Camila_fromAD – 2022-06-07:

5 out of 5

to me this belongs more to the chypre genre than oriental floral. Heady, powdery, mossy and overall very unrelenting composition. Iris stands out to me as most dominant, so would only recommend to ladies who love iris and vintage feel. I don’t get any warmth or cuddles from this one at all.

TOKNH2008 – 2022-06-07:

4 out of 5

An antique vintage scent, feminine, womanly, sooo deep,,, soo sweet, really heavy!
i don’t mind smelling it on people around me but i can’t bear it on me!

LAVCHESS – 2022-06-07:

4 out of 5

Dearest Josephine,
After our first encounter, I’ve been unable to forget you. I kept coming back to get yet another taste of your mysterious aura. I was fascinated by you, I had to see you, touch you, inhale you, decipher your different moods. I had to know if we could be together, because I wanted you in my life and I needed to have you.
Then I took you home, still not knowing what to expect. Sometimes I find you extravagant, unfriendly, and hard to bear. But you know how to be warm and lift my spirits on a cold, rainy day, and I love you for that.
Yours truly,
Rux

Genkurs – 2022-06-07:

4 out of 5

I tried Josephine yesterday for the first time. I was and still am intrigued. I sprayed it in the back of my elbow and sniffed throughout the afternoon. A little bit sour, a little medicinal, I hoped it would become sweeter but in the end I think it’s just not for me. It seems to smell better from a distance and has something very addictive about it. Now I miss it and I want more. Rancé, what is this sorcery we’re dealing with? 🙂

gurilvit – 2022-06-07:

5 out of 5

I have a testing sample giving by a perfume salson gathering. When I tested on paper, it smells so fresh, but on my skin it so violet. Very wormen classy, sillage is Ok, on my skin its last like forever.

Elmo – 2022-06-07:

5 out of 5

This perfume was originally given to me by my sister a few years ago, as she couldn’t wear the perfume. It lost all of its charm on her skin.
Fortunately for me, it sat beautifully on my skin. It immediately became my signature scent and I’ve been through many bottles since. People (men and women) stop me regularly to ask about my perfume. I’m often complimented for it and moreover, it is such a delightful smell that it makes me feel fantastic when I wear it. It is somehow feminine, pretty and enigmatic and joyful all at once. I’d go so far as to say that this scent is totally seductive in the most encompassing way.
BEWARE of dodgy versions though. Once I received a bottle that smelt sour (similar to the negative reviews I’ve seen on it here actually) and faded on my skin with none of the uplifting aroma that it normally has. My fiancee thought i was wearing a whole new scent. It came new in the box from ebay and cost the same as the others so I don’t know how it happened but it was a complete dud. I have no idea why. The next bottle I purchased was divine.
My recommendation: you must try this on yourself to see if it works. If it suits you, welcome to Heaven 🙂
It is very difficult an expensive to obtain in Australia however. Any suggestions are welcome 🙂

krevedka – 2022-06-07:

4 out of 5

I find this perfume far to clean/cool and modern to be named after an historic figure. I get the freshness of hyacinth and violet leaf in the top notes (I love this part), followed by the floral and musk smoothness of the mid notes (nice), but then it disappears on me. It’s a two-hour fragrance, tops.
This is a very expensive perfume in my country so I’m lucky that I was able to purchase a tester at a reduced price. Nice, but not worth the big bucks for me.
I should also add that the cord-covered metal section that sits around the actual sprayer is a pain because it blocks some of the spray and gets soaked with perfume. You can remove this piece without damaging the bottle.

kiillerg – 2022-06-07:

5 out of 5

Have to admit this is one weir perfume. When spray and smell in the air or smell on the tester strip, it’s wonderful like Lancome Miracle. But when smell on my skin, it’s a little bit sour.

Daemos – 2022-06-07:

5 out of 5

I get confused wearing this scent. It smells so good when I am not smelling it nose to wrist, but once I smell it nose to wrist it is just sooo sour! I hope to the dry down is more powdery.

Darkline – 2022-06-07:

3 out of 5

Is this supposed to be a reconstructed formula from two centuries ago? Well, in some ways, Rancé 1795 JOSEPHINE seems very similar to Lalique FLORA BELLA, which was also coincidentally launched in 2005. I find the Rancé somewhat fruitier and tarter, although it is still not very sweet. There is definitely a similar texture to the eccentric floral bouquet here, and I imagine that this composition could be more appealing to those who find the Lalique too floral. I myself find JOSEPHINE a bit sour around the edges, so it may not be working well on my skin.
The somewhat woody drydown of JOSEPHINE harks back again to Donna Karan GOLD (which I consider to be a close neighbor in some ways to FLORA BELLA), with an ever-so-slight feeling of pencil shavings lying underneath everything at the bottom. The overall composition is quite complex, and for that reason it is bound to play out very differently to different noses, given variable sensitivities to all of the various components present. There is an interesting array of flowers here, including hawthorne, and together they produce a sort of emergent floral note which doesn’t really smell specifically like any of its constituent parts.
Definitely worth a sniff, but also a try before you buy.

ilozavr – 2022-06-07:

5 out of 5

It’s sad Josephine doesn’t match with my skin chemistry. It’s the brand best seller, but after I spray on, my skin EATs up most of the aroma. The perfume is on the skin, I just can’t smell it on my left inner elbow, I have Pauline on my right inner elbow.
Pauline develops well with my skin, the sweet aroma of violet grow stronger, while Josephine turns sour, then turns into soapy, then vanilla, then peppermint, like the aroma of my German medical toothpaste.
I have to let go Josephine and choose Pauline.
Update: It’s like a high quality girly perfume smells very similiar to Lancome Miracle. Way better perfume cause made from good quality natural ingresients and no artificial color.

ten5544 – 2022-06-07:

3 out of 5

I find it hard to match the name of Josephine with something quite so subtle. In my head I had built up a picture of something rich and opulent I suppose in modern terms * more diva like*.
This is pleasant and ladylike during the top and middle notes but during dry down it starts to get a little powdery which I love with the Lilac and Peony it has a very pretty ending and I can at the end just pick up a very light and subtle musk note that rounds it off nicely.
I would always reach for this for any elegant occasion somehow it just fits.

beaubnumnCego – 2022-06-07:

4 out of 5

It’s adorable.So longlasting,so pure and feminine, very classy…I only had a sample of this, i would like so badly to have the whole bottle…Josephine was one lucky girl 🙂

taptonews – 2022-06-07:

5 out of 5

Josephine is such a polite and ladylike perfume, so sweet and charming, reminiscent of my little bottle of Arpege (parfum). It’s warm and refreshingly crisp all at once. It opens with a gush of spicy florals and peach.
The powdery heart is the part I adore and wish it lasted much longer; it’s woody and musky with a touch of something sweet & fruity.
The drydown is soft with hints of vanilla and sandalwood, yet the perfume retains a crisp green note throughout its development, possibly from the hyacinth.
I wore this on a rainy day, and that’s when I really fell in love with it. It created a beautiful cloud around me while I drove around in my muggy car. The musk seems to really come out in the rain and make this perfume very cozy and soft.

shex78 – 2022-06-07:

4 out of 5

Francois Rance dedicated this perfume to the woman most loved by Napoleon – his wife Empress Josephine.
“That recreation of the real fragrance Josephine, which has claimed more than two hundred years. Though, this recreation in fact captivates the smell of the modern lady who likes to use floral and sweet fragrances in their daily routine life. Some ingredients of the terrific Rancé Josephine are ylang¸ jasmine floras. Others are hyacinth, musk and violet leaves.”
“Joséphine for women has been released in its original formula. The notes are May rose, hawthorn, jasmine, ylang ylang, hyacinth, iris, blackcurrant, white peach, cloves, galbanum, violet leaves, ebony, sandalwood, white musk, Bourbon vanilla and ambergris.”
“The house eventually devoted all its efforts to making perfume and soon became the court favorite of the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, who commissioned two special and exclusive fragrances for himself and Empress Joséphine to wear. The oils for these fragrances languished in the storehouse of the firm after the end of Napoleon’s reign, but a few years ago the current owner rediscovered them and the decision was made to release them, thus making available for the first time two perfumes worn only by the Emperor and his Empress; no one else was allowed to experience them back in the day. This was a wonderful gift to perfume lovers everywhere from a company that is still owned by the original family.”
From internet sources, Donna Hathaway
“When they (Rance 1795) launched their most important creation in 200 years, they chose The Perfume House over every other location in the world to launch the fragrances named Le Vanquer Napoleon and Josephine. Before his coronation in 1804, Napoleon approached master perfumer Francois Rance and commissioned him to make two scents, one for himself and one for Josephine. The perfumes were designed so that if Napoleon and Josephine were in the same room, her scent would dominate, but if the two came together, the two perfumes would merge to create a whole new unique fragrance. Napoleon made a rule for the perfume to not be released for 200 years after the coronation. In 2004 the house of Rance launched these two perfumes.” The Perfume House

botanik63 – 2022-06-07:

3 out of 5

so nice!!! Here is a complex elegant feminine fragrance which is both floral and warm, very little powdery. I think it is better to try it on skin before buying because it seems one of those scents that change according to chemistry. On me it smells fresh and peppery for the first 5 minutes. No peppery notes are listed. Maybe it is cloves effect. I smell no galbanum, at least not the strong galbanum note that it is so strong and herbal in some other fragrances. Then it turns to a warm luscious carnation floral with a very faint candied edge. It’s not strong and radiant, it stays quite close to the skin and smell like a cosy elegant lady. It lasts quite a long time.

rhumb – 2022-06-07:

5 out of 5

Upon first spritz of Josephine I felt the cloves and ylang-ylang to be quite bold, and there’s something a bit sour. I do have to say that the personality of Josephine really does change in the dry-down. I was pleased with the way this fragrance becomes so soft and feminine. I’m just not sure this fragrance is for me since I dislike the opening, and I’m too impatient for it to settle into that subtle powdery whisper.

panterrrka – 2022-06-07:

3 out of 5

This is the best ever perfume I came across.I slowly felt in love with it, discovering different tones of it every time I smelt it, develops slowly on your skin very gentle, feminine and sophisticated. Not heavy, not too flowery but makes you aware you are wearing it. Exceptionally sensual in it’s unique way creating warm full feeling. Not aggresive or common in any way. Fantastic formula you can not put an age to it, it will suit from young woman to late middle age without being too posh and heavy. That one might be a winner for me for a long, long time!

itb798intitytek – 2022-06-07:

5 out of 5

Violet leaf! This is probably what makes this slightly boozy, fruity-floral bearable to me! The violet leaf gives it a nice green flavor, but definitely there’s flowers, like jasmine and fruit like tart peaches. The notes above say “sandalwood” is in there, but I’m not really feeling the woody aspect of this one. Feminine, but is it really something Napoleon’s lover would have worn?

Ignillnoiliep – 2022-06-07:

3 out of 5

It’s very noble and femine perfume. No noisy, but subtle, however, about very expressive, aristocratic personalities. It enclosing me wonderful, very subtle poudre. This is womanly elixir. I love it and I respect; what, this is perfume of Napoleon’s wife…