Aqua Allegoria Herba Fresca

Aqua Allegoria Herba Fresca, Cartier's Oud & Menthe and Roadster--when Mathilde Laurent works with mint, good things tend to happen. This delightful, light EdC strength fragrance from Guerlain is among the best mint scents I know. This fragrance features a garden-fresh natural spearmint note coupled with a grassy clover, tea and a hint of florals and lemon. In hot weather, this fragrance really comes into its own. In sweltering weather, it is one of the few products I can enjoy. It is so light and refreshing. Of course, for this scent, longevity is really more like brevity, but you soon come to regard this fact as a feature rather than a bug since reapplication from a travel spray provides a welcome cooling for hot skin as the alcohol in the fragrance evaporates taking heat with it. This product has enough staying power that you don't need to respray it constantly, just every couple of hours in intense heat. I own a number of mint scents in addition to Herba Fresca, including Mugler Kryptomint, Heeley Menthe Fraiche, F. Malle Geranium Pour Monsieur, Imaginary Authors Saint Julep, ELDO You Or Someone Like You and Carolina Herra Virgin Mint. Of these, only this fragrance and Geranium Pour Monsieur are light enough for me to reach for them in very hot weather. Above 40° (104° F), only this fragrance or an ultra-light citrus cologne like Jean-Marie Farina Extra Vielle or 4711 really work for me, but the ancient colognes disappear in under an hour while Herba Fresca lasts long enough to be functional as a scent (while still allowing the delight of occasional refresh sprays). I love this fragrance in hot weather and other lovers of green mint scents almost certainly will as well. However, some of the other scents mentioned above might be better choices for folks who like their mint sweet or who are looking for cooler weather fragrances. Also, for what it's worth, I think the version of the classic bee bottle used by Guerlain for these Aqua Allegoria fragrances looks great with its gold honeycomb cage in place of the traditional bees. This is a unisex scent. Recommended.

Before reviewing the fragrance itself, I cannot help but underline my respect for the house of Guerlain, a true avant-garde brand of which this perfume is a worthy representative. Because this fragrance dates back to ’99, ladies and gentlemen, and it smells like it was made just yesterday morning. The opening features mint, lemon, and extremely realistic and delicate herbal notes; the heart is centered on tea, with white floral notes in the base. Said like this it may not sound very exciting, but I can say it is still delightful and that it is the father (or mother, or both) of very modern fragrances such as Torino 21 and Acqua di Parma Buongiorno. Top marks, and let’s hope no one ever thinks of removing it from the catalog. Antes de reseñar el perfume en sí, no puedo dejar de subrayar mi respeto por la casa Guerlain, una verdadera vanguardia de la cual este perfume es un digno representante. Porque el perfume es del 99, señoras y señores, y parece hecho ayer por la mañana. La apertura es de menta, limón y notas herbales extremadamente realistas y delicadas; el corazón gira en torno al té, con notas de flores blancas en el fondo. Dicho así puede parecer poco emocionante, pero puedo decir que sigue siendo delicioso y que es el padre (o madre, o ambos) de fragancias muy modernas como Torino 21 y Acqua di Parma Buongiorno. Diez y sobresaliente, y esperemos que a nadie se le ocurra retirarlo del catálogo. Prima di recensire il profumo in senso stretto non posso non sottolineare il mio rispetto per la casa Guerlain, avanguardia vera di cui questo profumo è degno rappresentante. Perché il profumo è del 99, signore e signori, e sembra fatto ieri mattina. L’apertura è di menta, limone e note erbose estremamente realistici e delicati; il cuore è la nota di te con note di fiori bianchi di fondo. Detto così sembra poco entusiasmante, ma posso dire che è tutt’ora delizioso e che è padre (o madre, o entrambi) di profumi modernissimi come Torino 21 e Acqua di Parma Buongiorno. Dieci e lode e speriamo non venga in mente a nessuno di toglierlo dal catalogo.

Herba Fresca was always the cause for confusion with me. When I discovered Guerlain counters and fragrance halls in department stores, I became enchanted by the Aqua Allegoria lineup. I tried various bottles and I fell totally in love with both Herba Fresca and Pamplelune (figures that they are both from the original Aqua Allegoria lineup), which made my decision on which Aqua Allegoria to get first a little bit awkward. Two bottles from the AA line later and here we are; Herba Fresca! Fresh, cool and something special; the opening is a beautiful green and airy symphony of lemon and grassy clover, but once that initial top blast happens, within seconds the rest of the note pyramid jumps out and you become enveloped in a refreshing, uplifting mint iced tea bubble. Lemon, clover, mint and tea are the main notes which I can instantly detect, they work harmoniously together and transition so smoothly, I can't pick out any cyclamen or Lily-Of-The-Valley however on my skin. The longevity is decent with me getting roughly 7 hours of wear with a moderate silage which, while it gets noticed, its not overbearing or heady. In true Aqua Allegoria style, Herba Fresca is excellent for the hotter months of summer but is equally suited to year round wear, especially if you work in quite an enclosed environment which gets quite stuffy or if you are someone that loves the idea of wearing a scent but doesn't want to wear something that is classically "perfume-y". Office friendly, perfect for any situation, refreshing and something unique in my wardrobe, I am glad that I finally have a bottle of Herba Fresca in my collection alongside Pamplelune and Pera Granita. Refill/repurchase worthy and forever in my wardrobe.

This was a strange I-hate-it...no...I-love-it experience for me... I blind bought this (I'm on the hunt for a perfect minty perfume), and right after opening the box, I sprayed a single spray on my wrist. After half an hour I had to go scrub it of, but the scent stubbornly remained on my skin even after trying to remove it with some rubbing alcohol (I was getting desperate!). The scent was just too repulsive to me - way too sharp, too grassy, too lemony - most of all it reminded me of Ajax cleaning soap, not something I would want on my skin. I put it back in the box and was going to put it up for sale. After a few days I decided to give it another try and sprayed a single spray on a piece of paper and liked it enough to try a single spray on my wrist... and much to my surprise I didn't hate it this time. Now I have been wearing it on my wrist for a few days and slowly but certainly I have fallen in love with it. It's so strange how this started out as a repelling scent to me and now just days later I really love it. Maybe it has something to do with me wearing Baccarat Rouge 540 Extrait for several days just before trying this one out... maybe the jump from the sweet BR540 to Herba Fresca was just to wide for my nose to comprehend :-D... anyway - I now get why so many people love the scent of Herba Fresca, and I really enjoy the minty-lemony opening as well as the gentle scent of lily of the valley when it settles. The longevity on this is a beast... this lasts for almost 12 hours on my skin - and I'm not complaining (anymore :-D).

Spearmint open. Super natural but stick of chewing gum spearmint. Clover adds a slight sweetness balanced by the - subtle for me, and sour - lemon. Tea smooths it all out. Very smooth and very natural. This is the perfect hot weather concentration for this fragrance. Light and fresh. Can reapply often and get fresh whiffs of a light summer day. Brings me to a place by myself in a huge meadow. I wore this on a nature walk through grasslands and it smelled like a fresher, more floral version of what I was walking in. When it mixed with my skin, as I got hot over an 11 mile walk in 90 degree weather, it started to seem sexy and exotic. By the end of my walk there was just a trace clean scent on my skin, ready for me to freshen back up, like splashing cold water on my face. Or caudalie grape water from the refrigerator. This smells like how I imagined Roadster, another Mathilde Laurent fragrance, would smell when I blind bought it. Roadsters approach is heavier while Herba Frescas approach is light and sparkly. Champagne touch. Fresh and clean. Perfect hot weather white linen fragrance. Perfect -it's too hot for fragrance - fragrance. I like reapplying light fragrances in high heat anyway because it's refreshing without being cloying. I always wanted to get into this line because I love the bee bottles. Nice cooling effect from the mint. Exactly what I have been looking for. There are fragrances many times more expensive than this that achieve the same effect and do not smell any more natural or of any better quality.