Oregonclaire

There are so many things to like about this fragrance. The first thing is it feels truly gender-less, like a crisp white button-down shirt paired with jeans - anyone can wear it. It's got that "let me lean in and smell you" sexiness to it without being heavy or suffocating.

It's not a big sillage, but it does have good longevity. I can still smell it on my skin after several hours, and it does become something of a skin scent after a while. It's herbal, warm, little hint of florals. I'm seriously hooked on this one.

I generally love tea scents and I am particularly fond of the scent of real genmaicha tea, so I had high hopes for this. It's a nice perfume, but it doesn't tick the boxes for me. The rice note is not the nutty slightly savory rice found in the actual tea, but is more powdery. It's more floral than citrus (despite the listed notes) and I probably wouldn't have pegged it as a "tea" scent if I was sniffing it blind. It's pleasant, very wearable, and inoffensive. It's just not very "genmaicha."

Super wearable, friendly, and calling it nice seems like damning with faint praise. But it's really NICE, in a cute kittens and puppies kind of way. It's what I reach for when I want to smell awesome and offend no one. I find it slightly more fruity than floral, and I don't get much vanilla, but it's mostly well blended enough that no single note really stands out.

The oil has good longevity and layers well with other scents, too.

I'm not a person given to "signature scents." I'm a typical Pisces, too moody and changeable for that kind of commitment. Therefore it's a pretty short list of perfumes that I would consider my "desert island" choices - you know, the ones you'd choose if you could only pick a few to wear for the rest of your life. Indigo Smoke is on my shortlist.

I've been on a quest for a scent that evokes lapsang souchong tea, a scent I really adore. Too many scents that have a true smoky profile veer off into barbecue territory, which I don't hate, but it's doesn't hit quite right for true fragrance nirvana for me. Indigo Smoke strikes just the right balance with the freshness of the citrus and fruit, and the warm smokiness of lapsang souchong tea.

The overall effect is something I could wear for days and days.

Funny story - the first time I smelled Rien was in a boutique that had a small selection of ELdO, fully expecting it to be some light, airy thing, based on the name (knowing very little about ELdO the brand, of course). Upon sniffing the blotter, I think I physically stumbled backwards - this stuff packs a wallop, especially if you are expecting "nothing." Realizing the joke was on me, I promptly sprayed it on my wrist, walked down to a coffee shop, drank a latte, and went back to buy it. This was almost 15 years ago, and it's still in my top 5 scents to wear.