We have a L'Occitane store at our local mall. Westfield Kotara, in Newcastle, for my fellow Australian basenoters! I've walked past it many times, sometimes stopping to have a look at something that caught my eye, only to put it down and keep on going. I always thought L'Occitane was one of those "Peace, Love and Brown Rice" chains that specialise in "organic" and "natural", two terms I hold in deep suspicion, likewise with The Body Shop. I thought it was where you could buy such essentials as cheap scented candles, incense sticks, soothing balms for ingrown toenails and spells to ward off evil vapours.
But something happened. O dear.
I found something called "Amber Room Fragrance". Sniffed it and loved it. I've been looking for an amber frag and have Ambre Précieux and Ambre Sultan on my wish list. Knowing L'Occitane makes EDT's, which admittedly I'd never bothered trying for reasons I listed above, I asked the SA if there was such a thing as an EDT version of this room fragrance. She said there used to be, but it's been discontinued. Damn.
So, naturally, I came here and searched the reviews. Found it and liked what I read. This lead me to reviews of other L'Occitane EDT's, Eau des Quatre Voleurs and Eau des Baux in particular grabbing my intention. I also realised that L'Occitane had quite some respect in the fragrance community and wasn't at all the shabby hippy thing I'd thought.
Went back to the store yesterday and sampled Voleurs and Baux. The former blew me away! I absolutely loved it. Baux impressed me at first with its incense and woods but it suffered a mid-life crisis and descended into pure vanilla. If only it had an amber base, then it would be a beautiful fragrance. Voleurs is the perfect 'go anywhere' fragrance that you could easily wear to work or places where you have to consort with the general public and not be afraid of offending anyone. I think it was Odysseusm who described its smokey dry lavender. A beautiful thing. I await the Christmas sales!
Back to the Ambre problem. Being told something has been 'discontinued', disappointing though it initially is, never causes me to fold under pressure! I searched the UK and US L'Occitane sites and found Ambre EDT is very much alive and well over there. But they don't deliver to Australia. So I've got my US contacts onto it!
What are your thoughts on L'Occitane generally and their products?
But something happened. O dear.
I found something called "Amber Room Fragrance". Sniffed it and loved it. I've been looking for an amber frag and have Ambre Précieux and Ambre Sultan on my wish list. Knowing L'Occitane makes EDT's, which admittedly I'd never bothered trying for reasons I listed above, I asked the SA if there was such a thing as an EDT version of this room fragrance. She said there used to be, but it's been discontinued. Damn.
So, naturally, I came here and searched the reviews. Found it and liked what I read. This lead me to reviews of other L'Occitane EDT's, Eau des Quatre Voleurs and Eau des Baux in particular grabbing my intention. I also realised that L'Occitane had quite some respect in the fragrance community and wasn't at all the shabby hippy thing I'd thought.
Went back to the store yesterday and sampled Voleurs and Baux. The former blew me away! I absolutely loved it. Baux impressed me at first with its incense and woods but it suffered a mid-life crisis and descended into pure vanilla. If only it had an amber base, then it would be a beautiful fragrance. Voleurs is the perfect 'go anywhere' fragrance that you could easily wear to work or places where you have to consort with the general public and not be afraid of offending anyone. I think it was Odysseusm who described its smokey dry lavender. A beautiful thing. I await the Christmas sales!
Back to the Ambre problem. Being told something has been 'discontinued', disappointing though it initially is, never causes me to fold under pressure! I searched the UK and US L'Occitane sites and found Ambre EDT is very much alive and well over there. But they don't deliver to Australia. So I've got my US contacts onto it!
What are your thoughts on L'Occitane generally and their products?
Is it no longer for sale there? I thought it was just the special version that isn't for sale but the EdT is?
