Top Notes 
Heart Notes 
Base Notes 
01/30/2013
Greysolon
74 Reviews
Greysolon
2
The alchemy of conifers from celery
First I want to thank Apicius and Sherapop for introducing me to Divine L’Etre Aime Homme via their suggestion to obtain the Divine sample set. Without a doubt, it’s the best money I’ve ever spent on samples. Thanks you two! The time and care Divine lavishes on the presentation of the samples is extraordinary. I’ll try posting a picture to the page.
L’Etre Aime has qualities similar to Diptyque’s L’Eau Trois and Bulgari’s pour Homme line but Divine's L’Etre Aime succeeds where L'Eau Trois and puor Homme fail: To combine green, spice and woods into a balanced, elegant, masculine scent.
Diptyque’s L’Eau Trois’ spices are overwhelming and lack sweetness so it ends up smelling like soup. I hate using simplistic, derogatory descriptions like that, but there you are. Bulgari’s pour Homme fragrances go way over the top with galbanum and sharp spices so they develop an odd celery accord that never goes away. Needless to say, elegance is not synonymous with those fragrances.
Now to contradict myself. After saying that I was put off by Bulgari’s “celery accord” guess what is listed in L’Etre Aime’s notes and pops up not long after the first spritz? Celery.
When I first applied L’EA I was not impressed. That celery note was as clear as day and I thought my foray into the Divine sample pack was a bomb. But patience is a virtue and shall be rewarded. L’EA develops over a long period and it's worth the wait.
It didn’t take too long before the celery note slipped into better balance with the sweeter notes of ginger and bergamot and seemed to be moving in a more pleasant direction. Maybe L’EA wasn’t going to be too bad after all?
Given a little more time L'EA's development really begins to take shape with the emergence of sandalwood, cistus, amber, patchouli and vetiver. Sandalwood is the most identifiable note in this group, though it doesn’t dominate or overwhelm. It's a sweet, resinous variety of sandalwood, not at all sharp or arid. As L’EA develops further, cistus, amber and patchouli each bloom and take their place in the fragrance. Each of these notes adds its own unique layer to the overall texture and each has it’s own unique resinous component. The patchouli lends just a touch of earthiness to the fragrance and binds the combination of strong wood, spice and green notes together harmoniously.
It was at this point I appreciated L’EA’s long development and how each stage was building a fragrance unlike anything indicated by the opening spritz. At its peak, all those resinous notes in L’EA combined to create a woody, spiced conifer-like fragrance. My beloved conifers from celery!
And that dreaded celery note? It’s still detectable on the skin. But away from the skin it minds its manners and provides just the right balance to help build the illusion of green found in conifers and wood.
L’Etre Aime has qualities similar to Diptyque’s L’Eau Trois and Bulgari’s pour Homme line but Divine's L’Etre Aime succeeds where L'Eau Trois and puor Homme fail: To combine green, spice and woods into a balanced, elegant, masculine scent.
Diptyque’s L’Eau Trois’ spices are overwhelming and lack sweetness so it ends up smelling like soup. I hate using simplistic, derogatory descriptions like that, but there you are. Bulgari’s pour Homme fragrances go way over the top with galbanum and sharp spices so they develop an odd celery accord that never goes away. Needless to say, elegance is not synonymous with those fragrances.
Now to contradict myself. After saying that I was put off by Bulgari’s “celery accord” guess what is listed in L’Etre Aime’s notes and pops up not long after the first spritz? Celery.
When I first applied L’EA I was not impressed. That celery note was as clear as day and I thought my foray into the Divine sample pack was a bomb. But patience is a virtue and shall be rewarded. L’EA develops over a long period and it's worth the wait.
It didn’t take too long before the celery note slipped into better balance with the sweeter notes of ginger and bergamot and seemed to be moving in a more pleasant direction. Maybe L’EA wasn’t going to be too bad after all?
Given a little more time L'EA's development really begins to take shape with the emergence of sandalwood, cistus, amber, patchouli and vetiver. Sandalwood is the most identifiable note in this group, though it doesn’t dominate or overwhelm. It's a sweet, resinous variety of sandalwood, not at all sharp or arid. As L’EA develops further, cistus, amber and patchouli each bloom and take their place in the fragrance. Each of these notes adds its own unique layer to the overall texture and each has it’s own unique resinous component. The patchouli lends just a touch of earthiness to the fragrance and binds the combination of strong wood, spice and green notes together harmoniously.
It was at this point I appreciated L’EA’s long development and how each stage was building a fragrance unlike anything indicated by the opening spritz. At its peak, all those resinous notes in L’EA combined to create a woody, spiced conifer-like fragrance. My beloved conifers from celery!
And that dreaded celery note? It’s still detectable on the skin. But away from the skin it minds its manners and provides just the right balance to help build the illusion of green found in conifers and wood.
