Lavandula (2004)
by Penhaligon's

I'm thinking this is a very dark, earthy lavender. I like it actually. It smells like lavender yanked out of the ground, the stems lightly crushed so you get a green, vegetal hint and they barely shook the dirt from the roots before they pressed all the essentials out of it and bottled it. I disagree that it doesn't smell fresh, or that it smells like an old English lady, lol. I've been there and none of their old ladies smell this lovely. I hate, and I mean hate to wear lavender on my body. I have never found one that I can wear. This is can and will. It was less putrid floral and more damp earth and it was a good combination. My only complaint is that is didn't last long on me. I had to apply to my clothing and smooth a little down my hair for it to stay with me for a few hours.

I’m not a fan of lavender, but this is a very nice one. It is clean and fresh – not really an aromatic version of lavender, but pleasantly gentle and natural. A few minutes after applying, the lavender morphs into a mixed herbal (+floral?) accord… sage dominates to my nose. These top and heart accords are pretty much of the transparent nature; this is a very refined, soft presentation of herbs and florals. The base brings in the sweeter aspects of the fragrance: vanilla, amber, musk: The sweetness of the base combines temporarily with the herbals before it loses the herbals. The base is light, transparent and elegant. Rather than being a sillage maker, Lavendula is very much a delicate skin scent. It’s not a fragrance for me, but it’s lovely.

There is a lovely lavender opening that lasts about the blink of an eye and descends into a very boring light musk. If you like a light musk fragrance this may be your baby, but I was looking for lavender. It is a great lavender, but you will get a longer lasting lavender from just about every other lavender fragrance on the market.

That men can wear this is beyond question if you ask me. If men can wear Caron Pour Un Homme, then Lavandula is well within that remit.

In my opinion this is what PuH should be. Lavandula is a smoother more rounded fragrance, the lavender being fresh in the opening as opposed to harsh in the Caron formulation. The lavender never leaves, but eases back into the skin supported by lighter floral notes, which project a light and pleasing aura which puts me in mind for some reason of Eau de Cartier.

The vanilla note is soft as well, but pleasingly so and not at all cloying like you find in PuH or Pi. All in all, this is a very well rounded fragrance, a delight to wear and the bonus is that it is sold in EdP strength.

This is as unisex as it gets in my opinion. I highly recommend it.

In the interest of disclosure, I hate lavender. I appreciate what a dr lavender note can do juxtaposed with other elements of well composed fragrances such as Jicky and A Men, but I hate the sweeter, more floral side of lavender, I find it sickly. It's like something with the pretense of being "fresh" which is in fact not fresh at all. Lavandula is lavender softened with sweet and floral notes, presumably to make it less "masculine" and "aromatic" and more wearable for English ladies who like to sew little lavender-coloured bags of lavender with ribbons and lace to put in their drawers.

Lavendula has a peppery initial blast, followed by deep and smoky lavender which is surrounded by lily of the valley. Pretty good so far. Then there is a light vanilla and amber-musk drydown. A nice scent, but in my opinion not compelling. I like a very dry, aromatic lavender... and this isn’t quite that.