Vert Pivoine

I typically don't love floral fragrances all that often, but I do love peony as a note, and this peony fragrance feels expertly crafted on my skin chemistry. I love the green edge that the ivy leaf provides in the top notes, and the composition quickly becomes a powdery peony-rose combo which is what I had wanted YSL Paris Premieres Roses to smell like on me. In cool autumn weather, the soft cedar note is much more noticeable, and being a lover of woody fragrances, I truly appreciate this aspect. But I have to admit, as much as I like the composition, Vert Pivoine doesn't seem to have good longevity on me. UPDATE: I thought the scent had faded out but I kept catching whiffs of it all night long, even after I had changed clothes, so the longevity is actually really amazing!! It stays very close to the skin when it fully dries down.

This is something that grows on me by every minute I wear it. The opening was never something unique or particularly likable, but after "Vert Pivoine" slides in to heart part magic starts to happen. On me it's all about rose - a delicate, feminine, sparkling rose which balances on being green/sour at some times, but always stays very true and gorgeous. Peony of course also plays a great deal here, but for me it stays in the second plan. What I love the most here is what ivy does to this floral composition, it gives the spicy and green edge making this rather refreshing and perfectly suitable for spring time. Do try this. You might fall in love just like I did.

I blind bought this because it was on sale & because I was eyeing Histories De Parfums for quite a while. And it's a great peony scent, except that the "vert" part didn't really come through. The opening is a rather tender peony/rose combo, with a little bit of greenness that I presume is coming from the ivy leaf, though it sort of hides behind the floral notes, contrary to what its name suggests. In a few minutes the ivy leaf fades away and is slowly replaced by various red fruits, mainly raspberry but also some strawberry and apple, while peony is still taking the lead. I adore how the fruit notes are portrayed here: not sweet or candied at all, but just the scent you smell when you open up a box of just ripened raspberry, fresh and rosy. There’s also a little bit of dryness from mimosa. In about three hours it starts to dry down, the red fruits are slowly getting replaced by cedar wood and musk, amplifying that dryness from earlier on. It kind of reminds me of Stella McCartney’s Stella in Two Peony at this point, but minus the pepper notes. When I tested it on paper there seems to be a hint of gardenia after twelve hours, but on skin I only got a blend of peony, musk and woody notes slowly fading away. The longevity is about ten to twelve hours on skin, although i find that the same fragrance tend to last longer on me than on other people, and the sillage is moderate.

Opens fresh and a bit sour even, with warm floral notes underneath. The floral notes get stronger quickly. I smell peony and rose and the sour notes get a more fruity bite now and become sweeter. I also smell something green in the mix, not very distinct, but it is there. AFter a while woody notes start to come through, and a tiny hint of musk. The peony/rose is going strong in the drydown, and the sour note also stays throughout. I'm impressed with the performance! Sillage is heavy, longevity long. Whoa, this is a floral explosion of rose and peonies! Totally different from other Histoires de Parfums that I've tested so far. There is nothing subtle about this scent. It has a sour note underneath, that freshes up all those big flowers in there. I don't get any distinct mimosa notes, and the sandalwood isn't prominent either. All this floral violence is a bit much to handle for me, but I have to admit it is very good. Tasty, almost. Do try if you like big florals.

I don't smell the peony in the opening, I just smell rose, a clean soapy rose. And pretty much that's it, the mimosa gives a little sweetness but it's still basically a rose perfume. After a couple of minutes it becomes less floral because of the woods and green notes, which makes this fragrance more interesting. The 'soapy' scent continues all the way till the dry down.

A lovely soapy rose, very clean, soft and inviting.

Well, there are no peonies here at all. There is a beautiful, moderately sour, slightly soapy rose. An excellent rose. If I liked roses, I would definitely buy a bottle. There is not that much greenery. The name is misleading, apparently this is from the "not a blue bottle" category. I tested a sample from the official website.

Thin, soapy, green, and somewhat tart blend of ivy, mimosa, and rose at the start. Have smelled better in this genre 6.5/10.

Vert Pivoine is a nice rose perfume, quite real in a way. I like simplistic rose scent, this one was seemingly ticking all my boxes about a year ago before I sampled many rose fragrances; however, coming back and retry it, there’s something in this perfume makes me hesitated and not really fall for it. The perfume, it smells quite linear, with slight nuance, I cannot smell much of the notes listed here. The opening is fresh dewy real rose scent, somewhat reminds me a lot of Serge Lutens’ Sa Majeste La Rose, which I adore; if only Vert Pivoine could stayed this way, I would buy a bottle without a blink, but the reality is the beginning is short lived, and a long phase of slightly powdery, much less characteristic version of Paris Eau Printempt 2008, or something rose-y, powdery in a sweet floral way like that, plus a tiny pinch of pink pepper. It should’ve been a nice combination, but there’s something warning me instinctively here, it’s not the typical synthetic smell which gives me headaches, but it’s not that nature nor smooth either, somehow, it’s a bit heavy handed on rose and I don’t feel 100% comfortable with it. The dry down is like a slightly stronger version of a typical rose water facial mist. And actually the dry down is the most lovely phase to me, it’s rose-y, and floral in a feminie and comforting sense. Nice scent, but I expected something more. It would be nice if I was gifted a bottle of this and I might use it occassionly, but I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone.

As someone who finds most mainstream peony frags not only unpleasant but actually unwearable, I cannot claim to be surprised that VERT PIVOINE is my least favorite of the otherwise splendid offerings from the house of Histoires de Parfums. I had always thought that it was the aggressive, synthetic, blob-like, infinitely expanding rendition of peony used in the vast majority of less-expensive perfumes that made them unbearable to me. After wearing niche-quality VERT PIVOINE, I realize that the fact is that I simply do not like peony at all. VERT PIVOINE boasts a triple dose of the note, making it take three times longer to evaporate away. Désolée. Although this perfume does not make me ill and is not a big-time scrubber—as many peony frags are for me—it will never find its way into my collection. If you love peony, you'll probably like this one, but it is unclear to me that it is significantly better than some of the many mass-market peony frags available everywhere you turn. There is a touch of rose here, but this really is a big fat peony frag, at the end of the day. Still, I don't want to claim that VERT PIVOINE is bad, for to do so would be equivalent to saying that Bassetts Allsorts are bad because they contain so much black licorice. In fact, they are great—provided that you love black licorice! And I do! But I digress...

I am very fond of many of the scents of Histoires de Parfums, and wanted to love this one... but I can't. It's quite pretty. And I can certainly smell a rose and a peony-- beloved scents both. But the rose and peony seem thin and tinny at any stage of the EdP's development. It's like hearing your favorite Beatles tune played on a kazoo next door in a cheap boardinghouse. Wander outside, and if you can't find the Boston Pops playing Sergeant Pepper that evening, why not at least seek out a bar with a jukebox? Now off to rummage through my HdP collection to find one of its many scents I can praise. Also, HdP's customer service is prompt and courteous from order through delivery, and I am on a different continent from them. Postscript: I am giving VP away to my friend's 7-year-old granddaughter, and I am sure she will be delighted with it. (Later: my friend thinks it's really pretty too. And it is. But perhaps better for the younger, less sophisticated folk.)

Vert Pivoine is very tart and lovely in the top notes of bright green ivy and peony. The berry is tart, too, and appears early on. I love this opening- the opposite of so many "too sweet" perfumes today. Then as the fragrance dries down it becomes noticeably softer and woodier. The rose and gardenia are perfectly blended and are very soft and approachable. In the basenotes, the lovely cedar, sandalwood and musk come in to balance the almost soliflore aspect of the rose middle notes. This is a very pretty scent, a lovely woody green rose and peony that I quite like. I think this would smell better sprayed from the actual bottle than it does from a little decant. I find that more subtle scents often smell much better when sprayed than when dabbed on the skin from a tiny sample container. I will finish my sample and contemplate a full bottle.

I’m trying to think of a positive I can start off with and Vert Pivoine has longevity. It’s also linear but if i like the scent that’s not a negative. On my skin it’s both peony and rose dominant, I don’t smell the green parts of this composition. There’s a powder effect and VP feels bright, not warm. It’s therefore not a bad scent but it is misnamed and not what I expected. The other notes? I can’t pick them out either, and I was hoping at least mimosa or sandalwood would make a showing but they are nowhere to be found.

I really love this one - unlike many people I love peony notes in perfume as much as I like the living flowers, and Vert Pivoine comes closest of any fragrance to capturing this elusive aroma that can go very wrong if not handled carefully. It truly reminds me of the peony gardens of my childhood, fresh and rosy-sweet but with that trademark peony pungency. This is one of those perfect spring scents for me, and it lasts better most of its kind.

Vert Pivoine opens with a soft peony note, then some minutes later a prominent green ivy note joins to the fresh, sweet, dewy peony-rose combo. Unfortunately some sharp, sour, piercing undertone goes through the fragrance's development, which ruins the whole composition for me.

Fern peonies. Fruitti rosy, with floral. It starts with a burst of peony and cranberries, then settles to a rosy fern, and cedar mix. This should be red instead of pink. Cute rosy blend that shouts quality. Great choice for rose lovers.