Nirvana French Grey

Full disclosure I purchased this blind and solely for the amazing deal I got on it ($25!). Ok... I’m not a lavender fan, I’m indifferent to neroli but I do like musk so why not. I read some reviews about this being reminiscent of a rainy day and that was enough to sell me. This perfume is unreal! I am not a lavender fan at all, for example YSL libre I just couldn’t do because of the lavender. Same with Mon Guerlan. However the lavender in French Grey is just so pure yet balanced with the other notes that it’s not sharp or headache inducing but instead quite calming and soft. On first spray I get the florals and it’s quite natural smelling, something in the same realm as essential oils. It smells very organic and invokes feelings of hiking? Then the musk kicks in and like another reviewer pointed out, there is something sunscreeny about it. But not in a bad way. And now I feel like I’m outdoors and have applied sunscreen. Overall I am reminded of a rainy, grey day. This scent is so interesting! It invokes so many feelings, mainly comfort and calm. I definitely recommend it and after experiencing this, I would buy the bottle at full price so I’m even more happy that I scored it for $25. French grey is a rainy day, clean, comforting fragrance that I quite honestly don’t see anyone hating. I could understand maybe if someone didn’t want this to be a signature scent however I really can’t see someone disliking the scent in general. It’s definitely one you’ve got to be in the mood for. I could see this being a winner for scents that you would wear to: bed, run errands, a coffee date, a hike!!, and might I even say this would make a really interesting and unique and definitely an impressionable/memorable first date scent. Cheers!

Out of my vast collection, this is one of a handful that garners compliments from people! I've had two people at work ask me separately about it just today. This fragrance snuck up on me as a favorite. It originally was one of my least favorite from the Nirvana line (I have all of them), although I still really liked it, but the more I wear it, and the more I feel how it smells on me throughout the day, the more I love it. Contemplating getting a back up bottle because it is discontinued, but available for cheap on many popular fragrance sites. It's clean, aromatic, and musky yet melancholy and sort of sexy all at the same time. It isn't a heavy hitter, and is quite difficult to overspray, but that doesn't mean it doesn't last a while. This one weirdly enough also smells great with sunscreen! It's also a great choice for winter, so it's an all-year-round scent imo. My boyfriend said it smells like a teacher he had in elementary school, but he meant it in a good way because he always enjoyed that scent. Just makes me wonder what the fragrance actually was! Lastly, the bottles of the Nirvana line are all wonderful, and this one is no exception. I love that it looks like a dark greyish purple that gets lighter grey in the sunlight. :)

Who in their right mind would discontinue this piece of olfactory perfection?! Let me cut the suspense, and let you know this is a new favourite for me. Jiminy Crickets, this is SO undervalued! I didn't think I would like this with all that (perceived) strong lavender and unsophisticated neroli. I used to think neroli was just orange blossom's poor cousin, but this perfume has single-handedly changed my mind. This neroli has a gentle, elegant, slight citrus scent that even has a *touch* of sweetness. The lavender literally has me mentally conjuring up images of the French countryside with stalks of purple, whimsical lavender gently blowing in the breeze. THAT MUSK! So subtle, but takes this to another level of warmth. This promotes Snuggle Time. With your partner. With your pillow. With yourself (because you're worth it). Who cares? Just give hugs while wearing this. I will wear this anytime. Spring - For the spritely lavender. Summer - For the gentle neroli. Winter - For the musky warmth. Autumn - For the huggles and snuggles. I love this. 100% love this. Repurchase-worthy. For as long as it's available, I *will* repurchase! *** Kitty rating: 10/10 (Damn right.)

I'm very much smitten with the scent of neroli. When I tested this one in store when it was first released I immediately wanted a bottle of this seemingly staid Nirvana French Grey. The opening reminds me of the classic 4711 with aromatic citrus in a refined arrangement. Uplifting and energizing, yet cool and refined. The lavender and musk give French Grey a restrained, clean hue. As it warms it remains aromatic and crisp, yet soft. Laundry indeed comes to mind — crisp white cotton sheets and poplin collars, and still rather unisex during the heart phase. The drydown however really transforms into some musky feminine sexiness on the skin. It's quiet but bitter and a little spiced like dried orange peels — lipstick-like how orange blossoms can sometimes be. And purringly animalic if applied liberally. Nirvana French Grey is a beautiful classic cologne-like scent. Elegant and simple yet sensual. I even love the flacon which is reminiscent of a chic cigarette case. My favorite from Elizabeth and James.

Very Chic Floral Musk Damn I just LOVE this. Love. It's simple, and while I love a good perfume cacophony, this just works well, smells beautiful, has great performance, and it's super classy. The neroli is sunny, lush and orange at first, almost blooming, and it starts to grade down the longer you have it on. The lavender is a bit shy, a little powdery, but it lends a nice herbal floral aspect to the neroli infusion. The musk is there right away, and it's not an aggressive laundry musk, rather a delicate floral skin musk that is tinged with iris. French Grey is fresh and light, and I love the sweetness of the neroli combined with the herbal slightly green lavender. French Grey isn't too much of anything, she's perfectly balanced. Actually this perfume reminds me a lot of Prada Infusion d'Iris, and I think that's why I like it so much. I swear I smell iris here, maybe it's the lavender note acting that way, but still. Projection and silage are good, and so is the lasting power, 8+ hours.

I put off trying this because as much as I love ambient lavender, I was not keen to smell like it (so I thought). Once I finally tried it, I went from a sample to buying two bottles within two weeks. (As I write this a major online retailer is selling a 1.7oz size for under $16 which I find to be incredible value for the quality.) It is so lovely, like the finest French lavender soap, which to my surprise I do enjoy smelling like very much. MargotM describes this is a rainy spring evening, which is perfect, because the way the neroli opening unfolds and gives way to lavender is like walking through a garden of citrus and lavender blooms after a rain. Some reviewers cannot detect the lavender so it must be a skin difference thing, but mine reflects the lavender as the primary note. It is a refined lavender, not screechy, which may be the musk balancing it or the way it is blended, I am not sure as I do not have an expert nose. I am just so glad I gave it a chance. A new fave.

I'm stunned at the simplistic beauty of this fragrance, I'm convinced something special went on with this line of fragrances. They smell better, and more complex than their note list suggests, but they also smell of better quality than their price does. To me, this is a cold, spring laundry scent. I think it matches gorgeously this time of year (northern hemisphere) - where winter fades into spring (ok, maybe not quite right now, but in a few weeks). The neroli is very obvious and very clear, there's no mistaking it for any other floral. There's lavender too, and that's essentially all...beside a heaping dollop of musk. I agree that it isn't harsh, but I do think it's significantly brisk. It's absolutely unisex, and smells tasteful, yet purposeful. This isn't - "Hey! I smell like myself, but better!", or "Am I wearing fragrance, or is it just my clothes and deodorant? Nobody knows!"; This is - "I smell clean, chill and chic, and I mean to, dammit." 😘

I wore this regularly upon release. My nose has changed significantly since 2018/19 era due to studying notes and exposing myself to so many perfumes over the years and building a collection. It was a rainy day and I threw this on out of curiosity and omg I love it even more than before. It’s def a clean scent and you must be lavender and musk friendly. It is very classy and I don’t relate to some of the complaints listed but I do consider it a more mature perfume. I don’t mean age wise just the overall scent profile.. I do have to agree that there is a cigarette accord and the only reason is I was wondering why I was smelling cigarette smoke and then I remembered this entire line has that tone. Being that it was created by the Olsens it does not bother me a bit. If I didn’t appreciate them so much it could bother me but in this context it makes me feel like I’m channeling them.. and that’s an excellent vibe imo.

This is a beautiful fragrance. Wow! The first thing I smell is neroli flowers fused with lavender leaves. The amalgamation lends to a unique accord that must be what purple rain smells like. The musk mystifies the aroma, leaving a grey impression of a storm at the end of summer. Class and sophistication exude with every gust of wind your nose catches. It's performance beats its predecessors. I think these new releases are the best to come out of the house of Elizabeth & James. Blind buy worthy. Update: this smells lovely on and projects well. I did get noticed. I did get compliments. It smells gray to me, if that makes any sense. This is the perfect fragrance to wear in the rain or when you want to smell fresh. It is very versatile. I was told I smell "nice". People asked for the name of my perfume, so that's a good sign.

This is a cool, dry and calm scent. On me it is subtle, lacking projection and sitting close to my skin, but I get nice little hints of it throughout the day. To me it is a simple, inoffensive and light fragrance. While it is a little bit musky on dry down, I get more of a green vibe from it overall. It is also freshly lavender without being powdery or harsh. However if I was after straight up lavender, this wouldn’t be it. The neroli is very subtle on me, and I get very little sweetness at all. The tiny hint of sweet floral I do get is a smell I’d imagine in my Spring garden. I wish it projected a bit more and lasted longer on my skin, because I do like it. I wear this when I want something light and a break from my other perfumes. I mostly wear it at home or running errands.

Testing it right now. Very delicately but sternly lovely so far. A previous review described it as neroli washed with musk water and they were spot on. This is sheer neroli, the lightest watercolour painting of a perfume. Soapy soft sheer and clean smelling. It is 'buildable' in that more sprays won't make it project more but will make it a much stronger, muskier skin scent. Go easy on the trigger! Sadly, the bottle is the least appealing of the bunch. It should have been opaque like the white bottles I've seen. The 'see through' grey is a bit cheap looking when stood next to the rest. This is the lovely librarian Zelda Schiff from the Magicians. Demure, buttoned up and solemn beauty with a unisex edge. It's become a firm love, along with Rose and Amethyst.

What a pity that French Grey and all the other frags in the wonderful, affordable, and elegant Nirvana line are discontinued. So far, I have tried all of them save Amethyst, and this is up there with Nirvana Rose as my favorite. I would call this a streamlined barbershop fougère, with a feminine touch from the sweetened neroli (the overall effect, with the lavender, reminds me very much of lily-of-the-valley, even though that's not a listed note here). It's not altogether different in concept from Lovely by SJP, but this is much, much less earthy. It's soapy and a little dreamy-wistful, and I will be genuinely sorry when I run out. I might even snag a backup while they're still affordable. The flask-style flacon alone is worth the gray-market price.

This is absolutely my favorite in the line! This is so pretty and mild, it smells just like the room the bride got dressed in and has just left for the church. The room was full of women, bridesmaids and relatives, smelling beautiful from make up, anti-perspirant and blow dryers blasting the shampoo scent through clean hair. This scent to me, is as exciting as the day itself! I don't get any smoke at all. The tender flowery smell I detect is so very much youthful and elegant. I would love so much to own this perfume. It's such a pretty scent that I'd just cringe to smell this on someone that didn't look like Sleeping Beauty! I'd be delighted to make a few people cringe! :-)

I absolutely love this and can't think of anything it reminds me of. It smells like clean hair and expensive shampoo, or crisp fresh linens. This is a green, fresh lavender scent (like the oily lavender from fields, if you've ever picked any) with an almost dusty undertone, which I imagine is what people are describing as a cigarette smell- to me, it's more like an old book smell. I think the bottle is sleek and cool looking, like a flash or zippo although the shape is a little wide for my hand to easily spray. I'm sorry to see this discontinued. If I continue to like it, I'll probably snag another bottle or two before it disappears.

Absolutely fantastic. Shockingly fantastic, even! This was a blind buy as I enjoy both Nirvana Rose and Nirvana Bourbon, but ended up liking this one most of all. I'm not a huge fan of lavender in perfume as it can go a bit sharp to my nose, but this blend is so smooth. All rounded edges. It's cozy, fresh, a little soapy, a little musky. Upon reading reviews I think this perfume might wear quite differently on different people. I'd call it unisex but it leans a little sweet and soft on me - couldn't say I get anything "barbershop" about this. Miserable about it being discontinued as I could imagine I'd buy it for life.

When I first put my nose to the sample bottle I fell in love. I happen to like Narcisco for Her and Lovely by SJP. French Gray shares the same type of sexy, musky and very feminine scent. I am a sucker for the blend of lavender, musk and neroli. I do not care for heavy vanilla, rose, tobacco, leather, or anything Tom Ford makes in perfumes. If you like vanilla or Tom Ford scents, stay away from French Gray. It is not for you. My only complaint is the longevity on me. Very brief and weak. I don't understand how anyone could say it lasts a long time. If it did I would buy it in a heartbeat.

This is a fresh, cold blast of herbal, musky goodness in the BEST way possible. I didn't like it on the first spray but as it warmed up with my body chemistry (and a dose of a pheromone spray), I am obsessed. I caught whiffs of it throughout the day and it was driving me wild. The neroli is crisp and cold and beautifully floral, but it's cut with a handful of warm, skin-esque musk and herbal lavender. It smells like a character from a high fantasy novel, kinda like the sexiest elf working at the apothecary. 10/10, will be buying a full-sized bottle when I run out of my sample!

Not many people know that French Grey is actually a shade of olive green. The fragrance is true to the colour in that sense in that is a very earthy musc. This isn’t “Paris” city chic to me but the French countryside. Think Provence Lavender fields after the rain. Very green, very musky. The dry down is quite soapy and this fragrance becomes more feminine. I tend to enjoy fragrances that smell more like a familiar, expensive shampoo rather than sweet florals, so I have to say I’m really enjoying it. It’s is perfect for the “British Summer” (in raincoats) ...

I bought this specifically because of it being a potential dupe for Burberry Baby Touch and I can say that it comes VERY close... enough to where I will repurchase it for sure because it's so cheap and is SO GOOD! I still have about 1/2 bottle left of my OG baby touch and didn't realize how rare it was! Nirvana French Grey leans a little more male, less powdery so I gave it to my husband because I have been looking for a scent for HIM to wear for ME. This might just be the one that when he wears it, I wont be able to keep my nose off him! LOL

I lovee how UNIQUE this smells. Very different than anything I own. Clean, sharp neroli and lavender with soft musk. It smells like a sharp men's cologne or aftershave when you first spray it. After a few minutes it's a soft floral clean musky cloud. I think this smells very unisex, a man could totally use it. The notes are pretty basic and straightforward, not much else going on except the musk and florals. I can see this being used in both spring and fall. Very versatile. So happy to have picked this up for such a great price too!!