Cabotine (1990)
by Grès

Cabotine exits the bottle in a flourish of very sharp, chemical, fruity floral notes and aldehydes, establishing an unfortunate air freshener vibe that the fragrance never fully manages to shed. The composition first sorts itself out into a harsh, soapy rose and ersatz carnation accord badly in need of rounding and warming. It improves over time, the rose losing some of its chemical rough edges, while woods and vanillic base notes add some much-needed textural relief.

With an hour’s wear Cabotine grows softer and prettier, reading as and aldehydic, fresh, green rose scent. Competition in this particular genre is keen, however, and Cabotine does not hold up well in comparison to scents like Alliage, Private Collection, L’Ombre dans l’Eau, and Chanel No. 19, never mind the infinitely more delicate Une Zeste de Rose and Drôle de Rose.

Opens up generic-floral-perfumey, then has a nice, brief (and faint) jasmine moment before turning into something that quite frankly smells like vomit. Overrated as a green.

This just hates me. It goes very chemical-y and unpleasant half way through and there are no redeeming features to rescue it later. The opening is invitingly green and fruity, but it's all downhill from there.

I must confess that I didn't like this scent at, when I first smelled it, but then, in an unexpected change, it became nearly a standard value in almost all of my gifts directed to female friends, relatives and acquaintances. Why? Because while the first impression was heavy and sweet, the dry-down increasingly develops wonderfully mature and distinguished leathery and woody notes. In spite of the presentation or the first impressions, definitely not an average female "green" or "floral", but a truly sober and refined creation, directed towards a discriminating and classy audience.

A woody floral with ripe smelling jasmine and ylang-ylang. Very smooth green woody scent.

I won Cabotine in a gift set in a Basenotes contest. What fun! :-) And I really like the fragrance. It's very pretty on my skin, particularly in the drydown. No mold or mildew here. It's green, with a zingy gingery sharpness up top that later softens and becomes warm and floral. I can't tell if it's ginger or citrus or what, actually. I agree, it does have a bit of that Estee Lauder fabric softener thing about it - the clean generic freshness. But it's lovely, and surprisingly long lasting. I'm pleased with my prize and will definitely wear it. It reminds me a bit of Dior's Tendre Poison, another pretty green floral from days gone by.