Le Petit Grain (2008)
by Miller Harris

According to the Miller Harris sales pitch, Le Petit Grain pays homage to the classic cologne. For about 95% of the time, it's a lavish tribute, a bold eulogy for the traditional and humble cologne. It is only in the last vestiges of my lengthy coupling with LPG that I become just a trifle irked at its naked form. By then it is shorn of accompaniment, and it does feel a little shrill and demanding.

However, there is a great deal of pleasure to be derived from Le Petit Grain, and it is doing it more justice to focus on the very charming form that it adopts from the very moment it bedecks my skin. The sharp falsetto citrus feels clean, bracing and precise - and yet it still appears three dimensional.It is the subsequent conjoining of divergent orange notes that provide a bitter cable for this twisted citric flex. It is a presence that is discerned in all that is good from here on in.

The sheer hutzpah and luminosity of the early development reminds me of Chanel's Pour Monsieur, and although it is no fragrant synonym, it is an indication of the company it is keeping. For all its potency and obvious use of quality ingredients, there remains a simplicity about LPG that ensures that the comparison with a venerable cologne can indeed be made. It takes a good hour before the background herbal elements can be properly detected, and even with that glorius citrus flex twisting through it, it adds a necessary roughness to the previously faultless sheen.

It is rare to find a citrus fragrance having so much horsepower and stamina, and it continues to evolve, twist,and give until the very end.

That it does finally run out of dancing partners in the last hour or so, is more of an observation than a criticism. More creations like this please Ms Harris.

4th November, 2011. (Last Edited: 8th November, 2011.)

This was the second Miller Harris fragrance that I tried, and I'm glad I did. MH totally redeemed itself from the first one I tried Fleurs De Sel, which I didn't care for enough to wear it out.

LPG starts off with these huge bursts of dried oranges and pine. It has a certain tangy-ness to it, usually I dislike tangy fragrances but this is tangy and sweet simultaneously. One can argue that it smells like Orange Pledge, but to be honest -- that's one cleaning product that I would wear proudly!

Sillage is pretty poor, I only get it coming about 4 inches off my skin at best, while at the same time it's more concentrated than a cologne so it does have that certain ability to create a sort of vapor in the air as most perfumes do from time to time. Meaning that the sillage basically comes and goes with this one, depending on where you spray, how you move the area of your body where you sprayed it, and the climate that you are in.

LPG is definitely bottle worthy, I think I would get more out of it with a full sized atomizer as well rather than the decant I have. Just a wonderful inoffensive orange perfume that smells very natural.

12nd April, 2010.

Top: sweet orange, angelica racine, bergamot from Italy and Sicilian lemon. Rosemary, red thyme, French tarragon and lavender.
Heart: petigrain essence and Tunisian neroli
Base: oak-moss, vetiver and patchouli leaves
This is a very fine scent. The opening is bright, refreshing, and very citrusy. The herbs quickly join in. Thyme and tarragon are especially noticeable, but not overdone. Rosemary then appears with its typical minty-pine freshness. Then, the beating mellow orange heart becomes apparent, and it is lovely. And finally, the dry-down is very satisfying, containing cushy vetiver and a lightly salted moss note.

25th August, 2009.