Hey there Posse Peeps, The guys sent me a Press bottle of Vetyver when I shopped in their end of year sale. I think to show me how the new formula smells. VERY bloody exciting.
You know how much I revere the Le Galion line, right? So much that I searched out Nicolas Chabot and his partner Enno Ebels. We have over the years become good friends and we catch up for dinner whenever we find ourselves in the same city. Their dedication to maintaining the quality of perfumes released by Le Galion is remarkable. Recently they’ve gone through and done a little spruce up on a few of the formulas for compliance, ingredients and/or to bring them up to date. The packaging also had a little facelift. Paper stickers and a new magnetic, slightly heavier cap on the bottles and FINALLY they got rid of those bloody awful pedestal boxes and made a slide top box. YAY for simple, sensible upgrades.
Vetyver by Le Galion
Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Bergamot, Italian Mandarin, Nutmeg, Coriander
Heart: Clary Sage, Lavender, Petitgrain, Tarragon, Verbena
Base: Vetiver, Sandalwood, Tonka Bean, Musk.
Above you’ll see the old style bottle. Below the new packaging and bottle. Still retaining the elegant deco lines but adding a little savoir-faire.
OHH! Vetyver’s opening is super interesting. Green like broken twigs with a fresh cut citrus zest. Very herbal and I wish I had a better nose to really parse what I smell for you. My best analogy is that smell of a basket of herbs picked fresh from the garden. I’m surprised rosemary isn’t a featured note because that’s the one thing I’m connecting with. As we really head to the heart my mind goes to fresh cut lawn and that sweet green smell when rain first hits a garden, like everything is so fecund and revitalising.
Later on I get the beautiful green citrus surprise of Lemon Verbena, that lasts through the heart beautifully and into drydown. Called Vetyver but the note itself only plays a background role till the late heart and drydown. Suddenly, after about an hour, the fragrance morphs into that beautiful oily, slightly salty, dried tall grasses with some accompanying bells & whistles.Oh! I love this part so much. A darker, smokier vetiver light sweetened.
Vetyver is aimed at the gents and was, even when first released in 1968. The ad copy called it “male flowers”. In the day to day I’d tend to agree but perfumistas aren’t held to rigid hetero-normative sales pitches and any person not cis male who loves aromatic fragrance should definitely give it a go. It will sparkle on anyone who wears it. Longevity is excellent and projection moderate for the first couple of hours, then it hums along quietly for hours and hours more.
I’ve also written about Tilleul, Cologne Nocturne and Bourrasque here on Perfume Posse
Do you like a vetiver fragrance?
Portia xx