Esterel Harry Lehmann

Do you know the feeling of having made it through a tough week to the safe shore of the weekend and then celebrating with a nice dinner? Of course. It's somehow an anthropological fundamental experience. That's my state right now. And that's why I actually wanted to skip episode 9 and mindlessly sit in front of the TV. But just at that moment, I received a PM from a (remarkably talented) fellow perfumer praising the simple act of writing despite various adversities. And with that, I was grabbed by the mantle collar of honor. So I changed my mind, and here comes another episode. The ratings aren't sinking yet either...

So, let's stay in Provence, where we were already yesterday in Lourmarin. Today we're heading to Esterel, which is a mountain range on the Cote d'Azur, and it gets really hot there in summer. Moreover, there's a lot of wilderness and landscape with plenty of plants and animals, and once upon a time, there were holy hermits in hermit caves and less holy robbers in robber caves, which the good Stanze, who is probably very busy with her job now, vividly described in her previous comment. About 2 years ago, Harry Lehmann had another French phase and gave a few new fragrances such names, this one being "Esterel." So it's a new Lehmann. By the way, I give 9.5 points for the name because it sounds nice, is short, thematically fits the fragrance, and somehow fits like a glove. It's not entirely unique, as there are a few other fragrances with the same name. Otherwise, I might have given it a 10.

Esterel is fundamentally similar to the "Dimanche à la Campagne" from Guerlain that was commented on yesterday: a citrus-green summer fragrance, initially more citrusy, then gently shifting into green, and overall very simply constructed yet with a great, striking effect in its simplicity. However, the two fragrances differ significantly. The Guerlain has a soft musk base that radiates essentially into the top note, creating a light veil over the fragrance, like a haze over the summer landscape. This makes it reminiscent of early summer, and the absolutely unisex fragrance has a slight tendency towards the feminine. Esterel, on the other hand, is much harder, edgier, almost a bit rough, and completely without softening. It comes across as more masculine and more summery. Clear contrasts. Blazing heat with sharp light, and perhaps an ice-cold, crystalline water against it. Additionally, in "Dimanche," the citrus and green notes (which also include herbs here) are roughly balanced, whereas Esterel is predominantly a citrus fragrance that is only lightly greened. And, not surprisingly for Lehmann: Esterel has much more body, heft, longevity, and sillage than the Guerlain. What both have in common is that the citrus is a bright, yellow one; I suspect here mainly lemons, around which other citrus fruits might gather. Because this is less strongly balanced by green notes and musky softening in Esterel, the citrus gains a certain sharpness at the beginning, which indeed sometimes brushes against the dreaded "Ata-scouring powder note," although I don't find that bad at all. They added those scent substances to the scouring powder because they smell good, not because they stink; otherwise, scouring powder would smell like old sweat.

Friends of Harry might now notice and say: Wait a minute, citrus-green bombers, we already have those in the lineup. Right! Springfield. And there it is again, the reference freshie from the Lehmann house. Hence, here's another comparison (I made sure to spray 2 sprays each of Springfield and Esterel on kitchen towels before starting this comment to compare directly): The citrus of Esterel is lemony, while that of Springfield is, and I only notice this so clearly in comparison now, much more bitter and also a bit sweeter, leaning more towards bitter orange and orange. Esterel is, as mentioned, predominantly citrusy, whereas Springfield is actually somewhat greener. And Springfield has this deeply hidden, barely perceptible animalistic subtext, making it even more masculine than Esterel and, above all, both a much more erotic and a much more refined fragrance. But Esterel doesn't want to be that; Esterel remains a cheerful, honest, strong, prime summer fragrance.

Yesterday, we also talked about Camus, and one of his main works, "l'homme revolté," is always translated into German as "Der Mensch in der Revolte," but I think it's not about revolt in the sense of street battles, but more about something like reversal (of course, it's a play with nuances of word meanings either way). In any case, it's an occasion for me to thoroughly revise myself here again, after revising my decision not to write a comment today. I just deleted my old statement about this fragrance without replacement. Back then, I gave it 5.5 points and rambled about fermented fruits. Either the fragrance I tried back then had gone off, or I picked the wrong glass balloon at Lehmann's store (yes, those are the kinds of places where, before the plague, people used to go in to buy things), or I had eaten too many fermented fruits. Nonsense. Stanze had written underneath: "I'm surprised, I was sure you would like it." She's right. I like it too. And I perceive the fragrance very similarly to how she described it in her comment.

Esterel is thus a bright citrus fragrance, slightly enhanced with some green, playing just a bit towards the masculine, a high-summer and good-mood scent. Rich, round, full, a bit loud, a bit edgy, but really very beautiful. I wore it a lot during my trip to Thailand in January, and in that heat, it came out very well and was praised both by the Farang (i.e., Westerners) and by the Thai side. But even in Germany, under office conditions, it's a fragrance that is always met with goodwill and lifts the mood of the surroundings. Fragrances like Esterel show that the times of the good Lehmanni are far from over and give hope that the shop will continue to thrive for a long time. Clear test or blind buy recommendation for all fans of citrus summer fragrances and all fans of the Lehmanniade!