The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
In 1996, Nina Ricci launched Les Belles de Ricci as the opening chapter of a new collection, and the perfumers Nathalie Feisthauer, Jean Guichard, and David Apel made a clear statement. Tomato leaf and tomato flower. Not a metaphor for freshness. The actual leaf. The actual flower. It was an unusual choice for a fashion house fragrance, but the Ricci woman has never been about what was expected. She was about what felt true. The collection's name, Les Belles de Ricci, suggests something personal. Beautiful women, plural. Not a singular ideal but a gallery of them. And this first fragrance, this 1996 debut, captures a specific kind of beauty: the kind that gets its hands dirty in the garden, that knows the difference between a fruit and a vegetable, that smells like the source material rather than a memory of it.
Tomato leaf as a perfumery material is rare precisely because it's difficult. It can read as harsh, almost medicinal, or tip into an aggressive green that overwhelms everything around it. The perfumers' solution here was to pair it with basil, another herb that could anchor the sharpness without dulling it, and mint, which adds a cooling counterpoint. The orange in the top notes does quiet citrus work, softening the entry without making it sweet. What makes this structure work is the heart. Tomato flower, cyclamen, magnolia, freesia, none of these are heavy florals. They're aromatic flowers. Magnolia has a creamy, slightly citrusy character that bridges the green opening and the fruity base.
The evolution
The top notes arrive fast. Mint and basil hit first, cool and aromatic, with orange lending a brief citrus brightness before the tomato leaf takes over and asserts itself. This is the moment that defines Les Belles de Ricci, that first 15 to 20 minutes when the green is at its most intense, almost vegetal, like crushing a leaf between your fingers. The heart develops within the hour. Magnolia emerges as the dominant floral, creamy and grounded, while the tomato flower adds a quieter green-floral layer beneath it. Freesia keeps things crisp. The transition isn't dramatic, the green doesn't disappear, it just softens into the background, becoming texture rather than statement. The drydown is where the fragrance settles into itself. Raspberry appears as the base warms, sweet and slightly tart, while fig leaf adds a green, slightly woody grounding. This is the phase that lasts, the 4 to 6 hour range on most skin. The sillage never becomes large. This is a fragrance that stays close, that someone has to lean in to notice. The kind of fragrance that rewards proximity.
Cultural impact
Les Belles de Ricci arrived in 1996, a period when women's fragrances were exploring more unexpected territories. The tomato notes, both leaf and flower, were genuinely unusual for the era, making this a fragrance that stood apart from the more conservative launches of the mid-90s. It's since become a reference point for unusual green compositions, particularly among those exploring what the 1990s contributed to the green fragrance family.
