Muguet du Bonheur
Caron (1952)

Scored the .25 oz parfum recently / new. This is one of the best muguets I have ever smelled. It is neither soapy, nor powdery, nor indolic. It is clean and inoffensive, but definitely "there". In my opinion, this is another masterpiece from Caron. Wears well..8 hours longevity.

Finally enjoying this today, after finding a bottle of the discontinued EDT version of this at a deep discount some time ago but dismissing it after I got it home as too feminine for me. It's lovely! Perfectly captures the icy cool quality of this little flower. There's a peppery carnation note that gives it a bit of warmth and rounds out the scent. After wearing it for a while,I smelled my wrist, and suddenly thought: suntan lotion. Would make an excellent functional fragrance for a skin-care line, but it's fun to wear just for the smell. Very wearable for a man, and perfect on a hot summer day. SPF 0.

This, more than any Caron fragrance, seems to me to be a period piece--not one from the teens, the flapper years, or the disco 70s (the Carons from those eras hold up well today). Clean and light, this is more of a solifore LOTV scent, despite the jasmine and musk hiding in the basenotes. Where Bellodgia emerges as a well-rounded carnation-based scent, supported by sandalwood and vanilla, this is a one note scent and that is why it is not the great scent that Bellodgia is. That said, it was much loved by women in the 1950s when it came out, some of whom still cling to it as a signature scent. I have had the opportunity to spend some time in close quarters with a certain reigning monarch and the soapy clean scent of Lily of the Valley was definitely in attendance (although one of the times I would swear that L'Heure Bleue was the royal SOTD). Light and lovely, clean and safe.

A beautiful and classic perfume, which is soft and slightly powdery, but surprisingly heavy for a mainly white floral scent. I don't understand comparisons with Diorissimo, as I don't get any Lily Of The Valley notes in Muguet Du Bonheur; to me this is more a jasmine perfume than a lily one. It reminds me slightly of some of the early Jean Patou perfumes, but I can't tie this down to any specific notes; it's possibly a little like Joy without the roses.

This is a decent soliflore from 1952 - soft and green, not at all harsh. It is of course a very sweet, feminine scent and I find that it is true to its source, as if a bouquet of muguet were next to your nightstand. It avoids the sharpness that is apparent if one puts one's nose right into the bouquet.

The other notes - lilac, jasmine, pear magnolia, musk - are not evident to my nose, but I can make out the soft vanilla-like underlying scent of the heliotrope.

A good choice if you are looking for a muguet soliflore, but not outstanding in any way.

Top notes: neroli, bergamot and lily-of-the-valley
Miiddle notes: jasmine and tincture of rose
Base notes: musk, sandalwood and heliotrope

The backstory of Caron's Muguet de Bonheur involves Caron House founder, Ernest Daltroff's apprentice, Michel Morsetti, who served as perfumer when Daltroff fled Paris during WWII. According to the information available, fragrances composed by Michel Morsetti include: Caron Coup de Fouet (1954), Caron Farnesiana (1947), Caron Muguet du Bonheur (1952), Caron Or et Noir (1949), Caron Poivre (1954), Caron Pour Une Femme (1949), Caron Rose (1949), Caron Tabac Noir (1948), and Caron With Pleasure (1949). So, Caron's Muguet de Bonheur has a very different aroma profile than Tabac Blond, En Avion, Narcisse Noir and the other heavies from this house (i.e. no Caronade). As a collector of Muguet scents, as well as Caron parfums, I was very excited to acquire a lovely glass-stoppered, .9 oz collectible bottle of MdB. While at the Caron boutique, I was informed by the SA that the fragrance is now also available as an EdP (while the EdT has been discontinued).
So what does MdB smell like? To me, this is the scent of a well-scrubbed child in her starched white First Communion dress. A simple and modest Muguet opening on a shrill-lemony citrus note, and then filling in with the cleanest, soapiest lily of the valley I have ever smelled. The clean white musk in the base reinforces the uncomplicatedness of clean laundry. When you smell this, you might be shocked or disappointed at how basic the scent is, but for me, this is a proper Muguet. If you are looking for elegance or sophistication in a LOTV soliflore, there are more appropriate choices, but if you like your Muguet "vanilla", try the Caron.