Pivoine Delicate

I usually just lurk around here, and enjoy reading all the eloquent reviews, and never really planned on adding my own. However, while I'm no fragrance expert by any means, and this will be far from eloquent, I just had to comment on this oh-so-pretty edt. I stopped in a L'Occitane boutique yesterday, because of a lavender craving I'm having, totally ignoring the Piv Del. display front and center as I walked in. In chat with the SA, I mentioned my affinity for peach in a fragrance, and she immediately sprayed me a paper sample of PD, (as rolled my eyes internally), mentioning peach as a top note. I immediately heard "ooooooh" escape my lips, as she nodded, knowingly. The word "delicate" in the name of this fragrance fits perfectly. I immediately pictured a tiny, pink crystal wind chime, tinkling in the breeze. Ridiculous, I'm aware, but that was the exact mental image it conjured. I sprayed some on my wrist, left the store, and I'm not sure if my wrist ever left my nose in the hour it took for me to get back to the store to buy that pretty pink bottle. Now, I don't know a peony from a petunia, so I didn't have any preconceived idea of how a peony should smell, but I can only guess that this magical, delicate, airy, powdery floral I keep getting whiffs of is just that, since I am not so much smelling the rose or lily of the valley, as the listed notes indicate. I think I am now a peony fan. :) I know the pink crystal wind chime image, and my use of words like magical, and airy, and powdery might turn some off, but I think everyone needs to at least sniff this. If nothing else, it will make you smile. It is floral, yet not TOO floral, a flick of powder, yet not TOO powdery, the tiniest hint of sweet, yet not at all sugar, clean, fresh, pretty and soft. This scent lasted on my skin for hours, which is unheard of for me with any perfume, and my two little boys who have never commented on my many fragrances, BOTH separately told me I smelled pretty when they hugged me. Same from my husband, who cares about perfume about as much as a paper plate. I also got two comments during my hour of shopping, before I went back to buy a bottle. So, while the sillage has to delicate, it's obviously there. The fact that this is a limited edition sent me BACK to the store the same day to buy another bottle. I NEVER buy two bottles of a perfume at once, as I tend to be very fickle. And I don't doubt I'll buy more before I'm out of these two. I love it that much. Longest review EVER, but I'm glad I got that out of my system. :)

I first encountered it when I brought my parents to L'Occitane to purchase their facial mist. That was just 3 weeks ago. I remember myself spraying Pivoine Delicate on a perfume strip, after which I chucked it the random plastic bag I was carrying. To my surprise, I came home and I cant stop smelling the strip each time I opened the bag. It doesnt make you sick like other fragrances do. In fact, it keeps me going to it. I used to think I am in love with citrus fragrances. However, the problem about them is, though they smell fresh, I get very sick of them as the day progresses. Perhaps, because they are too articfically fresh. Encountering L'Occitane helped me realise that floral scents, like of rose, peony and the like, are definitely my cup of tea. L'Occitane fragrances smell very natural indeed. All in all, Pivoine Delicate makes me feel like I am teleported to somehwere in France, and am standing in the middle of a garden planted with so many roses and peonies. Isn't that a fairy-tale? (: Pivoine Delicate smells of rose, peony and as its official web states, it also has a powdery trail. Very very true! I personally feel this is essential for me as it prevents the fragrance from making me sick of it. The smell of powder is suppsoed to be soothing. This EDT is light (my mum's nose is very sensitive and she doesn't complain when I wear it), not overly sweet, and very feminine and romantic. The lasting power is reasonable. It is definitely naturally fresh and fragrant. So a little more than a week later, I went back to L'Occitane to purchase it. Now I am a huge fan of L'Occitane. (: The Pivoine Delicate range is limited edition. That further reinforced my decision to purchase it. I am not sure if it will become a permanent series however, I am looking forward to their next collection. For people who are looking at floral fragrances, L'Occitane and Crabtree & Evelyn would be good (: as other brands may smell artificial.

this smells like peony petals jam (if there could be such a thing). The other fragrances of Pivoine line (EDP and EDT) also smell like jam but with extra sugar. I can't figure out what makes it so sweet

This is nice.. Delicate as the name suggests, A good balance of floral and sweet. Fresh and light.. But slightly on the powdery side for me.

Powdery, sweet floral, without discernible notes or base. The peony is the typical peony note from L'Occitane. It's not choking or anything, but you can tell it's synthetically derived and supported by naturals. It's 1000 times better than BBW or Body Shop quality, though. You can tell this is just on a totally different level of quality. The sillage is enormous, easily filling a room, and the longevity is probably the most intense I have ever come across. I kid you not, I have a bulb atomizer I got this perfume on 3 years ago and despite ample washing and baking soda dips, the plastic still smells like I got it on there yesterday. Anything this stuff touches it permeates and overpowers. So just be aware in case you're thinking of wearing something like leather with it or putting the bottle in your purse or luggage. It's possible I got a rogue bottle, but it doesn't smell unusually strong. It just seems to last forever on anything it touches, but that's kind of the case with this peony note as my mom used to own a flanker of this and that's why she had to stop wearing it. That said, unless you strongly gravitate to L'Occitane, there are far superior Peony-based perfumes out there. It's fresh and piquant, but also warm enough to wear in pretty much all situations and seasons. But, it is probably too strong to wear to work and definitely too strong to wear on an airplane. Is it pretty? Yes. Is it worth tracking down a bottle? Probably not. Is it memorable? Sort of. But only because peony doesn't saturate the market.