The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Les Années 25 Bis arrived in 2019 as a companion piece to Les Années 25, launched the year before. The name carries an old-world European register, as if the fragrance itself is catalogued in an archive rather than shelved at a boutique. This one feels like an artifact pulled from a private collection, each element carefully considered and placed. What distinguishes Bis from its predecessor lives in the base. Ambergris anchors what the first iteration began, pulling the composition toward something with real presence and weight on skin. The warmth that emerges settles into the skin with a quiet authority, a mineral richness that feels both ancient and precise. It is the same house, the same hand, but a different material conclusion.
The iris here does not whisper. Powdery, almost chalky in its clarity, it arrives mid-development and refuses to be polite about it. The rose beneath it keeps pace, neither shy nor theatrical, while the ylang-ylang adds a faint cream that softens what could have been severity. What makes this structure unusual is the ambergris sitting in the base alongside benzoin, vetiver, and patchouli. Ambergris carries animalic weight without the rawness of civet or castoreum. It gives the drydown a salted, warm quality that keeps the powdery iris from becoming precious. The vetiver and patchouli ground everything, pulling the composition toward something mineral and slightly dirty at the edges.
The evolution
The opening hits fast. Bergamot arrives first, its citrus brightness so sharp it reads almost medicinal before the other notes arrive to soften it. Lemon and orange follow within minutes, adding dimension but not warmth. This is a bright beginning, the kind that announces itself without apology. Within twenty minutes, the citrus begins to recede and the iris takes over. It does not build gradually. One moment it is all citrus, the next the powder arrives and dominates everything for the next several hours. The rose supports it quietly, preventing it from going too austere. The ylang-ylang occasionally surfaces, a brief floral cream that flutters in and out. The ambergris introduces a salty animalic note that gives the composition real depth, arriving when the composition is ready to receive it rather than announcing itself on schedule.
Cultural impact
Les Années 25 Bis has become a collector's item among those who discovered it. The powdery iris character divides opinion in a way that mass-market fragrances rarely do, which is perhaps why those who love it love it without reservation. The fragrance occupies an unusual space: classical enough to feel familiar, assertive enough to feel contemporary. It shares its house with some of the most revered niche compositions of the past two decades, including L'Air du Désert Marocain, and wears that company comfortably.
