Hi there Olfactoria’s Travellers,
Portia in the OT house from Australian Perfume Junkies and Perfume Posse
Since I heard the today’s fragrance had been discontinued it has been an oft spritz. Then on Facebook Fragrance Friends one of the girls (THANKS Kate) decided to do a Random Act Of Kindness (RAOK) and I won so I’m able to spritz to my hearts content. Obviously the sales for it have been dropping or it wouldn’t be on the chopping block but to say I am saddened is an understatement.
Aqua Allegoria Lys Soleia by Thierry Wasser for Guerlain 2012
Photo Stolen Fragrantica
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, lemon, palm leaves
Heart: Lily, ylang-ylang, tropical fruits
Base: Tuberose, vanilla, white musk
It’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere and here is a perfect tropical, beachy foil for whatever you’re doing, and wherever you chose to be doing it. This is one of Thierry Wasser’s loveliest in my eyes. So wearable, so bright and happy. One of the heftiest Aqua Allegorias, you will be delightfully fragrant and have sensational sillage for at least 3 hours before it all becomes very soft and cuddly.
Photo Stolen Flickr
Lys Soleia opens on me with a split second of citrus and then it takes a back seat to the creamy ylang and white flower bouquet that is lightly sweetened by a lightweight ripe papaya. None of that gag worthy over the top punch you in the face stench that papaya can get, in Lys Soleia we have it shorn of everything but a watercolour wash.
It’s funny that Lys Soleia is named for the lily because I get very little of what my mind associates with lily, the dewy wetness and air conditioned florist shop, doesn’t register at all for me until well into the heart and then only as a bit player. Ylang, papaya, tuberose, vanilla and a large dose of cuddly clean musks is what Lys Soleia offers up to me. I’m surprised that there is no salt or sandalwood, if you asked me I would definitely have included them in my guess-timation. After 3 hours I left with a soft glow of amorphous fragrance that smells fresh in a just out of the shower body kind of way, very nice
Photo Stolen Wikipedia
Warmth, passion, island nights and huge bouquets in lavish hotel foyers. Lys Soleia will scintillate and beguile your company while remaining low level enough to wear to dinner, though perhaps a little too fragrant for scent conservative workplaces.
Further reading: Smelly Thoughts and Candy Perfume Boy
Beauty Encounter currently has $42/125ml
What has been discontinued for you lately that will be hard to replace?
Portia xx
Olfactoria's Travels 
Hi Portia,
Lys Soleia is calling my name. Thank you (I think) for this review!
A discontinued favorite? Three years ago I bought a cheap lipstick chubby pencil in a color called “tomato”. It is my favorite red ever and now is nowhere to be found. Trying to find a match for “tomato” launched me on a lipstick quest that cost at least 100 times the price of the original cheap lipstick. I never did find a total color match. 😦
Azar xx
Heya Azar,
Sorry love. It is lovely though, tell me how you go.
GAK! The search for a matching lipstick, the impossible dream. We’ve all been there.
Portia xx
Wonderful review, I always thought Lys Soleia was a Lily dominant fragrance due to iTS name but good to read it is not, Portia, or Maybe not as it might be quite difficult to find.
A discontinued gem would be Fendi Palazzo edp. It was discontinued longer ago but everytime I wear it my heart aches as I like it so much. Would have loved to try THE body Cream of Palazzo for THE Total experience.
Fendi used to make such wonderful fragrances. I still have a bottle of Fendi donna and Asja. YUMMY!
Portia xx
Lovely review, Portia. I’m sure more than a few people will be trying to snap it up before it’s all gone, after reading this.
I thought Lys Soleia was one of the best AAs and that it would be perfect to pick up at duty free on your way to the beach, so beats me why it didn’t sell. It had a lovely warm base too and I agree, much more substance than others in the line. Oh well. I’m glad you have some to enjoy a little longer.
Hiya Tara,
It lasted 3 years which is quite long for an AA. I think all the people that would buy it did. Maybe they weren’t re-buying.
Portia xx
One can feel how much you love this one Portia, and I understand, it’s one of my big summer loves too. I remember being scared of the ‘Lys’ and delighted when I got ylang instead. It’s always sad to see the good ones being dc’ed, Iris ganache for one 😦 thanks for the review.
Hey Asali,
It seems that quite a few I’ve fallen for over the last decade or so have been deleted while often the ones in a line-up that I thought wr\ere merely OK are the ones that stay. weird.
Portia xx
It is always sad when a beloved frag goes the way of the dodo! I particularly miss the old skanky Creeds from the last century, such as Orange Spice (definitely discontinued) and Baie de Genievre (do not see it anymore.)
Heya Rob,
I wonder if you called CREED would they have some unloved stock somewhere lying around?
Portia xx
Portia, I understand. It’s so hard when something you love is discontinued or has its price go out of sight. Lolita Lempicka”s “L” was rumored to be gone forever. I wrote to the company to ask that they be courteous to their customers and confirm or deny that rumor. Eventually, they did, confirming the rumor and siting economic issues. Patou, on the other hand, let Eau de Patou disappear for a fairly long time, then put it back on the market for an exorbitant price..Eau de Patou for me is the perfect summer fragrance, so I’m saving my pennies..
Anita, is this any help? http://www.fragranceshop.com/eau-de_patou/
Wow! Thank you, annemariec…
No problem, it’s a little corner of the perfumed internet that is not too well known. I share you sadness over the high prices Patou is charging for it’s re-releases, even though none of them are favourites of mine. Maybe they do it because the production costs are high, but if not, it seems rather cynical.
Oh its, not it’s. Shame
No shame needed, annemariec, it’s is correct when you mean it is. In my former life I was a grammar teacher.