Reviews of Just Breathe (2005)
by CB I Hate Perfume

This is a review of the absolute:

Starts out with a cheap, sweet and fruity shampoo vibe and a ridiculous synthetic attempt at a green tea note, then dries down into something floral along with some cedar. The only enjoyable note here is the cedar while the rest of this fragrance is a joke. I love green tea and this is NOT green tea, zen or relaxing at all. I agree with Odysseusm - AVOID.

5/10

On me "Just Breathe" opens green and leafy, as i hoped. But within seconds it shifted to rich floral; i get hits of gardenia and jasmine. Now i love gardenia, and jasmine is good too, but i had hoped for something green and woody with just a hint of floral sweetness.

One-half hour after applying, it is still richly floral - it reminds me of "Fracas", which i wear, but not quite as heavy or complex. I'm sure it will change again...

An hour later it dried down to a gentle green plus floral incense.

Two hours later, it is still green and floral, but now i can smell the woods, which are subtle but grounding.

This is an intimate fragrance, and, on me, quite feminine.

I'll certainly wear this, it is quite lovely. But not as i had expected, something green and woody with a hint of floral. Rather it was seductively floral with only a hint of green and woody.

The earth note which Christopher Brosius likes and used in other fragrances of him, like black march, to see a flower, winter 1972. This time accompanied and sweetened by bamboo and masculinized with cedar. Nice and natural.

Alleged fragrance elements: bamboo leaves, Japanese green tea, 3 types of cedarwood, incense.
Well I have to say I’m extremely disappointed in Just Breathe. The elements sound great! But where are they? Missing in action. This starts with a sour-sweet green note that bears no resemblance to any leaf I know. The scent gets sweet, fruity and odd; like a car freshener in peach or melon scent. This has the usual CB style: slightly sweet, synthetic and freshly tangy. Something like powdered laundry detergent. No cedarwood, no incense. Don’t like. Just avoid.

This one changes on me all the time--a benefit. It can be green, and there are times it smells exactly like rose, then it phases to . . .beer. Yep, beer. Then back to green. Very close to the skin.

This came and went so fast that it's hard to say WHAT it smelled like. It was pleasant, and I felt like I smelled lavendar, but that's about all I could get. I will give it to my boyfriend who meditates, and maybe he can get some use from it by sniffing the vial before he does that.

Starts out fresh and green - tea and bamboo - but it is a quite perfumey fresh and green. In the drydown I get a hint of spicy cedar, but it vanishes, leaving not quite a scent but rather a soapy feeling in the back of my throat. Not a winner for me.