Eau d'Orange Verte

Ahh freshly cut tomato stems and juicy, sour, and bitter oranges. Funny enough, nowhere do I see anyone of an official capacity describing the notes of this classic EdC as having a tomato leaf/stem accord. Hermes says it should smell of orange, mint, and woody notes of moss. A couple websites (you know the ones) also include lemon, papaya, mango, cassis, and patchouli, depending upon where you look. Is this a good sign? I think so; I think it says that Francois Caron's masterful 1979 creation is (was?) so unique that no one can or could quite agree as to what it does. I certainly smell lemon and orange, and as it dries down a very light and airy patchouli does seem to come through (in older formulations this was likely oakmoss, before the heavy hand of our overlords said we couldn't be trusted with our own health), but I still get this overall accord of freshly cut tomato stems. No matter. This is a most invigorating, revitalizing perfume that never fails to put a big smile on my face as it perfectly transports me to a beautiful fruit and vegetable garden on the Mediterranean coast in Southern France where I sit on a chaise under an umbrella, caressed by the warmth of the orange afternoon sun, sipping an ice cold lemonade and eating cherry tomatoes with olive oil and fresh herbs. I am no stranger to summer freshies as my perfume collection will show, and of the enormous number I have tried this is still one of my all-time favorites. Drawbacks? Well, some will say that it is very short-lived to the point of being disappointing and not full-bottle-worthy, and I have to say that criticism is valid; it is unusually short-lived, even for an EdC. Older formulations likely last longer. I need to try one. However, if you wear it in warm balmy weather, and since by relative standards it is quite cheap, go hog-wild with it - douse your skin, clothes, and hair in it and - guess what - it lasts just long enough. Besides, you'll want to reapply it anyway, no matter what, to get one more hit of that gorgeous bitter orange and tomato stem at the top. In fact, I think I'm going to put some more on right now.

It is one of the most amazing scents I've ever tried. When I first saw it in this series of scents I was not interested because how can the smell of orange be a part of something that I would enjoy? I do like the real orange as a fruit but as a note in a scent... I'm not sure. Because I've had an awful experience with a shower gel once that had this as one of the notes. Then it happened that I saw some shower gels available in an online shop and since this was the only one from Hermès, I thought: whatever it is, even if I don't like it, no problem for a tiny bottle of a shower gel. It turned out that the smell in that little bottle was absolutely amazing! There is something that reminds orange (it's certainly not the orange itself but something similar) plus bitter green. It is so good that I left a little bit of shower gel in that bottle and just sniff it from time to time. Then I decided to get a decanted tester, bigger than usual and I can say it is the same smell but as a scent, it is much weaker. If somebody really likes this smell, get that little bottle of shower gel and you will have a 10x stronger/perfume extrait version to sniff if you want. I also happened to have a tester of a copy of this scent: Perfume Parlour, Citrusy See You 0528. This one behaves differently but is quite similar to the EdOV, it is stronger too, lasts a bit of longer and also, in this copy I didn't smell any disturbing component as I have smelt in some other PP's testers. It is worth testing for those interested in this type of scents and want to get something cheaper.

I utterly adore this, I truly love it, and it makes me so, so sad! From the opening spray this is photorealistically natural, like peeling an orange whilst walking through a citrus grove that has fresh mint plants growing around the base of the trees. Beautiful, delicate, utterly gorgeous! The sad part? By the time I get to the front door, most of the aura of the scent has disappeared, and almost by the time I get to the end of the street it has become a skin scent. Of course, by the time I'm half way through my walk, I am only able to smell it if I breathe gently on the skin to warm the few remaining latent molecules and then bury my nose against it. The obvious and only solution is to buy a 200ml bottle and carry it with me, topping up with at least eight more sprays at regular five minute intervals to keep getting my fix, but this too is a source of great sadness, as my bank balance will not withstand this sort of onslaught for very long, and thus far the winning euromillions ticket continues to elude me. If anyone knows of a layering scent that would latch this to my skin for any serious length of time without destroying the beauty of the scent, or knows the whereabouts to the winning euromillions ticket and is feeling decidedly unselfish and generous, please do get in touch and you shall make me a very happy man indeed!

Eau d Orange Verte. I've been wanting to comment on this for some time now, after I tried the whole line of EDC, the concentrated one, the shower gel, the body lotion and the deodorant, either on their own or combined. I have read the complaints about the lack of longevity and sillage of this fragrance. Well, it is supposed to be a light, citrus fragrance and as such it contains minimal synthetics or chemical compounds (something that makes the shower gel very aggreable to dry skins) which in other fragrances give longevity and sillage. Personally, I can smell this fragrance until the next day. Lightly, I must admit, but it stays on my skin and on my clothes and people who come close enough to me can smell it. So, to sum things up: either product, from the whole line, on its own is not enough to make you smell for a long time. But the combination of shower gel, non-scented body lotion or cream and the concentrated EdOV, sprayed on strategical spots on you body can give longevity that lasts many hours (and, thus, avoid spending too much money on this beautiful but expensive fragrance). If you are into heavy, complicated, fragrances, forget this one, because your nose will forget it fast. Forgive me if I said too much on this fragrance but I love it.

My oh my, how this one blew me away! What a beautiful creation. It’s absolutely reminiscent of times past but I feel that I have no problem pulling it off today. I typically only wear older fragrances at home as I feel like I can fully appreciate them whereas others may not. This one I wear out wherever and whenever. It has this old school comfort to it which kind of reminds me of Eau Sauvage. Very heavy in the citrus right of the top yet a little more herbal smelling than Eau Sauvage which to me is more lemony sweet. Another thing that makes me think of Eau Sauvage is that oak moss hanging in the background. Scent wise this is a 10/10! The biggest downside to me is how it performs. It doesn’t last long at all. I knew that I should expect it since I have and love Eau de Citron Noir which also has pretty bad performance. It’s an EDC. If you’re willing to spend the money on it with all of this in mind, you won’t regret it! I hear the concentré version is better in performance . There is something to really be appreciated about this one. Not everything needs to last forever!