Nantucket Briar

I gave a brief review of this below but wanted to revisit/review it once again after receiving a fresh bottle this weekend. I may have the kindest husband of 25 years on the planet. His birthday & receiving gifts make him very uncomfortable so several years ago, he hit upon the idea of purchasing gifts for those he most treasures for his birthday because it makes him happy & then he feels less awkward. I think it is weird but kind, so have adapted & become okay with this. :) So...for HIS birthday on Sunday, I came home to a box of Nantucket Briar! This is the scent that this sweet man used to purchase for me years and years ago when we would celebrate an anniversary...scraping together money was difficult back then when we were newly married, had toddlers & a fresh new business & mortgage...but the sentimentality of his gesture and the smell all brought a flood of memories to my brain and nose and I took one whiff and my eyes began to pee. Nantucket Briar is (imho) a niche quality type of scent two decades ago & it holds the same today. Bravo Crabtree & Evelyn! (Which is pronounced "EVE-LYNN", not "EV-A-LYNN" (like a ladies name), for those curious &/or needing to know how to pronounce it as I did. I learned this years ago while watching Regis & Kelly! Kelly schooled us all on how to say this according to her producers, so that is my source. 🥰 I smell roses, herbs, stable hay, dank earth, medicinal properties (think Vapo-rub from childhood), seaside grasses, wild flowers, honey, horse sweat, low tide, old but well oiled saddles, and even freshly laundered sheets drying and blowing in salted air. HOW all of this can be included in a liquid is a mystery to me, but my nose will be forever grateful. As another reviewer below me so eloquently tried to explain...in America, the East Coast has it's own eccentricities, uniqueness and as some one who was born there & grew up there but was then transplanted to the West coast can fairly say...it is like living on another planet. This scent embodies all of the things I love about "Team East". It is a wonderful scent & if you can spare $50 bucks, throw it at this. It will be some of the best money you have ever spent. xo Cheers!

Ah, Nantucket Briar. I really rate this perfume highly, it is a lovely, warm, slightly spicy, smoky, musky, powdery delight that makes me feel cozy, safe and happy. I don't get rose in the way I am used to rose. I wonder if Briar rose has a different aroma to "normal" rose, as despite this being a rose perfume it does not actually smell of roses to me! Maybe it is the mix with other ingredients, maybe a different type of rose, I don't know. What I do know is that this is a lovely scent. I find the predominant notes to be powdery, soft spice, amber, musk and a hint of patchouli, most of which are not listed as notes. If I didn't know this had rose, I doubt I would pick rose as a main note at all. This is a perfume that I find cozy, clean and powdery yet also musky, smoky and spicy. There is something in the smoky-spicy-musky dry down that reminds slightly of L'heure bleue - the 2 smells are not actually alike, but there is something that brings it to mind. When I wear this I find myself tucking my nose under my collar every now and then for a good sniff, which makes me look a bit odd, but it is hard to resist! This is very feminine but not at all girly. It is innocent and yet wise. Clean, yet musky. A very beautiful scent suitable I think for pretty much any occasion, season, time of day etc, very versatile and the price is excellent, about £22 for a 60ml bottle. In addition the strength is good - not so potent that it'll knock people out, but a couple of sprays is enough to last you all day, so good value for money! Longevity is fantastic on me, about 12 hours on skin and even longer on clothes. Sillage is moderate, a nice gentle waft as you pass, but nothing overpowering. The accompanying products are also lovely - the shower gel is amazing, the body lotion leaves you with skin like silk, and they all layer together beautifully for long lasting scent. I also have the room spray which I find is spicier than the perfume and works well as a home fragrance. Highly recommended.

I fully and wholeheartedly concur with 'MrsCrypto' and 'Rasputin1963' who posted below! Crabtree & Evelyn is one more victim, one more of the amazing brands that some 'marketing' millennial (add expletive here) helped destroy the same way another is destroying Budweiser (not to mention other iconic brands). Their ideology is apparently more important than the massive loyal following of customers. While not for everyone, but good enough for several million customers worldwide, Crabtree & Evelyn had an incredible following for decades, until they decided to start gutting their most treasured scents, reformulating them into extinction and eventually obliterating them in favor of a new generation who is not buying their new products anyway, so it was all nor naught. BAD MOVE. Gardenia, Sienna (sold like hotcakes), Nomad, Sandalwood, West India Lime, Wisteria, Classic Lavender, Southampton Rose, Damask Rose, Spring Rain, Summer Hill...the list is very long and ends with Nantucket Briar, a gorgeous Amber Floral we all adored. As a perfumer, I was able to recreate it (albeit for personal use), so I thankfully can continue to love this as much as I wish I could share with with all of C&E's customers who got the shaft. Nantucket Briar's strength is in the good volume of Bergamot, Patchouli and Hexyl Cinnamaldehyde with help from Cinnamic Alcohol, Vanillin and woods like Cedryl Acetate, Vertofix and Virginia Cedar. Like all the now gone C&E scents, they are deceptively complex. They seem 'simple' but are far from it. 'Summer Hill' alone was a beautifully created scent and 'Sienna' was an astounding creation. Nantucket Briar is no exception, and it was so well loved.

My goodness, this is lovely. It's a cool, late October morning in the UK, and - whilst Nantucket Briar smells gorgeous now - I suspect it would be even better in summer. I love oriental perfumes, but finding one which isn't overwhelming in our humid summers is a challenge. Within ten minutes of spritzing Nantucket Briar, I ticked both the love and want boxes above and started my quest for a full bottle. There's a slightly bitter, acrid note if I bury my nose in my skin where I sprayed it, which is probably coming from a combination of the green notes and rose, both of which can be problematic for me. Nantucket Briar is best smelled from a distance; it's one of those perfumes which seem to pulse - to come and go in delicious wafts - as I move. Three hours later, I have - reluctantly - decided not to buy it. Crabtree & Evelyn sell 60ml for £23 in the UK, which - superficially at least - is very good value for such a beautiful perfume, as it certainly smells far more expensive. Unfortunately, the longevity is very poor. My skin is dry and routinely sucks up perfume like a sponge, but my beloved Nantucket Briar has also departed my clothing. Alas, my love is unrequited. Farewell, Nantucket Briar... We had a fleeting affair and you leave me brokenhearted! On a more prosaic note, if layered with the body care products, NB may well last a little longer. And if someone were to gift me a bottle, I'd be awfully grateful.

Beautiful smell. I fell in love with the body lotion sample I received from Crabtree and Evelyn a couple of years ago. It was a stressful period where I was preparing for my examinations and this scent brought a sense of calm and cleanliness to me that made me ready to tackle the world of exams. Incense-y on first whiff, but you can smell the hints of wild roses and a mild comforting sweet smell. I didn't detect any hints of vanilla...if I did I'd be running away since I'm not a vanilla fan. Edit: I tried the perfume today and I was rather unimpressed. The lotion smelt better, creamier, and rosier. The eau de toilette is very incensy and dry so it's probably meant to be layered. This brings you to a faraway place, a place beside a beach. The skies are overcast, the weather is cool, and the wind is gently blowing salty breezes in your way. There's only you and the ocean. It's magnificence is a welcoming solitude...good for times when you just want to escape the hustle and bustle of the world. I'm eyeing a bottle for myself this coming Christmas sale. Yes, that's the only time when I find C&E products are reasonably priced. P.S: I'm 19. It's not an "old lady" scent.. It's just unique and traditional, and thus there's a lot of older aged ladies wearing it. OH AND CRABTREE, PLEASE DON'T DISCONTINUE THIS, AS YOU'RE WONT TO DO.