L'Aimant Coty for women

Very pretty floral, soapy scent. Quite lush to start with, then smells like posh scented talc. Very nice indeed.

Parfum de Toilette
This is the biggest and most beautiful surprise of my parfume journey so far. I am positive my mom and my aunt used to wear it for nights out, when i was a little girl. So it has a special place in my heart just for that. Plus - the opening and first 2 hours smell just like the fabulous drydown of pure perfume No. 5, which later adds another childhood love - Jovan White Musk.
It lacks strange diluent smell present in No. 5 and dustiness of Jovan. Just PERFECT!

Warm, powdery, buttery and just sits so close to my skin, just like it´s part of my body chemistry. Really melts into the skin. Original nowadays and very wearable. Aldehydes can be so strict and it´s also true here, but the wonderful friendliness of this perfume, its skin-like qualities makes it warm and inviting. I say lucky men from those times when us women could smell like this and not like pomegranate creme brulee or whatever girls are wearing now. And I´m just 41 saying this...

I got this as a sample.
It opens with a mix of rose and a powder scent (im assuming its the jasmine)
Its not really that light of a perfume, but would be a little strong if sprayed too much. Overall its a pretty fragrance but not for me.

When I read the notes on the box I thought that the smell would be divine. Roses and jasmine together! How wrong I was. I found out that the scent turned sour on my skin and the cloying stench seemed to remain there for a good few hours. The first perfume that made me want to throw up. Sorry L'aimant, my skin and nose hated you. It wasn't you, it was me.

Well surely is different from the normal flowery/fruity fragrances from today.
The difference is not only in the composition of the fragrance but also the fact that it is difficult to smell the different notes - you get a complex mixed note right away.
I will describe this as a powdery, soapy and rosy fragrance.
Feels like you are a person in that Agatha Christie book someone talked about in an earlier review.
I think it is a lovely perfume and a nice change to all the new style perfumes.
You might feel a little old ladylike wearing it but what is the Harm/Charm of an old lady.
Longevity - long lasting, Sillage - moderate.

I received this as a gift and immediately dismissed it as a 'granny' perfume. However, I decided to give it a try one day and although it is indeed a rather old fashioned fragrance, there is something very romantic and nostalgic about it. It somehow reminds me of summertime walks along the canal and picnics in a meadow. I will be keeping this one for days like those :-)

It was my Mums' scent (oh, going back a few decades). However, have worn it since and it is very powdery, but elegant! As all perfumes, evokes memories of a distant past.

Welcome to the most unsettling afternoon tea in an Engish rose garden of which you will ever partake.

Unsettling? Why? Well there's a killer at the table of course.

Ever since Great Aunt Agatha popped her clogs of decidedly unnatural causes - unless you regard strychnine as a natural tonic that is - suspicion has swirled around the village.

She had a fortune once after all, heaven knows how much is left of it and who will get it.

And here we all are to hear who it was - if that old bat Madam Coty still has it in her to figure out the murderess in our whodunnit - for surely it was a female, poison after all is the woman's weapon.

But it is so bloody hot. This Indian summer is unprecedented.

That American woman all lipstick and nylons has brought champagne, pink champagne. Pop, the cork, the fizz, the acid aldehyde buzz.

Who drinks champagne in this heat? At tea, in a dead woman's garden? But it would be rude to refuse.

The tea roses are nearing the end of the season, after last week's rain they are near fermenting in this fervour. There's something nauseous in their scent and artificial - cheap Turkish delight left out too long in the sun.

That American woman is applying powder, and spraying herself. Is she wearing No5? For godsake this isn't a speakeasy.

Is the clotted cream on the scones turning in this temperature? Is it the confectioners cream in those slices? Something's off? Or is it just the vanilla smell of that permanently washed Australian niece who's turned up from nowhere and her husband, no, fiance, all woody eau de cologne and sportscar.

The old bat has finished her tea - I get a blast: sweet Earl Grey.

She pronouces...

It was the gardener all along. Agatha was tired of subsidising his hot house obsessions: she wanted to raise the greenhouse to the ground sell off his orchid collection.

He rouses his musty be-tweeded frame and makes a run for it. The officers of the law are waiting. Into the black mariah with him.

That American snaps shut her her compact, impervious to the chaos and the Arizonan heat, she raises from the table. 'Well if that's sorted I have an engagement, with my solicitor. The arrangements for aunt Agatha's estate to be transferred.'

She snaps a brisk military nod, smiles her red lipstick smile, 'If you'll excuse me.' She pauses, fixes her regard on me: 'Oh of course, I knew all along this was a very male sort of a crime, didn't you? I could smell it.'.

This is a classic and subtle-as-a-sledgehammer murder mystery where the glamorous and genteel surface can do nothing to conceal the dark goings on beneath. It may all be roses and vanilla on top but that chemical opening and something musty if not downright musky going on down below lurk ominously. For once the bad woman gets away with it.

A winner for women and the right kind of man who's not shy of a rose with thorns. Make sure you can get vintage or failing that the 'creamy skin perfume' and layer both with body spray for lethal effect.

I'm a guy all at sea on an ocean of female fragrance - help me steer my path. Make suggestions as to what scents I should try out next at the thread 'what made for women fragrances can or should a man wear?'.

I really think it is better than Chanel 5...

I love this perfume-it goes on like a lighter version of No.5 then turns to a scent that is like a rosier version of Avon's Sweet Honesty minus the dreaded plastic note.Just a nice 'hanging around the house' kind of scent and you definitely can't beat the price.I also love how it's been around forever though my bottle isn't vintage-it's more the idea of it-back in the good old days when perfumes didn't all smell like candy;)

I just got a VERY OLD vintage tester size bottle of this at my favorite antique store and while it only has less than half of it left, I think it was one of my best buys yet! It's definitely fuller and more round than the newer versions, but I like them both! I'm glad I bought it!

I have a full bottle about 3.7 oz. (guessing) UN PARFUM DE COTY L'AIMANT with the box. It says MADE IN FRANCE on the back. Also has a lot of writing in French, ie: Cette Specialite & Ses Accessoires Ont Ete Crees Par Nous Etc. Does anyone have any info. on it or know where I could find out about it. Thank you.

I've now ordered all the Coty classics But this little beauty, and I can hardly wait! I am impressed with the Drugstore Queens still available from this line, even if they are in cologne formulations. When my bottle of L'aimant arrives, I'll give it a proper review....

Edit ~ Hurrah! This elegant lady is finally in my hands. She is as refined and subtle as the Chanel resemblance implies. I don't actually think she smells like Chanel No 5 in detail, but there is a definate connection in TYPE. The opening especially makes one think of No 5, but only as a passing thought.

So far, I have the strong impression of yellow roses and finely milled French soap. It begins as an almost cold floral, and then warms on my skin. Truthfully, this could be warm or cool, depending on your chemistry.

Definately an old - fashioned floral, redolent of a grandmothers and young debutants alike. Time travel in a bottle!!

ok so this is my 2nd Coty purchase in less than 2 weeks and again im so Pleased! These fragrances are wonderful! This smells so elegant. at first you smell aldehides and then it changes to a beautiful floral, it gets sweet and sophisticated without smelling like old lady. This is strong, a little goes a long way and it can easily go from day to night. I cant believe the Quality of this and Muget de Bois at the low prices! Both are must haves, its the closest you will get to experiencing "Real Parfum" at a low price. These scents make you feel mature, classy and elegant without smelling like a old lady.

My grandmother used to weat this scent and I remember thinking at the time that it was so sweet and cloying. I really didn´t like it much as a little girl, but I saw it recently in a drugstore and decided to smell it and it brought back so many beautiful memories of my grandmother. I even found it rather beautiful and special, so I decided to order it for myself online. I´m so happy. I haven´t actually worn it yet, because I feel this is a winter fragrance and could possibly be a bit too strong for summer. It is definitely sweet and powdery. So lovely. It is very similiar to Alyssa Ashley Musk Edt, only much sweeter and heavier. But I really do love it. Definitely not a teenie perfume and for special occasions.

I received l'Aimant a week ago, ordered on cheapsmells.com, below 9 euro, incredible price! I agree with the other reviews that is similar to Chanel no. 5, perhaps somewhat less balsamic, more jasmine/incense flavor, less soft, than the original no. 5. But incredible how close alike the scents are. Good staying power. Lovely scent (as is Chanel no. 5).
Half a year later: still one of my favourite perfumes!

I bought the 15ml bottle today ;) and i love the scent but I don't like the bottle that much.

This is a surprisingly nice scent which I've ignored for years thinking it was 'old ladyish'. I'm not sure if it's been reformulated or if my tastes have changed, but it seems to have lost a dreadfully cloying aspect that the 80's-90's formulation had. It's a rosy, jasmine heavy aldehydic which is feminine, timeless and expensive smelling. If I did not already have No 5 I would buy this. As it is, I fully intend to buy the matching toiletries as the Chanel ones are beyond what I'd spend on soap etc!!n Thanks for making this little gem, Coty!

I wore this many years ago (at least 45) - wore it to the big band ballroom dances in the 60's with my shoestring strap frocks with big skirts and rope petticoats & 5" stilletos. Just loved it - didn't know it was still around. I know the fellas liked it because I used to get many comments on how lovely I smelt. Now will have to go looking for a bottle and see if the old magic still works. I know that it had tremendous staying power because I could still smell it on my dress the next morning (and that was after dancing all night). Just seeing the name again has brought back lots of lovely memories.
Alexandrarae South Australia

Yes, legend has it that this was made to the same recipe as Chanel No. 5, and deliberately under-priced so that people would forget all about Chanel. But, the exact opposite happened: although L'Aimant was very successful, it also succeeded in increasing the demand for Chanel No. 5, the real luxury perfume -- a curious scenario in which the competition ends up actually helping your sales. So, although she was furious with Francois Coty, (a one time pal), Coco Chanel ended up laughing, all the way to the bank, literally!
I can vouch for the fact that the 2 scents are identical. If anything, L'Aimant has slightly MORE lasting power.
So, if you use L'Aimant body spray, talc and body-cream after your shower and then have a spray of Chanel No 5 parfum de toilette as a top-layer, nobody would ever guess you were wearing two different scents.

I like it! It's really cheap to buy and available everywhere, although saying that I don't know anyone else who wears it. It's definitely an Autumn or Winter scent - very soft, very soapy. Very much like Chanel No 5. It lasts a long time on the skin.

Definatley Old Lady Smell, but I'm fond of Old Lady Smell.
Reminds me a bit of Bal de versailles. Strong and almost oriental on me.
A good one to wear during the day but I've had someone make horrified choking noises at me when I came near them in it, so mabye not for everyone.

Girls under 25 - don't bother with this. It is an old lady's perfume....and I'm an old lady so it suits me just fine! Very, very pretty. I am on a learning curve about perfumes and have come to the conclusion that I really like an aldehyde note, and this has it, right up top, bringing a light and sparkly note to an otherwise rather staid floral. Simply lovely, and long-lasting. A perfume that says you accept who you are, and enjoy being that person.

I picked up a tiny bottle of this for a very cheap price to try it. It does smell a little bit like chanel no.5 and is quite nice, but it's not really my style so I passed it onto a lady who helps to care for my mum.

maybe worth a try if you like powdery scents.

Due to the time it was made, I believe this was another option for women who couldn't buy Chanel No 5. It's very similar in a linear way. It also lasts a incredibly long time... and can be overwhelming. I've kept my bottle since I was about 14 years old and I'm 28 now. I just couldn't throw it away or give it away. It reminds me of a grandmother scent that's comforting.
Update: I find jasmasid's review so interesting. I had never read about the history of this and No 5. I just always thought they smelled basically the same. Good to know that my nose wasn't fooling me.

I find this scent really interesting!!!Not in the way that you would think, with regarding to 'complex unfolding' of notes, evolving layers, sexy, verses non sexy, but just that ( to ME anyhow) that it is evades ( to me) s solid set of descriptions.

What comes out to me right off is the gentle introduction of peach ( but not peachy, only a nice waft of sweetness) and perhaps the ylang-ylang. On me, I don't get the distinct version of ANY of the notes that are listed in the description on the Fragrantica site.
In the sweetness, that I would not really call 'sweet' per se is more of a SHADING of the sandalwood and cedar. The cedar has the same subtleness in this scent as it does in Apre L'Ondee, and C'est La Vie ( you can tell that I have certain notes that I like pretty much in scents. ) ..

Do I like L'Aimant? Yes. I have heard it said that if you have fragrance on and it gets to a point that you don't smell it on yourself, that it means that the particular fragrance is 'your' fragrance.

I can not speak to its lasting value because other people seem to still smell it on my long after I don't smell it on myself anymore.

Even if it were the case that it dies on me ( don't know, since other people smell it on me...and like it... it's a keeper either way) I have worn it just for ME. You know, one of those 'bath in it and smell my wrist all day'.

It's a low financial risk to try it either way. If I ever see it in an oil, I'm going for it. Maybe I'll put it all over myself before I go to sleep at night.... My husband likes it, too... so that's a plus.