Eau de Fraicheur

Eau de Fraicheur starts of bright and green, winsome and sunny, with the bergamot and a more verdant shade of jasmine evident, a bundle of leaves, stems and petals in a soapy lather, ahhhhh... The mids are where this one really stands out: a plush mimosa, flanked with other florals and a somewhat powdery musk, make Eau de Fraicheur somehow a bit more zen that the usual floral green eau fraiche. It hums on the skin, slowly diverging with a bittersweet mossy woody base that lingers close to the skin for hours. Magnifique!

One the best "Eau Fraiche" I tested. Although the bottle is 40-years old, apparently still retain all of its qualities. It starts with a cozy citrus accord directly in your nose, sharp bt well balanced. A slight herbal accord in the middle follows, but the HUGE butter, old-type musky drydown appears at the end as very pleasant and surprisingly long lasting. Very good longevity, good evolution and a real surprise.

Eau de Fraicheur has been around for a long time (since 1961). It seems to be discontinued, but it's neither hard nor expensive to find online. The bottle I found is the one with the long white plastic cap and white label with light blue, lime green, and navy blue accents: as @Elfriede says below, this does not have the same note pyramid as Fragrantica lists above (which seems to be for the perfume's reformulation). It was not common at all in the Sixties or Seventies to use pink pepper in perfumery, for example, and there is none in this older bottle. This reminds me of a kind of cross between two lemon-intensive Dior fragrances, Eau Fraiche and Eau Sauvage, only without the oakmoss that makes both of those so special (or without the beautiful palisander rosewood of Eau Fraiche). Nonetheless this is quite a likable perfume with a sharp citrus note over pretty soft florals and a pleasant musky drydown. The sillage is typical for a citrus fragrance (big at first, then dying down). This goes equally well on men and women--there's something barbershop-like about the citrus opening, but the soft florals mitigate against that.

My bottle is from before the relaunch, with the chunky white cap and the teal, chartreuse & navy blue label and box, rather than the re-release in the sky blue box. I can't recall where I found these notes online, but they are far closer to what I'm smelling than the notes listed on this site. I certainly can't smell pink pepper, violet, mimosa, amber, or vanilla. Fruity green top: bergamot, neroli, lemon, coriander, orange, mandarin, marjolaine [marjoram] Floral heart: orange blossom, muguet, rose, jasmine Woody base: cedar, vetiver, musk Starts dry and a bit green, with bitter orange peel and a halo of clean aldehydes. The heart is powdery-creamy-soapy floral, and it's underscored with soft green vetiver and fizzy white musk. A bit old-school and buttoned-up, but that's OK; it makes me sit up straighter. It's not like a classic eau de cologne, but it's still unisex and fills the same spot in your wardrobe if that makes sense. The re-worked notes look so much like everything else nowadays, but I'll enjoy this while it lasts.

Nice, fresh EDC - I don't get much green from this, it's more citrusy on me and turns a little sweet as it dries down - amber always does on me, but it's a pleasant, summery scent.

It is not an unisex perfume. Very masculine, after shave scent.

Quite green at first but the strong beginning doesn't last long at all. After that, it's a different scent entirely, very blended with some unisex florals, and a hit of this and that. Overall, it's nice as well as unisex, but not contemporary at all. I'd say this is for the aficionado who is seeking exactly this kind of scent, or someone who likes that strong first few minutes but then wants something "office friendly."

The initial blast reveals a lot of green notes (leaves and stems), but after 20 minutes the most beautiful bouquet of flowers emerges. The flower notes aren't off-putting or strong, they're just done right. It creates an aura of peace and calmness. The perfect freshness for a summer's day. Did i mention that it's a unisex fragrance? :)

Woody, powdery, amber-like drydown is a bit old-fashioned, but the bitter oakmoss-cedarwood accord make it so great!