Néblina (1999)
by Yves Rocher

Néblina, I think, is a love-it or hate-it fragrance. It’s unique enough to be loved for its uniqueness, and pushy enough to be disliked. I’m one of the dislikers because I don’t care for its orchid and the violet notes… Yves Rocher managed to include my two most hated florals in the same scent. To my nose, the orchid and violet unite in sturdy aggression to drown out whatever else is happening with the top and middle levels. I can understand why others might like these accords, and I know why I don’t. The base is herbal, mossy, with a little bit of woods, and actually quite beautifully done, but I refuse to go through the torture of the top levels to reach the very nice drydown.

6th April, 2011.

This is one of those synthetic-as-an-aesthetic-statement fragrances that is quite strong and memorable. Nothing natural here at all. It's a virched tropical rainforest, like a video game set. So it's weird, it's unnatural,very brightly colored. It's also very sweet. But it's fun and the drydown is softer and quite pleasant. The bottle is absolutely gorgeous and strange, a must-have for a bottle collector.

25th April, 2007.

It seems YR is re-releasing or re-marketing this fragrance. Its nearly lime green color makes one think of an green scent, but the florals in this one are very strong. I would have preferred a bit more roundedness in this scent, as it is quite overwhelmingly floral, and very angular at that. There is little subtlety to this one.

Neblina is suprisingly heavy upon first application, almost overwhelmingly so (getting slapped in the face by a bunch of stargazer lillies). The top notes disappeared almost instantly and I was left with orchid stuck to my nasal passages. The only reason I purchased this fragrance is because I received a tester and liked the drydown.

It settles down nicely and has a warm woody thing with a hint of the flowers from the beginning. Due to the dominance and loudness of the floral notes, Neblina (which means "fog" in Spanish) smells a bit like rolling around in a pile of wood chips and slightly rotten orchids on the damp floor of a rainforest. But imagine how you might smell two hours after rolling around in said pile: probably not too bad, and certainly rather interesting.

I doubt I would by this again, but for the price, it was a fine one-time purchase.

8th December, 2006.