Colette

This is my signature right now. The sillage? Nothing even after just a few minutes. Longevity?? Forget it. It lasts a few hours on clothes but barely an hour or two on skin. It's the best smell I've ever smelled though which is why I always reach for it. It has such a soft, unique, cozy, delicious and well-blended mix of florals, citrus and woods. I get the bergamot upon first sniff and for some reason the woods and pine come in at the top for me along with the juniper. After a minute or so the florals and vanilla take over. Out of the florals, I don't get the cyclamen. I also don't get any incense at all. Finally the dry-down is mostly musk and amber for me, with a bit of sandalwood peeking through. Despite the terrible performance, I bought the largest bottle and reapply every few hours throughout the day. It's just the most sublime indescribable scent. It smells like a fresh cashmere sweater but it doesn't smell powdery like laundry, just cozy and sweet and slightly animalic (like wool or fur). The citrus notes remind me of barbershop-type scents but the vanilla and woods keep it from veering masculine. It smells youthful and dreamy, but can be worn wherever, whenever (barring the fact that its projection is 0, longevity is 0) based on scent alone. I might just have to layer with the oil and cream but I doubt it'll improve the projection or longevity. I have two other full bottles of Simone and Stella from this house which perform much better (Stella especially lasts all day on skin for me) and so I know it's probably the nature of the notes in Colette that cause it to vanish. If anyone has any recommendations that smell like this (not GW by Byredo, which sadly suffers the same longevity issue) and last long, please pass it along!

such a lovely cozy scent. of all the tocca range, i find colette to be the least conventional and quietly independent, not unlike her author namesake (even if she *does* indeed echo gypsy water, which she does; i prefer colette). for me, it's all about the sharp lemon and juniper softened substantially by the creamy vanilla and sandalwood; i imagine the wearer sitting at a window looking onto a cold grey day, contemplating their next endeavor. the lemon and juniper were, in fact, both revelatory for me; i started wearing colette right as i discovered lady grey tea (which uses lemon rather than bergamot), both of which contributed toward a very different experience of lemon ever since (it's not sour in either of these, gimme more!). as for the juniper, i realized it was the common thread through many of my then favorites-of-the-moment: in addition to colette there was odin 01, histories de parfums 1899 hemingway, byredo 1996. juniper is an amazing note--it can take the most overtly feminine fragrance (even 1996, i'd say) and give it an herbaceous edge that turns it into something decidedly unisex. i used to bring my bottle into work where my coworker would spray it on himself, it was delightful on him, too. i do not get anything overtly floral, though it's often described as such. i have a difficult relationship to violet but get along with it very well as it appears in colette. she's gentle but all knowing.

I am obsessed with this. I DON'T agree that it disappears instantly. It stays the same for at least an hour (it has as I'm writing this). Spray it on your clothes and it'll last longer. It truly is signature scent-worthy. I wish it lasted longer but if you're sensitive to heavy perfumes, that's a plus. Intimate sillage. But I sprayed 3 sprays to the heart and I keep smelling it and it's wonderful! However, it doesn't last as long as some other perfumes. I will say that I do think its the kind of perfume your nose gets desensitized to pretty fast as well, though. Since my boyfriend claims he could still smell it after a few hours (on my clothes, 3 hours after the sprays), after I'd stopped being able to distinguish it as much. I'm so sad Tocca doesn't ship their fragrances internationally. I'm always on the lookout for another bottle... Edit: VanessaD19, unfortunately I live in a country where it's pretty much impossible to get Tocca products shipped to without using a parcel forwarding service. Thank you though! And I actually just found and bought a full 20 ml one second hand from a neighboring country. :)

This fragrance has been a bit of a journey for me. I blind-bought it a few years ago when I first fell in love with Tocca and their gorgeous bottles and (mostly) likeable scents. When this came, it felt a bit "meh". Tocca Brigitte was my absolute favourite, and everything else was just a bit disappointing. Collette caught my eye again last year when I was searching for perfumes that contain both pine and vanilla, as I imagined that combination would be a winning autumn/winter daytime fragrance. I realised I had this stowed away in my cupboard and pulled it out again to give it another whiff; not bad. My tastes have matured over the years, and I'm a bit more daring with my perfumes, yet still like to keep things simple for day time/ office wear. This one is perfect. It's delicious, soft, and intriguing. It doesn't punch you in the face, but it isn't bland or boring, either. A really lovely, cold weather perfume that's work-friendly and adds femininity to a (very) slightly outdoorsy mix. It's moved from my "like" list to "love".

This was my mainstay scent all through college to early adulthood. I still have bottles of it. It's not in my rotation as much, as I've moved on to other things, but I still love it. I used to buy the perfume oil rather than the EDP. It has a very cozy dry down for me that its rather intoxicating. It's definitely a skin scent. It's hard to really make out what it is, but my friends and family when they smell a sweater of mine or get close to me always would say "hmmm you smell really good" when I would wear this. I like how it changes. At first it's rather cologne-y to me with the citrus and spice, but the dry down is soft, warm powdery while still being fresh? I've smelled Gypsy Water and almost prefer Collette to it. It has zero sillage, but I like scents like this that linger closer to me and stay permeated on clothing. It's like a warm cashmere sweater was bottled up. Compared to other Tocca scents, this is by far my favorite. People have described it as basic (maybe it is), but I don't mind that.