Verveine Agrumes

Citrus Verbena

L'Occitane en Provence 2006 Eau de Toilette

This is one of my favourite fresh citrus scents.

It's energizing and beautiful. It's like cutting into Sicilian lemon on a bright sunny day.

It doesn't smell bitter or synthetic, and it doesn't lean masculine like so many other citrus scents.

The only downside of this fragrance is the longevity of it. I might have to try bathing in it.

An oven.
The world must have turned into an oven, one with convection and the grill switched on.
No idea what the Holy Spirit was thinking - it was too hot for me to understand the connection, my brain was working slower than the rest of my sluggish body.
Had it ever been this hot at Pentecost?
I didn’t know, my memory had switched off, ultimately it didn’t matter - it was hot, very hot, way too hot, even for midsummer it would have been remarkably hot, even more so for this year’s Pentecost.
I was no longer dreaming of days by the pool, I was dreaming of a cozy freezer, where I could stay until Peter or whoever had baked enough.
Eventually, this heat had to pass, this scorching, burning, life-energy-sucking Sahara heat that had scorched the yesterday bright green lawn and finished off the last snail-protected pea seedlings.
Eventually, eventually - please...

There isn’t much that helps me function on days like these.
Coffee, strong and sweet and hot with spoonfuls of crema.
Strawberries straight from the field, scalp massages from my loved one, and scents that are no longer just scents, but lifesavers.
Their freshness hisses when it touches the skin, clear and pure like mountain lakes, like glaciers, cool and sun-soaked like plump yellow fruit bombs, smooth and firm in my hand, anticipating the sharp cut.
Scents like this.
Bitter and herbaceous yet delicately sweet, gathering water in my mouth, tickling, expanding the nose, the lungs, green and yellow and cool and gentle.
Nothing stings, nothing bites, no bath and no kitchen - peels and zests, leaf and wood, eyes closed, their image on the retina, plastic, authentic, within reach.
For a moment, for a breath - which fades away far too quickly.

Hmm… I have often written here that my cat doesn't really like citrus fruits. He always makes a face, and the interesting thing is that he can even remember what doesn't smell pleasant to him. Well, after a while, he forgets it again, but some things stay in his cuddly little head for a few days. These include mandarins, disinfectant spray, Duplo foil (it's good that he doesn't like that, since cats shouldn't eat chocolate anyway, not at all!) or lemons.

The mandarins are usually a victim of my cat, as the poor round citrus fruits like to be rolled around. Well, let's say they used to be, since the fruits are now in a larger and deeper bowl and he can't get them out anymore,… and using his claw to help is not an option, because apparently, you only make the mistake of injuring a mandarin with your claw and then having the citrus juice seep out of the fruit once! :D
The lemons, on the other hand, the main component of this fragrance here, are fortunately in the kitchen, where he can't reach them, even though the kitchen is one of his favorite places since it's full of food :D

Anyway, despite the freezing cold, I am testing a summer fragrance today in the warm apartment, as the colder days will surely come to an end eventually! And this fragrance is one to remember! Especially if, like me, you find citrus perfumes very refreshing on hot days.

The scent starts off citrusy and slightly sweet. I smell lemons that have a very natural scent and then gradually transition into lemon verbena. Then there’s the grapefruit, another fruit that my cat doesn't like at all :D
The grapefruit also smells citrusy sour, but with a slight sweet touch, like when you dip this fruit in sugar if it seems a bit too bitter while eating. In any case, all the citrus notes smell very good and are very refreshing.
A little later, the scent remains citrusy-fresh but also slightly warm sweet with woody notes. It doesn't change much more than that, but it doesn't need to, as this simplicity comes across as both refreshing and very pleasant.

The projection is citrusy low and will hardly be noticeable to anyone standing far away. The longevity is as short as a summer breeze. Well, maybe not quite that short, but after two or three hours, you might want to reapply if you want to continue enjoying the full scent experience!

*The bottle:
The bottle is rectangular and tall. The upper part is rounded like a dome. On one side of the glass, there is an engraving of a lemon verbena leaf and on the other side, a lemon fruit, which looks great. On the sides of the bottle, you can see (also engraved into the glass) the name of the fragrance or the brand. The cap is a simple, cylindrical, and transparent plastic cap that just covers the spray head. A very beautiful bottle.

Ah, Verveine Agrumes is a wonderful fragrance. It is perfect for refreshing (and of course smelling good) on really hot days. Even more so for those who prefer simpler scents with a straightforward scent progression, meaning fragrances that don't consist of 1000 notes and have a complex and diverse scent journey.

Since the scent is not too strong and long-lasting, it is only suitable for short-term use, whether during the day or in the evening on warm days, it doesn't matter; you just have to be prepared to possibly reapply it.

It costs just under 50 euros (for 100 mL), which makes it worth considering getting the fragrance. If it were cheaper, I would even recommend it without reservation. Anyway: Anyone who still doesn't know what they could wear in summer should definitely check this one out! There may be many citrus fragrances that refresh well, but this one also belongs to the scents that should smell very nice and pleasant for most… Well, probably not for the cat, who is only concerned about whether he should have a little snack before dinner or rather afterwards… and we all know that the little cuddly fat sack probably has a snack both before and after dinner… *sigh* I should have named the little creature Garfield! :D

Is it green?

Of course it is green! That’s already thanks to the verbena.

Oh my love! Do you remember the 5th Element and Chris Tucker’s character? “Was I green? No? It must just be... green...!” Everyone was at his feet, and he almost overshadowed Bruce Willis, who was just there to get it on with the 5th Element.

Well, you won’t save the world with citruses, and you don’t have to grow your hair like Chris Tucker or squeeze yourself into a green catsuit. It doesn’t suit most of us anyway. The fragrance does!

Alright, Verveine is not a perfume for a grand entrance, for an extravagant gown, or for the opera. But who even goes there nowadays? If so, there are perfumes from Caron or the good ones from Dior... Also quite a few niche brands. But with those, you might want to stick a price tag around your neck next to the jewelry.
Back to green, nature, and the mentioned fragrance. Somehow casual, citrusy, clean! You feel transported to places with forests and meadows. Where the moon is pushed up at night and when darkness falls, the sidewalks are rolled up.

Well-scrubbed people with a thirst for adventure. Morning 5:00 AM! After the shower, it’s time to go. Wrapped in a clean scent that has no sweetness whipped into it. Polo with lemons, grapefruits under the cedar grove.

Well, either I’m flying to Fhloston Paradise tomorrow or I’m going to vote, and then I’m definitely for the Mondoshawan.

Besides the obligatory morning coffee, this little potion works wonders to start the day awake and in a good mood. The very authentic zesty-sharp lemon note (in my opinion like freshly grated lemon peel) is invigorating and remains present and natural throughout the entire scent development. I don't really pick out grapefruit strongly, but it seems to harmoniously blend into the fragrance experience. What I particularly like is that these citrus aromas smell natural, not overly softened or sweetened like in some other fragrances, but simply authentic. After about a quarter of an hour, a slightly herbal note emerges on the skin, which does not stand out but integrates pleasantly. After an hour, a lovely aromatic cedar note comes into play. The citrus aromas are still present, not as strong anymore, but they round off the cedar base.
Overall, a wonderfully natural unsweetened citrus scent with a woody base, which subjectively has similar wake-up properties as a fresh morning coffee!