One, two, three, sun! Seems like an incongruous title for this fragrance which might be better termed: One, two, three, play doh and old paper! Not that that is necessarily a bad thing at all.

Listed notes

Bergamot, grapefruit, pink pepper, almond, heliotrope, incense, old paper, benzoin, tonka beans, vanilla.

Top notes

Despite the slightly incongruous title, it would be unfair to say that Un Deux Trois Soleil by Bastille was a perfume which lacked any sense of fun or a sense of humour, it has both in spades. Whilst this fragrance might not necessarily scream summer at you, it does have a pleasing levity about it and a playful heart which makes it a fun companion for an easy day. The inspiration behind the scent was more about evoking a happy day in childhood summer and that it does do rather nicely.

Spray Un Deux Trois Soleil and the first really noticeable things which fly from the bottle are play doh and old paper accords. A sense of sourness from the bergamot and grapefruit are only really noticeable at the very fringes of the scent and very fleetingly, leaving the majority of the space open to be occupied by a lovely, chewy round almondy play doh scent, and the smell of old, slightly decaying paper from the vanilla. Either of these facets would be nice on their own, but together they’re quite lovely, reminding me of warm summer days spent in the company of an old book.

Heart notes

As this relatively simple feeling, and linear-ish composition gets going, a gorgeous incense wafts into the picture adding that hint of addictive smoky spiciness. At times it’s hard to believe that this isn’t a fragrance specifically made to capture all my childhood favourite smells, for it feels as if Bastille reached into my brain and pulled out a load of memories and jammed them into a bottle. Nevertheless, there’s a lightness to the way that the fragrance wears and that sort of upbeat optimism that perhaps only graces us in childhood normally.

Deeper in, the almond that has set centre stage since first spray, becomes more floral and grown up, but still with a youthful heart. The incense wanders off as quickly as it came, and the old-book-vanilla hums away to itself in the background. The scent now does feel as if you are sitting in a patch of warm sunshine in early summer, toasting your legs in rays of sun whilst reading a heavy old tome

Base notes

The almond facets of the fragrance really don’t quit, lasting throughout the wear and into the base of the scent. Here it is joined by the deliciously resinous benzoin, and the sweetness of tonka beans to form a cosy, comforting chewy-toffee type scent. In fact if you imagine a gooey, chewy toffee scattered with whole almonds then that’s rather like the sort of fragrance this becomes in the dry down. It’s sweet and warm throughout.

Pleasant, almondy, and very easy to wear, Un Deux Trois Soleil doesn’t conjure up summer sun cream and beaches, more like a lovely trip to a library of old books with a bag of chewy toffees. Either way though it’s a pretty and likeable scent that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and definitely brings a smile to even adult faces.

The other stuff

The longevity of Un Deux Trois Soleil is really good. When you first spray it, it feels like the sort of fragrance that will only stick around for a couple of hours but that isn’t the case, instead lasting for eight hours or more following application.

The sillage, or projection, of the scent is also decent, going to around handshake distance or so.

Whilst this might be a perfume which bears a summery name, we can imagine that it would be luscious to wear in the autumn months when the air is a bit cooler and you may want to feel slightly more cosseted and snuggled.

The perfumer isn’t listed on the brand site for this fragrance, but other sites are listing it as being Domitille Michalon-Bertier.

The brand

Bastille are a new, French, fun and vibrant brand launched in 2020. Their range of scents is easy, playful and very easy to pop on a spray or two before you head out for the day. These aren’t fragrances which demand your attention, instead they’re vivacious, friendly and very easy to enjoy – great if you are just getting into niche scents or if you just fancy having a relaxed day. The Bastille scents are the fragrance equivalent of a comfortable sweatshirt, that sort of vibe.

Bastille fragrances are all vegan and are produced in France.

Buy it

Un Deux Trois Soleil is available from Bloom Perfumery London where it is priced at £80 for 50ml EdP. Bloom very kindly supplied us with a no-strings-attached sample of this fragrance – our thanks to them.

You can also purchase fragrance from the Bastille web boutique.

Image by Jessica Joh from Pixabay.