Avoine & Coquelicot

I live in that scent. It’s close to the skin, but it’s how I like the fragrance to be. It just blends with my skin. I grow oriental poppies in my garden, and their scent is amazing, but very subtle, barely noticeable, and so the poppy is in that composition (at least on my skin). I find pairing with oats, saffron, and cardamom, on a bed of musk just brilliant. It’s a quiet fragrance, the one that just enhances your own skin scent.

A year or two ago when I first smelled Avoine & Coquelicot, I immediately thought of Jo Malone‘s Poppy & Barley, a love at first sniff. Avoine & Coquelicot is rather linear, while saffron and cardamom are prominent throughout the fragrance‘s development. Shortly after spraying, there is a fresh and green note that I associate with fig. There is also an underlying powderiness that I recognize from Poppy & Barley, I even believe to smell a violet note in there. The reason why Avoine & Coquelicot is a like and not a love for me is the longevity. Even when sprayed on clothes, I only get around 5 hours with intimate sillage. I think this fragrance is a good and cheaper alternative to Poppy & Barley, especially if longevity is not of importance. I know that many have issues with the performance of Jo Malone fragrances, but when sprayed on clothes, they still stay easily 12 hours, at least in my experience.