Reviews of Cedar (2007)
by L'Occitane

This is just plain boring next to the likes of L'Occitane's Eau des Baux. They got it right the first time. That said, it's not a bad scent, so I'll go neutral.

Come summer I may give it a thumbs up, but at present I feel this is a bit too unisex garden party frivolous, as if Provence had been conquered by children wearing Clinique Happy.
This one is about Grapefruit and Cedar. The other notes are minor and and flat. Still, it's an upbeat scent you might enjoy.
No, you do not have to have a collection of Teddy Bears or miniature porcelain tea sets, but I think it would help.

a nice citrus woody fragrance... it is both fresh and solid; which rarely happens to be in a fragrance... i mean fresh fragrances are never there you to handle when you sniff but this cedar part makes it bodied and strong and carries on the freshness succesfully. i like it...

Head: grapefruit, wood sap
Heart: cumin, tobacco leaves
Base: cedar, tonka bean
L’Occitane’s Cedar is a very pleasant new scent. The reviewer below has provided such an accurate analysis that at many points I simply echo what he’s said. There is a fresh citrus and resinous sap opening which is very invigorating! It is excellent, and it is my favorite part of the scent. The tobacco leaves have an interesting, creamy green-leaf aspect. The cumin is tangy but not excessive. These two elements combine very successfully. The tonka bean smoothes well. I have a sensitive radar for tonka and vanilla so I find that this does give a very slight oriental aspect (but not a problematic one). The cedar starts slow and stays low. It is a mellow, gentle wood tone; not like pencil shavings (e.g., Maestrale) or a strikingly woody scent (e.g., the superb Méchant Loup). This is a cheery Mediterranean style fragrance, like Essenzia di Zegna but with a more interesting woody character. It would be great on a summer day or for daytime/work situations.

Getting wind of L'Occitane putting out four new scents as a collection called 4 Vents (4 Winds), I didn't hesitate to plan a fragrance excursion the same week I found out. I was in desperate need for a scent that sparked enthusiasm like what Dior Homme did for me. Entering the L'Occitane store, did a quick radar sweep before finally resting my eyes on the gloriously tinted bottles. Reading the pyramid and description off the website was rather ho-hum, but spraying it on a test strip grabbed me from the get go and I sprayed some on my wrist along with their Iris and Myrtle scents. I left the store and went to sniff other unmentionables that day, and sadly went home empty handed.

All that time however, as I analyed Cedar, which is an EdP, I started catching its fascinating nuances. There's a beautiful opening of grapefruit and wood sap, so fine in itself, your senses instantly perk up and take notice, and then it unfolds to a heart of cumin and green tobacco leaves, without being dry at all with the help of a sheer veiling of tonka, just enough to smooth the edges and not enough at all to make it an oriental scent. As the cedar becomes apparent, you catch an almost slightly leathery quality from the scent, followed for a short while by the atlas cedar's camphorous, mentholated quality, reminiscent of YSL's Opium Pour Homme. The scent finally relaxes to a low hum of the cedar's wooded notes. For a moment I thought the cumin complicated the scent from its bitter aspect, but I came to the conclusion that it played off of the tobacco and cedar wonderfully giving it texture and multiple facets.

24 hours later I bought this scent with no regrets. The Myrtle scent seems to have the same kindred vibe, but I wasn't too enthused with the sea amber and citrus labdanum. The Cedar is definitely the best of the bunch, good longevity and IMO, I think Ellena should've considered this approach for Terre d'Hermes rather than its impression of orange peels on a big pile of cedar planks in the desert vibe.

Hearty Thumbs Up for Cedar!