Eau de la Recolte Bleue

This is the very first lavender cologne that i owned. I went a good 3 bottles in the short period of time. By the time i realized its discontinued, i only have 1 remaining unused brand new bottle. It has been sitting for probably a good 10 years. I don't dare to use it, but the smell still the same when i open the bottle without even spraying it. Its just pure lavender, aromatic, relaxing and reminiscing 😌

I just don't know if L'Occitane's lavender fields are not doing well any more or what. This and the Butterfly Lavender were both the best Lavender-centered perfumes created. Butterfly Lavender blends L. vera with L. stoechas (@goldfinch) and the Recolte is just a special year of lavender imo because I bought the EO from that year and the most recent year---the EOs are wildly different. I still have my Recolte and Butterfly bottles, the little bit of remainder droplets gone rancid. Memories of the wild lavender clad dunes and prairies of Southern France. These were a joy to have purchased and worn. The Recolte was like as if I was walking on an undeveloped seaside prairie of biodiversity. It smells like the full richness of the Mediterranean sea side. Lately lavender EO in general has just gotten stinky. There used to be such an awesome simplistic DOC/AOC style complexity to the lavender but feels lost in the recent lavender essential oil hype to mass produce. It's probably just a bunch of intermedias like the Grosso just meet a natural relaxation aid demand in lieu of pills or something. L'Occitane in general, is not a perfume house designed to rival Lancome or Dior. I love their basic, simple approaches to highlight a few plants and their own scent complexity; as floral waters or simple "common person" perfume; as a long time patron of L'Occitane, I am more interested in their social and local nature based approaches to beauty care. They make simple perfumes and sometimes pair with top perfumers. I have my Dior Dune and Lancome Poeme faves sitting next to my L'O stuff. I stalk eBay to find the Recolte perfume these days and interrogate the seller to see if it was truly stored well and appropriately.

I use it as a good night fragrance, lovely scent,on the top a bit strange and a bit harsh, but after a while becomes quite gentle fragrance that has a soft touch to the skin. Lavender really works comforting. Each year L'occitane has a new scent with lavender,for me are all equally good - natural fragrance, which sometimes come as a good break after the heavy perfume. I love how it smells on my skin in the morning when I wake up in lavender dreams.

Is this one and Butterfly Lavender Joyful Mood Touch identical fragrances? I have the JMT and absolutely enjoy it. There is a little brush in it, it's just like a nail polish. The fragrance is a bit sharp at first, then it becomes softer. I feel marygold in it, too. Sillage is close to the skin. Lasting power isn't very good, but when it goes away, you're sleeping, too:)). Definitely a good-night scent.

It’s more musky than I want out of a lavender perfume, the lavender is there certainly and it’s not a wretched artificial mock-up, but it’s overpowered by everything else into a middling medley of woody flowers, and there’s none of the sweet earth that actual lavender has.