The design house of Lanvin was among the first to present a perfume as part of a collection. My Sin was created in 1924 and first sold and trademarked in Paris under the name Mon Péché by Lanvin.
"A perfume of enchantment - of enthrallment...My Sin holds enticing charm for the delights which are to come. Smart women are always fond of My Sin's complimentary chic..."
In 1926, Jeanne Lanvin recalled that My Sin was created by a collaboration between Firmenich and Madame Maria Zede , a "nose", an employee of Gabilla Perfumerie. Gabilla had introduced their perfume My Sin in 1920. The bottle was a round black glass flacon molded with flowers and richly gilded, with a matching gilt stopper. The design was by Julien Viard and manufactured by C. Depinoix, it was used for another Gabilla perfume, Minne in 1920.
Fashion designers of the early 1900s required the assistance of experienced perfume companies to blend their perfumes and to create and produce their presentations. Gabilla was one of the companies who specialized in assisting fashion designers, most notably Jeanne Lanvin. Gabilla had worked under condition of anonymity. The direct involvement of these two companies was evidenced in their choice of perfume names and bottle shapes.
According to the book Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things, author Charles Panati states that "capitalizing on the American desire for French perfumes, Jeanne Lanvin took her creation Mon Péché, which had failed in Paris, and in 1925 turned it into an immediate and resounding success in America under the name My Sin."
So what does it smell like? It is classified as an aldehydic floral fragrance for women. It has a dominant acacia note with a sparkling aldehydic character.
Lanvin's My Sin/Mon Peche parfum extrait was sold in a round black glass bottle called La Boule, designed in 1923 by Armand Rateau and made in France by Cristal Romesnil. The bottle had two different gilded stoppers, one raspberry shaped, and the other was a round, ribbed ball. The gilded logo on the front of the bottle was designed by Paul Iribe and depicts a stylized portrait of Jeanne Lanvin and her daughter getting dressed for a masked ball. Rare versions of this bottle are to be found in clear glass with a gilded logo, an all over gilded glass bottle with logo in black, and even rarer versions are made from Sevres porcelain limited editions made in 1926, each was burgundy, turquoise or cobalt blue.
To open the classic Lanvin crystal flacon, use the following tip provided by Parfums Lanvin themselves in 1963:
The black La Boule bottles were to become the standard flacon for all of Lanvin's parfum extraits. The labels are simply small strips of paper found on the base of the bottle which would note what perfume was inside. The boxes were generally covered in cream colored paper and trimmed with a different color for each perfume, My Sin had navy trim, Arpege had black, Scandale had red, Pretexte had black and Rumeur had brown.
There is even a hard to find early powder box made in the shape of La Boule, and made with papier mache.
Other bottles you will commonly find are the tall rectangular or shorter square shaped clear glass bottles that hold the colognes, eau de parfums and eau de toilettes. These bottles were made in France by Verreries Brosse. The earlier bottles have either a black glass or bakelite stopper, and later black plastic, impressed with the Lanvin logo. Some bottles have a simple gold foil label others can be found with either a red or black label.
It is also possible to find dusting powder, bath oil, perfume mist, talc, Eau de Lanvin My Sin, and soap online.
My Sin by Lanvin was discontinued in 1988.
The trademark and rights to the perfume name was bought out by Long Lost Perfumes by Irma Shorell, Inc., but they do not own the Lanvin formula. The sell their own "version" of the perfume that was recreated in 1995 and is sold on their website.
The recreated perfume composition:
My Sin was copied by other perfume companies like Lucia Deraine who made her version in 1945, and M by Jac de Paris who launched his version in the 1950s.
"A perfume of enchantment - of enthrallment...My Sin holds enticing charm for the delights which are to come. Smart women are always fond of My Sin's complimentary chic..."
In 1926, Jeanne Lanvin recalled that My Sin was created by a collaboration between Firmenich and Madame Maria Zede , a "nose", an employee of Gabilla Perfumerie. Gabilla had introduced their perfume My Sin in 1920. The bottle was a round black glass flacon molded with flowers and richly gilded, with a matching gilt stopper. The design was by Julien Viard and manufactured by C. Depinoix, it was used for another Gabilla perfume, Minne in 1920.
Fashion designers of the early 1900s required the assistance of experienced perfume companies to blend their perfumes and to create and produce their presentations. Gabilla was one of the companies who specialized in assisting fashion designers, most notably Jeanne Lanvin. Gabilla had worked under condition of anonymity. The direct involvement of these two companies was evidenced in their choice of perfume names and bottle shapes.
According to the book Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things, author Charles Panati states that "capitalizing on the American desire for French perfumes, Jeanne Lanvin took her creation Mon Péché, which had failed in Paris, and in 1925 turned it into an immediate and resounding success in America under the name My Sin."
Fragrance Composition:
So what does it smell like? It is classified as an aldehydic floral fragrance for women. It has a dominant acacia note with a sparkling aldehydic character.
- Top notes: aldehydes, lemon, clary sage, neroli, carnation, bergamot, heliotrope, acacia, mimosa
- Middle notes: white narcissus, clove, orris, orange blossom, lily, jasmine, violet, rose, lily of the valley, lilac, iris, jonquil, ylang ylang
- Base notes: ambergris, vanilla, tolu balsam, styrax, patchouli, musk, vetiver, civet and sandalwood
Bottles:
Lanvin's My Sin/Mon Peche parfum extrait was sold in a round black glass bottle called La Boule, designed in 1923 by Armand Rateau and made in France by Cristal Romesnil. The bottle had two different gilded stoppers, one raspberry shaped, and the other was a round, ribbed ball. The gilded logo on the front of the bottle was designed by Paul Iribe and depicts a stylized portrait of Jeanne Lanvin and her daughter getting dressed for a masked ball. Rare versions of this bottle are to be found in clear glass with a gilded logo, an all over gilded glass bottle with logo in black, and even rarer versions are made from Sevres porcelain limited editions made in 1926, each was burgundy, turquoise or cobalt blue.
To open the classic Lanvin crystal flacon, use the following tip provided by Parfums Lanvin themselves in 1963:
Producers admonish one to eschew hot water and to run cold water on top of bottle while tapping neck gently with a metal instrument (blunt end of knife or scissors).
The black La Boule bottles were to become the standard flacon for all of Lanvin's parfum extraits. The labels are simply small strips of paper found on the base of the bottle which would note what perfume was inside. The boxes were generally covered in cream colored paper and trimmed with a different color for each perfume, My Sin had navy trim, Arpege had black, Scandale had red, Pretexte had black and Rumeur had brown.
There is even a hard to find early powder box made in the shape of La Boule, and made with papier mache.
It is also possible to find dusting powder, bath oil, perfume mist, talc, Eau de Lanvin My Sin, and soap online.
"My Sin..a most provocative perfume"
The New Yorker - Volume 23, 1947:
"Lanvin — "Rumeur," for a young vivacious person; a brunette perfume. "Arpege," for the young blonde. "Mon Peche," or "My Sin," for the very young. "Scandal," smells of sandalwood."
Fate of the Fragrance:
My Sin by Lanvin was discontinued in 1988.The trademark and rights to the perfume name was bought out by Long Lost Perfumes by Irma Shorell, Inc., but they do not own the Lanvin formula. The sell their own "version" of the perfume that was recreated in 1995 and is sold on their website.
The recreated perfume composition:
- Top notes: aldehydes, lemon, bergamot, clary sage, neroli
- Middle notes: jasmine, rose, clove, orris, muguet, jonquil, ylang ylang, lilac
- Base notes: vetiver, vanilla, musk, styrax, civet, woods, tolu
My Sin was copied by other perfume companies like Lucia Deraine who made her version in 1945, and M by Jac de Paris who launched his version in the 1950s.
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