Luberon

I'm crazy over mint fragrances, and it's tough to find ones where the perfumer doesn't seem afraid to use the material. Enter Luberon. My mouth actually waters when I wear this scent (even while it has no gourmand notes). The Bulgarian lavender at the opening is more terpenic, but that quickly gives way to a honey thick lavender absolute and the most gorgeous Rose de Mai. The mint lingers long into the heart of the fragrance where bubbles up some silken white musks from the base. I struggle to identify the musks, but I detect the woody, velvety roundness of Iso-E, which--along with the oakmoss and some soapy aldehydes--is the perfect after note for the mint. I bought my bottle of Luberon on sale at Tigerlily in San Francisco. How it came to be on the sale rack, I can't even imagine. It's a masterwork you can wear daily. Perfect arm-length silage, and longevity on skin is 24h+.

Once again, Maria Candida Gentile fails to disappoint me. When i saw the notes, i Had to get a sample. This is a beautiful and powerful aromatic fragrance. A nice lavender, mint that is refreshing and still not too toothpaste or chewing gum like. Oakmoss gives a solid base. There is no citrus here, so the scent doesn't come out as super clean or light. There is some density to it, aided a by the mint to "lift it up from the ground" so to speak. I would have liked a tiny bit more rose, and a little less mint. Mint tire me out over time, and i can definitely feel it after a while. But that's a very personal opinion. It projects quite a lot, and lasts quite a while too. It's frankly, a little impressive how well it performs. Where: Casual to semi-formal. I hesitate to say office friendly because mint is a weird scent note in an office. But if you work outside, or not close to people and don't overspray, you'll be fine. When: Spring and autumn. Too much for summer for me, and i don't like mint in winter (it's cold enough to breath without it). But a 2 out of 4 season fragrance is average, and that's what i get. Daytime wear. Who: Just about anyone can wear this. I'll call it unisex and 25+ age range wise. Personal score: 7.25/10. It's a little too much mint for my taste. I'm very sensitive to mint, but i do enjoy it in a lot of fragrance. I also wanted slightly more rose, along with lavender. That combo is such a clean and enjoyable experience for me. Worth sampling. But you need to like mint.

Minty, slightly sweetened lavender with a cedar cooled rose undertones. I like the herbal and “many things are going on despite the modest pyramid”, somewhat cacophonous/unstructured house’s signature style. Soothing, polite and very pretty fougere.

The company website suggests that the current version is a revamp and no longer lists mint as a player, but the first thing I noticed on sampling this fragrance was a memento of minty confectionery, used in the past to conceal smoker's breath. That initial blast of mint seems out of place, rivalling the lavender for attention, but mercifully it subsides as Maria Candida's customary alchemy comes into play. Spring in the maquis. Lavender and Rock Rose cover the warming earth and higher up in the pinewoods the wind carries their perfume through the air. Too feminine-leaning (and minty!) for my taste, but undoubtedly a masterly evocation of time and place.

This is a wonderful, etherial, fashionless version of a flowery lavender cologne that comes very close to a verge of the feminine aldehidic powdery genre. Lavender here is so soft and dry, and transparent but somewhat cleaned of terpenic notes, mostly flowery attributes are heard. It leads to a wonderful fresh (minty) spicy rose theme wrapped up in the fulffiness of aldehydes and white musc. The post-trace is a bit greeny-balsamic which makes a translucent blond wood trace a tad bitter, though quite a tiny tad. This is a class of touchy, tender wrappings reminding of an innocent shepherd with a little lamb in his arms lost in the middle of nowhere, amidst a blooming pastry meadow. Very akin to Acca Cappa Blue Lavender and White Moss with the same roundishness, softness and delicacy, though it has a more immensely noble flower theme like the rose-y one (the Acca Cappas are flowery due to astract white salicilic or violet ionone bouquets.) This one is for moments of serenity to energetic persons or, for introverted ones who are happy with not hiding their warmheartedness and inoffensiveness. The modern version of the same is a now widely marketed Calvin Klein's Obsessed. But! Get ready to be frank with yourself - if you need a contemporary clean detergent white musk with a miligram of lavender and herbs - then this is your sweetie. If you pretend for something that is to stretch a bit further in it's depth and femininity - then sign up for Maria Candida...