Lotree opens with a nose tingling, black pepper laden slightly sweetened watery green bamboo accord with a faint vague woody undertone. As the composition moves to its early heart the watery green tinged bamboo fades to the background, taking a back seat to the vague synthetic woody accord resembling an approximation of Oud wood that emerges to take the starring role with the now heavy black pepper remaining as co-star. During the late dry-down the peppered synthetic vague woods recede but still remain; now sharing the spotlight with fir-like greens with a tinge of added oakmoss. Projection is excellent, as is longevity at well over 12 hours on skin.
Lotree is the first sample tried out of the Lotree sample pack I recently received from a very generous friend. As soon as I sprayed the composition on skin, there was some chemical in the open that caused a slight nose burning sensation, coupled with some additional tingling from the black pepper immediately experienced. After the burning sensation quickly died down the watery green bamboo made itself known but faded to background all too quickly, leaving the real stars of the composition to make its way to the fore; norlimbanol derived synthetic vague woods flanked by heavy black pepper. Here is where Lotree becomes all too familiar and not very good. The norlimbanol-derived vague woods are frequently used to imitate Oud wood, and I suppose they have been rounded up for similar use in Lotree. When paired with the also frequently used black pepper as a co-star, the result just comes off as extremely irritating. On the flip-side, the late dry-down nearly salvages things as the synthetic woods and pepper recede, allowing fir-like greens to join them to add some interest to the composition while also softening the synthetics a bit. The bottom line is the 89 Euro per 50ml bottle Lotree is far from terrible smelling, but it really doesn't distinguish itself from so many other tiring norlimbanol focused vague woody compositions on the market, earning a "below average" 2 to 2.5 stars out of 5 and a minor avoid recommendation.
