Reviews of Eau de Cartier Concentrée (2002)
by Cartier

The blurbs that I read on this fragrance say that this is simply supposed to be Eau de Cartier in concentrated form… it is not supposed to be a different scent. First of all, I’m not sure I want a stronger concentration: part of the reason I love Eau de Cartier is its subtlety and its quiet, reticent elegance. Next, I believe that the formula has been changed in more ways than just changing the concentrations. The yuzu is gone from the concentrated version and the violet presence has been increased significantly. Since I dislike a strong violet presence in a fragrance, this is bad news for me.

I like the non concentrée version of Eau de Cartier much better. This one feels a bit sharp and synthetic to me where the original didn’t, and I completely dislike the stronger infusion of violet leaves. Lost is a lot of the original Eau de Cartier’s subtlety and quiet freshness. This is not so subtle and its freshness has that sharpness to it. But I do see this as a well made fragrance… people who like violet notes may very well find this worth testing. What’s nice about this is that we’ve got a choice between the two versions… I’ve made mine...

Not a great fan of Cartier fragrances normally, but this one is ok. It's very green and almost vegetal and doesn't change all that much except to soften slightly, which in my opinion improves the scent. It is completely bone dry though and I think I need at least a scintilla of sweetness in fragrances I use now. Not bad.

I tried Eau de Cartier in both its regular and concentrated versions. I like each to a certain extent, but can’t endorse either whole-heartedly. Eau de Cartier Concentrée reduces the problematically powdery-amber drydown of the regular version, so that’s a good thing. It is a sharper and more acidic fragrance, and a simpler one. Sadly, it has lost the haunting and elusive herbal-wood note that I enjoy so much in the regular version. This is a bigger scent than the regular: it has more green-acidic notes, more violet leaves, more musk. It is an OK aromatic-green scent. A bit sour, and slightly synthetic in character… not very interesting in my opinion.

It starts off great, with a good, fresh lemon note and lots of body. No artificial feeling. The core is however herbal, with a sharp thyme/marjoram/origanum note, soon giving in to (almost) the very same base in Pasha. This fragrance has more balance, however, and the herbal note stays on the background all through the drydown. I like the top notes very much, but I didn't like Pasha much, and this is not my cup of tea. (After one hour or so, you get a woodsy drydown exactly like Kenzo Air's, btw)