California Réverie

For me this is strictly a summer perfume. I blind bought a bottle in the winter and wound up wishing I had just purchased a sample to try instead. At the time I thought it was an expensive mistake. I stuck it in the back of the perfume cabinet in frustration, not sure what I would do with it in the future. Today, while trying to decide what to wear, the medal hanging off the bottle caught my eye and I thought, what the hell, I'll give it another shot. And boy, am I glad I did. This is exquisite. The heat really brings out all the notes and makes this fragrance expand around you. I am surrounded by the softest cloud of flowers right now. While very simple in its execution, it manages to smell both rich and lush. After the fresh mandarin opening, which I love, two notes dominate, Neroli and Jasmine. The Neroli is beautifully showcased. It's not sharp, soapy, or excessively citric. Nor is it syrupy. The honey and vanilla are barely perceptible, and serve to bring out the natural sweetness and depth of the flowers. The end result is that the Neroli is soft and fresh, as if you are smelling actual blossoms. The jasmine is sublime, narcotic and languid. It adds a very dreamy quality. The frangi adds a hint of creaminess, and a sunny quality, but none of its tropical aspects as it does in some other blends. Aside from the mandarin, there is not even a hint of coconut or other fruit. Here, the focus is all about the white flowers, and Jasmine and Neroli rule. There is a subtle spiciness (orange blossom, perhaps?) that works wonderfully well. Almost imperceptible, adding a little pizzazz that prevents the notes from being flat or dull. It brightens the scent into a sunny composition and adds a lot of depth. The overall feeling this gives is that of an easy, breezy, lazy, summer day. Silage is close to the skin but perceptible. Longevity on the disappointing side of 4-5 hours. This is a good perfume to use when you don't want to announce your presence, but you still want to smell nice. People will be able to smell it when they get near you. At least, my family members could (without a mask). Despite it's shortcomings in the performance arena, I really like this golden scent. So perfect for wearing on this hot summer day.

Oh, my lord this is so beautiful! It’s bright, with a very natural neroli and orange citrus just at the top. When the citrus and neroli mix with the jasmine it’s a bit narcotic. The neroli in this is right up there with Neroli Portofino. It’s amazing! This is just as gorgeous as NP and might even be better. It definitely is at a better price then many of the fragrances in the NP line. In fact if you have the Tom Ford NP oil (I do along with the fragrance) and layer NP with this it’s insanely good. There is nothing sharp or cloying AT ALL. The neroli is used just enough. It’s so balanced because then the heart reveals the smooth creamy frangipani which is a little bit sweet and tropical. Of course you have a pretty little jasmine and beeswax and vanilla adding a smidgen of sweetness, a nice prominent bit of bee’s wax in the base with a touch of roundness. There is nothing overpowering at all in this it’s not TOO heady. But it is heady and narcotic it’s just not overkill.This isn’t a “perfumy fragrance.” What I mean by that is that certain fragrances just have that sophisticated, traditional “I’m wearing a serious woman perfume.” smell. Like say the french perfumery of Idole or J’adore for instance (which smell nothing like this as all). This is much more natural and modern than that. It’s a little bit quiet but also sunny, happy, smooth, fresh, and a little sweet. It’s stunning, effortless, not haughty because it’s just naturally pretty, refreshing, uplifting, a little dewy, innocent, and so CLEAN!. No powdery texture at all. It does conjure up a sunny place that has a lot of natural beauty like California. Very unisex. You just smell like the lovely outdoors. I love it. I just put this on before bed and I can’t believe how good it is and it’s like 3 days later.

I just saw California Reverie today in a department store completely unaware of this new release and had to try it right away. I have to say that the stated notes are spot on; nothing more, nothing less. It's like smelling a big basket full of freshly picked jasmine, frangipani and neroli with hints of citrus. Thankfully I didn't notice the beeswax which can make a beautiful perfume smelling like a nicely scented candle; just provides a subtle base for the florals to stick to. The overall impression is mildly sweet, doesn't step to the gourmand territory. The sillage is a solid moderate as the other fragrances of the Collection Extraordinaire, the same with longevity. While California Reverie is an elegant, substantial white floral - not too fleeting or ethereal - isn't uncomfortably bold either. Can be worn year round and fit casual or formal occasions, day or night. Comes in the new 45ml bottles too. Still not sure if it's full bottle worthy for me but gets thumbs up. Edit: Some interesting info from chemistinthebottle.wordpress.com ''For the celebration of their 70th anniversary of being present in America, Van Cleef & Arpels created a special jewellery collection which ‘a wealth of inspiration derived from the majestic scenery of California‘ – the collection was given a name of California Reverie. Along the collection the perfume of the same name was exclusively created. It wasn’t offered regularly but was given as a gift to those who bought the shiny jewellery pieces of California Reverie. In 2014 the brand decided to incorporate this scent to the other scents in Collection Extraordinaire and put it in wider distribution.''

Beautiful, realistic flowers. I get the sweet, juicy orange and then equal parts orange blossom with jasmine. Maybe frangipani? It smells like the flowers have been sweetened by the sun. And that's about it! I don't smell beeswax or vanilla especially, which I hoped together would make CR more full bodied. After having Gardenia Petale a while and now adding this to my collection, to me CR pales a little bit in comparison. Best way I can describe is it smells thin, having no defining texture or fullness. Still very beautiful. I've wanted CR a long time, but when I decided I was ready to buy it was out of stock on fragrancenet, so I went for Gardenia Petal instead. I probably would have stopped at CR otherwise and never discovered GP (I do wish they still made Lys Carmin). Anyway, I enjoy CR but Gardenia Petale so far is my favorite of the two. It's richer, though subjectively still a lighter scent, has more golden juice, and creates a better cloud around me. Gardenia Petale actually lasts quite long on skin, which took me a bit to realize. Goes a couple of days in fabric, too. Maybe CR will become a love like GP did, but either way it's a beautiful summer fragrance and I like it. Stays very very close to the body, with a soft cloud lasting about an hour and is detectable to my nose about 2 hours when smelled up close. For comparison, Gardenia Petale keeps its soft cloud about 3 hours and is detectable up close about 5 or 6 - a couple of days on shirts like I said. Haven't tested CR on fabric yet.

The perfect spring-summer jasmine... Star jasmine which is less indolic and has a honey note, is the most popular jasmine in California (although the notes state jasmine sambac), and according to AI, "Star jasmine flowers have a sweet, slightly vanilla-like fragrance...the scent is often described as pleasant, honeyed, and can perfume an entire yard, especially in the early mornings." I just have a travel sample of this, but it's a gorgeous summery jasmine, refined enough for a summer wedding but understated enough to be worn everyday. Jasmine is clean, fresh and green-leaning, backed up by a milky sweetness from frangipani and beeswax, and some clean facets from neroli. Neroli isn't as forward here as compared scents, (such as Love Story Chloe), and this is really all about jasmine imho. I was looking forward to testing this for awhile now, and I'm not disappointed. Some reminders for me of Jasmine Oscar de la Renta, although this lasts longer and has more milkiness underneath. I can't wait to try this in warmer weather, and I'll update my review then. Definitely signature scent worthy, especially for spring & summer. It's a love. Enjoy! Update 04/13/25: Wearing this today and really enjoying it in warmer weather where it really shines. Clean, light, fresh with good diffusion at first. Good projection for 2-3 hours after which it becomes a skin scent, although I may have become noseblind as I got a compliment 8 hours later. Love it still.