Fragrance Reviews by machula

a nice salty marine scent, with a hint of sweetness in the drydown, i originally give it to my brother but later took it back because i like it so much. spicy but not in an overpowering way. lovely for the summer, close your eyes and smell the ocean breeze...

lately, i've taken to masculine marketed scents, this is one of them. smells like a wet road, spicy, fresh with oranges, black pepper and vetiver. edgy, definitely unisex

very comforting, smooth, and warm, not to sweet, almondy through and through and delicious, stays close to skin (it is in fact a fluid to be applied like body milk). love it. my autumn staple, would be nice if l'occitane made a "real" scent of this

i tested the EdC version, bought off ebay for a few bucks literally - it's dry as the dried out grass in a savanah, the dry land soaken with harsh sun, conjures meryl streep in out of africa somehow. it's aldehydic (as calchic mentiones above, chamomile! rarely seen in perfumes, gives it again a ceratin dryness and warmth), and never sweet. to sum it up, elegant, dry and sunny, never overpowering (given the tested concentration, stays close to skin)

absolutely lovely, thought not for everyone. suitable for colder months (i've already worn it during summer and it's fine, but the colder months and wool scarves and pullovers let the scent stand out more). imagine gourmand caramel paired with burning leaves and maybe a hint of dark bitter chocolate and woods.

this is in fact clean and crisp, and well done, but to me, it reminds me of furniture polish (in fact it is a bot woody, but not in a dark way, plus some powder and flowers). I understand it is a classic but i can't wear it, no matter what.

for me, this fragrance was an instant love relationship. i can understand jale saying it's too masculine and not liking it. it is not for everybody. acting wisely and not draining my wallet, i first ordered a mini of balmain. upon the very first sniff it was clear, this is a fragrance thought for a chic and independent french lady in a casual yet sophisticated white shirt. at least that's what came to my mind. the fragrance is daring, miles away from being ordinary, a wonderful chypre for all those that like to make a subtle yet powerful statement about what they like. it does in deed, smell a tiny bit like a man's fragrance at first, but that gives way to subtler florals, and to my nose, the drydown reminded me a tad of chanel's cristalle. it opens with galbanum, making it green, and bergamot, black pepper (which is probably making it smell 'manly' to me although i'm new to the world of fragrances and still don't master all the nuances...). the heart is more to the feminine liking with its subtle jasmine, heart, violetts and iris. with its floral heart gently lingering, the fragrance takes on its woody aspects thanks to moss, santal, patchouli and vetiver (lovely btw). to wrap it up, it is classy and very fresh. a hidden treasure ;)

after a while i revisited our local l'occitane shop and decided to sample all the neroli/orange fragrances they had. lately, i've been a sucker for all stuff neroli/orange, although some people hate neroli (say it makes them nauseated) and oranges too (who wants to smell like damn oranges?), i love it; it's positive, uplifting, light yet seductive and deep. my first spriz was their latest addition - ruban d'orange, smells happy, sunny, just like oranges. the second one i sampled was l'eau d'oranger (although the shop assistant told me last fall that this was is discontinued, they still have a considerable number of bottles here in europe, so who knows), this was something in between, neroli and orange, definitely the most 'masculine' of the three. while ruban settled into sweet amber, oranger still retained a somewhat sharp, crisp edge that would not go away, somehow salty and a tad bitter to me (no wonder, it's an 'oranger'). a strictly linear affair, but still, i like it. the third one was the neroli edp, dark, resinuous liquid, immediately after application, it was a blast. i thought, oh boy, is this strong, almost overpowering. but then, it settled and evolved into a very smooth, seductive fragrance, the neroli flower mingled with something sweet (vanilla? tonka bean?), which made it perfect. as previously said, applied judiciously, it's heavenly. the lasting power of all three is good, and as a matter of course, all three are different. i think i'm going to buy all of them ;)

i loved it when i was a teenager, as calchic wrote, it is exactly the smell of the colour yeallow has in my imagination. i liked that it conveys an unmistakeable feeling of happines, sunrays, and i adored the cantaloup component in it. hm, having said that, i think i should revisit it...