L.12.12 Blanc Eau Fraîche Eau de Toilette For Him

I’ve been spending some time with this one lately, and honestly, it’s really grown on me. This might end up being my favorite cheapie in the collection right now. It opens up with a super refreshing blast of grapefruit and ginger that feels bright, zesty, and full of energy. There’s a crispness to it that immediately grabs your attention. As it starts to settle, that aromatic heart comes through with juniper and a soft lavender touch, keeping everything clean, green, and effortlessly fresh. The dry down brings in a light vetiver base that adds just enough earthiness without ever weighing the scent down. It stays airy from start to finish. This is the definition of a spring fragrance, very green, very fresh, and incredibly easy to wear. I actually wore this on Easter, and it fit the vibe perfectly. Clean, crisp, and put together without trying too hard. Performance is really the only downside. I get around 4 hours total with moderate projection for the first hour to hour and a half, then it sits closer to the skin. But at this price point, it’s easy to reapply or just go heavier on the sprays. Overall, this might be one of my best pickups of the year so far. Super versatile, super fresh, and just an easy grab when you want to smell clean and put together.

I sampled this last summer when I was purchasing Dior Homme Cologne as I was on a citrus kick at the time. Along with the name Fraiche, the lime green color of the juice, and the almost astringent fizzy blast of citrus indeed reminded me of a refreshing drink in the heat of summer. I almost bought it retail but decided to wait until it hit discounters. Got mine from Jomashop. If you like the original, and you like citrus frags in the heat, then you would dig this. Less florals, more citrus. Same performance or lack thereof and still has that hairspray harshness that the original has. If you can deal with that, and you're still interested, then I'd say it's worth the forty or so dollars to have this bit of flavor in your summer fragrance wardrobe. Update: Sprayed this on after a shower tonight and as it dried it actually slightly reminded me of Platinum Egoiste, a fragrance I have much experience with. Something about the lavender, vetiver, and almost metallic brightness of the citrus gave me that same feeling. They are each on an entirely different level of course, but I thought it was an interesting observation. Just sampled the recently discontinued Y Eau Fraiche and these two are similar to my nose.

In a word: it's a Gin-Lemon This is really nice! It opens with a mix of sweet and somewhat tart citruses, not at all dish soap or cleaner like, but very juicy instead. Reminds me of homemade lemonade. Those citruses stay in front for 45 minutes or so, leaving then room for the fresh blue notes to come through (to which my nose sadly goes blind quite quickly, so i cannot enjoy them for long). The blue notes are sweeter than most usual blue frangrances, minty and bright (is it the juniper?), leaning very young. For the first 2 hours, whenever you work up a sweat, the citruses unexpectedly come back, giving back fullness to the fragrance. After the 3rd, it becomes a faint skin scent (5 sprays total. It needs 8 sprays to actually perform). If you have long hair, i suggest you spray a couple of spritzes on them to have the fragrance last more! It's really not that heavy or cloying at all, it's enjoyable to have it so close to your nose If you get it for 30€ like i did, you can't go wrong. Don't pay 90€ for it!

@BrennenH If you have a weird experience with a fragrance that has nothing to do with the fragrance itself but still completely biases you against the scent, you can just like, not leave a review, you know that right? Why should the score for the fragrance be lowered for everyone reading this page because you had a gross roommate. No one else that comes here is going to have to deal with your roommate, they just want to know if this fragrance is good. I'm going to try to counteract your inappropriate negative rating with a positive one.

This is a softer, lighter, and, in my opinion, much better fragrance than Hugo Boss Unlimited. It's refreshing and invigorating, simple, and masculine. Longevity is to be desired but scent-wise this is great. I think it's very crisp but it doesn't have to be in the L.12.12 line, much less 'blanc'. Nevertheless, I do like it a lot and will consider getting a bottle if I have the chance. Not groundbreaking or anything, but recommended if you're a citrus enjoyer.