Le Miracle
Lenthéric (1924)

Miracle starts quite lemony citric, rich and full, and this burst fades very quickly. A Guerlainade-like powder + herbal + floral (carnation and iris, I think I smell) accord is immediately evident, plus lavender. There is a dash of civet there. I'm reminded rather strongly of Habit Rouge, and maybe a little of Jicky, like a 3:1 ratio of the two. Less "dusty" than HR. The base is a smooth leathery-vanilla affair, plus something earthy in the background (patchouli?)...really close to a dead ringer for Habit Rouge to my nose, though I'm not sniffing them side by side.

Since it smells like Habit Rouge and generally "like a Guerlain" almost from top to bottom, of course I like it. Interesting that this predated Habit Rouge by so much. I'd be very surprised if Jean Paul didn't have this in mind at least as a reference when developing Habit Rouge. This is seriously impressive stuff.

A vintage bottle of the cologne strength of this scent reveals something akin to a very light take on the classic men's Bay Rhum formulas: my nose experiences bay, clove, lavender and cedar, all subdued to a light jasmine soliflore effect.

I am surprised to find it to be a woman's scent. Considering it was one of the company's most successful scents (it's original bottle is absolutely gorgeous and a collector's item!), it must have appealed in its day.

Perhaps the cleverness of taking a bay rhum base and lightening it considerably to see if it would appeal to women and finding it did put a feaher in the company's cap.

Nothing to go out of your way for, sort of an Emperor's New Clothes experience for me, expecting a fab vintage formula. Nice, though.

After much googling, there is still little to find about Miracle by Lentheric and what there is all at http://thevintageperfumevault.blogspot.com/2010/05/one-more-for-road-lentheric-miracle.html . Do a search there and you'll find it has been written about 3 or 4 times. Which is funny considering that noone else mentions it! I'm so glad to find the notes she dug up (without saying where): white orris root, cedar and lavender. OK, I can go with that. But there is also something sweetly white floral and that is what keeps it much more feminine than Tweed. The combination is head spinning, so unique that it is hard to type for all the wrist sniffing. To me this is only vintage in that they don't make them like this anymore. It does have that cologne brightness even though I have the au parfum version. It took me a bit to appreciate Tweed, this is one that I don't have to think about to love. But it is very evident they are from the same house. Compared to others of that time, they are just more fresh and playful, rather tomboyish. This is not elegant lady, this is Nancy Drew!