L’Or de Méditerranée Pour Homme

L’Or de Meditérranée Pour Homme is part of the duo called L’Or de Meditérranée (The Gold of the Mediterranean, in French), along with L’Or de Meditérranée Pour Femme. The fragrances were inspired by the beauty of the French Riviera, where the sun's rays paint the Mediterranean Sea with shades of gold. For this duo, the fragrances feature a champagne accord, in order to represent the bubbly French joie de vivre. In the case of this masculine composition, which is classified as woody-citrus, we have notes of ginger, elemi, and watery fruits, at the top; sage and geranium, in the heart; patchouli, vetiver, and moss, in the base. On my skin, I didn't like the initial effect. The first few seconds bring a lot of sage, which should take a little longer to exude. This note, together with the elemi resin, brought an artificial sweetness that I didn't expect to find here. When you look at the bottle, you imagine a nighttime perfume, but here the result is completely different. That said, it's worth explaining up front that the storytelling here is important to understand the color of the bottles. It's all about the sea, the sun, and toasting champagne on board a speedboat, on the French Riviera. In other words, the fragrance is for the day. Luckily, that sweet sage disappears very quickly and gives way to the fresh and spicy nuances of ginger. We then have a more stable phase of menthol freshness – also because of the geranium – that is very pleasant on the skin. I don't notice much evolution over time. The fresh effect continues to exude, going from spicy to minty and, finally, balsamic, all in a very subtle way. When the vetiver starts to make its presence felt, the dry down becomes greener, but not overly earthy. It is important to emphasize that just because a fragrance has a vetiver note, it does not mean that it will always have an earthy effect. Finally, L’Or de Meditérranée Pour Homme surprised me more for being a versatile, daytime perfume than for the fragrance it carries. Its performance is excellent, but it did not impact me as much as Mystère Royal 084 did when it was launched. Fans of the Terre d’Hermès (Hermès) and Y (YSL) lines, for example, will love getting to know this Brazilian option full of quality.