L'Envol de Cartier Eau de Parfum

L’Envol de Cartier is an odd one but in a very pleasing way. Mathilde Laurent charts her own path with her compositions, even when the mandate is a simple oriental structure, and I adore her for it. She steps off the typical “sweet amber woods oriental” pathway, while still maintaining direction, with the use of honey stringing from top to bottom of the perfume. It’s a lovely honey accord; clean, clear, and sweet like a simple cane sugar syrup but with just enough of a funky, earthy, waxy edge to be almost civet like in the way the old school orientals often were. All of the dusty, cloudy, yellow pollen textures in the honey have been stripped away without leaving the accord at a deficit for it. The first sprays billow the honey accord into the air with lavender, artemisia, and sage. The lavender’s very gently soapy qualities accentuate the honey’s cleanliness and translucency. The artemisia and sage providing hardened greens and cool herbal greens to make sure the sweet and soapy are kept in check. The honey begins to calm down but it is still the focal point when the lavender and greens dispense, joined in this heart layer instead with violet leaf and peppercorns. The effect is largely the same, with violet leaf’s lightweight, off-gassing chemical/fuel type accord that is notably smooth in texture, not alarming as it can often be, making sure the presentation is still energetic and transparent. The fruity, piquant, and waxy peppercorns keep the honey austere. The woody dry down is interestingly floral. Slightly scratchy-powdery from the orris and musks, with the honey still ringing true with it’s translucent floral sweetness and bending guaiac’s, vetiver’s, and patchouli’s woody and earthy dimensions to a dark woody rock rose type accord. What is L’Envol? An oriental, sure - but a sweet amber woods oriental? A floral woods oriental? A fougere-oriental cross with the soapy and herbaceous top and middle? The answer is all of the above. This doesn’t neatly slot into any modern category, particularly those categories houses aim for to shift more bottles than ideas. Which also means that the aggressively mediocre tastes of the perfume consuming public are not likely going to find themselves gravitating to it. This is sad and unfortunate, but likely been proven true since Cartier have discontinued this gem. This has been a staple of mine and my partner’s daily wearers for years. Easily wearable across seasons and occasions, and nearly always earning a question or compliment - yet no one bought it. What a shame. Its achievement of lightweight translucency and cleanliness yet with a bit of oriental richness and skank makes it pretty unique in the field. Looking at my bottles in their cabinet is a bit like looking at the last dodo birds: too alluring and interesting to resist, yet too odd to live.

★★★★1⁄2 All the current contemporary offerings in the designer spectrum produce a noise of amber and oud that makes me give up on all hope and turn to old favourites (most of them reformulated in such way that are only caricatures of their original profiles) I was in the local perfume store, trying to survive that noise, smelling new designer offerings such as the new Ferragamo Uomo or the new Le Male Essence, leaving me unimpressed and tired. The beautiful bottle of Cartier kept me in the store as I was about to leave, so I immediately went for it and sprayed it on a paper. Suddenly, there was no noise anymore, it all became silent and very clear. I was experiencing a solid concept that felt both familiar and new at the same time, casual and elegant, a moment that caught me by surprise. In a market that praises Dior's Sauvage as a modern classic, Mathilde Laurent managed to create a scent that might not be challenging or edgy, but a voice that suggests a character of its own in the fragrance field of the contemporary masculines. L'Envol (Flight or Departure in French) is an airy honey note that floats over a base of iris patchouli and Gaiac wood. It is a linear scent, although as time passes the iris is getting stronger and turns the scent more powdery while the earthy patchouli keeps the character masculine. The Gaiac wood aids in the transparency of the scent, the way pear wood acts in Dior's Higher, which is a fragrance that tried to achieve the same character (a masculine woody fresh transparent airy scent) that I personally liked, but never really loved. The airiness of the honey drenched Envol is -in my opinion- associated with a violet note that my nose detects but is not listed. If you spray Aqua Fahrenheit and smell them side by side you will notice that they share a common "breeziness" that is also evident in Burberry Touch, which in my opinion, is what makes Envol sensual and true to the "flight" concept. It's a sophisticated complex cosy blanket. Refined and easy but a product of skill and thought due to its complexity. Overall, it is a beautiful classy scent, definitely modern, not loud (which is not a bad thing) with moderate sillage and a decent longevity of 8 hours on my skin. It is definitely not a unique smell since it shares similarities with other fragrances like I mentioned, but it is definitely doing something that has kinda been done before but with impeccable execution and quality, a revisit of a concept back from the near past which is necessary in the blandness that rules the market in the present. This scent works best as an autumn or winter scent, but due to its airiness it may work in higher temperatures too, which makes it signature scent potential!

I avoided L'Envol for quite some time, having read many reviews describing it as old-fashioned and derivative. Plus, the bottle always seemed a bit gimmicky to me. When I finally did test it, though, I was pleasantly surprised and immediately charmed. If I hadn't read that there was a honey note in this, I wouldn't have identified it as such. That's not to say that L'Envol isn't a superbly mellifluous fragrance: warm, blond woods softened with a touch of powdery iris and diffused by breezy violet leaf, subtly energized with a crackle of spicy-aromatic pepper and herbs, all cushioned on a plush pillow of neutral musk. The honey sings in a clear, gently sweet tenor, suspending all the other notes in glimmering gilded light. The name is well chosen: "envol" (takeoff) comes from the French verb "s'envoler" (to fly away, to fly off, to take off), itself a pronominal derivative of "voler" (to fly). Although the bottle design suggests that Cartier was inspired by the aviatic sense of the term (imagine a dashing WWI pilot in leather bomber jacket and long white scarf), for me, it's the word's avian connotations that come to mind: the graceful swooping of a nimble, elegant bird through the dappled light of the late-afternoon woods. L'Envol is a very beautiful fragrance—I wish I'd discovered it sooner. I can see why it might come off as old-fashioned to some; there's something in the herbal floralcy that evokes men's fragrances from decades past. But this fragrance has such singular character, such dreamlike majesty. Vintage? Perhaps. Dated? Absolutely not. Just because something lies outside of the mainstream doesn’t make it démodé or tasteless. L'Envol checks all my boxes as a fraghead: unique, well-blended, ethereal, versatile, evocative, and timeless. The only category in which it is minutely lacking is performance: it has decent sillage, but only lasts 3-4 hours on me before becoming a skin scent. That said, it suits almost every season, hour, and occasion, and is deliciously genderless. The only other fragrance that bears any resemblance to L'Envol for me is Guerlain's Chamade Pour Homme, which has similarly floral-herbal-ozonic facets, but which is less sweet and peppery. And I must admit: the bottle has grown on me. It's oversized and well designed, sprays like a dream, and the interplay between the silver metal and lettering, clear glass, and golden fluid is stunning. I may have to stock up on a refill cartridge...

Elegant and versatile, smooth and soft, warm, mellow, slightly sweet scent with a hint of honey. Good for almost any occasion in autumn and colder weather in general. The scent is created by Mathilde Laurent, in-house parfymer of Cartier. I like her style, Pasha de Cartier Parfum being one of her other creations, a scent that I also like. And like music, when one likes one composer, well, one just likes the general style. The same holds true with perfumers. As I understand, the theme of this scent refers to old grand voyages involving the Orient, although I would not classify this as an oriental scent. It is not. However, there is some hint of Orient in this scent, aptly named as “departutre/takeoff” in English. In his modern classification of perfumes, Jean-Claude Ellena would probably classify this as a “Narrative” perfume, scent intended to tell a story, describing place or journey. There is certainly something, that reminds me of aviators of the old and the aforementioned grand voyages. With respect to actual scent, it opens up with a prominent hint of honey, combined with florals and woods. Then, within 30 minutes, it starts to mellow, honey losing its prominence and the scent tames down to a pleasant, mellow combination of woods, honey (still noticeable), some iris and maybe musk. All in all, I am very satisfied with this scent. It is interesting, yet not overwhelmingly curious. Considering its moderate sillage, this is a fairly safe office scent. However, I emphasise that the scent is not dull. No. I could well imagine wearing this scent to a dinner and not feel a bit unprepared for such occasion. With respect to longevity, it is good. Whole working day on my skin. As for other issues, for me, this is clearly a scent for colder weather. That means, weather that is cold enough to require a coat while walking outside. Although I have tried the scent while the weather was very warm in summer, it simply did not work out for me then. No. It felt totally out of place in warm weather. Furthermore, I would be surprised if this enjoyed enthusiasm form younger crowd, that is, those under 30 or the like, the scent may well be too sophisticated for them. In conclusion, elegant, interesting yet versatile scent for autumn and colder weather.

I've never been a huge fan of Cartier scents - I always thought they were a bit too mature and conservative for me, and honestly I think that impression was correct. I've even smelt this various time in stores and liked it but didn't love it. But after the space of many years, something drew me back to this and I decided to pull the trigger on a 100ml refill bottle which was going for cheap before they get too expensive. I'm glad I did, because this is absolutely beautiful and the first Cartier other than Declaration Parfum and Must de Cartier Pour Homme which has really spoken to me. On my skin I get a strong but not gooey or overly sweet honey note along with powdered purple flowers (iris + lavender + a strong violet impression) and musk. Decidedly anti-modern in character, this easily smells like something that could've come out in the 70s, and I love it for that. The overall impression is warm, fuzzy, soft, airy, and clean, which is exactly how I want to smell. Still sort of processing everything since I've just received it but it really goes to show you how much your tastes change on your fragrance journey. I've been seriously in the game for 10 years and I've gone through so many different phases in that time. What I initially dismissed as staid and boring when I was younger I can now recognize as a beautiful piece of olfactory artistry. This is Cartier, so the blending and the quality of the ingredients are absolutely top notch. Can't really comment on performance as of yet but my gf said the initial sprays were extremely strong and I'm getting consistent wafts off my skin. Doubt it will be a performance monster but it definitely is present. Overall, a lovely scent that I will be using quite a lot of on cool spring days!