Million Gold for Her Eau de Parfum Gift Set

Lavender is the surprise in Rabanne Million Gold Her Eau de Parfum 90ml, and it is what separates this from the row of sweet pink florals it stands beside.

The opening is a three way split. Rose comes through first, clean rather than jammy. Pear sits next to it, juicy and slightly green at the edge, doing the work of making the whole thing easy to like. Then the lavender, still an unexpected choice in a women's fragrance, dry and herbal and a little soapy, cutting across the sweetness instead of adding to it. Jasmine and ylang ylang build the middle into something fuller, the ylang ylang bringing a creamy, almost banana-like richness that rounds the jasmine off and gives the heart its weight. The base is where it earns its keep. Vanilla supplies the warmth the Gold name promises, musk keeps everything close and skin-like, and oakmoss lays a damp bitter green underneath that most sweet florals never bother with. It is the reason the drydown does not go flat an hour in.

This one dates from 2024. As an eau de parfum it has real presence for the first hour and then settles in for most of a working day, so a single application in the morning is usually enough. It suits cooler weather and the evening better than a hot afternoon, and it reads as adult rather than teenage, which is not always true of the sweeter end of the market. The 90ml bottle is the full size, the sensible buy once you already know you like it rather than a way of finding out.

Rabanne is the French house that grew out of Paco Rabanne's couture, first shown in Paris in 1966. Fragrance has been the business of the Spanish group Puig since it created the perfume division in 1968, and Puig has held the whole brand since 1987.