Laetitia by Rance 1795

I am finally getting around to sampling this house and I decided to review Laetitia first out of the 4 samples. I chose Laetitia because it smells pretty damn good and reminds me of another favorite; namely Reminiscence Eau de Patchouli.

I cannot get over how similar this is to the Reminiscence offering and during the first sample wearing, I was compelled to do a side by side. The differences are barely perceptible with the exception of price point. Rance 1795 is noticeably more expensive. That aside however, Laetitia is a labdanum-patchouli bomb that leans slightly feminine like its counterpart.

From the onset, cistus labdanum is front and center and everyone else ( including patchouli) are along for the ride. The citric opening of orange and bergamot are immediately reigned in by the labdanum surging upwards from the  base accord. It's a very nice accord that last about 5 minutes on my skin before a very muted floral heart tries desperately to unravel itself. Rose, Magnolia, Wisteria and a little zest from nutmeg do contribute, but these too only play subordinate roles to the patchouli that has already dug its claws into the amber. The dominant amber-patch is smoothed out nicely with a well executed vanilla. Laetitia is sweet, but not cloying and it doesn't take much of this EDP to make its presence felt.

Laetitia is so similar to Eau de Patchouli that it's redundant to own both. I own the Reminiscence and enjoy it immensely when I do wear it, but after sample wearing Laetitia numerous times, I have to give it slightly better sillage and longevity than my Reminiscence. Take note however that these attributes are redundant in and of themselves because of how strong Eau de Patchouli is on its own. Laetitia simply possesses a tad more presence.

Big thumbs up from Aromi for Rance 1795's Laetitia.