Institut Très Bien is one of several historical fragrance lines (Lubin, Rancé, etc) that have been revived by new owners in recent times. Frederic Burtin, whose grandmother reportedly was a patron of the original Institut Très Bien spa in Lyon during the 1930s, found an old perfumery book with a recipe for the spa’s Cologne à la Russe, and with the help of perfumer Pierre Bourdon, came up with a fragrance “as close to the original as possible” (via cosmeticsint.co.uk, 9/1/2004) At the same time…

“We thought about how the range would have developed had the Institut not closed,” said Burtin, “and we produced Cologne à la Francaise and Cologne l’Italienne.” (ibid)

I gave all three scents a very quick try shortly after they were launched, and liked them well enough…

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