Best Dream by Gap Alternatives & Similar Perfumes

Matilde Bonaparte, niece of Napoleon I, was known for her breasts (“le plus beau décolleté”) and her talent as a painter. She also hosted a celebrated 19th-century Parisian salon attended by the greatest artists and writers of her time. This namesake perfume is an olfactory salon of provocative white florals (ylang-ylang, narcissus, jasmine) given tropical succulence with passion fruit and papaya. Mathilde’s heady brightness is softened by iris and sandalwood.

When Japan opened up trade and travel to the rest of the world in the mid 19th century, it influenced art, theatre, architecture and philosophy across Europe. Edo Park is an olfactory portrait of Japan through the eyes of the West, with osmanthus as the centrepiece. An iconic flower of Asian culture, osmanthus has a complex blend of apricot, tea and soft leather. In this extrait, this sophisticated but sunny floral is enhanced with notes of citrus, freesia and Siberian pine.

A rampage through a fantasy meadow. Lily-of-the-valley, orange blossom and lavender are crushed underfoot as you run riot across beauty. Lilac and lemon assert themselves in the carnage. Tonka bean and white musk ensures that this extrait strength perfume stays and plays.

Bo-Bo is named after a Spanish folk dance.

This perfume is a beautiful harmony of fresh which is carefully put together from the citrus bliss of mandarin, shy bitter-green of lily-of-the-valey, soft orange blossom and dry vetiver.

Its name gives the clue. Orange tree in Spanish Arabic. There you are, standing on a Moroccan roof. An exquisite coolness wafts up, chasing the clinging heat of the day. The curtains move lazily in the breeze. Shadows of orange trees stretch in the setting sun.

A surround sound symphony of uplifting tea and apricotty osmanthus. Frangipani and orange blossom smile in the opening, while oolong tea swirls to the surface in this subtle brew. Osmanthus, the flower that bridges the gap between apricot and tea, joins forces with guaiac wood for a delightfully smooth and happy smellscape.

Perfumer: Kong Dexing 

Perfumer: Frank Voelkl

The charismatic and dashing French sailor steps from his sailboat, the late afternoon breeze ruffles his hair. The atmosphere is warm and salty. With graceful haste he seeks refined refreshment on a beautifully manicured lawn. Suave and impressive. With notes of green grass, sweet freesia and musk. 

“Faire le mur” means “going AWOL” en Français, and if you’re going to make a break for it, you might as well do it fragrantly with this fruity-floral escapade. Heady jasmine and spicy lily get juicy thanks to orange and pear. Osmanthus, with its delicate apricot tea facet, bridges flowers to fruits.

Osmanthus is a fruity floral white flower from Japan and China.

Like a deliciously crisp spring day, this uplifting creation with Japanese Osmanthus absolute is a beautifully composed bouquet of flowers, embellished with golden citrus notes. Layered on a bed of Egyptian sweet herbs, it is intense, fresh and yet uncomplicated.

A battle royale between jasmine and oud, where everyone’s a winner. Oud in White opens on a zest of pear, ginger, and raspberry, before revealing its true intentions with jasmine sambac’s shocking sensuality. Peachy osmanthus fleshes out the fleshiness, and resinous labdanum and milky sandalwood makes the slide into leathery Cambodian oud irresistible. Between the twinned forces of indolic jasmine and barnyardy oud, this one’s for connoisseurs of the finer side of skank.