Posse! This is a post about (kinda) Easy Green Perfumes. I say ‘kinda’ because as much as I love me some Green – they are not always that easy to wear. At least not for me, ymmv (and I hope you’ll let me know in the comments)
This all came about a few weeks ago when I asked Alexa to play a selection of one of my favorite musicians, Shirley Horn. I am a Shirley Horn superfan and would’ve gone di-reckly to the mat on the assumption that I knew every song she ever played/sang. I would’ve been WRONG!
She sang Kermit’s “It’s Not That Easy Being Green”, her tribute to Ray Charles’s version of the song. And it broke my heart and lifted my soul to the sky. Just her, with her delicate voice, and her piano, it comes closest to the original version (in tone) that Kermit sang on Sesame Street. Plaintive, contemplative, a bit heartbreaking, a lot lovely. And it got me in the feels, thinking about some of the easier green scents I’ve worn over the millennia. We’ll talk about Difficult Greens in another post, I promise. But there will also be gin involved, I promise.
The Easy Greens are just that: easy. Easy to wear, they don’t make me cry (lookin’ at you, Cristalle!) and I end the day still as comfortable in my own skin and psyche as I was before I spritzed it on. Dunno about you but that doesn’t seem like that much to ask of an ‘easy’ perfume…does it? We’ll see what you think.
Greens are, on the surface, pretty much what it says: green parts of … well, whatever. Stems, leaves, grasses, etc. But they can also be ‘weirder’ green notes, like March’s absolute favorite, the swamptastic “Eau du Grenouille” note (Kermit Life Goals 
)
My taste for an Easy Green is pretty straightforward, slightly warmy-cool, with a hint of floral, no frog.
“but Green is the color of Spring
and Green can be cool and friendly-like”
So here are a couple of my favorite Easy Greens:
Vent Vert (Balmain) – actually this was my first-ever Green, worn back in the early 70s, and it’s still very wearable today, though it’s not quite as ‘friendly’ as I remember it back in the day. Germaine Cellier is the nose for the 1947 creation (and what a ‘nose’) – it’s got a kitchen sink list of notes, all of which combine to create this creamy, green floral green -yes, green is in there twice on purpose – there’s definitely floral in there (hyacinth, lotv, rose, jasmine, etc, etc but Mme Cellier managed to pull all the green aspects of the floral without it turning bitter. A masterpiece.
Vacances (Patou) – the second Green I ever wore. I fell in love with the scent and also the bottle, the original Deco-inspired bottle with the round green glass stopper. Back in the 80s I bought a bottle or two – and used them to scent my sheets!!! I no longer have those bottles, alas, but just writing that brought that shimmering scent right back to me. To me, it’s the epitome of Summer. Easy and perfect with a crisp white shirt and black peg-leg trousers.
Silences (Jacomo) – this one veers into galbanum territory, more than leafy, sunny green – but it still sits firmly on my Green shelf.
Charmes et Feuilles (The Different Company). It’s early November but it’s in the 70s and sunny. In honor of this post I decided to wear this today – and yowza! am I glad I did. I’d forgotten how …sparkly!… this one is (it’s both quiet and ‘flashy like sparkles on the water‘, which would just chap poor Kermie’s cheese)
Grass (Demeter. Early Demeter, this oeuvre contains most, if not all, of my Demeter loves). A fresh-cut lawn on a sunny Summer day. What’s not to love? Sheer perfection.
These are my favorites of the ‘easy’ Greens. I still wear ALL of these – just not all at once. They ask for little beyond you taking a shower and putting on something easy and elegant with a hit of lipstick and a bit of brow (okay – maybe that’s just me. I equate each and every one of these with crisp black and white fashion. Then I remembered: that’s pretty much all I wear anyway. So never mind. Your mileage DEFINITELY may vary on the fashion.
But I’d love to know what you think about Greens? Do you love ’em easy or more formidable?
Btw – just a side note: below is a link to my beloved Wilford Brimley (don’t ask) singing his version of “It’s Not That Easy Being Green”. Who knew? Lordt. As if I didn’t love him enough already. sigh.
Wilford Brimley – “It’s Not Easy Being Green” & more (1989) – MDA Telethon – YouTube
YAY for Easy Greens Musette,
Green is one of my favourite perfume groups, particularly the Floral Greens. Love Silences, No 19, Niki de Saint Phalle, Futur, Crystal Eau Verse and most of the slew of others. Dawn Spencer Hurwitz blew my mind with Giverny In Green too, one of the best in class.
Portia xx
I was never all that interested in green perfumes. I do love Vacances though. On me, it’s mainly lilac and there is not even a hint of green, so I was surprised to see it on your list.
Does green tea count? Eau Thé Vert and the Barney’s Thé are favorites (Oh how I wish I went into hock to stock up on the latter as the end came near!) Cristalle I haven’t smelled since school and I was afraid to wear it because it was a girls scent- in that all the girls wore it and it would be as obvious as an angora cowl-neck and Dorothy Hamill ‘do if I did..
Some people say Eau de Sud is green but I’m not so sure. I do love it though and hoard my stash. I have never smelled Vent Vert. Not sure if I need to since I think I would lemming it bit time.
Miss Musette,
Today you are singing my song because I am the self-declared Queen of Green. 🙂 When I first started my perfume hobby and researched what were the common notes in the scents I loved, I came up with galbanum, iris, hyacinth, narcissus, vetiver,…the green note Hall of Fame! And all these years later, not much has changed. These are still the notes that make me happy. No. 19 edp is my favorite green floral. Gucci Envy is a close second. Also love green chypres like Gucci No 3. Green jasmine, green leathers like Jolie Madame, green roses, you get the picture. Green scents, to me, seem light and serene. They make a Rainbow Connection to my soul. (LOVE Kermit!)
LOL! I read your list and scanned comments below mine for other people’s favorites, and … sorry babe. I cannot. I often think they are lovely scents. I can admire them intellectually. But the thought of wanting / having to wear them elicits the same NOPE from me that I think (?) sweet gourmands does for you. Also, what lovely songs to list, thank you!
I love greens! Chanel 19 edt has been in my collection since the late 70s. My favorite easy green is the sadly discontinued Nicolai Le Temps d’Une Fete, a beautiful green floral. Big Silences fan, too.
Eau de Campagne, Demeter Clover, Perfumology L’Ima
I am a big no 19 fan, especially the EDP version. I do love me some Chamade too but don’t reach for it too often.
Greens don’t tend to work on me, sadly. I love Chanel No 19 in the bottle and on others. Do have a couple of really lovely green candles (an old l’Artisan that smells of flower shop).
Folavril, Y, Givenchy III, No.19, Silences, DSH Vert Pour Madame, the original Calyx. These are some of what I have in green notes. Not sure any of them are easy for anyone else, but I love them madly, especially YSL Y.
Now, off to look for that Shirley Horn version…
Chanel 19, Arden Green Tea, Molinard de Molinard, then florals with greens – D’Orsay Tilleul, Grey Flannel.
Two words Estée Lauder! The Queen of Green!
Estee
Alliage/Aliage
Azuree
Aramis
Private Collection (Original)
PC Jasmine White Moss
Yes I checked on Fragrantica to make sure my green perfume head wasn’t going mad & much of the original Lauder scents were green, galbanum bombs & I loved many of them.
I’m looking forward to the difficult greens post. I suspect I’m going to be a total fan girl of some of those
Greens were my first perfume love – Herbal Essence (it was a perfume as well as a shampoo), and later, Aliage. More recently, Ivoire. But I don’t reach for these as often now as I did in my younger years. I wonder why?
I am generally very wary of greens, we are not friends. I can’t even think of one in my collection, unless Chamade extrait counts. They are just too astringent and dry for me to love. If it’s got some floralcy like Cabotine, I can do it though.