried!
It definitely communicates images of innocence, nostalgia, youth (coz I bought it at that time), but yet I associate it now with a more mature woman. There is something of a young conservative, beautiful, soft and traditional mama about this. I'm not much soft or traditional, lol, so this isn't my signature perfume, but it's good for when I want to reminsce about my early- mid twenties.

It’s funny how things pan out. Here are women of my generation yearning for the vintage fragrances of the ‘60s and ‘70s, I would give anything to sniff a fresh bottle of Vivara, L’Interdit, Narcisse Noir, Fidji and Casaque, exactly as they were in the ‘70s.

But really, who can say if our memories of the long gone fragrances are accurate representations of the actual fragrance, or if we are driven by nostalgia...I haven’t worn Anais Anais for more than thirty years. When I first discovered it, I loved the softness and romantic nature of this fragrance, so floral, so feminine...so sweet in a non-confectionery way.

I recently discovered both my daughters have Anais Anais in their collection ....a fragrance I wore in the 80’s when they were both born. I was puzzled, and surprised...”Why are you wearing this girls, it’s so old fashioned, and it was wonderful in the ‘80s...but today?” ....response...because when I smell Anais Anais, I smell mum.

I am touched and overwhelmed. So this one has a special place in my heart. It isn’t who I am anymore, but in my 20’s, I suppose it was.

my first time wearing this fragrance, but I felt compelled to review it. I wasn't expecting to be blown away, I wasn't expecting much at all really, but I was blown away in surprise. This is a gorgeous perfume, and there's a suble complexity to it that makes it so alluring. The top notes are powder and lily with a backdrop of different florals. It is innocent and yet very sensual, it's not an adolescent scent, it's kind of grown up, despite the packaging. i do agree with another reviewer that it is very "french" - feminine, yet enigmatic and ambiguous, elegant, classy yet chic.
I think Anais Anais is still a very relevant fragrance in today'd world of perfumes. It has an original identity that transports you to a different place and time, The nostalgia is romantic and ethereal.
Bottom line, I can see myself wearing this all the time, just because it's so lovely.

I wear this for nostalgia's sake, because I used to wear it during my school days in the 1990s, and either my Mum or me always had a bottle on our own dressing tables. These days I definitely see it as a cold weather fragrance. It feels much too heavy for when it's even a little bit warm, so it's perfect to remember it again and spray it on a frosty November morning. Compared to more modern scents, I do find it a little overpowering, so I stick to 2 sprays maximum. The sillage is heavy and lasts for the whole day and night. I seem to be a little allergic to it - I started sneezing with only 2 sprays. It's heavily floral, not at all sweet by today's standards, and perhaps because of that lack of modern sweetness, I now perceive something a little bit 'austere' about this fragrance, for want of a better word. It's a serious floral, and not remotely gourmand or playful like modern scents tend to be. It's very 80s. An austere, complex white floral with dark green notes. I still like it - it's too classic and personal not to like it - but this is definitely a once-in-a-while, frosty-weather fragrance, for me, and not an everyday scent.

gorgeous sweet white floral in the top that quickly becomes woody and oakmoss with the flowers lying under a bed of moss

I grew up with this so it has a tremendous sentimental value to me. My first ever proper French perfume. People stopped me to ask what perfume I was wearing. I love it just as much today as I loved it then. It's the truest white floral on me. Powdery, nice and warm. Such a beautiful cold weather scent. I absolutely can't detect any fruits or citruses, just the flowers and the vetiver/cedar. Favorites come and go, but this one will stay with me. I'll always have a bottle in my vanity.

Oh how I wish I liked this perfume... But I unfortunately don't. I know it's a classic but to me, it's overwhelming. Just look at the amount of notes in the perfume, it pretty much translates its fragrance: there's just TOO MUCH going on !!! Too floral, too woodsy, too citric, all at the same time. It's a mess. It's like putting a flower bouquet inside a drawer and opening it a few hours later, which is not a good smell... The mid notes smell like withered flowers to me. Also, to me it belongs to the "old lady scent" category. Not sexy, not young, not even feminine because it doesn't have grace... I absolutely hate it.

Once I have got courage to try this on my skin and all prejudice about old school Cacharel was gone. This is botanical garden, creamy, moldy and lush. Imagine you sleeping on the grass in the middle of the chilly summer night and the dewy jasmine, lilies, carnations from blossom to stems covering you in the aromatic thick greenhouse mist. You have to be tolerant for green notes to love this, because sometimes it's really pure grass. But it never stays flat and pulsates on body releasing waves of different flower scents. Honestly, it's hard to believe school girls could wear that, but on the other hand they wore loads of Obsession too...

Pure magic lillies and roses, reminds me of Paris by Yves Saint Laurent. Delicious, charming and mystic buy maybe a little bit overwhelming.

This was my mom's "going out" perfume. It always smelled too light, powdery and sharply floral and feminine to me. I personally prefer more gourmand and the richer, creamier smells like amber, vanilla, sandalwood etc. But this bottle and the powdery white floral smell makes me think of her in the 80s/90s on the rare occasion of getting dolled up to go out.

I loved as a teenager so much so that I had to buy it again to have in my collection.

What a gorgeous fragrance. I never thought I was a fan of white florals until I found this scent; what a revelation! It envelopes you in such lush warmth. The top notes drip with bright florals and the base oozes wood - all together it becomes so sensual. Truly a sex bomb.
This is an absolute must for any perfume collection, and it's such a steal.

I found a bottle yesterday in a thrift shop, my first good perfume find locally (I'm new to this perfume passion). I just love the scent, it gives me different lovely fragrances throughout the day and is subtle enough not to interfere with other people at work.
One of my new faves!

I have a vintage 80s bottle that I cling to and rarely use. Tonight, in the completely incorrect temperature zone for this beauty, I wear two sprays.

It may be winter outside, but inside it's a fresh Spring morning with dewy white and purple flowers all around me. I am in love, again. So many happy times, peaceful times I remember with this scent. Walking through fields of yellow flowers in the Summer time, eating lunch on Lygon St in Autumn... heading to my first cookery school class wearing my favourite woolen cardigan. Never an uptight or uncomfortable moment, just peaceful. My mother, who cannot handle or even tolerate strong fragrances, also loves this and has worn it on a single occasion.

It positively blooms in the warmth, with the flowers just radiating on the skin. In this current weather, the more deeper notes present themselves: leather, smoke and vetiver become very apparent.

The bottle itself looks rather cheap, not entirely appealing... however, like the tin can Rive Gauche 'bottle', looks can be completely deceiving - it's what's inside that counts and what's inside is a beautiful, mildly elegant soft floral bomb that just captures the time it was from. It's a flower bomb before Viktor & Rolf. Not overly sweet, just stunning. Cannot praise enough, I'm glad to finally write a review for this because it's genuinely my favourite... up there with No. 5, Cabotine, L'Air du Temps, Amariage, Caleche and L'Heure Bleue. Truly, truly wonderful... I adore it, just like I love almost anything by Cacharel.

Scent: 10/10
Longevity: 8/10... 9-10 hours
Sillage: 7/10 - 3 or so feet
Individuality: 9.5/10 - can distinguish easily.
Overall: 9.99/ 10

My mum wore this in the eighties, therefore I wore it as a child and loved it then.
Recently tried it on at Shifeon and was super not into it, very head ache inducing. Oh well.

Silky lavender and Lily of valley soap. Mostly it's Lily of valley and comforting spicy oakmoss that gives vintage vibe. I can sense alcohol. There are also yellow floral, cedar, spicy and mossy notes. Lily gives lovely warm white floral. I think it's possible to sense all other notes. Overall quite vintage-y, soapy, warm, clean, fresh, cheerful scent. Thou vintage-y this perfume doesn't seem for older lady, rather for young woman or woman.

I wish that I understood why, but this classic has never worked with my chemistry, sadly. I love it in the bottle but it becomes a scrubber once worn. This is one of those that I'll have to admire on others instead of on myself (and there are a handful of fragrances like that for me).
I can't deny that it's a gorgeous classic; I just wish that it liked my chemistry.

This Really reminds me about the old days when i was a kid, i used to smell it on mother but unfortunately it was so heavy to put it my self for school , it smelled perfectly good on mama's skin ..if ever i could gave this fragrance a name it would be childhood vibes :)

One of the best things about Anais Anais is that nowadays it can be purchased really cheaply - I guess the reason for this price drop is the fact that fragrances such as this one are no longer in vogue. However, if you love heady florals, you will certainly enjoy this one. Basically, this is a flower-pow(d)er bomb. In spite of its humble packaging, it projects much better than some overhyped modern fragrances. There are countless flowers in this bouquet, and they are so well blended, that it's hard to tell them apart. In that sense, it must have served as a model for Givenchy Amarige, another floral beast.

Like other two Cacharel's most famous fragrances (Lou Lou and Eden), Anais Anais also tends to provoke polarized opinions these days.

Anais Anais is floral, and very much so.

It seems green, light, romantic - theres's dry, green opening and then it lightens up to romantic lily of the waley, tender rose and airy hyacinth - but there's more to it.
I call it "a twist" everytime I sense sumptious whispering from tuberose, leather and incense in the background.

Oh yes - "A twist", but Anais Anais keeps beeing clean, quite green and pastel floral, great for the spring.

So, if you are not into florals, or the florals are on the margine of what you prefer to wear - I strongly recomend to test it first.
On the other hand, if you're looking for distinct spring floral with the clasic background and "a twist", you should try old formula Anais Anais.

It is so innocent. It is so tempting.

* like
* longevity: long lasting (up to 10 hours)
* silage: moderate (arms lenght)
* weather/season/time: All year round, except the hot (+30 C) days. I wore it at spring, mostly. Casual to semi-formal. Day.
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- personal attachment - if you are not interested, just skip it, please.

"A TWIST"

How ingenious was to hide "hot stuff" under the layers of innocent flowers, what a great deception!

In the era of opulent, loud, overwhelming perfumes, four noses joined together to create Anais Anais. The perfume wasn't made to cross the "sexy line", it was made to hide it, or at least - blur it.

If there wasn't incense, leather and tuberose making mess in the background of clear, tender, well arranged flowers, I would probably leave Anais Anais behind at some point of my womanhood...

... but I can clearly see myself saying: "Yes, of course, I've been a good girl, see?", with eyes innocently wide-open.
And blink-blink, like an angel, just in case.

Seems like Anais Anais was universal present for teenage girls back in the eighties and at the begining of nineties. I was 15 when I got it for my birhday. Anais Anais was my first distinct floral and it set the path to the floral fragrances I chose later in my life.

But I'm not having it today for nostalgic reasons:
I still enjoy it from time to time, and I love to - play.
It is much more fun now when I know egzactly what to do with this kind of innocence, and still have Anais Anais - egzactly the right perfume.

Blink.

And yes, of course, Anais Anais is inocent: just look at the vintage white, round, porcelan bottle with painted pastel flowers.
Still, it is conveniently non-transparent so you can not see how much of liquid innocence is left in it.

Anais Anais is magnificently deciveing.
From today's point of view, it seems so subersive, so deceptive, so great, and so, so French.

Blink-blink.

I remember when I first met Anais in my teens, in an older friend, saying that the bottle looks cheap and she replied "this is magnolia my dear, this is famed Anais" and voaw! This is like a cultural heritage. Magnolia is the most beloved tree and flover in my city and it is just magical as everbody knows you can only smell this beauty when blossomed in its tree. Fades right when picked up but here in a bottle. Magnolia is not listed in notes but overall this bouquet makes magnolia here. Its a great achievement to blend so much so well and obtain such defined characteristic. Hence a classic.

Not my type of perfume. Smells like strong soap that gives me a headache