Vert Désir

Peering through the beefy, dark leaves on the edge of the pond, you see a handsome alligator's head slowly emerge from under the water, covered in bright green flecks of duck weed. But it's not duck weed, it's spearmint. Its lush aroma reaches you on a slight breeze. "The usual?," the alligator smiles pleasantly to you with a wink. You nod, blushing, and then you find yourself, mid-shave, staring into your own bathroom mirror. The deep breathing exercises are working. You splash off any errant shave cream and pat a fresh towel around your face. "I am clean again," you whisper to your reflection, "I am clean."

Lord, how I love this. Minty fresh, light, watery, grass-like -- it's beautiful. Scents in this realm are my VIBE. If GAP's Grass (one of my all-time faves) had flankers, this would absolutely be one of them. The problem, however, is that this vanishes after barely an hour. It's devastating, actually. And at almost $300 a pop, I don't think I'll ever get to have a bottle - but BELIEVE ME, I want one. 😓

My favorite fragrance. Perfect balance of fresh green notes with a bit of sharpness from the mint and absinthe. Complex and multi-dimensional despite having so few notes.

This fragrance opens with a blast of toothpaste-y mint overlaid over a wet green backdrop of absinthe and aqua. Fortunately the mint fades to a much more natural scent in the middle notes, and finally a well-blended dry down that gives an impression of green tea. This is a fragrance for one's self more than for others, and it can be worn comfortably in an office setting to create a personal verdant sanctuary. Nothing here is over the top. It smells good but not astounding. Projection and longevity are middling. There is no opulence or hyperrealism or anything extremely unique to justify the prestige pricing. It's just... Nice. I will be using the rest of my decant but the retail price on this fragrance is exorbitant for what you're getting.

Will go against the grain here a bit, I think this perfume is fairly different from You or someone like you. You or someone like you have a bit fresher crispier feel (citrus notes?) and it's sweeter. Vert Desir is still fresh, but the aroma is more boozy, heavier like it wraps around you. They are obviously somewhat alike because they are mint based, and maybe having both is on overkill unless you are very very into mint and can notice the difference.

tried this today. nice clean minty green fragrance. i layered it with their eau de jour booster, which made this smell like the opening of torino21 which was nice. if these were 100 dollars i would say its worth it but 260 for weak performance is a lot.

It opens with a huge splash of toothpastey mint and dries down to a pleasant green and watery fragrance. Sillage and longevity are moderate. This is a very unoffensive fragrance. It's also not remarkable. But I like it for that pungent minty note.

I like this. It isn't as minty as I expected. This is a general green fragrance with a mint component. This has low projection but good longevity. I like ELDO You Or Someone Like You, a lot more because it is far more minty with more projection.

Opens like a fresh box of Irish Spring soap. After a moment, it meanders into a breezy ocean-adjacent spring meadow, wild mint being crushed underfoot, with a mossy salt air finish.

I like this. The smells reminds me of a bathroom after taking a shower and brushing your teeth...clean and minty.

it starts with a pretty soapy green scent, brightened by mint that moves smoothly into that creamy woods sweetened by the absinthe. Completely inoffensive and office safe. Definitely a spring / summer scent and reminds me of Irish spring soap - if it owned a Burberry trench.

First of all, who is Veronique Gabai? Simply put, one of the most powerful women in the perfume industry. My story may be a bit off, but as I recall, as the President of Estee Lauder (beauty line?) she once instructed perfumers to create an easy to wear fragrance for the everyday man, and Acqua Di Gio was born. What will you get from a Veronique Gabai fragrance? An easy to wear fragrance for the everyday person that will bring zen and calm to their lives. Veronique's goal may possibly be to get new people into fragrances. I will admit that I was not overly impressed by the first spray of Vert Desir, although once I wore Vert Desir, I was thoroughly impressed. Vert Desir does bring a sense of zen and calm. Vert Desir is a fragrance you need to wear, and not just spray and come up with a hasty decision. Mint brings clarity.

This is a straight-up clone of Herba Fresca. They're barely discernable in my opinion! The mint note is identical, I'm almost certain the mint oil they're using comes from the same supplier. The rest is what differs between the two. While Herba Fresca dries down to something rather juvenile, Vert Désir dries down to something more mature, but far from going to grandma/grandpa territory. The tea note is also more vibrant here than in Herba Fresca. Quality wise, I would say both are comparable. While Herba Fresca might linger a bit longer, its dry down isn't so good once the mint has gone. Here, the longevity is a bit shorter, but it overall smells better throughout, if that makes sense. I think I prefer Vert Désir slightly over Herba Fresca, but the difference is absolutely negligible.

Quite lovely mint-forward scent. Quite similar to You or Someone Like You. I have travel sizes of both and will probably buy one. Need to compare arm to arm, to see which I prefer. This one doesn't have the rose water note. I tried but couldn't smell absinthe (and that's something I'm pretty familiar with as it's part of my favorite cocktail).

The first time I tried this I really liked the clean lemon mint feel. It's crisp and simple and doesn't smell cheap. but on a cold day, the second time, I got more of a lemon lime waxy feel. Once I noticed the waxy aspect, I couldn't get it out of my head, so it's a pass. Maybe only for warm weather?

Love the fresh, crisp scent of this fragrance from initial spray to dry down. My only complaint is that it doesn’t last more than 4 hours on my skin. I’m still deciding if the price point is worth it...

super soft, refreshing, and pretty!! reminds me of elizabeth arden's green tea, but with an added mint note which gives it a cooler touch. this would be loooooovely in the summer !!

This is an aquatic and minty. Smells toothpastey maybe is the absinthe and light woods at the back. Performance feels weak from my sample.