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MARC1992 – :
Love this. It’s sexy and dirty in the best possible way. The tuberose is perfection. It’s like a cooler tropical cousin of Fracas. And the packaging is GORGEOUS.
moldovamea – :
Tuberose and cardamom are two of my favorite notes and they are an intoxicating combo. I have the 5 ml rollerball so the silage is pretty skin close but I’m beginning to think that’s just the MO of Tokyo Milk. These scents just don’t perform all that great. I would definitely think about getting a FB of this one at some point just because slightly spicy creamy tuberose is AMAZING.
Pretty much my perfect tuberose.
Farbek-G55 – :
Smells like something else probably because the jasmine note dominates this fragrance. This is nice for jasmine fans. I don’t usually like Jasmine fragrances. This one is nice though not overpowering or rude.
Notes on the bottle are
– white Tuberose
– cardamom
– Hibiscus
– jasmine
Martira – :
Starts like a 1980s scent with all that white floral, and goes through a pleasant candy flower stage to a very plain, almost childlike floral. For me, there’s not enough base notes or strong notes to counteract the sweet florals. I end up with sweet, plain floral.
bober23 – :
I enjoy La Vie et La Mort, but it is not as heady as the title would suggest and the staying power is insipid. Pity.
miss adler – :
I think the name and overall packaging is pretty unfitting. To me, this smells like a light, sweet, slightly spiced Tuberose-Gardenia. Nothing macabre about it. It’s a nice scent, nothing special or unique. Longevity is short.
muhotycyjo – :
Absolutely love this. Very affordable for a parfum. So utterly fresh and lovely for summer/spring. An utterly refreshing break from all the typical synthetics sold by every fashion house. This smells like what it says it will. It smells like the actual flowers listed in the notes. The opening is such an appealing, addictive zing of cardomom and florals. It truly leaves me wanting more, and this is someone who finds most fragrances never quite right or downright boring.
The dry down fades to pure fresh florals which linger for a few hours, and the addictive opening sadly fades quite quickly. This is truly a luxury and a refreshing spritz for a warm day. It will fit in your purse and not break the bank. And it also will never bother you as most fragrances inevitably will just by nature of being synthetic and needing harsh chemicals to make them cling and project. I would add that this is completely different on skin then it is on paper. The above review is on skin, and the pure creamy floral stage lasts for quite a while. But on paper the sweetness in the opening lingers much longer. On skin this really isn’t a sweet fragrance at all but more fresh, natural and creamy.
Refreshing is the operative word. Love!
evgen-sklif – :
Very well-named.
The life: Upfront, it is bright white jasmine and hibiscus.
The death: On the drydown, though, something metallic waxy and dark emerges in the tuberose and cardamom, bringing to mind a bit of rot or decay hiding under the cheery white flowers.
Mihasy – :
I am amused to read the goth/funeral references in some of the previous reviews. My inner wanna-be Goth would love for this to smell like a funeral, but it doesn’t smell like any I’ve ever been to.
I find La Vie La Morte to be a fairly interesting floral. It is richer than some of the ‘white florals’ I wear but it doesn’t have the truly dark edge of, say, Bulletproof or Excess. It is delightfully NOT sweet or sugary. The floral (tuberose?) is classically feminine without smelling like a little girl fragrance. This strikes me as a very nice summer fragrance. It is light enough not to cloy in the heat and soft enough to pair well with cotton dresses.
Maybe this is the fragrance for a Goth Lolita? It is frankly feminine but in an off-beat sort of way.
ez611 – :
All I really notice with this one is tuberose. It’s a heavy floral, which I normally would not enjoy, but I like this one. It’s different. As others have said, it’s not your grandmother’s outdated floral perfume, and there is something decidedly goth about it. Someone said this is reminiscent of a funeral, and I agree. It’s a funeral home in New Orleans. Somehow it manages to be fresh and green and heady and dark, all at once. When I wear this, I feel a little bit dark and unusual myself.
_shad_ – :
To me this is a dark floral. I expected for the tuberose to take over, but on me this is less of a floral bouquet and more of a spice bowl. I smell woods, and cardamom sweetened with jasmine, and something of a dirty musky nature, with somehow still remaining soft and clean. Great lasting power and awesome sillage. This is a warm and comforting fragrance. I like it! I also think it would smell fantastic on a man.
lalaqlala – :
I don’t know if its the name of the frag or what but only one thing comes to my head when I use this: funerals. I`m not a big fan of straight up florals but weirdly I kind of enjoy the funeral smell of this one (LOL!!). On my head this is a very dark scent, when I wear it I think about goth girls and poetry, arts and dim light spaces.
zero_new_blood – :
Update: I’ve been wearing this for a few months now and I have to say this is mainly tuberose and jasmine. I do get a bit of hibiscus, but the tuberose and jasmine really steal the show. I’m still in love with this, btw!
Got this for Christmas from my husband, and wow! So unique! It’s this delicious blend of florals, a hint of citrus, and hint of spice, and a hint of something creamy-ish (I’m just learning so bear with this review, haha!)
I’m usually not a huge fan of spice or citrus, but somehow this fragrance is perfection for me.
The one con is that it doesn’t last very long, unless you buy the complimentary lotion, in which case it can last around 4-5 hours on my skin. Although, keep in mind, my skin does not hold fragrance well to begin with, so it may last better on others.
A very well done fragrance!
UPDATE: This fragrance has made me fall in love with Tuberose. I love the smell of it and am looking for a long lasting Tuberose perfume… suggestions?
Sunshine – :
I get zero cardamom from this, which was a littl disappointing, but I do get the tuberose and jasmine very prominently. I would wear this on its own or mix it with Tokyo Milk’s Everything & Nothing–I tried that combo this evening and I think they actually balance each other nicely, each providing what the other lacks.
alex1985x – :
This is NOT a dark scent. I’m guilty of getting too wrapped up in the sales pitch of this line. I’m even trying to figure out why they named their scents the way they do. Maybe I look at the idea of “dark” wrong?
La Vie La Mort is a lovely coconut tuberose fragrance. It opens with what I thought was orangey citrus but is instead the hibiscus. That fades in seconds to be replaced by the very coconutty tuberose. Perhaps too much coconut on me. It smells like suntan lotion, but nicer and more grown up due to the tuberose.
Not bad on longevity (around 4 hours) and sits moderately close to the skin. Not a bad choice for school or office. No, I take that back – it will remind you of vacations at the beach and you won’t want to be in school or the office! A good pick me up if you get the winter blahs and want to dream of an escape to summertime.
ak73 – :
I loved this from the first sniff. I was sure I will dislike it due to tuberose, I normally try to avoid it. But here it is subtle and so well blended and with a greenness to balance it. Mysterious, dark, warm and sits close to skin. Very “me”. I wish longevity would be better and i have to test it some more times due to tuberose, but I want a bottle anyway. I love the name as well.
Mefet438Diobtetty – :
Tuberose for the tuberose fearful.
La Vie La Mort … perhaps by the name one might expect something dark and brooding? or something that transforms from life to death going from green and fresh to indolic and almost rotting? NOT EVEN CLOSE.
This is a light green fresh very NATURAL sweeter tuberose with a creamy sweet jasmine. It is not heady and actually easy to wear. Nothing indolic here.
The hibiscus is noticeable, especially at first, it makes the scent more sharp. Tuberose is more on the bubblegum side, but its not heavy at all. Jasmine is creamy and rounds out the scent. I don’t get tons of cardamom but I do notice it there in the background.
Very likable pleasant scent. it is very alive, there is no death here.
kiryarus – :
First shot is a burst of floral, but quickly I get the distinct notes and even a fruity undertone. As I let it soak in and waft off of the back of my hand, I’m feeling like I’m still wearing Tommy Girl from last night, but this might be more subtle. Lots of similarities, however. I might do a hand-by-hand comparison.
three or four hours into the test it has settled into a gorgeous vanilla/honey tone. Super light and close to the skin. I’m still thinking about how much I like this…
iplahuta – :
Smells a lot like velvet tuberose from bath and body works. I wish it had more cardamom. This is one of the most agreeable scents in the dark line, floral and easy.
kiiskka – :
A pleasant basic tuberose & jasmine blend with plenty of indoles. I don’t know about this being or not being an “old lady perfume”. It lacks the creaminess of the grand tuberose perfumes like Fracas, but it’s very floral. It has some grounding dryness, which makes it a little more “modern” and may make it more wearable for some people. It isn’t a unisex blend in the standard mode, but my boyfriend prefers to wear jasmine & tuberose himself.
Hourrymuh – :
Notes: White Tuberose, Cardamom, Hibiscus Leaf, Jasmine
A really beautiful scent. Sweet and fresh. Supposedly unisex, but I agree with others here that it’s a bit more feminine than masculine as it is very floral from the tuberose. Overall a great scent for people of all ages, but in terms of gender maybe a little better for women.
KLM777 – :
i love tuberose, but this is too sweet and fresh for my personal tastes. i like darker and/or spicier scents. i though the cardamom might spice it up some, but not enough for me, and it seems like more of a watery sort of tuberose, while i prefer the heady, waxy ones.
prakaznik – :
This perfume smells like Michael from Michael Kors and Florence from Tocca, but you pay much less for this one.
It is very feminine and very sweet to me too in a fresh way so I’m suprised that “sweet” is not one of the main accords. It’s simple with only four notes but still elegant. On paper, this perfume lasts forever!
On the bottle it says, “dark” which is weird because I would pass this as a day time fragrance. The design of the bottle would make you think that it is a unisex fragrance. It isn’t exactly feminine like the smell itself. It’s definitely unique and out of the ordinary, which is great in it’s own way.
Taniken – :
The first blast I get from this is a huge, slightly creamy Tuberose which in only a few seconds is accompanied by Hibiscus Leaf and Cardamom I believe… It has a dark, aromatic edge that smells almost earthy/inky to me.
Longevity and sillage are moderate.
It’s nice, but I prefer Tuberose fragrances to be less aromatic and more sweet & creamy.
andr.arxipow – :
This is one intriguing line of perfumes I must say. It first caught my eye at Sephora while sniffing around. The black flacons called out to me, then the sans serif font along with the vintage illustrations and last but not least, the names. I only took a whiff at three and I was taken.
La Vie La Mort starts out as a deep tuberose fragrance with a splash of jasmine. After the initial bomb of white flowers calms down you feel like you’re wearing a completely different perfume. It feels a bit manly, even. Cardamom comes out screaming loudly along with the hibiscus. Take a longer sniff and you get a blend of spices and flowers. Definitely stands up to its name.
ApothDeu – :
Big white floral, very little spice. I like it well enough, but compared to say, Tokyo Milk’s No.79 Destiny, the spice is negligible and the white florals predominiate.
Hargollabrido – :
La Vie La Mort starts out super sweet and creamy, like vanilla & flowers, but in only a minute or two, the sweetness fades to sharper notes – leaves, cardamom and jasmine – after a few minutes. I am guessing the tuberose is the source of the strong creamy floral scent, but I wouldn’t know, having never smelled tuberose on its own.
I have samples of both the perfume and the handcreme, which smells much more strongly of jasmine.
La Vie La Mort is similar to, and plays nicely with Tokyo Milk’s French Kiss (tuberose, gardenia, vetiver, mandarin), which I have in a bubble bath.
KYY – :
not at all a granny floral!! this is a youthful, PUNK ROCK, tattoos and shocking red lipstick floral. this is tuberose that is bright and sexy and colorful. one of my absolute favorite perfumes from the TM dark collection. hands down. and i am a TUBEROSE purist. this’ll make ya swoon!!! LOVE!
makeev-1975 – :
It’s a good thing I like tuberose! I wish I could get more of the cardamom and hibiscus notes, it seems they are overpowered by the tuberose. The jasmine peeks out just the littlest bit. I’ve noticed with the Dark line that the fragrances themselves are good, but sillage and longevity are very poor. I hope they reformulate with higher concentrations.
SamuraiDV – :
I love TokyoMilk’s Song In D Minor, but I have never tried any one of their scents from the Dark line. This one is my first.
I was drawn to La Vie La Mort because I love tuberose and jasmine, and at first spritz, the tuberose scent is strong and wonderful. However, at least on me, the dry down settles into a light tuberose mixed with a leafy scent (hibiscus leaf?), and it’s not as floral as initially introduced. The leafy scent does give the fragrance a “spicy” kick, which may be the “dark” angle the perfume may have been going for (La Mort, perhaps?). Otherwise, it isn’t as dark as probably the other fragrances in the line.
All in all, while I still love the floral notes the scent initially opens with, La Vie La Mort No. 90 may still have to grow on me. I may layer it on with some of my body sprays in order to amplify the tuberose note a bit more, but otherwise it is still a lovely, if not unusual, fragrance. 8/10
ArtSimpo – :
Very tropical in the opening — hibiscus is prominent the first half an hour. Then there is a touch of extra sweetness from the tuberose, but mostly a slightly indolic jasmine. I don’t get much tuberose at all it is very understated and adds some depth and sweetness to the composition, but it’s never in the spotlight. Excellent light white floral for summer, I can’t think of a better floral scent for a beach party or sweltering summer day!
Unmadcamyr – :
I’m totally digging this! Its an awesome white floral to wear any time of the year. Its fresh when you first spray it on. I got a lot of hibiscus the first 15 min or so before it wore off it gave it an exotic almost tropical vibe. Then it turns into a awesome slightly heady white floral. The cardamom totally pulls the tuberose and jasmine together which keeps this from just being another white floral! La Vie La Mort is kind of liner but it doesn’t bother me and great lasting power on me. Its not dark at all to me and I find it to be quite fun! ^_^
GrobreJoype – :
I had La Vie La Mort as the shea butter hand lotion and absolutely loved it. There was something smoky, a little dusty, but also a floral headiness to it. Recently, Sephora started carrying the Tokyo Milk Dark line and I picked up a decant of this same scent in a perfume. It must have been the added element of shea butter that made the lotion stand out more to me, because worn on my skin as the perfume, it barely lasted and didn’t impress me as much. It’s not unpleasant – it’s a lovely little daytime “gothy” perfume. It has a blend of weird and sophisticated that I love. But it hardly lingers and that is why I’ll probably stick to it as a hand lotion.
yaVgenij – :
I’m not a big fan of tuberose but because I do enjoy it in Michael Kors, I’m always thinking I should give it a try in other fragrances.
This is pretty much just a simple and easy tuberose scent. Its a lot tamer than a vast majority of the tuberose out there, so I guess you could call this Tuberose Light. I think that might be the work of the jasmine, cleaning the tuberose up a bit. I don’t get spice from this at all, just a touch of cardamom and a whisper of something that I suppose you could describe as fruitiness from the hibiscus.
Its nice and fairly simple, very safe for a tuberose I’d say.
Vladimir170769 – :
This is a nice floral. It’s kind of sweet and fruity on me. I like it, but it’s not what I was expecting. I can see wearing this on a bright sunny day. Lol, not very dark at all!
sd8 – :
Ah, refreshingly beautiful, exotic floral. Definitely a “take me away” kind of perfume. I find this to be much more natural than Fracas; very impressive for an inexpensive perfume. There is a dark quality about it that’s hard for me to put my finger on. It could be the cardamom, but there is something else about it that is dark, almost leathery. It’s very, very subtle. It’s this dark quality that makes me think it could be quite divine on a man. For men who are wanting to wear an exotic floral, I’d say to give this a try for sure.
ara79 – :
This is really interesting! It’s simultaneously thick and light. The sillage is minimal, as is the lasting power, unfortunately, but what you get here is worth the price for the experience and you can afford to spray with a heavy hand. ($36 for 2 ounces).
The jasmine is very natural, and the spices here are minimal and blended so well that they’re hard to identify. I definitely smell the hibiscus influence (one of my favorite notes), and it’s an interesting addition that gives the whole composition an imagined waxy texture – vaguely reminiscent of a crayola crayon. It does have that bubble-gummy feel that a lot of jasmine/gardenia scents conjure up, but it’s not too obvious, and the waxiness keeps it from being too predictable. There is a slight sharpness to it – almost a hairspray note to my nose, but it’s subtle, and honestly, I get that from every white floral from Fracas to Michael Kors to Monyette Paris so it could very well just be a personal association with me.
If you’ve tried Madonna’s Truth or Dare and want something lighter, more affordable, more modern, and housed in a classier bottle – this is for you! It was a blind buy and I’m not disappointed. My only wish is that the spices were more prevalent. I think this one could have been a masterpiece with a touch more cardamom – or cinnamon! I rarely layer but I may end up experimenting with this one.
By the way, I agree with the reviewer below me – definitely not an animalic floral!
EDIT: A friend asked if I had used hairspray with a shocked look on her face (I never use the sticky stuff), so the hairspray note wasn’t just in my head. I offered it to my mother, who loves white florals and couldn’t detect the hairspray note at all.
gam – :
Love this! This is not an old-lady floral, rather a light, fresh, young woman in France floral. It’s really nice. I first smelled it a local boutique, (and I was there to buy a different perfume that I had smelled the week before actually) and I saw this and the description looked nice since I love jasmine and flowery scents (as long as they don’t smell like they’re from the 80’s!) and I just couldn’t get enough. I would definitely recommend this if you like a nice light floral. Oh, and the sprayer is nice because a fine mist comes out rather than a big wet spray. By the way… animalic?? I don’t see it. And I also don’t think this is something I would recommend for men. Very light and feminine, in my opinion.
AlormWoox – :
I’m a little bit perfume-illiterate, so I’m going to break down my review into some simple categories.
Tokyo Milk / LE VIE LA MORT
Smells like: Flowers! …With a nice spicy after-scent, the cardamom. It is very floral but the spice is well balanced with the floral notes. Smells subtler and more balanced 30min or so after applying.
How it works for me: It works ok. I think it’s a good perfume but I’m not sure about on me. Still trying to find the perfect lotion to match it with.
I tend to like warm, sugary or nutty smells, very subtle earthy notes, and any tea-like spicy scents.
So the floral isn’t my best scent, but the spice fits me very well.
Other Pros: I’m allergic to a lot of floral scents, but fortunately there is no problem with this one, which is really nice! It’s not too overpowering, and it also smells modern and young enough to work well on a 20-something.
Other Cons: Not unisex at all, very feminine. Stay away, those looking for a manly scent!
It also only stays on for a couple of hours. I have another Tokyomilk from the other set (not the dark) which stays on for like 8hrs so the 3 or so hours that it stayed felt really short.
Conclusion: I said “like” on the ratings because I don’t dislike it, I just prefer a slightly different scent. I think if I could find a nice lotion to go with this, maybe something with a scent like cloves, cinnamon, or cardamom with vanilla, I could make it work for me.
If you like floral perfumes with a fresh and unique twist, give this spicy floral perfume a try.
Annetikos – :
Tokyo Milk LA VIE LA MORT is primarily a tuberose perfume, with a dusting of cardamom and a detectable dose of jasmine. I do not myself smell anything animalic (or indolic) in this composition, but I do like what I smell. Although this tuberose is very feminine, it’s quite a bit less flamboyant than the ultimate diva tuberose perfume, FRACAS. Still, it is feminine, so guys should definitely try before they buy.
To my nose, LA VIE LA MORT is a calmer, gentler tuberose perfume–neither very green, nor very buttery–with just enough cardamom to mark it off as distinct, imparting as it does a very slightly oriental demeanor and ever-so-lightly powdery texture. I am not at all sure that I detect any hibiscus, but perhaps it is blending seamlessly with the other components to produce what is indeed a pleasing perfume.
If you are big on tuberose, you should definitely give this remarkably low-priced, natural-smelling creation a sniff. I like it a lot.
c180403 – :
Dark floral perfume because of cardamom, but I do not know if it’s unisex, all-female to me.