Le Rivage des Syrtes

Absolutely and without question was my favorite fragrance in 2012. If you had asked me to build a bespoke fragrance, I would have come up with most of these ingredients (possibly added tonka or cedar) and asked Patricia de Nicolai to bring it together for me. At the very top you have an incredible mixture of pineapple and orange. Neither smells like a fruit juice because of the galbanum - they smell like the ripest and most delicious versions of themself. About an hour later, the orange has given way to orange blossom and this changes the way the pineapple smells pretty drastically. It becomes a much more garden-esque scent and less of something that you'd expect of a summer day. This phase is _incredibly_ long lived, usually lasting 8 or 9 hours on me, with the projection dying towards the end. As it goes, you get a small amount of incense and the orange blossom comes to the forefront. Vanilla pops up to round it off. I get an easy 12 hours from this, which is incredibly rare. The girlfriend gets more like 20 or 24. It's incredibly dynamic, and the kind of thing I'd wear to any occasion. Price is no object here, get the sample set for 90 euro from the website and they will discount that off your purchase of a full bottle. If you're like me, it'll likely be this. Don't bother with the toy on top and you'll save yourself some money for when you need a second bottle. Scent: 9/10 Overall: 10/10

Le Rivage des Syrtes is an award-winning novel by French author Julien Gracq in 1951. The story takes place on the border between Orsenna and Farghestan, two fictional Mediterranean countries that have been at war for 300 years. Le Rivage des Syrtes has galbanum, orange blossom, sweet orange as top notes and tuberose as the main axis. Sweet and juicy Pineapple adds a tropical touch to tuberose. Le Rivage des Syrtes is partly genetically similar to Un Coeur en Mai. A basket of garnished fruity, mellow ylang-ylang tuberose. Sweetness is well controlled, no indole. The plump white flowers of the right thickness, the sexy vanilla amber, and it's not what I expected. Admiring Nicolai more and more, Le Rivage des Syrtes is more beautiful than expected.

yum! i get bubblegum in a smooth smelling tuberose orange blend. a warm vanilla helps make this more sweetly complex, but still very soft. the pineapple and citrus scents meld like heavenly candy... the tuberose and orange blossom are very bubblegum-y in the best of ways. exactly like bubble gum (i even tested it with real gum). tuberose has always smelled a bit bubble gummy to me, but it was never presented in such a foody way. i always hoped for this scent combo, and i have also been looking for this sort of orange scent too, 2 in one! great floral/citrus/gourmand that smells happy and sunny without smelling cheap. i just bought a FB

This was a delightful surprise - a crisp summer spritz with a pineapple twist. It's beautifully refreshing and just the right mix of vanilla, amber and a whiff of incense. It's not very floral to me, it's more citrus so a great unisex summer scent. It hits big with the citrus at first blast, but dries down to a soft fruity fragrance with a creamy vanilla base. Not sweet, quite crisp and sexy. This is a beautiful fragrance, lasts about 4-5 hours on me and has medium projection. This is wonderful after my morning shower, and it will get a lot of wear through the summer months. Beautiful bottle and presentation as well. Very lovely.

Rivage des Syrtes opens with a certain tart fruitiness that for me is easy to wear and pleasant to smell. But true pay-off is in the drydown. It hugs my skin in a lovely, soft, comforting, powdery softness that tells me, every time I smell my arm, that everything is right in the world. I did not expect to love this ... I thought Peche Cardinal or Rose De Siwa would be the one for me. But this is really special. Of the 5 sample coffret, this is the one I'm reaching for more than any other.