Bel Automne by Lancôme was launched in 1947 as part of the Eau de Senteur line, described as “a demi parfum… refreshing as a cologne, lasting as a perfume. Imprisoning in a bottle the tangy, heady air of Autumn, fragrances of ferns, mosses, and of the last flowers of the season.” The name itself—Bel Automne—is French, pronounced roughly "bell oh-tohn", meaning “Beautiful Autumn.” In choosing this title, founder Armand Petitjean captured not only a literal season but also an emotional and sensory mood. The phrase evokes imagery of burnished leaves, golden light filtering through trees, the crisp bite of cooler air, and the quiet, reflective beauty that comes with the year’s waning days.
The world into which Bel Automne emerged was just beginning to heal from the devastation of World War II. By 1947, Paris—long the beating heart of haute couture and fine perfumery—was reclaiming its position as the capital of elegance. This year marked the dawn of what became known as The New Look era, set into motion by Christian Dior’s debut collection in February. Dior’s nipped waists, full skirts, and opulent fabrics signaled a return to luxury and femininity after years of wartime austerity. In perfumery, there was a similar shift: compositions leaned richer, more romantic, and more indulgent than the restrained, practical fragrances worn during the war years.
To women of 1947, the name Bel Automne would have carried a deep, almost poetic resonance. Autumn was not merely a season—it was a metaphor for maturity, reflection, and the savoring of beauty before it fades. For the modern, fashion-conscious woman of the postwar period, wearing a scent that celebrated the richness of autumn could be a declaration of elegance and emotional depth. This was a time when perfume was seen as a personal signature, and a fragrance inspired by autumn’s warmth and mystery would have been perceived as both sophisticated and sensual.
Classified as a fougère for men yet described as “musky and warm,” Bel Automne blurred the gender lines that often defined mid-century fragrance marketing. It opened with Italian citrus for a brisk, invigorating lift, followed by a heart of French fern accord, Grasse rose, and Provençal lavender. Its base was lush and resinous: Ethiopian civet, Bourbon vetiver, Tyrolean oakmoss, ambergris, Mysore sandalwood, Venezuelan tonka bean, coumarin, Tibetan musk, Madagascar vanilla, and Penang patchouli. Together, these materials created an aromatic landscape that balanced the fresh coolness of ferns and mosses with the golden glow of amber, spice, and sweet woods—a perfect olfactory metaphor for autumn’s interplay of chill air and lingering warmth.
In the context of other fragrances on the market in 1947, Bel Automne was both in step with the times and distinctive in its execution. Postwar perfumery favored opulence, with houses like Balmain (Vent Vert), Carven (Ma Griffe), and Nina Ricci (L’Air du Temps) offering bold statements in floral and green notes. Fougères were a more masculine-coded territory, but Bel Automne’s balance of mossy structure, florals, and warm resins made it stand apart, appealing to both men and women. Petitjean’s choice to present it as part of the Eau de Senteur line—a demi parfum format promising both freshness and lasting power—placed it in a niche between light colognes and full-strength extraits, making it versatile for daily wear yet still indulgent enough for evening.
In scent, Bel Automne interpreted its name with precision: the crisp brightness of citrus mirrored autumn’s brisk mornings; the fern and lavender suggested woodland freshness; the roses and jasmine were the last flowers clinging to the season; and the resinous, musky base recalled the earthy richness of fallen leaves and warming fires. It was an olfactory portrait of a season—beautiful, fleeting, and deeply memorable.
The New Yorker - Volume 29, 1953:
"Lancome has cooked up three more colognes. Graces du Printemps is cool and brisk; Joyeux Été is light and dry; Bel Automne is musky and warm. Four- and eight- ounce flacons are, respectively, $4.20 and $7.20 at Saks."
Homes and Gardens, 1953:
"Bel Automne, toilet water, Lancome."
Fragrance Composition:
- Top notes: Italian bitter orange, Calabrian bergamot, Paraguayan petitgrain, Hungarian clary sage, Spanish rosemary, Italian thyme
- Middle notes: Provencal lavender, French fern accord, Grasse rose, Peruvian heliotrope, Saigon cinnamon, Zanzibar clove, Jamaican nutmeg, Indian carnation, isoeugenol, Persian galbanum, English wormwood
- Base notes: Penang patchouli, Bourbon vetiver, vetiveryl acetate, Tyrolean oakmoss, Tibetan musk, Indian musk ambrette, Ethiopian civet, ambergris, ambreine, Mysore sandalwood, Venezuelan tonka bean, coumarin, Madagascar vanilla, vanillin, Siam benzoin, Maltese labdanum
Scent Profile:
Bel Automne opens with the brisk, sunlit radiance of Italian bitter orange, its peel releasing an aromatic tang that blends bitterness and brightness, as though the fruit had been freshly torn from the branch. This merges seamlessly with the luminous sparkle of Calabrian bergamot, a citrus prized for its complex harmony of tartness and floral nuance, bringing a champagne-like effervescence to the air. Paraguayan petitgrain—distilled from the twigs and leaves of the bitter orange tree—adds a green, woody counterpoint, grounding the citrus in an herbaceous backbone. Threaded through this brightness is the warm, hay-like lift of Hungarian clary sage, its faintly leathery undertone preparing the way for richer herbs: Spanish rosemary, sharp and aromatic like pine needles crushed between the fingers, and Italian thyme, earthy and resinous, with a faint medicinal bite that hints at the forest floor after summer rain.
The heart blooms with Provencal lavender, its clean, camphoraceous breath layered over the cool, leafy-green depth of the French fern accord—a traditional fougère structure that mimics the foresty freshness of ferns through a delicate interplay of coumarin and oakmoss. Grasse rose, cultivated in the perfume capital of the world, unfurls velvety petals, its lush, honeyed facets intensified by Peruvian heliotrope, whose almond-vanilla sweetness drapes the florals in powdery warmth.
The spice profile builds in complexity with Saigon cinnamon, famed for its rich, sweetly woody heat; Zanzibar clove, pungent and almost medicinal in its sharpness; and Jamaican nutmeg, creamy and aromatic with faint citrus edges. Indian carnation contributes peppery, clove-like petals, while isoeugenol, a natural constituent of clove oil, sharpens and extends these spicy notes with precision. Persian galbanum cuts through the sweetness with a sharp, green resinous bite, while English wormwood lends a bitter, absinth-like herbaceousness, conjuring the last withering plants of autumn’s gardens.
The base is a deep tapestry of resins, woods, and animalics. Penang patchouli offers an earthy richness with camphor-like freshness, tempered by the smoky, grassy elegance of Bourbon vetiver from Réunion. Vetiveryl acetate, a refined derivative, softens vetiver’s smokiness into a smoother, velvety woody note that extends its longevity. Tyrolean oakmoss contributes the damp, forest-floor scent at the heart of a chypre, mingling with the animalic warmth of Tibetan musk and Indian musk ambrette, whose vegetal musky sweetness bridges natural and synthetic musk tones. Ethiopian civet lends a subtle, purring sensuality—its leathery, honeyed undertone diffusing through the amber-rich base.
Ambergris, smooth and saline, adds both radiance and fixative power, complemented by ambreine, the sweet resinous compound responsible for amber’s warm, glowing heart. The creamy sandalwood of Mysore, rare and prized for its depth and longevity, envelops the darker notes, while Venezuelan tonka bean infuses a nutty, vanilla-coumarin warmth that echoes the heliotrope. Synthetic coumarin sharpens and extends that haylike sweetness, as Madagascar vanilla and vanillin layer soft, gourmand creaminess over the woody-spicy body. The resinous sweetness of Siam benzoin mingles with Maltese labdanum, its rich, balsamic-leathery tones sealing the composition with the depth and glow of golden resin.
Bel Automne is, in essence, the scent of an autumn day suspended in time—the sun still warm, the air crisp with leaves and moss, the last flowers fragrant on the wind, and the forest floor alive with spice, resin, and the fading warmth of summer. Each note is chosen to bridge freshness and depth, light and shadow, creating a perfume that is both invigorating and lingering, as enduring as the memory of autumn itself.
Bottles:
Lancôme’s Eaux de Senteur presentation was an exquisite blend of artistry and craftsmanship. The packaging showcased a large polychrome label featuring hand-painted motifs by Georges Delhomme, a distinguished artist and longtime collaborator with the house. Each label portrayed a graceful female figure symbolizing her season, surrounded by vibrant colors and evocative scenes that perfectly captured the essence and atmosphere of spring, summer, autumn, or winter.
The frosted glass flask-shaped bottle, crafted by the renowned Verrières de la Bresle, was equally captivating. Its arched shoulders were adorned with a delicate lattice pattern that played beautifully with light and shadow, enhancing its visual depth. The frosted stopper rose elegantly from an oval carnette base, reminiscent of a fountain’s jet arching gently back into its basin—an image of natural fluidity and grace. This was complemented by subtle decorative curves inspired by garden arches and the inviting shelter of a pergola, lending the bottle a tranquil architectural sophistication. Anchoring the design at the base, a wide gilded metallic label served as a stately pedestal, adding an aura of luxury and refinement. Each bottle came nestled in a protective case embossed with Lancôme’s iconic rose emblem, and the fragrances were offered in a variety of sizes, ranging from 4 to 32 ounces, to meet a wide range of preferences and uses.
Flacon Coloquint:
The Flacon Coloquint, introduced by Lancôme around 1947 for their Eaux des Senteurs, featured a graceful double-gourd shape in frosted glass, with a smaller rounded top section above a larger bulbous base. Its softly diffused surface lent a velvety texture and a cool, elegant appearance, while the organic curves conveyed balance and refinement. The bottle was topped with a Pollopas (urea-formaldehyde) plastic screw cap—lightweight, durable, and modern for the era—offering a secure, practical closure that contrasted yet harmonized with the bottle’s sculptural form. Together, the frosted glass and innovative closure reflected the postwar period’s blend of artistry and technological progress.
Dumbbell Bottle:
Lancôme’s Eaux de Senteur were later presented in a distinctive clear glass “dumbbell” bottle, composed of a smaller sphere atop three narrow horizontal rings, which rested on a larger sphere. This modern, tiered silhouette was a streamlined reinterpretation of the earlier Flacon Coloquint—a frosted double-gourd bottle with a Pollopas plastic screw cap—shifting from soft, traditional elegance to a more contemporary, sculptural form. The ringed midsection may have been intended to improve grip, while practical factors such as reduced production costs, increased durability, or changing manufacturing capabilities likely drove the design change. The result was a bottle that balanced functionality with modern visual appeal.
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