Annick Goutal - Le Jasmin and Neroli

I mentioned in a post yesterday that I had tried two Solilflores by L'Occitane, Jasmine and Neroli, neither of which did much to impress me.

Today I was browsing and saw the 'equivalents' in the Annick Goutal line, so thought I would try them out. Neroli starts off with a gorgeous orange blast, slightly bitter and citrusy, then pretty much fades to nothing. I'm not complaining - these sort of fragrances are not usually long lasting affairs and I could easily picture myself wearing this with abandon in the summer. It's fresh, relatively unassuming, but very well done.  Le Jasmin, pictured top left, is more complicated to my nose, without ever smelling very jasmine-y, if you know what I mean. In other words, the indoles do not manifest here, leaving a fragrance that is breezy and fresh, without being simple. The notes listed are sparse - just Sambac jasmine, magnolia and ginger - but I swear I smell a lot more. I did a quick search for reviews on Le Jasmin and was interested to read that almost everyone finds this green, light and simple. It's true that the jasmine does not shout or become cloying, as it is wont to do, but in addition to this I get a dose of smoky incense, which is an interesting pairing with jasmine. In fact, when I first sprayed this out the bottle I thought I had put on Encens Flamboyant, so similar did it smell, initially. I even checked the bottle to make sure, but it definitely said Le Jasmin. 

I certainly preferred both Neroli and Le Jasmin to the L'Occitanes I tried. They are very well executed, although probably not totally my style. One thing I do know - Goutal has a lot of florals in their lineup, and they certainly know how to execute these very well.

Image credit - http://www.luckyscent.com/

Diptyque L'eau de Neroli and L'eau de L'eau

Diptyque is a line I enjoy and appreciate, although it must be said that a lot of their compositions these days seem rather simple and short-lived. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. I think a lot of Diptyque's fragrances are perfect for spring and summer, and seeing that today is the last day of August, and autumn is just round the corner, I thought I would end the month with a couple of quick reviews of two good, yet relatively simple citrus scents.

L'eau de Neroli does pretty much what it says on the tin. This is a brisk, greenish Neroli from the outset. It is quite dry and fragrant, drying down to citrus-and-light-woods, perfect as a pick me up for  a warm spring or hot summer day. It is simple and fairly fleeting, typical of a cologne type of perfume and nice while it lasts. It has what I call that 'typical Diptyque' feel - fresh, zippy, fairly transparent, simple and understated. The top notes are the best phase for me, with that gorgeous and realistic neroli note. The dry down is ok, but nothing to write home about, but then again, I don't usually wear citrus fragrances for their complex development.

L'eau de L'eau is a bit more complex and quirkier than L'eau de Neroli. To my nose it starts sweeter, with far more lemon in it. If I'm being honest, as much as I quite like the opening, it does have a bit of a Lemon Pledge smell to it, which might put some people off. It also has a richer and slightly more polished feel to it. it's not exactly strong, but it has more presence than L'eau de Neroli. I'm thinking there might be some verbena in here too. There's not much more to say about L'eau de L'eau really. It lasts a bit longer, has perhaps a slight herbalness to it and as I said earlier, is a tad quirky in that it doesn't quite smell like anything else I know of.

I'm not sure which of these I prefer or would recommend. I love the opening of L'eau de Neroli, but then it fades away to nothing quite fast. L'eau de L'eau has less of an enticing opening, but does develop in a slightly more interesting fashion. I think both are worth sampling, but unless you are obsessive about citrus perfumes, I can't personally see why anyone would invest in a full bottle of either, particularly if you already have one or two citrus fragrances in your wardrobe.