It is true that - at the time (until about the early 1990's), "Joy de Patou" was the most expensive fragrance to buy (maybe not to produce though) in the world, but as the years went by, tons of other fragrances became much more expensive to buy than "Joy"... (I'm thinking here about these companies for instance , which sell their fragrances for a much more bigger prices than Patou...:Parfum de Nicolai, Comme des garçons, Montale, Amouage, Maison Martin Margiela, etc... Some of the biggest names in fashion have carried the brand’s creative torch after Jean Patou's death in 1936. That worry aside, I am well on the way to loving No. 5 in parfum, though I need to be in the right mood. I’m not yet sure about the EDT. I loved Miss Dior Original from the beginning though, again, I wonder if it’s a ghost. The best known of Patou's perfumes is " JOY", a heavy floral scent, based on the most precious rose and jasmine, that remained the costliest perfume in the world, until the House of Patou introduced "1000" (a heavy, earthy floral perfume, based on a rare osmanthus) in 1972. Before JOY, the House of Patou released many other perfumes, many which were to celebrate particular events. For example, Normandie (an oriental forerunner to perfumes such as Yves Saint Laurent's Opium) celebrated the French ocean liner of the same name, and Vacances (a mixture of green and lilac notes) celebrated the first French paid national holidays.

Joy" was voted "Scent of the Century" by the public at the Fragrance Foundation FiFi Awards in 2000, beating its rival " Chanel No. 5". [10] After the closure of the haute couture business the company has continued to produce fragrances under the Jean Patou brand. Patou also produced fragrances for Lacoste, when Patou acquired the license in the 1960s, [6] and Yohji Yamamoto in the 1990s. [7] Henri Alméras, a perfumer that had worked before for Paul Poiret, was the creator of all the Patou perfumes that I've mentioned, as well as Chaldée, a fragrance that came to the world firstly as a scented tanning oil, and knew great success, especially in coastal places like Deauville and Monte-Carlo. The perfume branch of the Patou company was growing and it had subsidiaries in New York, as well as fields of roses and jasmine in Grasse, for it's own use in perfumes. "This control of every stage of production is another example of the care Jean Patou put into everything. It also reflects his fierce desire for independence, the better to run his house as he saw fit," references Emmanuelle Polle.Zanon, Johanna " La face cachée de la Lune: les ateliers de couture de la maison Jean Patou dans l’entre-deux-guerres", in Apparence(s) 7 (2017). Stewart, Mary Lynn (2008). Dressing Modern Frenchwomen: Marketing Haute Couture, 1919–1939. JHU Press. p.209. ISBN 978-0-8018-8803-8.

Marc Bohan, born in 1926, made his debut with Jean Patou at the age of 18. He left the couture house to better find himself as the artistic director. He kept the legend alive from 1954 to 1957. He moved on to serve as the head of creation at the Dior house for the following thirty years. From the start of my perfume love affair I have loved aldehydic florals with a mossy sandalwood drydown. I find that a lot of classics were reformulated with a heavier dose of vanilla at the base to compensate for the reduced sandalwood and oakmoss. Consequently, I end up with a preference for the vintage versions of fragrances like First and No 5.Is that metal exhaustion of the owners - or what? Big money offered for the brand assets to wipe them out?

In summary, Joy is pleasant to wear, soft and tender. It doesn’t have a big presence and lasts moderately well, but while it does, it’s pretty. Jean Patou should have been incorporated into the company at the pointy end of LVMH's prestigious brands. I'm sure that was the intention at the time of the acquisition.

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The main difference is in the emphasis, however. Joy is more transparent, with few curves and twists. It has more radiance, however, and its sillage is less heavy and sweet than that of Allure. The finish is soft–sweet musk and woods, with just enough creamy sandalwood to keep things from becoming bland. Allure, by contrast, feels buxom and plush next to Joy, although its sweetness has always been the main reason why I didn’t like wearing it. Mitsouko I have have started to maybe like – having tried a recent edp – but may need to think about it more. I think Shalimar suffers from being too well known, like the Mona Lisa. You know what it looks like, so you don’t really see. At least, that’s how I used to approach the fragrance. “Shalimar, sure, it’s great,” I thought, but I didn’t feel the love. However, once I was able to experience Shalimar as a perfume rather than an icon, I craved its tangy lemon, sweet vanilla, and animalic wood. Now I regularly wear the Eau de Toilette and savor it, especially in the autumn. Christian Dior Miss Dior Jean Patou remained a family-owned business until September 2001 when it was bought by P&G Prestige Beaute a division of Procter & Gamble, which also market perfumes for Jean Kerléo and Karl Lagerfeld. Kerleo stepped down in 1999 [6] appointing Jean-Michel Duriez as house perfumer. Duriez creations include "Un Amour de Patou" (1998), "Enjoy" (2003) and "Sira des Indes" (2006).