Avec Amour

I bought this without having tested it first but I liked the description and the notes beforehand. Its very light and feminine. Somewhat of a vanilla note with hints of light floral and a touch of musk. I don't normally like musk but this one is perfect. Very light, feminine, and wears well.

First, the presentation is lovely. A quality drawer box with blue velvety interior houses it. I actually want to keep the box. The bottle is a bit bigger than I thought, with pleasant heft to it so that's a nice surprise. The lid screws shut securely. The bottle has a blue to clear gradient. Like advertising suggests, I think it would be attractive to put on in public (not unwieldy, no spray zone given that it's a roll on oil). All in all good packaging and aesthetic, lid won't come off in your purse and ruin your stuff. Now on to the smell sauce. The roller ball dispenses a good amount. In the bottle the scent is faint. It rolls on a little faint too but quickly blooms on skin into an accurately described musky vetiver. The musk has a bit of.. stank? Not bad stank. But like a sophisticated, pretty woman stank. Clean but an unmistakable stank. Just trust me. The vetiver is grassy, dry, warm, earthy. Kind of like sweetgrass. I get no bergamot at all really. The scent stays there for ten or fifteen minutes and the stank fades but a resinous honey smell replaces it. I know honey isn't in the notes. Literally nobody else has mentioned honey, maybe that's the combination of ylang ylang and sandalwood to my nose. If you've ever smelled bee pollen, those yellow gold little pebbles of healthy goodness that you can often find at health food stores, that is exactly the impression I get. And I love it. Sophisticated pretty lady stank, earthy dry vetiver, resinous delicious bee pollen, and a subtle sweetness and warmth from the amber is what I get with this oil. Your experience may vary, but that's how it talks to my natural oils and chemistry. As for projection, the first couple hours, if someone came close but not too close to have a conversation they would likely smell you. After that If someone leaned in to kiss you, they would smell you before they touched you. If you put the oil on your neck and your hair touches it, your hair may throw the sent a bit more as you move. I feel like projection is acceptable for an oil considering they typically have a smaller scent bubble and sit close to the skin. This is not beast mode (which is not my cup of tea anyways) by any means, but I dont think the scent would go unnoticed. With longevity, I put it on at 9am and can still smell it faintly at 7pm. Today I worked a food service shift 11-6 and I showered last night so It's not like I was really oily before I put it on. If you worked at say, a desk job, or maybe didt have to scrub in the shower every day, it might stay stronger longer. If I put it on after showering before bed, I can still smell it when I wake up (typically 7 or 8 hours). I usually put more on in the morning anyways. My boyfriend likes it and commented on it unpromted. Overall I feel this was a successful blind by and I'm happy about it. Again, ymmv but I like it and i would for sure buy it again when it runs out provided I have the funds. I'm trying this in Midwest winter (southwest ohio) and it has been bitterly cold and dry. 9 degrees Fahrenheit as the high during the day. I'm interested to see how it may change in spring when it's more humid and rainy, summer when it gets hot. Hopefully I'll be able to post more reviews as the weather changes

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from this, but knew that I liked all of the notes independently (and am partial to Violette_FR in general) so I did a blind buy. I really like it, it's powdery and soft and sticks close to the skin but lasts quite a while. I don't know why because it's not really in any of the notes but to me it smells just like an almond galette: creamy, powdery, and only very faintly sweet.

There’s no coconut in this? Surely there must be? Anyway... Kind of sunscreen-y, kind of play doh-y; comforting and nostalgic (and comes in a very chic little bottle, if that kind of thing matters to you). Usually ylang ylang comes off as “bathroom cleaner” to my nose, but I like it a lot here. Very creamy and very yellow. I don’t know if I’d buy it again, but I’ll gladly use up the bottle I have.

avec amour has a definite "buttery" facet which surprised me- it's almost like a bowl of oatmeal with a pat of butter on top. the vetiver is definitely there, but more toned down in the base. a hint of sandalwood, a bit of salt and some amber-y notes that give you this real vibe of the "mysterious oil that you got from the natural foods co-op". it's great to layer!