Magnolia Grandiflora Sandrine

Gorgeous! My first reaction was, "what *is* that pretty flower?!" Sandrine gives me the feeling of a soliflore. I love grapefruit. One of my favourite scents in the natural world, and Vanille Pamplemousse by Laurence Dumont is one of my best-loved perfumes. It was my signature for a while. In Sandrine, the grapefruit sometimes shows itself alone, rising above the creamy wood, but really this perfume is very blended. On the lighter end of the floral fruity spectrum, where the more discreet "eau fraiche" lives, Sandrine is the creamiest and richest citrus scent I've tried. It is not too sweet or foody, though, and it is not bitter like most masculine or unisex citrus. I really get nothing herbal, don't smell lemon "zest", either. It is not a deep scent, but very bright and floralgreen, and it makes me smile. There is an aquatic accord, but, unlike many mainstream aquatic frags, it feels like it occurs naturally. Sandrine is a grapefruit tree: floral grapefruit blossom, creamy grapefruit tree bark, green grapefruit leaves. It is also a fresh clean rain, with more creamy woods and a musk that keeps the texture rich but light. A note about white pepper. It is a fruit, sweeter and less spicy than black pepper. I want to buy a full bottle of this, and that means a lot, because I have so few citrus scents.

I adore this scent. I don't think I have ever loved a scent this much before. I has wanted to try this for a while. I admire the floral work done at Grandiflora and when this was released I kept meaning to drop in and sample the two frags they had released. Three weeks ago my mother passers away suddenly. My sister and I were beyong shattered. For the first time I couldn't bear the thought of any perfume. Grandiflora was my mother's favorite florist so we went there to arrange the flowers for her service. You can imagine that this was one of the worst days of my life. The lovely girl helping us, Grace, gave us samples of the two scents, Michel and and Sandrine. Michel was very, very pretty but I could leave it. Sandrine, well it lifted my heart and soul. My sister and I both bought one. My mother's signiture scent was the beautiful Diorella. This has the same green and fresh hertiage. This however overlays it with the smell if the most glorious garden you could only imagine in utopia. Remarkable

Grapefruit in overdrive: Grandiflora made the most intense grapefruit dominant scent I have ever worn. You gotta love citrus to wear this scent. Remarkable in its uniqueness, Sandrine is the full orchard in warm weather with fruit past it’s prime, falling off the trees. I also pick up a herbal, aromatic, almost medicinal quality. On my skin this stays fairly linear, with only marginal change from start to finish, getting softer over the course of the life of this scent; about 4 hours in cold weather. I can’t imagine the mainstream ever embracing this oddball. And I love it for being the definition of original. EDIT have worn this scent a few times this past spring 2019, and the performance is longer than I initially thought. Just when I thought it had disappeared, I catch another whiff. I’m getting a full 8 hours.

First dab is LEMON and within a 5 min dry-down i am getting a much sweeter scent - woody? comes thru. I am smelling sandalwood/cedar very lightly. Bet this will be great in hot weather. Of which I am not seeing yet in the Chicago area. Gentle. Will add more when I have full day to test it.

Citrusy and refreshing. Dominated by a very realistic grapefruit note - tart, bright and juicy. There is a marine vibe that comes through, driven by the moss as driftwood. Predominantly though, this is a warm-weather citrus scent. Moderate performance.