WHAT I SMELL: How can you not love a perfume’s opening when it’s rounded and buttery and topped with bergamot and orange?! Sublime’s opening is incredibly full, rich and succulent, almost as if it’s an exotic fruit full of juice and ready to explode. The perfume is heady without being completely over the top and the ylang-ylang is deliciously creamy. After a few minutes, a light dust of oak moss appears, but it sits quietly under the wafting flowers and a light vanilla. The perfume smells like it’s plucked from the heart of the Caribbean, but at the same time, there’s something incredibly cool and controlled about it that removes it from that locale. As the perfume develops, it becomes more powdery, but no less radiant. After 20 minutes or so, the perfume softens, the florals become lighter, the powder becomes more pronounced and the warmed base becomes more prevalent. What doesn’t change is that the perfume remains an incredible beauty. In the end, you’re left with a golden dusty floral that is just the right amount of proper and just the right amount of pretty.
From the Jean Patou website:
SUBLIME is a joyous floral explosion, rich and rounded in contour and soft in texture. Its secret resides in the heart notes where floral notes are played against each other – rose and jasmine are combined with lily-of-the-valley and orange blossom, enhanced by warm notes of vetiver, sandalwood and oak moss. A vibrant cocktail of orange and mandarin provides sparkle and freshness, married with Ylang-Ylang from the Comoro Islands. The femininity and sensuality of Sublime gently emerges in the Vanilla base note.
Flight: Bergamot, Mandarin, Orange, Ylang Ylang
Fullness: Rose, Jasmine, Lily of the Valley, Orange Blossom
Wake: Madagascar Vanilla, Amber, Sandalwood
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Ellen Farner as Madeleine in the “Umbrellas of Cherbourg”…an unassuming classic beauty.
THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE SUBLIME: gorgeous, contained, sublime
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT SUBLIME: The Non-Blonde, AustralianPerfumeJunkies
BOTTOM LINE: Sublime seems to take the back seat to Jean Patou’s Joy and 1000; but this understated floral beauty should be second to none. Not as big as 1000 and not as taut at Joy, Sublime is a perfectly named perfume that in my book is an easier wear than both 1000 and Joy.
- Bone Rating: 4.5 out of possible 5 bones
- Scent: Oriental Floral
- Nose: Jean Kerleo
- Classification: Feminine
- Expense: Prices vary greatly online, but can be found for around $50 for 1.7 oz. eau de parfum. Review based on current eau de parfum version.
June 9, 2016 at 6:42 am
Never tried any Patou scents except Joy, which smells awful on my skin. This one sounds good.
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June 9, 2016 at 12:17 pm
Joy is a perfume that has to fit your mood perfectly when you wear it. Otherwise it can go completely sour. 1000 is really lovely, but it is a BIG floral…again, you have to be in the right mood. I see Sublime as a wear anytime fragrance. I hoe you get to try it.
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June 9, 2016 at 6:52 am
I think I had this confused with something else. Sublime sounds lovely. For some reason I thought it was sharp and green. I wonder what made me think that. Obviously I got something mixed up. Maybe I had a mislabeled sample? Strange.
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June 9, 2016 at 12:18 pm
Poodle – I don’t find this green at all, although the powder can be slightly metallic which might end up sharp on your skin.
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June 9, 2016 at 7:52 am
Possibly my favourite Patou! It is unctuous and luscious as you say. Fat and sunny. Am a sucker for ylang-ylang at the best of times.
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June 9, 2016 at 12:19 pm
Agree – as I am a sucker for ylang-ylang too!
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June 9, 2016 at 9:01 am
I loved this, and wish it was easier to find. i have 1000, Joy, and Eau de Patou. I love them all. All were blind buys, based on reviews. I opened the bottle of 1000 on my birthday and hoped it would be good. I sprayed it on, and that expensive jasmine rolled out…I was so happy! It was a freezing cold day and the crystal clear notes just made me…happy. LOL what can I say-I am an uncomlicated person! I look forward to trying this, based on your review.
Sincerely,
Carole
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June 9, 2016 at 12:20 pm
Hi Carole – You should be able to find Sublime online easily. I have to admit, after writing this post, I purchased a bottle for $41 from FragranceX.com…and that included shipping! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by.
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June 9, 2016 at 11:50 am
Great you are reviewing Sublime, S! Sublime is my favorite Patou, I have vintage bottles to last me a lifetime:-) love its little dirtyness. A marvelous and gorgeous beauty.
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June 9, 2016 at 12:21 pm
E – Funny, I get nothing dirty at all with this…but I was reviewing the current version. I suppose that vintage probably has a little civet in it? Even though the current might lack it…it’s still a great beauty. Enjoy your stockpile for years to come 🙂
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August 12, 2016 at 4:02 am
Thank you S, yes the vintage has some civet in it. It will last me a life time probably 🙂
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June 9, 2016 at 12:53 pm
I have a vintage parfum of this lying around somewhere. There is way too much sandalwood and general butteriness for me personally, but I do think it is an absolute sex bomb. On the right person (woman?) it could be quite irresistible. Smouldering and gilded.
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June 9, 2016 at 12:57 pm
LOL. I just bought a bottle (yet to arrive)…I’ll either smell like a sex bomb or a matronly drag queen. In any case, I love it!
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June 9, 2016 at 1:09 pm
YES! A matronly drag queen, most definitely on a bloke. But on a middle aged, don’t give a shit woman, perhaps…..extraordinarily sexy. Like that Patou banana scent, what was it called…Sira D’Inde or something. Perhaps the most blasé scent ever created. Shit and bananas. Do you know it? Unbelievable!
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June 9, 2016 at 1:12 pm
Sira des Indes…I have not tried it, but it doesn’t sound something I would like. It sounds horribly sweet.
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June 9, 2016 at 6:59 pm
Not if I remember. It was a whiff of banana leaves and a dry, decadent wind – very original. Worth a sniff in any case!
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June 11, 2016 at 10:29 am
This matronly drag queen loves a bit of Sublime, in the peony lid bottle.
Portia xx
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June 11, 2016 at 11:29 pm
It has that rich, buttery HEFT of sillage that only the greatest can carry.
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June 12, 2016 at 12:43 am
Ha Ha ha
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June 9, 2016 at 7:51 pm
This sounds right up my alley!
Dammit, I’m pretty sure there’s at least a dabber if not a decant floating in The Sample Sea. 😉
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June 10, 2016 at 5:40 am
I have a few drops in my sample. I’ll bring them to Ari’s tomorrow!
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June 15, 2016 at 2:42 pm
Thanks for the gift, Steve. I’m wearing it today and it’s gorgeous!
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June 15, 2016 at 7:40 pm
I am so happy you like it. And it’s awesome that it’s so inexpensive. Actually, I’m wearing it now too!
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June 10, 2016 at 8:13 am
This was fun to read. I just tested the vintage EDP of Sublime last week and thought the ylang ylang was gorgeous. I love my vintage Patou perfumes–Joy, 1000, Amour Amour, Moment Supreme–but I avoided Sublime for a long while because I thought it would be too sweet. Fellow vintage lovers, fear not, Sublime is beautifully balanced. And I don’t get civet in the vintage EDP, just the slightest hint of saltiness.
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June 10, 2016 at 3:12 pm
I love a salty perfume. I didn’t get that though in the current version. As for the vintage Patous…I would love to have a full set of the minis! Thanks for stopping by!
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June 10, 2016 at 9:23 am
So good to see some love for Sublime! I’m afraid it has fallen out of favor lately. I have a bottle from the late ’90s and it is still gorgeous. It reminds me of some Italian perfumes – big, fat, seductively happy scents, like a confident woman who’s not afraid to toss her hair back and let loose a big, warm laugh!
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June 10, 2016 at 3:13 pm
I have to admit that the sample has been sitting in my mound of mess for some time. I’m sure glad I found it and put it on!
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June 11, 2016 at 3:25 am
I’ve never saw this perfume or even heard about it but now for some reason I really want to try it. I need to find Nordstrom that carries that brand around here.
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June 11, 2016 at 6:28 am
U – Like I said, it’s overlooked. Heck, I overlooked it as it’s been sitting in my pile of untested samples for years. I did notice that it’s currently on sale at Nordstrom….so they do carry it…but you probably can get a better price online. Have fun searching!
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June 12, 2016 at 10:12 am
Dearest, I will get you a sample if I find it at Nordstrom…I’m planning on stopping by later!
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June 12, 2016 at 7:35 pm
Sadly, there were no testers…but because I decided to use my 10-points day (why waste the equivalent of a 10% discount), I spent way to too much on … stuff … and only one of which was perfume which the SA had to order from the Seattle store.
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June 12, 2016 at 10:10 am
Sublime is so overlooked that I overlooked your review. Like Undina, I now feel compelled to seek it out at Nordstrom and if I like it, order it online (nasty nasty). I am jealous of your Ari get-together with so many of my perfume friends!
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June 12, 2016 at 11:20 am
It was fun. I think the next time we’re all going to get together is when Carlos Huber comes to town in August. Tee Hee. I just got my $40 bottle of Sublime from Fragrance X yesterday. I am sublimely happy 🙂
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June 12, 2016 at 7:36 pm
He’s eye candy for sure…
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January 31, 2018 at 11:07 pm
Can anyone tell me when they changed the formula and when they changed the bottles? I fell in love with it in the early 90’s and I wear it daily. I just find the newer version a little less full.
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February 1, 2018 at 6:55 am
Rochelle – I’m not sure, but I can tell you that I had some vintage parfum that was incredibly deep and almost dark in body that was nothing like my newere EdP version. If they do change the formula, they’ll never announce it when they do. Maybe try to find some vintage on eBay?
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