Lubin- Le Vetiver

Vetiver is a signature note in our house. The bottles officially belong to the Blond, but I poach them on a regular basis. I usually like vetiver best in the summer, when its crisp and dry qualities cut through the heat and humidity, but there's something in the re-launch of Lubin's Le Vetiver that makes it ideal for snowy winter days.

It's not in the opening, which belongs to the fresh, uplifting variety (think Guerlain) with citrus notes and a hint of sweetness. The wintery feel comes later, from the mix of spices (clove, nutmeg, pepper) and smoky incense. One of the very few things I like about this season is the smell- on days I can actually stand to be outside without freezing my eyeballs, I enjoy standing on the quiet street, taking in the fresh smell of snow and the faint whiffs of smoke from nearby chimneys. Le Vetiver feels like the color of an evergreen shrub under a wet snow blanket and makes me think of the almost-white sky of such days.

I'm not familiar with the original Le Vetiver. I don't know if it was considered a masculine scent but I suspect so. This modern version is very unisex as far as I'm concerned. Women who don't shy away from dry, green and resinous perfumes and enjoy vetiver would probably love it. The lasting power is impressive for an EDT concentration- three sprays are enough for at least 8 hours, and it lingers forever on my clothes.

Le Vetiver by Lubin ($95, 2.5 oz) is available from Aedes, Luckyscent and BeautyHabit. The Perfumed Court sells samples.

Photo of the tree just outside my front door is by me. I took it last Thursday in the afternoon, the snow kept piling up all through that night and the next day. 

Fragrance Notes

A few short notes about perfumes I tried and/or retried recently:

• L'Artisan Parfumeur-La Chasse Aux Papillons extreme
  This whole extreme and absolu thing is bothering me. It seems that first, the companies are releasing mild, wimpy versions with no staying power of their scents. The fragrance might be nice enough, customers are buying, and then buying again once the extreme version is out. In many of the cases I tried, the extreme version still doesn't have the best staying power. This is one of them. Floral, nice, but quickly disappears. I wore it for two days (had to reapply several times) trying to remember what it reminded me of. I knew it was something from my long lost youth, probably even something my sister used to wear. After two days it finally came to me: An old Max Factor fragrance called La Jardin. I haven't smelled it in 20 years, so I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure it's very similar.
• Kenzo Summer
  I was taken aback at the first whiff, because the top notes smelled to me like a cheap, powdery handcream. After a minute or two it settled into a pleasant, powdery floral. It's not my thing, but I can see how it would smell very nice on others. It also faded quickly. I need more warmth, spice and lasting power.
• Apparition by Emanuel Ungaro
  Apparently, there's a lack of fruity floral fragrances. This is why every designer and cosmetic company feel the need to come up with a fragrance or two or three that smell like berry jelly. Seriously, this was nothing but raspberry on my skin and stayed for hours and hours. Until I could take it no longer and washed it off. The only surprise here is the level of unoriginality.
• Roberto Cavalli (the original one by the designer)
  I tried it before and wasn't impressed. Its top and heart notes still reminds me too much of another fragrance that I can't recall. This time I didn't wash it after an hour and let it do its thing. The fruity note is still too strong for me and too disticnt in the sillage. I like the part that's close to the skin- definitely more wood and amber, and quite pleasant- very similar to V Absolu. It has an incredible staying power- I'm at 10 hours and still counting. If only it didn't have this disturbing fruit note...
• Idole by Lubin
  I love this one, probably because it smells very much like Donna Karan's Black Cashmere. It has the same boozy opening of rum, and the dry down is a similar combination of spice and wood. Black Cashmere seems to have a better staying power on my skin.