West Indian Lime

They say don't meet your heroes because you'll alway be disappointed. I love lime, bergamot, and lemon, and have wanted a vintage bottle for several years. I finally aquired a very old splash bottle partial, with the name "Extract of West Indian and Sicilian Limes" with artwork on the label. Fragrantica does not have it in their database so my review is here, as it is the precursor to C&E West Indian Lime. When it arrived, I was in a hurry to get to dinner party but I had to take a minute to finally try this on skin. First impression from quick dab it smelled like raw oakmoss and lime. Very nice and strong, and I'm happy the citrus is still in somewhat intact despite the age. I decanted and atomized some on skin when I got home and now I get the domimant coriander juniper combination, along with some vetiver. The spices and conifer are natural and very potent. This vibe is how I recall men in the 70's smelled as small child. My grandfather might have worn this or something similar. As far as colognes go, my particular bottle is no slouch. This EDC wears like an EDP or stronger when compared to modern Chanel EDC and many other colognes that I wear regularly. Box and bottle are old school with a cork stopper and a screw on tmetal lid. The drawing on the label is of men loading limes on to old wood sailing ships.Overall a very refreshing, bracing, pungent, barbershop esque cologne from a time before IFRA and corporate bean counters neutered fragrances. ------------------------------------------------------ An scent time machine loaded with nostalgia. Now I need to meet my other hero: Extract of Mysore Sandalwood Scent 95/100 Perfomance 70/100 P.S. Old bottles with artwork label is not a safe blind buy. My bottle (I'm sure it's turned a bit with age) carries a "pissy"animalic vibe up close, with more of citrus barbershop scent in the air.

A bit of a dark horse, Crabtree & Evelyn's WIL is one of the nicest citrus fragrances I own. If you look at price to performance, it's undoubtedly the best. Cheap as chips if you can find it on sale (I paid under USD 30 for 100 ml) or at an outlet store. The rest of the line (soap, shower gel, shaving cream) are great as well, however I haven't liked the other C&E fragrances (Indian Sandalwood and Moroccan Myrrh). It opens with fresh, zesty lime notes. Unlike most WIL fragrances, it doesn't veer into sweet territory but remains somewhat tart throughout. There's a hint of spice from the ginger and coriander, and then the sandalwood and vetiver kick in. A lovely clean, fresh lime fragrance for the summer. Longevity is average, I get around 4-5 hours out of this with moderate sillage. At this price point, though, you could reapply a couple of times and not worry.

So far, this is my favourite summer scent, even more than Aventus (for the summer only) . The lime is sublime. It's a completely refreshing lime/vetiver combo, I even pick up musk, that is classy and totally refreshing. I go crazy on the trigger and do about 10 sprays. You could be very generous with spraying and it won't be offensive as its ECD so it's very light. If you're looking for a summer fragrance that is refreshing, light, with an amazing scent AND very inexpensive, then give this a try. $45 for 100 ml. Scent 10/10 You don't buy this for the longevity or the projection as it's not much; you only buy it because it makes you feel so good :)

A blind buy from the discontinued shelf, and I love it. The vetiver is so well complemented by lime and spices, what I sense is a dry/spice with some hint of lime. Nothing is out of place, it sits in perfect balance and leaves a modest spice at the end. A cologne for office, casual dates, dinner. Edit: After using this for some time I realized it smells like grass: soft, sweet grass with some dry spices and hint of lime.

While I like it quite a bit, I wish the lime would cut through more. Lime is a scent for warmer weather and should react to the heat spots on your body. This scent is just too light to be effective spun less your use the shower gel and then follow it up with the cologne. I also believe they should have omitted the sandalwood from the base notes as it tends to dominate thedry down too much.