The Ricci family's perfume legacy has also extended to the current generation. Romano Ricci, great grandson of Maria and grandson of Robert, produces fragrances under the brand Juliette Has a Gun. The other strange thing about L’Extase is if you read the notes listed, you’d be fooled into thinking it was going to be a real sexy mysterious fragrance. Notes like warm Amber, romantic Rose, sweet Caramel, glowing Benzoin, sultry Jasmine, soft Musk, and vibrant Pink Pepper, Raspberry, and Pear. Nina Ricci is a French fashion house founded by Italian-born Maria "Nina" Ricci and her son Robert in 1932. Maria served as the house's designer and was known for her elegant, feminine gowns. Robert managed the business and finance end, and made the initial foray into the perfume world. It is not a horrible fragrance so don’t get me wrong. It’s warm, deep, and inviting. It’s cozy and soft. It’s a decent neutral fruity-floral that is perfect for the upcoming sweater weather and snuggling in front of a fire. But a good snuggle is all that it inspires….NOT your deepest darkest fantasies! But does this scent really evoke the overt sex appeal that it promises, or does it fall flat on the sheets?!

Pooh, the smell's really heavy. I feel the need to let him move on, but the beginning drives me crazy. The first minute smells so damn good haha ;) The note also runs through the entire course of the fragrance but unfortunately weakly :( That being said, I don't dislike it either, I just wish that the caramel was stronger. I was expecting more sweetness; it is hardly sweet at all on me. Caramel is one of my favorite perfume notes, and I was hoping for more of it in this scent, based on what reviewers have posted. I guess I really will have to commit to that full bottle of Luna!Pepper comes right behind and displaces this seductive note. Like I smell a pepper mill. Pepper doesn't usually bother me in perfume. Here, however, he becomes a lot to me. Smells like herbes?! Rose oil mixed with pepper. Not a sweet rose, no, it's kind of bitter. Is that the Taif rose? Well, it's interesting, but it's not mine. The rose is more of a musty rose, I must confess, not the clearer rose of Stella, which is what I was expecting and honestly what I prefer. This perfume is reminding me of something my aunt has worn for 30+ years. I don't love it. To me, I got a strong focus of Red Berries mixed with romantic Rose, soft Musk and sweet Vanilla. It is warm and inviting and wraps around you like a cozy sweater. It isn’t dark and brooding, nor mysterious, but instead more approachable and would make an excellent neutral Winter fragrance that would suit a wide variety of tastes. Nina Ricci's first fragrance, Coeur Joie, was introduced in 1946. The perfume was presented in a beautiful crystal bottle designed by Lalique, and marked the beginning of an historic partnership between the two companies that would last many years.

I was curious about L’Extase, the latest, which is geared older than Nina but younger than L'Air du Temps. +1: it's a musky floriental from perfumer Francis Kurkdjian. -1: the advertising, with Laetitia Casta, is the usual drearily predictable writhing we've already seen a million times over. So although it isn’t what it’s supposed to be, Nina Ricci’s L’Extase is still a nice cold weather scent. It’s just a shame that it wasn’t marketed differently to reflect the softer side of the scent.

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So far as I know, there are no plans to distribute L'Extase in the US. When distribution plans were detailed in Women's Wear Daily earlier this year, the US was not mentioned. The rest of the world should either have it already, or will have it by the end of the summer.